How many "credits" for a college bound kid?

[Hot Lava Mama]

I have been recently reading through various threads about how to count certain class credits, etc. I was wondering how many credits per year (and total upon graduation) does the average college bound kid have (assuming they would be going to a pretty good college, but not necessarily a top tier school)? I assume a kid bound for an upper tier college would have more credits, but how many extra? Or, does the upper tier kid have more honors/AP/Clep classes, and not necessarily more credits? I assume this is a touchy subject for a home schooled student applying to college because you wouldn't want to make it look padded and not realistic.

 

Awaiting your wisdom!

:)

Hot Lava Mama

[Lori D.]

From researching various college admission websites, here's my best guess at your question! :) Warmest regards, Lori D.

 

 

Typical COLLEGE ADMISSION Requirements:

4 credits = English

3-4 credits = Math (Alg. 1, Alg. 2, Geom, and a 4th class requiring Alg. 2 as pre-requisite)

3-4 credits = Science (with labs)

2-3 credits = Social Studies (1 year being American History)

2-4 credits = Foreign Language (same language)

1 credit = Fine Arts

Minimum required for admission = 16-20 credits (average = 4-5 credits/year)

(College expectation that the student will likely have more credits, showing their interests, electives, etc.)

 

Average *high school graduation* requirements = 22-24 credits (average = 5-6 credits/year)

(Note that this is what varies SO radically among all the responses, of type of credits to graduate, and how many credits the high school grad ends up with. However, most high schools have a "college bound" track, and if you roughly follow that, your student should not have any problems with admission to the majority of universities.)

 

Above average / high achieving student = 24-28 credits (average = 6/7 credits/year)

(Competitive for scholarships and/or more eligible for selective schools.)

 

Students doing dual enrollment or working at a very advanced level = 28+ credits (average = 7/8 credits/year)

(Competitive for top tier schools.)

 

For top tier schools: I'd suggest 26 (or more) credits for top tier schools, and definitely some high scores on several SAT II tests and 3-4 AP tests. And stand out with interesting activities, projects, travel, community service/volunteering, etc.

[creekland]

In order to graduate from our public high school a student must have 28 credits. They have 8 classes per year (one of which is PE coupled with Health, Driver's Ed, or Fitness & Wellness - one of each for three years - PE every year for three years). If the student has passed everything, then their senior year they can either take extra classes (graduate with 32 credits), graduate in one semester, or take less classes senior year (many do this in order to go to a job or to sleep in). My youngest is only taking 6 classes next year (his senior year). During his other two class periods he is a Teacher's Aide for Advanced Bio (1) and he plans to get a job and leave school at 1:10 instead of 2:30 (2). He will graduate with 31 credits (overloaded one class his sophomore year).

 

Other school districts do things differently, esp if students don't take 8 classes per year.

[teachermom2834]

My homeschooler will have approx 32 at graduation. Public schools here use block scheduling so they can have as many. I think only 24 is required to graduate from most homeschool umbrella schools.

 

I think 30-32 is common for high achieving homeschoolers I know. Summer classes or dual enrollment could really make credits add up quickly. I'm not sure what the max is without looking like the transcript is padded.

[Nscribe]

I chose to be very clear with Dd before we started high school. If she wanted to homeschool, she would be required to complete 4 credits in each of the following: Math, History/Social Studies, Literature/Composition, Science, Foreign Language and an elective of her choice each year. In addition she had to complete one year of PE/Health with specific componenents (CPR/First Aid certification, trial of three previously untried sports...). Thus, at a minimum, to earn my signature, she would complete a minimum of 25 credits. It looks like she will finish 28 (on top of her four years of Spanish she is doing 2 of Latin and completing Prego for Italian).

 

I suggested to her that 4 of the credits should be AP (take the exam and make at least a 4) and two others would involve the SAT 2.

 

Dd is very involved in the performing arts, for years she has averaged 20+ hours a week in formal class/rehearsals/performances. This activity will be reflected on her transcript as extracurricular.

 

In our area, the public schools operate on block schedules and the students wind up with between 28-32 credits (7-8 per year) and the privates generally fall in the 28 per year range. In both the private and the public schools, these include fine arts, choir/band and so forth. As I sit in lobbies at various activities I hear the gamesmanship that goes on in the jockeying for class rank (GPA) and various select activities (in school clubs...). It is clear, the students who aspire high are doing a great deal and their parents are working it on their behalf.

