Major decision to make for CA homeschoolers

[happycc]

We have been homeschooling here in CA through an Independent Study program of a charter school.

I am homeschooling my stepdaughters. 

Two of them will be high schoolers next year. 

 

In California in order to get into a UC or State school it is recommended to take the a-g college requirements that have a limited high school textbook list, and use the CC or Scout or use the schools moodle courses to get the requirements.

 

There is one school that is homeschool friendly in the UC system. Just how friendly I do not know. 

 

We have a large family with kids with special needs and honestly not sure if we can afford any college at this point. 

The kids will have to get scholarships in order to go to college. We are just barely making it now month to month. 

 

The two kids I am speaking about are pretty quiet and shy and not aggressive. 

They like structure in their life but as of late have been slacking off in their work. Adolescence? Blame it on Mindcraft.

They say they do want to be educated and want to go to college. I will support them in whatever they want to do with their life except for self destructive life patterns. 

 

Amongst our homeschooling group, they are advanced compared to their peers academically because most of our homeschool friends are pretty relaxed with their homeschooling lessons or they have much younger kids etc. I have no comparison.

They have taken the PSAT for fun and practice and really can't understand the test scores other than they are improving each year. 

Based on previous testing they are capable of doing a-g requirements but I am wondering is it worth the hassle and stress for me and them? Will it kill their love of learning? Already I feel they really slack and they don;t get as much done during the day as I would like. 

 

So decisions to be made:

Should we just go through regular high school curriculum or do a-g requirements through our charter school? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Carol in Cal.]

I ended up sending my DD to a brick and mortar high school largely to keep her options open for A-G.

 

So I don't have direct experience with this.

 

However, I BELIEVE, emphasis on BELIEVE, that the charters (or at least mine, which was Ocean Grove) are more deterministic about how to be certified for A-G than the actual universities are.  For instance, I used Saxon for Algebra 1 in 8th grade, and according to the state curriculum lists at the time, that would qualify for A-G credit, but Ocean Grove would only give DD A-G credit for Algebra 1 if we used one specific textbook that they prescribed, and if DD took a final exam that they designed.  They wouldn't even let her take the state test for kids that took algebra that year.  IOW, they were MORE restrictive than the state required.

 

I have heard this from others, parents who actually did homeschool high school.  

 

I would suggest checking to see whether it's still true (my information is about 6 years old) and whether you might be better off leaving the charter completely so you can pick your own curricula for high school and still do the A-G requirements.  Some of my friends did that, and some took the 'my kid is going to JC first' route (as you probably know, JC is cheaper here than in almost any other state.)  Some had their kids take the CHSBE and then go to JC for 4 years to finish high school and do all general ed requirements plus some exploration before going off to Cal or whatever other state university they were interested in.  There are a lot of paths through high school in this state; unfortunately all of them kind of fraught.  

 

BTW, UC Riverside is the one that likes homeschoolers.  I don't think you would have much trouble getting one into UC Merced either--it's rapidly growing so I believe that admissions are pretty easy.  It's primarily a STEM school.  

Edited January 12, 2016 by Carol in Cal.

[Julie of KY]

 

Based on previous testing they are capable of doing a-g requirements but I am wondering is it worth the hassle and stress for me and them? Will it kill their love of learning? Already I feel they really slack and they don;t get as much done during the day as I would like. 

 

 

I would take away distractions (such as Minecraft) and challenge them to step up to whatever level of schoolwork they are capable of. The more they learn and the more they learn how to learn, the better off they'll be for providing for themselves for the future.

[Juliegmom]

Even before reading this article, I decided that jumping through hoops to try to meet a-g requirements wasn't worth it.I enjoy the freedom of being able to select our own curriculum to meet my daughter's individual needs. California is an easy state to homeschool in, but their universities are not homeschool friendly. :(

 

http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/12/californias-higher-education-crisis/418293/

[Ms.Ivy]

I think charter schools over-emphasize the need for a-g stuff so that homeschoolers will stick with the charter for high school. Going to community college and then transferring to a UC or State school is a valid, cheaper option for many people, and then you don't have to worry about a-g in high school. There are lot of ways to do it in California, so if you don't want to do it the charter school's way, you don't have to.

