Meeting college requirements vs. State requirements vs. local school requirements

[jhschool]

So a favorite among the colleges DS would like to attend requires:

 

4 years Math

4 years English

4 years Science

3 years Social Science or History

2 years Computer Science

2 years Foreign Language

2 years Performing / Fine Arts

+ whatever electives I suppose (they don't say on the website)

 

The State Requirements are:

4 years Math

4 years English

3 years Science (you must take Biology (1 year), Chem or Phys (1 year), and 1 more)

3 years Social Studies (you must take AmHist&Geog (1 year), Civics (0.5 year), Economics (0.5 year)

Online Learning Experience

2 years Foreign Language

1 Year Fine Arts

1 Year Physical Ed. and Health

 

Our local school requirements are:

4 years Math

4 years English

3 years Science (you must take Earth Science and Biology; the other must be Chem or Phys)

3 years Social Studies (you must take Am.History (1 year), World History & Geography (1 year),

Government (0.5 year), and Economics (0.5 year))

1 year Fine Arts

1.5 Year Phys. Ed & Health (you must take 0.5 Lifetime Fitness, 0.5 PhysEd, and 0.5 Health)

20 hours online learning

 

 

Would it be bad to follow only the college requirements and ignore the State Requirements?

We will definitely ignore many of the local school requirements as Earth Science is not in

DS's range of interest, and we won't be doing Lifetime Fitness or Health. How bad would it be?

 

Here is our plan:

4 years Math

4 years English

4 year Science (1 year Physics, 1 year Chemistry, 1 year Adv. Physics, 1 year Adv. Chemistry)

3 years Social Science (2 years World History, 1 year Economics)

4 years Fine Arts

4 years Phys. Ed. (various sports)

4 years Foreign Language

3 years Computer Science

 

My question is, what repercussions can I expect by not having Biology, American History/Geography, and Health? We will more than meet the

requirements for the college we are interested in.

 

We are in a state where the

government does not supervise homeschoolers. The homeschooling

law states that the parent must

teach Math, Reading, Science, Social Science all the years of instruction, plus

U.S. Constitution, State Constitution, Government, and State Government in 10th, 11th, and 12th. I can cover

the Government-type topics fairly quickly during the summers, so I can meet that requirement

without using up coursework time over the school year.

 

Is anything bad going to happen if I don't follow the State requirements? The homeschooling

law doesn't say I have to follow them, so legally I am fine. But is there something I am

not thinking of? Any problems I can expect down the line?

 

Thanks in advance for your input!

[Miss Marple]

What I have found is that over time my boys' goals and dreams have changed to some degree. The schools they were interested in early in their lives were not the schools where they ended up. So I would recommend that you look at the requirements of several schools and your local state requirements and then do the most rigorous. We wanted our kids to be competitive with their state counterparts so we exceeded the graduation requirements for our state. This also made them competitive at other colleges, too.

 

FWIW, I think that biology and US History/government are pretty standard for college admissions. It the school you are desiring doesn't require that, fine, but you may find yourself hampered if your student chooses another school several years down the road. My motto is to always leave yourself room to change because these kids change tremendously over the high school years :)

[Pegasus]

I wouldn't be worried about the state requirements, since it sounds like you have no obligation to meet them. However, I would heavily caution you to plan for flexibility. I would not create a high school plan to meet the requirements of a single college. At the very least, check the requirements of several college possibilities. As one example, here is what my state flagship university requires for admission (you'd be missing units in U.S. History and Biology):

 

4 units – English

• 1 unit each of English I, II, III or AP Language & Composition, IV or AP Literature & Composition
  

 

4 units – Mathematics

• 1 unit of Algebra I (may be fulfilled by Algebra I taken in 8th grade)
  
• 1 unit of Algebra II
  
• 1 unit of Geometry
  
• 1 unit of Higher Math – courses accepted: Advanced Algebra & Trigonometry, Discrete Mathematics with Statistics & Probability, Precalculus, Statistics (or AP), Calculus (or AP – AB, BC), Bridge Math, Senior Finite Math.
  