 

I have made plenty of mistakes homeschooling, but so far being very clear early on with Dd about what would be required to graduate from our school has not been one of them. Dd has a very active part in determining what is done to complete each credit, what it will be comprised of and what each year's working schedule will look like. She recently told me she appreciates having a clear framework within which she has a great deal of choice.

 

When I set it up, I fell back on my own experiences and the confidence a sound prep background (which was pretty much classical) gave me when I entered college. I also knew what skills I felt she really needed to learn/practice and incorporated that in the 5x4 (five subject area times 4 year) plan. Although I am aware of what is being done in the schools, I am willing to see her graduate with a different experience and if that means 25 credits while others sport 32, so be it. I will sleep well knowing what she did and she will be prepared for the next step.

[Melissa B]

Our state requires 18 credits for a three year degree and 24 credits for a four year degree.

 

So my requirements for my first two who are planning to attend state universities are:

 

4 math

4 English

4 science

4 social science

4 foreign language

8 elective

 

28 credits total

 

 

My third is considering a top tier university so we will likely use an accredited program that requires

 

4 math

4 English

4 Literature

4 history

4 science

4 theology

2 fine arts

2 physical education

 

Then we will likely add:

 

4 second foreign language

4 elective

 

So 36 credits total.

[regentrude]

I am a bit curious about the frequently read statement that "dual enrollment courses allow a student to accumulate credits quickly". Why would that be, if the credit is really credit worthy?

The four hour classes DD took at the university each required about 12-15 hours of work per week, more than two high school credits would have taken - so even the course taking only one semester would not make up for the extra amount of time required. If anything, we seem to manage fewer credits with dual enrollment, because there simply is no time.

The only scenario through which I could see getting more credits would be if I gave a full high school credit for a light three hour college class that does not require much outside work and that needs two classes to cover the same material as a one year high school course. But in that case, I simply do not think the same material and depth merits two credits just because it is taught at a different location.

[Wildcat]

OP, I looked at my local high school's webpage for guidance and crafted my *minimum* goals from there. Both of my kids will exceed that, though, and have more credits due to dual entollment. Our local high school sends kids to the state schools and Ivies, so I figured I couldn't go wrong with using their requirements as a stepping stone for our homeschool.

 

Regentrude, not all cc classes need the amount of time of study that you mention. Some classes like English, speech, history, etc. could easily have a lighter out-of-class load, thereby enabling a student to still take a heavier load of classes each semester/year. Our local high school counts a DE class as "X" credit towards high school credits no matter if it was 3 hours or 4 hours~~ A 3-hour Speech course (a notoriously 'easy' course) receives the same high school credit as a 3-hour Psychology course (which typically requires much more out-of-class reading, research papers, etc). Those 'lighter classes' with a full credit on one's transcript can be one way of achieving more credits as it allows students to take more classes at one time. Also, some kids take summer DE classes, which is another way of increasing the number of high school credits. Your dd takes the heavier classes as a DE student, so she wouldn't be able to take as heavy a load as some other kids.

 

What the college application process taught me over this last year is that the state schools my ds applied to (all ranked in the top 100 according to US News-- at least the last time I looked in the fall) weren't interested in the *number* of credits on the transcript, so much as *what* was on the transcript. They wanted to see the standard 4x4 courses, a variety of electives (including at lest 2 years of foreign language), and rigor. I figured the admins were smart enough to understand why ds' transcript had X hours one year, then fewer hours the next... he had dual enrolled. Then, the next year, the hours went up again, but the DE classes were a bit "lighter" than the maths & sciences of the previous year, so he was able to take a heavier load outside of the cc. We didn't have a lick of trouble at any of the schools he applied to.

 

So, back to the OP's question.... it varies. My advice is to craft a plan based on the minimum 4x4 with foreign language and exceed that. Don't worry about the final number. I would imagine anywhere from 26+ would be fine as long as those minumums are met. Lori D's post is fantastic and is prety much how my local high school handles things. We aimed for the "high achieving" end and surpassed that.

[elegantlion]

Our state requires 24, our local school requires 28 for graduation. I'm using the 28 quota. I lined out my requirements last year. 4 each of math, English, science, and social studies. 3 of foreign language (he'll probably do 4), 1 fine art, 1 pe, .5 personal finance, and 1 technology credit. This is a mix of my philosophy, the state requirement, and what in-state universities are looking for credit wise.