[MarkT]

, and if DD took a final exam that they designed.  

 

They wouldn't even let her take the state test for kids that took algebra that year.  IOW, they were MORE restrictive than the state required.

 

Why don't they just use the same EOC exam as the state does?  In AZ that is required for regular PS and charters which are public!!

[Carol in Cal.]

Why don't they just use the same EOC exam as the state does?  In AZ that is required for regular PS and charters which are public!!

In CA there are two eighth grade tests; one for students who have taken algebra 1 and one for students who have not.  The one for students who have not is basically the same test DD took in seventh grade.  When OG withdrew their registration for the algebra state test to students who they would not A-G certify as having had algebra, it threw DD and many friends of ours out all at the same time.  It was not until November so it was too late to go back and start over with their stupid book.  So DD was screwed.

 

I opted her out of state testing that year, in writing.  No less than 5 people called to tell me that I couldn't do that, but I stuck to my guns and did it.  They probably would have kicked me out after that, but the next year we were leaving anyway.

[MarkT]

In CA there are two eighth grade tests; one for students who have taken algebra 1 and one for students who have not.  The one for students who have not is basically the same test DD took in seventh grade.  When OG withdrew their registration for the algebra state test to students who they would not A-G certify as having had algebra, it threw DD and many friends of ours out all at the same time.  It was not until November so it was too late to go back and start over with their stupid book.  So DD was screwed.

 

I opted her out of state testing that year, in writing.  No less than 5 people called to tell me that I couldn't do that, but I stuck to my guns and did it.  They probably would have kicked me out after that, but the next year we were leaving anyway.

CA should just allow all students to take the high school level (Algebra 1, 2, Geometry, etc) state EOC exams (at their home school district) as appropriate for material studied.  New York state allows this for home-schoolers which helps them get into public colleges.  AZ does not do this but there probably is little demand since we don't have A-G requirements.

[yvonne]

 

Should we just go through regular high school curriculum or do a-g requirements through our charter school? 

 

Here are a couple of threads about a-g with some posts about a-g & charters:

 

CA A-G Requirements

How do you get a-g accreditation?

a-g requirements for California UC/State schools

 

An alternative for satisfying a-g requirements is to take SAT/AP/SAT subject exams and meet certain scores set by the UC system.

 

Whether or not to jump the hoops necessary to satisfy a-g requirements through a charter really depends on your family's individual goals and priorities. If finances are a major consideration, it might be worth looking at attending a community college for two years and then transferring to the UC system, if that's where you want to be. If you go the community college route, you don't need to worry about all the a-g hoops.

Edited January 13, 2016 by yvonne

[J-rap]

I'm not in California so can't address that part at all.  But if part of your question is, should you keep the option of college open even if it is unlikely, my answer is yes.  I had no idea what my children were going to do after high school, and we didn't insist on college.  But I always wanted that to be an option kept open.  Four out of my five children ended up going to college.  (And who knows, the other one might someday.)

[JennW in SoCal]

Here are a couple of threads about a-g with some posts about a-g & charters:

 

CA A-G Requirements

How do you get a-g accreditation?

a-g requirements for California UC/State schools

 

An alternative for satisfying a-g requirements is to take SAT/AP/SAT subject exams and meet certain scores set by the UC system.

 

Whether or not to jump the hoops necessary to satisfy a-g requirements through a charter really depends on your family's individual goals and priorities. If finances are a major consideration, it might be worth looking at attending a community college for two years and then transferring to the UC system, if that's where you want to be. If you go the community college route, you don't need to worry about all the a-g hoops.