 

3 units – Science

• 1 unit of Biology or AP
  
• 1 unit of Chemistry or AP or Physics or AP-B, C
  
• 1 unit of Additional Science – Physical Science, Human Anatomy & Physiology, Earth Science, Geology, Environmental Science, Ecology, Physical World Concepts, Scientific Research. Biology II or AP Biology may count as the 3rd science, following completion of the 1 required Biology course. Chemistry or Physics (or AP) may also count as the 3rd science, following completion of one of those courses to meet the second unit requirement.
  

 

2 units – Social Studies

• 1 unit of US History or AP
  
• 1 unit of World Geography or AP, World History or AP, Ancient History, Modern History, European History or AP
  

 

2 units – the same Foreign Language

1 unit – Arts

• Dance, Theatre, Music (instrumental, vocal, history, or theory), Visual Art (studio art or art history)
  

 

[Kareni]

... My motto is to always leave yourself room to change because these kids change tremendously over the high school years :)

 

Yes.

 

... I would heavily caution you to plan for flexibility. I would not create a high school plan to meet the requirements of a single college. At the very least, check the requirements of several college possibilities.

 

And yes again.

 

 

My question is, what repercussions can I expect by not having Biology, American History/Geography, and Health? We will more than meet the requirements for the college we are interested in.

 

It seems as though you've thoroughly researched your state's homeschooling requirements, so I don't believe you'll run afoul of issues there.

 

Yes, there will be some colleges which explicitly require Biology and/or American History though I've yet to hear of one that requires Health. Many colleges, however, make recommendations rather than explicit requirements.

 

My daughter, who now attends a selective liberal arts college, applied to ten colleges and was accepted by eight (and wait-listed by a ninth) with the following science progression.

 

9th: Physical Science

10th: Chemistry (Lab)

11th: G 101: Earth's Dynamic Interior (Lab)

11th: G 102 Earth's Dynamic Surface (Lab)

11th: G 146: Rocks and Minerals (Lab)

12th: ENVS 181: Terrestrial Science (Lab)

 

We allowed her to study the sciences that interested her at the community college in 11th and 12th grades (namely Geology and Environmental Science) rather than mandating that she study the more traditional Biology.

 

She currently majors in Latin at college and minors in Geology; she took a year of Ancient Greek as a senior in lieu of an additional year of history/social sciences. Her progression in high school included:

 

9th: World History from 1700 to 2000

10th: AP United States History

11th: AP Comparative Gov't and Politics

 

You'll see there was no explicit Geography there.

 

(She did take an art history course at the community college in 12th grade, but I considered that to be an art course.)

 

The languages she studied were as follows:

 

9th: Latin 2

10th: Latin 3

11th: AP Latin Literature - Cicero

Summer: Intensive Beginning Japanese

12th: Post-AP Latin: Ovid

12th: Ancient Greek

 

My daughter did not take a formal Health class in high school either. In all the colleges that my daughter considered, we did not see one that actually required a health credit.

 

On the homeschool profile that I sent with my daughter's college applications, I had the following statement:

 

"DD has no formal health credit on her transcript; however, we have covered this subject on an informal basis throughout her high school years."

 

So, I did not issue any credit for Health. Just another approach for you to consider.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[creekland]

Personally, I really would add Bio and American History in for two reasons. The first is there's simply a ton of good info/knowledge in those courses even for students not heading toward college. The second is that many colleges expect them even if they don't explicitly require them - and your doing two years (each) of only two sciences to count for four credits may not be what they had in mind. If your student is heading toward a science field, competitive students often have MORE than 4 credits in science - the basics and advanced years in them. My middle son had 7 science credits (Bio, Chem, Physics + advanced for each and Microbio). My youngest will have 6 (Bio + Advanced, Chem, Animal & Plant, Natural Resources, and Anatomy). Neither is unusual as per our public school. If your student is not headed toward science, 4 credits can be fine, but I'm still not sure if only two topics are what they have in mind - you might want to check.

