Community college & homeschooler.

[journey00]

Many times, it has been suggested for my 16yr old to take a class at the community college, such as speech. We do have a cc in our small town but they require an ACT score and dual enrollment but she's not ready to take the ACT. I cannot graduate her early because they won't allow her to enroll full time until her grade level graduates from the local high school. Are some cc more homeschool friendly? There's another cc about 45 min. away. I would love for her to take speech now but she's not ready for the ACT although she is technically ready for cc classes. The cc classes are not exactly too difficult, I'm probably harder on her. Have you found a work around this at your cc? Is there a specific question I need to ask? Please, share with me. Thanks.

Edited January 18, 2016 by journey00

[Arcadia]

Does your community college offer an english placement test? Some of my local community colleges don't take the ACT or SAT so they have placement tests for english, math and chemistry.

[SparklyUnicorn]

Do they require the ACT even if the student is not matriculating?  They don't have the same requirements at our CC for someone who is not matriculated.  Kind of defeats the purpose of "community college".  My kid is taking a class starting this week.  They did have him take a placement test because he is taking a course that has a prerequisite, but otherwise that's all he had to do. 

 

 

[journey00]

Ty for the replies. Both have mentioned placement tests. Ask if she can take a placement test for that particular class in lieu of ACT? Is that the magic phrase? Ty for educating me.

[MarkT]

What ACT scores are they looking for?  For CC this is probably fairly low.

[SparklyUnicorn]

Well what would they do if you wanted to take a class there?  Would they seriously make you take the ACT?  I didn't say anything.  I went down there and signed him up.  At that point they sent us to the advisement office to deal with the fact the course had a prerequisite.  So going back and forth on that they suggested their placement.  I would have been fine without them doing that, but we went ahead and did it.  That was it.  He scored well enough and we finished registering. 

[SparklyUnicorn]

Probably different CCs are different.  So hard to say.  But CCs tend to take all sorts of students so I'm sure there is more than one way to go about it. 

 

My argument is if my kid is not matriculating and I'm paying for the course out of my own pocket then what do they care (assuming it's not full)?

 

 

 

 

 

[The Girls' Mom]

Our CC does require ACT scores for DE students, so it isn't unheard of.  However, the scores required aren't terribly high.  Why do you think she isn't ready for the ACT but is ready for CC classes?

[SparklyUnicorn]

The magic phrase is 'dual enrollment'. They may call it early college. There is a placement exam here.

 

Early high school grads here arent having any trouble enrolling in post-secondary schools , if they are academically qualified. It takes some special planning if they are under 16.

 

Interesting.  I had no trouble.  My kid is 14 on Thursday.

 

But I am sure schools vary in terms of requirements for entry.

[Matryoshka]

Do they require the ACT even if the student is not matriculating?  They don't have the same requirements at our CC for someone who is not matriculated.  Kind of defeats the purpose of "community college".  My kid is taking a class starting this week.  They did have him take a placement test because he is taking a course that has a prerequisite, but otherwise that's all he had to do. 

 

This.  The ACT is for kids who have graduated and are matriculating (enrolling full time for a degree).  Most CCs will let people take some classes (say 1-3) without matriculating and then they just ask for a placement test (there's the Accuplacer and another one I can't remember).

 

If you're lucky, the school will have Dual Enrollment.  There are different lower age limits - some don't really have one as long as you can pass the placement test, ours is 14, I've also heard of some that are 16.  Dual Enrollment is often free or discounted vs. the regular tuition.  Our local one is half price.

 

We do have another local CC that doesn't have a Dual Enrollment program.  This does not mean that kids can't take classes before graduating high school, it just means that they have to pay full tuition for each class they take.  Still no ACT or SAT required, just a placement test and your money.

 

[regentrude]

Why not simply have her take the ACT so they can check the box? I cannot imagine a CC to require high scores.

She can always retake it later and do better.

Edited January 18, 2016 by regentrude

[Sebastian (a lady)]

It does vary greatly by the community college system, it's regular student population and how full classes are.  When we were in California, where many of the state schools are "impacted" and struggle to offer enough seats for college students, some of the CC's wouldn't enroll any high school students.  Other colleges would only enroll students who were in specific partnership programs as specific high schools.  Other colleges had no issue enrolling high schoolers, but charged them the same tuition and fees as other students.  

 

I have had colleges ask for transcripts and college placement tests.  I talking to the outreach counselors, there seems to be a concern that high schoolers will enroll in college level courses and either be upset with the adult content (English courses in particular) or will not perform well in class and will end up with a less than great college grade that follows them.  This isn't an unrealistic concern.