[Jenny in Florida]

I am a bit curious about the frequently read statement that "dual enrollment courses allow a student to accumulate credits quickly". Why would that be, if the credit is really credit worthy?

The four hour classes DD took at the university each required about 12-15 hours of work per week, more than two high school credits would have taken - so even the course taking only one semester would not make up for the extra amount of time required. If anything, we seem to manage fewer credits with dual enrollment, because there simply is no time.

The only scenario through which I could see getting more credits would be if I gave a full high school credit for a light three hour college class that does not require much outside work and that needs two classes to cover the same material as a one year high school course. But in that case, I simply do not think the same material and depth merits two credits just because it is taught at a different location.

 

The articulation agreement I signed with the local community college requires that I promise to count some specific courses for either one half or one full high school credit. As near as I can figure it out, the guideline seems to be that, if a one-semester college course is replacing a two-semester high school course covering substantially the same content, I must count if for a full credit on my son's transcript. It the equivalent high school course is typically only one semester, I must count the college course for a half credit on his transcript.

 

Examples:

 

- Freshman Composition I must be assigned a full credit.

- Survey in American Literature must be assigned a full credit.

- College Algebra must be assigned a full credit.

- All foreign language courses must be assigned a full credit.

- Biology, General Chemistry, Intro to Physics all get a full credit.

- U.S. Government, Intro to Psychology, Basic Economics get half a credit each.

- Art Appreciation, Intro to Theatre and most music classes get half a credit each.

 

So, if a dual enrolled student happened to take a lot of those courses that are one semester at the college level but fulfill a one-credit high school requirement, he or she would rack up substantially more credits in a shorter amount of time.

[Wildcat]

I have been recently reading through various threads about how to count certain class credits, etc. I was wondering how many credits per year (and total upon graduation) does the average college bound kid have (assuming they would be going to a pretty good college, but not necessarily a top tier school)? I assume a kid bound for an upper tier college would have more credits, but how many extra? Or, does the upper tier kid have more honors/AP/Clep classes, and not necessarily more credits? I assume this is a touchy subject for a home schooled student applying to college because you wouldn't want to make it look padded and not realistic.

 

Awaiting your wisdom!

:)

Hot Lava Mama

 

 

I realized part of your question hadn't been answered yet, so I thought I would make another post.

 

The part I bolded is what we experienced, but this is just *our* experience. The 'upper tier kid', from what I have seen this last year, does have more of the honors/AP/DE classes than an average kid (see my previous post on this thread about the number of credits vs rigor). I know ds' transcript with the Honors, DE, and AP classes stood out for the scholarship people because one of them told me so. It just makes for a stronger application package to have that rigor on there. Plus, I figured that by having that rigor, at the very least ds would be better prepared for the level of work at the university level than if we had just done 'average' courses.

 

As for your last sentence, there was a lot the we did that I did not put on ds' transcript precisely because I didn't want it to appear padded. I just figured handling all that work would help him when he got to uni.

[regentrude]

- Biology, General Chemistry, Intro to Physics all get a full credit.

 

Which is really really strange, as I have not seen any one semester college physics course that covers the mechanics and e&m material that would be taught during one year of high school. (Likewise for chemistry; a one semester course does not cover the entire material.)

Very weird that they require this.

[EKS]

Which is really really strange, as I have not seen any one semester college physics course that covers the mechanics and e&m material that would be taught during one year of high school. (Likewise for chemistry; a one semester course does not cover the entire material.)

Very weird that they require this.

 

Here in WA there is actually a law that each 5 (quarter) unit class taken by a dual enrolled student be counted as 1 high school credit. I can't decide whether to go with the program on this or to issue credit as I see fit given the amount of work involved and/or material covered. Either way, my son's transcript is going to be overflowing with credits.

[regentrude]

I assume a kid bound for an upper tier college would have more credits, but how many extra? Or, does the upper tier kid have more honors/AP/Clep classes, and not necessarily more credits?

 

 

I can only tell you how it will look for DD, who is definitely shooting for "upper tier".

She is taking very rigorous dual enrollment courses (calculus based physics, foreign language, 300 level English) which are extremely time consuming and will cause her to have fewer credits than had she done typical high school level courses.