 

One other thing to double check... does your state offer state scholarships open to homeschoolers? PA does, BUT ONLY IF you follow state requirements including classes taught. Those who opt out missed out on $3600 in a state grant this year for in state colleges (available all 4 years, but the amount can differ) or amounts toward out of state colleges pending agreements with other states (from 0 to ???). These grants work for public or private accredited schools. I'm not sure how other states work, so you should check yours. In some (NJ for example) homeschoolers can't get the grants. In ours they can.

[Lolly]

Here is our plan:

4 years Math

4 years English

4 year Science (1 year Physics, 1 year Chemistry, 1 year Adv. Physics, 1 year Adv. Chemistry)

3 years Social Science (2 years World History, 1 year Economics)

4 years Fine Arts

4 years Phys. Ed. (various sports)

4 years Foreign Language

3 years Computer Science

 

Honestly, I think you have too many credits. My kids do sports every year. I only give credit for one year. Same with Fine ARts. They do it every year, but only one year gets credit. If a college wanted 2 years, I would probably add it in for that transcript. I list the additional years in their activities/portfolio. Economics is usually only a half credit course. Schools will probably be fine with your sciences, but personally I would want a basic biology class in there.

[Ellie]

So a favorite among the colleges DS would like to attend requires:

 

4 years Math

4 years English

4 years Science

3 years Social Science or History

2 years Computer Science

2 years Foreign Language

2 years Performing / Fine Arts

+ whatever electives I suppose (they don't say on the website)

 

The State Requirements are:

4 years Math

4 years English

3 years Science (you must take Biology (1 year), Chem or Phys (1 year), and 1 more)

3 years Social Studies (you must take AmHist&Geog (1 year), Civics (0.5 year), Economics (0.5 year)

Online Learning Experience

2 years Foreign Language

1 Year Fine Arts

1 Year Physical Ed. and Health

 

Our local school requirements are:

4 years Math

4 years English

3 years Science (you must take Earth Science and Biology; the other must be Chem or Phys)

3 years Social Studies (you must take Am.History (1 year), World History & Geography (1 year),

Government (0.5 year), and Economics (0.5 year))

1 year Fine Arts

1.5 Year Phys. Ed & Health (you must take 0.5 Lifetime Fitness, 0.5 PhysEd, and 0.5 Health)

20 hours online learning

 

 

Would it be bad to follow only the college requirements and ignore the State Requirements?

We will definitely ignore many of the local school requirements as Earth Science is not in

DS's range of interest, and we won't be doing Lifetime Fitness or Health. How bad would it be?

 

Here is our plan:

4 years Math

4 years English

4 year Science (1 year Physics, 1 year Chemistry, 1 year Adv. Physics, 1 year Adv. Chemistry)

3 years Social Science (2 years World History, 1 year Economics)

4 years Fine Arts

4 years Phys. Ed. (various sports)

4 years Foreign Language

3 years Computer Science

 

My question is, what repercussions can I expect by not having Biology, American History/Geography, and Health? We will more than meet the

requirements for the college we are interested in.

 

We are in a state where the

government does not supervise homeschoolers. The homeschooling

law states that the parent must

teach Math, Reading, Science, Social Science all the years of instruction, plus

U.S. Constitution, State Constitution, Government, and State Government in 10th, 11th, and 12th. I can cover

the Government-type topics fairly quickly during the summers, so I can meet that requirement

without using up coursework time over the school year.

 

Is anything bad going to happen if I don't follow the State requirements? The homeschooling

law doesn't say I have to follow them, so legally I am fine. But is there something I am

not thinking of? Any problems I can expect down the line?

 

Thanks in advance for your input!