 

It seems like this has been quite the hot topic around here recently. And I'll repeat what yvonne wrote -- you have to decide if those a-g hoops are worth it to your family and your individual student.

 

All I have to offer is anecdotal. Most (99%) of the homeschool kids I know did NOT jump those hoops. Most went through community college first then transferred to a UC.  Some of those kids started CC in high school in order to get better science or math or language classes. (I believe you don't have to pay tuition for coursework taken as a high schooler doing dual enrollment.) Some graduated from a charter then entered CC and have since transferred to a UC.  

 

I'm going to echo Carol here in talking about charter schools. The problem I had with using a charter school for a-g requirements was that I had to use UC approved text books, and there was an issue of needing to have an "expert" in the field teaching the course or assessing the student's work. It's been a few years for me, too, so I may not be articulating this correctly, but the bottom line was that I could not tailor coursework to fit my teens, and that did not work for us. One of my sons graduated from a charter with the basic high school diploma, started at a community college then got his degree from a private school, the other dropped the charter after 10th grade, took the CHSPE, went to community college then started at a private college as a freshman. Charter schools would like to boast about the number of their students going straight to a UC, but as a homeschool parent you get to decide what is best for your family. 

 

Teens change so much through the high school and early college years.  If the a-g course work doesn't fit your teens now, it doesn't mean you are closing the door to college. Your unique homeschool coursework and community college might be the better route academically and financially. Start nagging the administrators at the charter you are with about your non a-g options and about doing dual enrollment at the local community college.

[JanetC]

It is really hard to envision where someone will be at the end of the high school years: Family finances change, college funding changes, and kids grown and change as well.

 

I agree w/ J-rap that you should keep a path to college open. Work with your state homeschool association to learn how others have gotten their kids into the state system, if that is the best path for your kids. If the kids have decent stats, they may also qualify for aid at a private institution that may be better than the UC system. (I'm not in CA, but Lynn O'Shaughnessy, who writes about college costs from San Diego, finds examples year after year where private colleges have been more generous than the UCs with her clients.)

 

There are two paths to financial aid: Merit awards go to kids with high grades and high test scores, while need-based awards go to families with lower incomes and assets. You may qualify for both kinds of aid. Merit awards are "free money" while need-based awards can include "free money", loans, and work-study jobs. So, going after merit aid is better, but it is very common for kids to have loans and jobs these days as well. You may not have to pay for everything out of pocket.

[Guest Ligia]

I was looking at the UC requirements to make sure we are not missing anything, and I remembered your post. This link from the University of California Admissions page may be of help regarding the "a-g" courses. You may have already seen it but here it is just in case.

 

http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/freshman/requirements/a-g-requirements/index.html

 

 

[...................]

It doesn't matter if the TEXTBOOk you use is A-G approved because if you are not using it under an A-G approved "Master Teacher" who has submitted his/her credentials and the course to the UC Board of Approval, you will NOT recieve A-G credit.  In fact, as a private homeschooler there is no way to have A-G Approved courses.

 

Your options are:

1.  Fulfill A-G requirements through testing out each course, which can be done with either an AP exam grade of 4 or 5 or an SAT 2 SUbject Test (but it's sometimes hard to find a place to do the AP testing, which is why most opt mostly for the SAT 2 subject tests which you register for ONLINe thorugh the college board and then go far and wide to whichever public school is offering them...).  This means you can take *whatever* course you want, and use the SAT 2 or AP prep books to study, and then take the test.  In fact, some very intelligent kids that are motivated and test well, don't even take the full courses.  Sometimes they just study several different SAT2 subject books.  They can also mix in a few Dual Enrollment classes if the score is C or better.  I know only one person who chose this route.  It is the hardest route, but has the most statistical chance of your student going straight from high school to a UC.

 

2.  Use the "Admission by Examination" Route.  This would mean that if your student scores VERY well on the SAT plus 2 SAT 2 Subject tests, they will "overlook" the fact that your student was homeschooled and admit your student.  This is the second most popular route for homeschoolers to go to a UC/Cal State.

