Big College Quandary-(Long) Need Big Time Advice

[Lux Et Veritas Academy]

My DD just turned 17- she is officially a junior in HS, duel enrolled at a local CC where she has two semesters left before getting an associates degree. She is taking 4 classes this semester and 4 classes next semester.

 

We didn’t anticipate her finishing as quickly as she did and now we are trying to decide what is the best option for her.

 

Should she graduate this year and leave to college? Or should she teach english in China next year, which she sort of wants to? She is fine doing either-

 

Here is the problem-

 

1st- College Exams

If she graduates this year, we have to hurry and take ACT/SAT/PSAT as quickly as possible- like in 4 weeks, giving her an option to take it again in November if needed. We have to do a test prep course probably too, on top of a loaded CC schedule.

 

She has taken college Algebra, but hasn't take trig/or the next course needed to graduate from the CC. She takes that winter semester. I am afraid she won't have the math for the exams until after next semester.

 

And we have to apply to school- yes, we have narrowed down the choices.

 

Her number one college choice would let her transfer her credit, but she still needs to apply as a freshman and take the ACT.

 

If she goes to China or waits a year, then she becomes a transfer student and avoids the college exams but loses scholarship opportunities.

 

She might not get accepted to the college of her choice, since the particular school she is looking at are very test heavy and hard on home schoolers. She does have dyslexia, I fear for the standardized test.

 

If she transfers she would have no problem, because she has straight A’s from the CC and a big portfolio.

 

2nd- Scholarships

She is eligible for several scholarships both as a transfer and as a senior in high school. She would apply for both.

 

If she transfers, some of the future scholarships cannot be deferred, hence she would lose the money if she received it and didn’t get accepted or ended up choosing the China year. We have said if you get the money you are going to college.

 

The school won't let her defer as a freshman.

 

Side Note: (She has won 3 National Awards and has already received close to $18,000 in earlier cash scholarships. Some of which has been used for community college.)

 

 

If she chooses to go to China, Do we not graduate from High School? Do we try everything again next year, scholarships,exams, etc.?

If she isn’t graduated from HS, she may not be able to officially graduate from CC and the whole process begins again.

 

We don’t have to decide on China immediately.

 

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Finally if she wants to go to top tier school- they don’t accept any CC credit and we start from scratch. We hope that she goes somewhere affordable that won’t have a ton of college debt.

 

She could wait to see what pans out in scholarship aid, but she can’t wait to apply to college.

 

I think she should apply to college regardless, and if things don’t pan out go to China and then transfer.

 

 

What do you think? I need therapy on this one!

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[Denise in Florida]

My advice is to go ahead and apply to the colleges. If she decides to go to China it is easy to tell the colleges that she is taking a gap year. Most colleges understand a gap year if it is taken as part of volunteer service or travel. They usually put the acceptance on hold and only require an update not a new application.

 

Have her take the SAT/ACT as soon as she can. Use the information from the first score in order to make effective use of test prep. Schools understand and encourage kids to take the test more than once. Many schools cherry pick the score and apply the top math and top reading even if they come from different test dates. Even if she does well have her retake the test, one college we spoke with said they liked to see kids keep trying to improve rather than resting on an okay score.

[Ailaena]

If she is only a junior, would you really need to rush the college entrance? It should not be a problem to let her spend her official senior year in China, and then that would give you enough time to thoroughly prepare for the sat/act. In fact, studying abroad may even give her an edge on an application!

 

If she is continuing on to university, is it really that important for her to have the associate's degree? Are you certain they will not give her a degree before she has officially finished high school? If you do need the degree, you could finish all of the associate's requirements this year like you are planning on doing, but simply not apply for graduation until next year?

 

Either way, I agree with having her take the tests soon to get a starting point. Since she is a junior, she could take the psat, but you wouldn't get those results until December, which kind of defeats the purpose... But if you delay graduation until after next year, it may be a good starting point.