From what I understand, colleges are interested to see that the student took the most challenging courses available, not that the student took as many courses as possible.

 

She will have 5x4 (i.e. four years of math, science, English, history and French), standard electives (music, art, PE, computer), two extra credits in math and science (if we do not count the two she has done before 9th grade), and a few more electives. It looks like it may be about 30-32 credits.

[Wildcat]

Which is really really strange, as I have not seen any one semester college physics course that covers the mechanics and e&m material that would be taught during one year of high school. (Likewise for chemistry; a one semester course does not cover the entire material.)

Very weird that they require this.

 

Agreed. While I have no idea about the content, I'm agreeing with the 'giving one credit' thing. One of our friends gave a half credit for something (maybe a Chem class?) and the *uni* changed it to a full credit on their records (in the same way they recompute GPAs) because that's what they award. I found it odd.

 

Going back to what this last year taught me about the college application process.... unis will accept what they want to. If they are familiar with the cc/uni that the student was taking DE classes, then they already know what each course covers and will count for. If the uni isn't familar with the cc/uni, they will ask for syllabi, etc. They also may give 'credit' for a DE class, but just not "like credit".

 

It's a strange, strange college world out there and it is very confusing. We just did DE for the actual education and to fulfill some high school credits and figured if they transferred, then awesome, and if they didn't, then ds had an excellent "high school" class.

 

I am finding it much more relaxing with my next child now that I know how much I (needlessly) stressed and worried the first time around. It's just some strange "game" with no written rules, so we just had to 'do our best'. Heck, even the schools around here don't count DE the same. One high school awards 1/2 credit no matter what the class is, and another one in a different county awards a full credit no matter what the class is. ??? I figured I would just award based on my local high school. My reasoning was that since ds applied to state schools, they would be familar with my local high school and wonder why ds' transcript was counted so differently when he lived in the same general area as the others. It's just a crap shoot all the way around!! :huh:

[Nscribe]

Or, does the upper tier kid have more honors/AP/Clep classes, and not necessarily more credits?

 

Hot Lava Mama

 

 

I have seen a handful of kids who have both the most intense classes and large credit numbers, but these are not the general trend. Generally, the more challenging the courses that comprise each credit, the fewer total credits.

 

At some point it becomes sketchy to try to compare to what the traditionally schooled kids do. Frankly, I have seen kids take the same course in the same semester, but with different teachers, and what they did varied so much there was no way to call it equally challenging. What = honors is especially mystifying. Sometimes it is the same content expectations as otherwise but more work, sometimes it is more content, sometimes it is not different but allows the cohorts to stay together.

 

I just think it comes down to presenting a solid, well rounded, course of study that cummulatively challenges and develops skills.

[swimmermom3]

In order to graduate from our public high school a student must have 28 credits. They have 8 classes per year (one of which is PE coupled with Health, Driver's Ed, or Fitness & Wellness - one of each for three years - Health every year for three years). If the student has passed everything, then their senior year they can either take extra classes (graduate with 32 credits), graduate in one semester, or take less classes senior year (many do this in order to go to a job or to sleep in). My youngest is only taking 6 classes next year (his senior year). During his other two class periods he is a Teacher's Aide for Advanced Bio (1) and he plans to get a job and leave school at 1:10 instead of 2:30 (2). He will graduate with 31 credits (overloaded one class his sophomore year).

 

Other school districts do things differently, esp if students don't take 8 classes per year.

 

 

Creekland, you have piqued my curiosity. Our district's students will typically have 28 credits - 7 classes with an 8th that be study hall or additional classes. We have a block schedule and with all of the budget reduction days, staff work days, and holidays, most classes are taught on average twice a week. I sometimes wonder if a higher number of credits means more advanced work. I think I could be happy with letting my son graduate with 24 credits in tougher classes while we go more in depth.

[creekland]

(if we do not count the two she has done before 9th grade)

 

 

I think she'll/you'll do just fine... she's proven her worth very well with what she's accomplished. However, just to comment on what I kept in the quote, even if you were to count the credits before 9th grade, we haven't come across any colleges that will count them. Even our high school won't count any credits for courses taken before 9th grade - even if it's the same course 9th or 10th graders take.