 

3.  Go to COmmunity COllege for 2 years and then Transfer, making sure to meet with a counselor and fulfill the proper classes for transfer to the major your student is looking for.  This is the most popular route for homeschoolers.  

 

4.  Forget the UCs/CalStates and go private.  For strong students who tests well and either can get scholarships or parents can pay, this is a very popular route.  For example, if you have a student with very strong sports skills and can get a sports scholarship along with good grades and good SAT's, your student could attend a private university and would graduate with more debt, unless they have scholarships for a special program such as music or sports.

 

5.  As to Charter Schools, they make it SORT of easier and SORT OF not, to get into a UC.  You will still have difficulty meeting A-G requirements, as you will sometimes have to travel far and wide to meet with the Master Teachers that the Charter school has overseeing their A-G classes.  Since you have to meet with the Master Teacher a minimum of a certain number of hours PER week, PER course, it can get very time consuming.  For example, say that your child is a sophomore in high school through Ocean Grove taking Chemistry, History, Math, and fulfilling her A-G FIne Arts requirement as well as one of her A-G English.  She would have to go take the Chemistry lab once a week at the one lab center that the Charter School approves of,  which would suck up half your money.  She would have to use particular textbooks and teacher's manuals with pre-written very time consuming assignments and Skype with her Chemistry, and history, AND math teacher each once or twice per week. SO you are talking about 6-7 hours per week around other people's schedules and requirements, and they aren't necessarily engaging or enjoyable classes...they are more like meetings... What I have heard, is that it makes more sense to go Private, and take the CHSPE after 10th grade and enroll early in Community College...than it does to go through all that. But, to each his own.  There's a different way for everyone!

 

We are doing option 2, but also plan to use CC courses if we can get some through DE (our colleges are so overcrowded most high school kids can't get them even if they are approved...although you can also take the CHSPE and not actually graduate and just pay for college courses and as long as you don't take more than 2 per year, you can include them on your high school transcript as a high schooler and go into college as a freshman)  

 

THE CC's here are truly high quality.  You should not rule them out...and in fact most homeschooler find it is FAR less stressful and saves a ton of money to do two years of CC.  YOu can start in 11th grade ...or you can take the CHSPE and keep your classes to a minimum and use them as high school courses and still be a freshman after 12th grade (IOW it's sort of like Dual Enrollment but you have to pay for the classes.  THis gives you higher senioritiy so that you will actually GET the classes you want.  If you live in a highly competitive popular area, this is the route you want.  If you live in a normal area or less highly competitive where the community colleges are less overcrowded then you would just Dual Enroll which is essentially free.)

 

 

Edited January 18, 2016 by Calming Tea

[shage]

It doesn't matter if the TEXTBOOk you use is A-G approved because if you are not using it under an A-G approved "Master Teacher" who has submitted his/her credentials and the course to the UC Board of Approval, you will NOT recieve A-G credit.  In fact, as a private homeschooler there is no way to have A-G Approved courses.

 

Your options are:

1.  Fulfill A-G requirements through testing out each course, which can be done with either an AP exam grade of 4 or 5 or an SAT 2 SUbject Test (but it's sometimes hard to find a place to do the AP testing, which is why most opt mostly for the SAT 2 subject tests which you register for ONLINe thorugh the college board and then go far and wide to whichever public school is offering them...).  This means you can take *whatever* course you want, and use the SAT 2 or AP prep books to study, and then take the test.  In fact, some very intelligent kids that are motivated and test well, don't even take the full courses.  Sometimes they just study several different SAT2 subject books.  They can also mix in a few Dual Enrollment classes if the score is C or better.  I know only one person who chose this route.  It is the hardest route, but has the most statistical chance of your student going straight from high school to a UC.