 

So, why wouldn't you have American history/geography? Why wouldn't you want to teach the history and geography of the country where you actually live? ::scratches head::

 

Economics is most often a one-semester course. Wondering why you're going to spend a whole year on it while ignoring U.S. history and geography, and giving U.S. government a light once-over. ::scratches head::

 

At any rate, I don't know what kind of "repercussions" you think there might be from a legal POV. Looks to me as if you're covering requirements as far as the homeschool law is concerned; what is required for public schools is irrelevant, although local colleges might expect your dc's transcripts to be more closely aligned to those of public school applicants.

 

Personally, I'd be more inclined to follow a course of study more like the public school's, adding the world history during the summer, instead of emphsizing world history in favor of American history and U.S. government.

[kiana]

I would be really reluctant to ignore the life sciences completely. Although some colleges don't care, many colleges expect *some* sort of life science class. One reasonable approach would be finding one which is more to his liking (maybe one that focuses heavily on chemistry, or maybe an environmental science course with a heavy physical science component), and another reasonable approach would be picking a git'r'done biology curriculum and doubling on science one year.

 

Similarly, I would be rather reluctant to ignore American history AND government completely. However, I would consider it reasonable to pick a relatively 'light' but still high-school level curriculum and work through it rapidly. Another option could be to cover American history within the context of world history and call the second year 'American History in a Global Context' or something similar.

 

Yet a third option for both, if he is genuinely not interested in either, is to either self-study for the AP exam or dual-enroll during senior year (biology one semester, am gov one semester) with the goal of skipping college gen-ed courses and focusing more thoroughly on his major then.

[Lori D.]

is there something I am

not thinking of? Any problems I can expect down the line?

 

 

Below are the potential problems I see that you may wish to consider and plan for. BEST of luck in your high school journey! :) Warmest regards, Lori D.

 

 

1. May have difficulty with college admission to the college of your choice.

Your college of choice doesn't require these things -- now. But college admission policies do have a habit of changing; 4 years from now, the college your student wants to attend may have different requirements more in line with the majority of colleges. And, even more of a potential possibility: your student may decide on a different college, which would likely have different admission requirements. So, potential problems I see with the list of planned high school classes:

- Many colleges require 2-3 credits of Social Studies, AND specifically list 1of those credits as American History.

- Many colleges require 3 credits of LAB sciences, AND specifically list wanting at least Biology and Chemistry.

 

 

2. May have difficulty if you have to go with a brick-and-mortar high school at some point.

Sometimes circumstances force a change in the plans to homeschool all the way through high school -- I've seen this happen enough times to families locally (and on this Board), that this really does need to at least be thought through. You may suddenly or unexpectedly find that your student *wants* to, or *has* to, attend a brick-and-mortar high school at some point. (Examples I've really seen: in order to participate in sports, band, or other activity that is a passion; special program offering that requires attending school; homeschooling high school just isn't working out well; family illness, death, divorce, move or other drastic circumstance; etc.)

 

It is a good idea to know exactly what credits your student would need in order to enter a high school at their grade level. Esp. if you unexpectedly have to go to a school late in the game (11th or 12th grade), you don't want to either have the student have to take summer school -- or, more likely, have the school determine they need to enter at a lower grade level and go an extra year in order to accomplish all the credits required by the school.

 

 

3. The older the student, the harder it is to "cover topics fairly quickly during the summers".

I would not count on having time in the summer to make up subjects. Summers get taken up with high school students being involved in extracurriculars, working, going away to summer camps, participating in summer programs, doing internships, etc. Great if it works out! I'm just saying that I'm glad we didn't PLAN on summer school, 'cause I was stunned at how busy our children got along about 10th grade and from then on.

 

 

4. Student may change mind partway through high school.

It's *great* to have a 4-year plan, and know even before starting high school what the student wants to study and where for college... BUT... I can't TELL you how many families I know who have had to suddenly and *radically* alter their high school plans in the junior -- or senior! -- year, because the student had a complete change of mind about what he/she wanted to do and where he/she wanted to go to college. It required massive scrambling, and in some cases, great difficultly, to make up credits the family didn't think they'd need, because they "knew" they had a plan...

 

Flexibility, and keeping your options open for as long as possible by meeting as many requirements as possible is not a bad idea...