 

 

Creekland, you have piqued my curiosity. Our district's students will typically have 28 credits - 7 classes with an 8th that be study hall or additional classes. We have a block schedule and with all of the budget reduction days, staff work days, and holidays, most classes are taught on average twice a week. I sometimes wonder if a higher number of credits means more advanced work. I think I could be happy with letting my son graduate with 24 credits in tougher classes while we go more in depth.

 

 

We don't have any study halls at all. Kids (except seniors as mentioned in the previous post) take 4 classes per day, every day. We're on block scheduling, so the classes change when the semester changes (in Jan). Kids doing DE get one high school credit for their DE course.

 

This all sounds great with my high school (I suppose) but remember, the bar is low. IMO few classes go into depth at all and tests tend to be ridiculously easy for many classes. Many of our grads struggle when they move on to college and it's not at all unusual to have our grads test into remedial classes for English and Math - many times after getting credit for DE classes having gotten an A in that class.

 

There are high schools out there doing a great job of educating their students. Ours is slightly below average (based upon national and state test scores). The credits may be impressive, but the actual knowledge most students end up with is basic at best. That's why I chose to homeschool my guys and I wish youngest had stuck with it - but he marches to his own drummer. He does extremely well in our school... I just worry about how he'll do in college. I'm hoping with a good college fit he'll do well, but if he were to go to the Top 30 school middle chose, he'd be underprepared.

[regentrude]

However, just to comment on what I kept in the quote, even if you were to count the credits before 9th grade, we haven't come across any colleges that will count them. Even our high school won't count any credits for courses taken before 9th grade - even if it's the same course 9th or 10th graders take.

 

 

I am not counting them for the number of credits, nor am I counting the grades into the calculation of the GPA, and I explain this on the transcript. But I definitely list algebra 1 and biology on her transcript, with a note that these were taken before 9th grade, because some colleges specifically want to see algebra 1, and because otherwise it looks as if she took no biology.

[creekland]

I am not counting them for the number of credits, nor am I counting the grades into the calculation of the GPA, and I explain this on the transcript. But I definitely list algebra 1 and biology on her transcript, with a note that these were taken before 9th grade, because some colleges specifically want to see algebra 1, and because otherwise it looks as if she took no biology.

 

I did the same with Alg 1, Geometry, and World History - for pretty much the same reasons. I put them in a spot with an asterisk. Like you, I wanted them to know he'd had them, but I didn't count them for anything (GPA/credits).

[Matryoshka]

At our local ps, there's no way you can graduate with more than 28 credits - well, here it would be 140 credits, as a full-year course = 5 credits, but apples-to-apples, it's 28. Minimum is 117.5 credits (or 23.5 credits the apparently more normal way). The high school only has 7 periods x 4 years, so there's just no way to take more. Maybe they'd let you dual-enroll for an extra class? I rather doubt it. Dd is taking Geometry over the summer in an attempt to move up to Alg2, but even if she passes the test, they won't give her credit (they said it would be the same if we miraculously found a cc summer Geo class). My kids also take a second foreign language, but that's only possible because they're doing it outside of school, not for credit. The plan is they'll take the AP for it, though.

 

I admit to being a bit miffed that the high school only has 7 classes/year max, especially as music (orchestra, band, chorus) takes up one if you're musical. Forget taking orchestra and chorus. It's also hard to get in extra sciences and a second foreign language (unless you think outside the box and don't care about credit), and if you're in orchestra or band, if's even worse. There's apparently also a mandatory for-credit theater class if you want to do after-school theater! And it also means you have to go below 28 credits if you want a study hall. Most of the other local schools have 8 classes. Don't know what's up with that...

 

You don't get extra credits for an AP course, but they do weight the GPA (AP, A=5.0)

 

ETA: I have no idea if they count pre-high school credits such as Alg1, or Spanish 1 for school kids, which are standard middle school courses here. My kids won't be awarded anything extra, as they were homeschooled pre-high school, even though one is taking Geometry as a freshman, and they're both in Spanish 3H (so a good 2 years of Spanish under their belt already). I figure colleges will have to figure they took those first..?

[Lori D.]

From what I understand, colleges are interested to see that the student took the most challenging courses available, not that the student took as many courses as possible.