 

2.  Use the "Admission by Examination" Route.  This would mean that if your student scores VERY well on the SAT plus 2 SAT 2 Subject tests, they will "overlook" the fact that your student was homeschooled and admit your student.  This is the second most popular route for homeschoolers to go to a UC/Cal State.

 

3.  Go to COmmunity COllege for 2 years and then Transfer, making sure to meet with a counselor and fulfill the proper classes for transfer to the major your student is looking for.  This is the most popular route for homeschoolers.  

 

4.  Forget the UCs/CalStates and go private.  For strong students who tests well and either can get scholarships or parents can pay, this is a very popular route.  For example, if you have a student with very strong sports skills and can get a sports scholarship along with good grades and good SAT's, your student could attend a private university and would graduate with more debt, unless they have scholarships for a special program such as music or sports.

 

5.  As to Charter Schools, they make it SORT of easier and SORT OF not, to get into a UC.  You will still have difficulty meeting A-G requirements, as you will sometimes have to travel far and wide to meet with the Master Teachers that the Charter school has overseeing their A-G classes.  Since you have to meet with the Master Teacher a minimum of a certain number of hours PER week, PER course, it can get very time consuming.  For example, say that your child is a sophomore in high school through Ocean Grove taking Chemistry, History, Math, and fulfilling her A-G FIne Arts requirement as well as one of her A-G English.  She would have to go take the Chemistry lab once a week at the one lab center that the Charter School approves of,  which would suck up half your money.  She would have to use particular textbooks and teacher's manuals with pre-written very time consuming assignments and Skype with her Chemistry, and history, AND math teacher each once or twice per week. SO you are talking about 6-7 hours per week around other people's schedules and requirements, and they aren't necessarily engaging or enjoyable classes...they are more like meetings... What I have heard, is that it makes more sense to go Private, and take the CHSPE after 10th grade and enroll early in Community College...than it does to go through all that. But, to each his own.  There's a different way for everyone!

 

We are doing option 2, but also plan to use CC courses if we can get some through DE (our colleges are so overcrowded most high school kids can't get them even if they are approved...although you can also take the CHSPE and not actually graduate and just pay for college courses and as long as you don't take more than 2 per year, you can include them on your high school transcript as a high schooler and go into college as a freshman)  

 

THE CC's here are truly high quality.  You should not rule them out...and in fact most homeschooler find it is FAR less stressful and saves a ton of money to do two years of CC.  YOu can start in 11th grade ...or you can take the CHSPE and keep your classes to a minimum and use them as high school courses and still be a freshman after 12th grade (IOW it's sort of like Dual Enrollment but you have to pay for the classes.  THis gives you higher senioritiy so that you will actually GET the classes you want.  If you live in a highly competitive popular area, this is the route you want.  If you live in a normal area or less highly competitive where the community colleges are less overcrowded then you would just Dual Enroll which is essentially free.)

 

This is an excellent summary of options.  I would add:

 

6.  Consider WUE schools.  Tuition for California students who attend WUE schools is often between what the Cal States and the UC's charge.  Most importantly:  They don't give a rip about a-g.  Admissions policies vary by state and specific schools, but there seems to be a general openness to homeschool graduates.

[Laurel-in-CA]

I would add that how the charter administers their a-g requirement classes matters. With dd #2, the charter we were using made a class a-g by both using state-approved text & syllabus AND having the master-teacher component through a 1-hour online chat session with its own homework. The two were NOT coordinated, and due dates were often simultaneous, leaving dd stressed about which to give her attention to. The chat session orientation was quite lacking and left dd feeling unwanted/unlistened to in the discussions. Because this is my dd who finds school very difficult anyway and she was dealing with anxiety that year, we ended up opting out of the A-g progression in english. Opting out of that in ONE class effectively disqualified her COMPLETELY from getting an A-g certified diploma. For us and for her emotional situation at the time, it was the right decision. But there ought to be a better solution!

 

BTW, same dd tested into English 1 (no remedial class) at our excellent CC and pulled a B -- a very stressed-out B, but a B!!!! For her that was a huge effort (seeing the teacher and the writing center folks weekly) and a huge success.

 

PS -- UC Riverside allows admission by test score and portfolio. They have homeschool dads who are profs on the review committee. But their scholarships tend to heavily favor students who they think will stay and serve in the Inland Empire...they're very conscious of regional needs. Their pre-med program has a particularly heavy emphasis on that, from what I can tell reading the alumni publications.

[...................]

Yes, that is true about Washington State! Many of the young accomplished homeschoolers we knew went up to Washington and Oregon.

 

Also, just a note about UCRiverside- it is now the UC's flagship Homose*ual campus.  It is very very very prominent there, with an entire side of the campus dedicated to LGBT housing, LBBT murals all over the walls, LGBT rallies, it's really really a very very very strong presence there....so just keep that in mind with Riverside.

[daijobu]

 

 

2.  Use the "Admission by Examination" Route.  This would mean that if your student scores VERY well on the SAT plus 2 SAT 2 Subject tests, they will "overlook" the fact that your student was homeschooled and admit your student.  This is the second most popular route for homeschoolers to go to a UC/Cal State.

 

3.  Go to COmmunity COllege for 2 years and then Transfer, making sure to meet with a counselor and fulfill the proper classes for transfer to the major your student is looking for.  This is the most popular route for homeschoolers.  

 

 

Thank you, Calming Tea!  I'm going to save this post.  

 

I didn't realize option 2 existed.  What is your definition of doing "very well on the SAT?"  Does the applicant need to walk on water, as they say?  

 

Regarding option 3, don't certain community college classes meet an a-g requirement?  

 

Can the options be mixed for different subjects?  Like a student could take a one year approved history class AND take an SAT subject test in Spanish?

 

ETA:  It looks like already answered in option 1, but could you confirm anyhow?  This is a major concern for us now.  Thank you!  

Edited January 18, 2016 by daijobu

[Ellie]

I think charter schools over-emphasize the need for a-g stuff so that homeschoolers will stick with the charter for high school. Going to community college and then transferring to a UC or State school is a valid, cheaper option for many people, and then you don't have to worry about a-g in high school. There are lot of ways to do it in California, so if you don't want to do it the charter school's way, you don't have to.

 

:iagree: :iagree: :iagree:

 

I wish I could *like* this post more than once.

 

Public schools (which includes charter schools) don't want parents to know that their children can take classes at the community college and transfer those credits to UC or State schools. Because when parents privately homeschool their children, the state doesn't get ADA funds, and they want that money.

 

File your own affidavit. Let the dc take classes at the community college. Call it good.

[shage]

My opinion, a-g matters little for college because the only thing impacted is first 2 years at a UC or Cal State, and even that might not be true if the student has very high test scores or is willing to attend UC Riverside. CC, private schools, and out of state schools within the tuition exchange don't care about a-g.

 

The bigger issue we have faced is what to do with a kid who starts homeschooling independently and then changes his or her mind and wants to attend public high school. Technically the school does not have to issue any credit for work done at home. I have heard from local veteran homeschoolers that prior to a-g, some high schools would.

 

Giving up a-g is something of a one time decision and it's worth talking through the implications with the student impacted.

[...................]

Thank you, Calming Tea!  I'm going to save this post.  

 

I didn't realize option 2 existed.  What is your definition of doing "very well on the SAT?"  Does the applicant need to walk on water, as they say?  

 

Regarding option 3, don't certain community college classes meet an a-g requirement?  

 

Can the options be mixed for different subjects?  Like a student could take a one year approved history class AND take an SAT subject test in Spanish?

 

ETA:  It looks like already answered in option 1, but could you confirm anyhow?  This is a major concern for us now.  Thank you!  