 

 

Agreeing with Regentude, in that from what I'm seeing, colleges look at SAT/ACT scores, and rigor of classes much more than amount of classes. As far as amount of classes, the college admission office first looks to see that the student has completed the number of credits in each subject area that the college itself requires (see my post #2 above for the typical list), and then looks at additional credits as showing the student as being very desirable (a smart, hard-working, interesting student). Additional credits (of high quality, good rigor, and with good GPA) can also improve a student's chances of looking good for receiving scholarships.

 

I do think it can be helpful to look at what high school students around you graduate with credit-wise -- esp. if you plan to attend the local university, then you probably want to have similar sorts of credits. However, trying to match up number of credits with whatever your local high school's credit requirements is NOT the end goal -- across the country, there's just too much variation in what high school districts require for graduation for colleges to be that limiting in their admission policies.

 

For example, Creekland mentioned that high schools in her area requires 28 credits. In contrast, up until just this year, high schools in my state only required 20 credits (now 22 credits). Yet students from my state's high schools are accepted all the time to colleges all around the country.

 

And as a last side note, I have to admit I feel some real concern over high schools that graduate their students with 28, or 32 credits or more. How thorough are these credits? And how much do students really learn when their energies are divided between 8 different subjects per day, plus shooting for APs, plus all the extracurriculars -- not to mention just trying to learn real-life skills...

 

But perhaps this is just "sour grapes" on my part, having very average students who each graduated with a total of 26 credits, several of which were earned either in 8th grade or over the summers... (LOL) Just another 2 cents from me. ;)

 

 

ETA --

 

PS -- In NO way questioning your students large number of credits, Margaret in CO. :) I know you have extremely motivated and hard-working students; I am questioning the ability of public schools to offer true credits at those high amounts...

[creekland]

 

And as a last side note, I have to admit I feel some real concern over high schools that graduate their students with 28, or 32 credits or more. How thorough are these credits? And how much do students really learn when their energies are divided between 8 different subjects per day,

 

 

Not 8 subjects per day - just 4. Block scheduling (here) does 4 credits per semester, then switches classes when the semester changes (similar to colleges, but daily classes instead of 2 or 3 times per week). Classes are between 75 and 90 minutes long each day for 90 school days. Some schools can do it effectively. Mine has issues - mainly because there's little homework and not as much covered as would need to be to do things in appropriate depth IMO.

[Lori D.]

Not 8 subjects per day - just 4. Block scheduling (here) does 4 credits per semester, then switches classes when the semester changes (similar to colleges, but daily classes instead of 2 or 3 times per week). Classes are between 75 and 90 minutes long each day for 90 school days. Some schools can do it effectively. Mine has issues - mainly because there's little homework and not as much covered as would need to be to do things in appropriate depth IMO.

 

 

 

But block scheduling still churns out 8 credits per year. JMO, but that still seems like too many topics to be able to cover well in a year for the majority of students. (I am sure this is fine for some advanced students -- just not must.)

 

 

Not trying to pick a fight, Creekland! I know you have no control over what your schools do. ;) I just don't think this is a good way to run secondary education for most students. When our DSs did dual enrollment, I actually backed down on the at-home number of classes to make up for the more intense pace of the college courses, because DSs just couldn't have done a good job with too many courses. But, that's just been our experience! :)

[elegantlion]

I am questioning the ability of public schools to offer true credits at those high amounts...

 

 

Another wonky piece of trivia, our state homeschool law states that I can count a full credit at 100 hours. However, our state also requires we log 1000 hours per year (July to June). The hour requirement is for ALL grades. 600 must be in core classes, 400 in non-core. Technically, we could grant up to 10 credits per year based solely on hours. I don't know anyone that does that, but one could legally do it.

[creekland]

But block scheduling still churns out 8 credits per year. JMO, but that still seems like too many topics to be able to cover well in a year for the majority of students. (I am sure this is fine for some advanced students -- just not must.)

 

 

I definitely have not seen where this is a problem. The 4 credits are never all the main 4 at the same time. Almost always schedules have 2 main subjects and 2 not-so-main (one of those will be PE in one of the semesters). Kids have far more "free" time this way than they did when we had 7 courses in a day (and sometimes one of those was a study hall).

 

The "problem" with Block scheduling is remembering info from one class to another. It can be a long time period from fall of one year to spring of the next - or even just skipping a semester. It's no problem at all for classes that do not carry over, but for those that do (math, languages, etc) rusty brain neurons can definitely be an issue.