 

To fulfill a-g requirements you may definitely mix options.  However, as a homeschooler you can't easily mix a-g high school classes and the other ways of doing it, mostly because you'd have to go through the rigamarole of proving it with testing *anyway*...so IF you chose the a-g route, you could mix some CC classes, some SAT2 Subjects tests and some AP tests of 4 or 5.  The hardest part of Option 1 is that they no longer allow testing out of Geometry, but being able to take Geometry at a local high school is hard to find, and being able to take it in college is hard to do.  Honestly only SUPER SUPER SUPER and I mean Type A to the COre moms AND KIDS who TEST VERY WELL take Option 1.  But, they do do it.  The people who choose Option 1 are the people who feel the UC is the only way to go for their family, directly out of high school both because they are academic high achievers and don't want tons of debt.   

 

As to Option 2, it depends.  The one good thing about UC's is that they immediately share your app with all UC's.  The Testing by examination route is a great route to use, and even combined with CC either paid or Dual Enrollment it doesn't matter, you can combine.  Look at the average test scores of the UC your child is interested in.  If your child scores well above that AND scores high on two Sat2 Subject tests of your child's subject of interest, then your child will likely be admitted.  They also have to write an essay and a few other things similar to most applicants.  

[quark]

 

I didn't realize option 2 existed.  What is your definition of doing "very well on the SAT?"  Does the applicant need to walk on water, as they say?  

 

Regarding option 3, don't certain community college classes meet an a-g requirement?  

 

Can the options be mixed for different subjects?  Like a student could take a one year approved history class AND take an SAT subject test in Spanish?

 

ETA:  It looks like already answered in option 1, but could you confirm anyhow?  This is a major concern for us now.  Thank you!  

 

Not Calming Tea but you can check what the average SAT scores are by campus by clicking on the freshman admit profile links. As they say on the page though, you want to be careful about drawing conclusions. Plus, their requirements for homeschoolers might be tighter in general (anecdotal advice given to me by veteran parents).

 

Yes, certain CC courses do meet a-g requirements. See this site for an a-g listing by CC.

 

One way we are meeting a-g requirements while also allowing DS some flexibility is to go ahead and craft our own courses wherever we want to and then "verifying" them by taking the highest level course he could take for that subject at the CC or even a UC via dual enrollment/ concurrent enrollment. So for example, he will have 4 years of English of which only two are a-g compliant. His 4th a-g compliant English is a Freshman Composition course from the CC. A grade of C or better fulfills the UC's general breadth requirements (you can check this through Assist.org) and validates all of his other English courses. I don't have this assurance from a UC official though, only from a handful of parents whose DC were successfully admitted with a similar course list. (ETA: I forgot to add that his SAT scores will also validate his 2 non a-g courses).

 

We have tried to make DS's homeschool journey as personalized and interesting and meaningful as possible. Once he expressed interest in applying to UCs, I reverted to a more a-g compliant junior and senior year plan albeit with his input so that he is still choosing courses based on interest (from the CC) -- at least as much as possible. :laugh:

Edited January 19, 2016 by quark

[quark]

As to Option 2, it depends.  The one good thing about UC's is that they immediately share your app with all UC's.  The Testing by examination route is a great route to use, and even combined with CC either paid or Dual Enrollment it doesn't matter, you can combine.  Look at the average test scores of the UC your child is interested in.  If your child scores well above that AND scores high on two Sat2 Subject tests of your child's subject of interest, then your child will likely be admitted.  They also have to write an essay and a few other things similar to most applicants.  

 

I think it's important to state that the "will likely be admitted" is very campus dependent.

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yes, agreeing with quark...I think "will likely be admitted" wasn't a good choice of words...

 

For example one student I know really wanted to go to UC Davis and had the SAT scores and the 2 SAT2 subject test scores...she ended up going to UC Santa Cruz's Engineering department.  UCSC was willing to take her as they are building their engineering right now.  UC Davis turned her down...even though her SAT's were in line with their averages.  She's happy at UCSC.....my kids don't ever want to go there, but to each his own. :o)