[snowbeltmom]

But block scheduling still churns out 8 credits per year. JMO, but that still seems like too many topics to be able to cover well in a year for the majority of students. (I am sure this is fine for some advanced students -- just not must.)

 

:iagree:

 

This method of block scheduling is used at my high school. It is cheaper for the school system since they only need to purchase 1/2 as many textbooks as they would if the courses ran a full year. Imo, there are two major problems with this system:

 

1. As Creekland mentioned, math, foreign language and English are only semester long courses. At times, students go almost a year before studying the subject again, and the teachers need to spend a lot of time reviewing old material.

 

2. AP classes are also only 1 semester. Many students will complete an AP course in December and have to wait until May to take the exam. It is no wonder the actual AP scores are so low.

[creekland]

2. AP classes are also only 1 semester. Many students will complete an AP course in December and have to wait until May to take the exam. It is no wonder the actual AP scores are so low.

 

 

We avoid this by no AP. We just have DE. I do think we still offer AP Euro technically, but I don't believe anyone takes the test.

[Jane in NC]

My public school system uses block scheduling which makes it possible to earn up to 8 credits a year but most seniors whom we know do not graduate with 32 credits. In fact, it seems that the school system is quite liberal with allowing juniors and seniors to leave campus early in order to work.

 

Secondly, I think that as parent educators we need to analyze whether we want to give credit for everything or whether we should place certain things in an extra curricular category. For example, some states require PE--so we might give a half credit or credit of PE for both some nutritional book work as well as our kid's tennis lessons or daily runs. But the latter may also serve as a good extra credit (along with snow boarding or white water kayaking) to demonstrate our kid's well roundedness.

 

My advice here is to follow what seems to be a reasonable course.

[Nscribe]

Lori's post reminded me of something I think helps.

 

When admissions looks at homeschool applications, they look at a packet of information which tells a story.

1. Standardized test scores

2. Dual Enrollments

3. AP's/SAT 2's/CLEP

4. Extracurricular activities

5. Specialty achievement markers (ex: National Latin Exams, Math Competition exams...)

6. Contests/Awards

7. Essays

8. Regional or local demographic comparisions (they have a lot of big data to work with)

9. Courseload taken (credits, what they are, whether they meet the college's admin requirements, how many)

10. Letters of Rec

 

With tradtionally schooled students they have class rank, school past performance stats, and so forth they do not have with homeschoolers.

 

When you think about it, by the time a student submits an application, a narrative about the student emerges from all the cummulative bits they submit. You can sit down with a packet of information like this and begin to develop a description of a person. When information in the packet conflicts or something appears as not in synch with the story otherwise being told, it requires explanation. For example: if a student's transcript says they completed and extremely heavy courseload with very challenging courses, but their test scores and other information doesn't jive, questions emerge.

 

While requirements vary from college to college, often they want to see 4 English classes, @ 3 History, 3-4 Math, 2 Foreign Language, 3-4 science (one with lab). They generally phrase this as the minimums they seek. It varies a great deal.

 

If the question is how many credits does a student need to graduate high school, most states have those standards published via their state department of education. If the question is how many credits does a student need for a particular college, each college publishes what they want to see. It does vary, and then in any given area it may vary how many credits students typically earn. Some schools are located in areas where the trend is families who set very high expectations of their kids and what is typical at one school may be unheard of at another. The thing is, colleges really do have more data about what it is like for a student to be educated in one area than another (rural, suburban...). Again, just noting with this that a story about the student emerges both from what the student submits in their application and the college's data beyond applications.

 

The way I see it, as homeschoolers, our students don't have class ranks, school historical performances and so forth and the story our student's college applications tell relies more on how well other factors tell their story. Try to imagine being the admissions office examining the application and trying to decide where the student fits in with what you are seeing in all the other files on your desktop. You would have seen a lot of student "stories" and I would guess have a feel for when claims made in applications don't seem to line up with what experience tells you makes sense.

 

All of that is to say, we as homeschoolers in part help our children write the narrative they will present as a high school graduate. Whether that narrative shows 22 credits or 32 seems less and issue than what the claimed credits show in the context of the students overall story.

[Vida Winter]

My dd just graduated with 31, and joked that she could have graduated a year early....except she really needed to take those classes to be ready for college.