 

If the require the ACT, why not have your kid take it.  Odds are, they want a score in the college benchmark range (low-mid 20s), not something that is in the upper percentiles.  

[SparklyUnicorn]

The schools vary wildly here. At age 15, the DE provider for College Algebra, a SUNY 2 year, refused to allow my son to enroll for the course at his high school, citing age/grade. His h.s. math dept chair negotiated and they let him take the class for high school credit only. They were rigid ....must be a high school junior. No sophomores, no freshmen. A different 2 year SUNY, in an adjacent county, has since relaxed their age/grade rules and now any student that qualifies academically can enroll. My kid would have gone there for gr 10 thru 12 had that been available when he was in those grades. The regional 4 yr SUNY does not allow high schoolers at all.

 

The only discount for DE courses here is for students taking the course at their high school. People taking the course on the college campus are full pay.

 

Yeah I didn't get a discount.  There is a school not too far from here though that gives discounts supposedly to any high school student.  It's too far to drive there, but they include their on-line courses too.  They were less willing to work with me due to my kid's age.  Although I asked if it is out of the question or just heavily discouraged.  They said heavily discouraged. 

 

The local high school has some agreement with SUNY Albany, but the courses on the list are kinda dumb.  Stuff like Chinese.  No math at all.  Basically just stuff the school doesn't offer. 

 

Not saying Chinese is dumb.  Just that my kid isn't interested in Chinese. 

[Ellie]

Many times, it has been suggested for my 16yr old to take a class at the community college, such as speech. We do have a cc in our small town but they require an ACT score and dual enrollment but she's not ready to take the ACT. I cannot graduate her early because they won't allow her to enroll full time until her grade level graduates from the local high school. Are some cc more homeschool friendly? There's another cc about 45 min. away. I would love for her to take speech now but she's not ready for the ACT although she is technically ready for cc classes. The cc classes are not exactly too difficult, I'm probably harder on her. Have you found a work around this at your cc? Is there a specific question I need to ask? Please, share with me. Thanks.

 

CC policies vary widely from state to state, and sometimes even within the same state.

 

California c.c.s don't require high school credits at all, nor ACT/SAT scores (many have some sort of a placement test for new students, but it is just *placement,* not ACT/SAT).

[Matryoshka]

The only discount for DE courses here is for students taking the course at their high school. People taking the course on the college campus are full pay.

 

There's no such thing as DE at a high school here.  You have to go on campus.

 

And it does vary here even from CC to CC - the one closest to me has a very robust DE program, and the just a bit further away in the other direction doesn't have a DE program at all (although I know lots of high schooled homeschoolers that take classes there anyway; it's just not an official program, and no discount).

 

And they just changed the DE rules at our local CC this past year.  Used to be a DE student could take any course they placed into; now it has to be a college-level course (101 or above).  So, high school students can't take high school level (remedial) courses, only college level courses.  Only the college students can take high school level courses.  My brain hurts now. ;)

 

[Homeschoolmom3]

Here in VA they require placement tests. 

 

There are other dual enrollent programs online out there that are rather cheap if you want to just try a course to tip your toes in without worrying about placement tests or SAT scores.  I know Bluefield College as well as Taylor University do not require any tests and you can enroll when you are ready.  We have had great success with Bluefield my son took some classes this year at 15 and did really well and enjoyed it.  I do know there are many places where you can do online classes dual enrolled but you would have to check with the school and some are rather pricey.  BC worked great for us due to the cost and ease.  Good luck!

[EKS]

CC policies vary widely from state to state, and sometimes even within the same state.

 

And sometimes even depending on who you talk to at the same CC.

[Ellie]

And sometimes even depending on who you talk to at the same CC.

 

And that makes me so angry!

 

I tell people to get information in writing, and the name of every.person.they.talk.to, because more than one homeschooler has either spent six hours going from office to office or had children who spent a whole semester attending class and doing all the assignments just like all the other students but then getting no credit at all at the end. :banghead:

[SparklyUnicorn]

And sometimes even depending on who you talk to at the same CC.

 

YES!!!

 

Seriously, I know for a fact we are not the first homeschoolers to go there and yet the person acted like she had never heard of such a thing.  I was there literally for hours ironing out the details. 

[Mom22ns]

Ty for the replies. Both have mentioned placement tests. Ask if she can take a placement test for that particular class in lieu of ACT? Is that the magic phrase? Ty for educating me.

 

Yes, this is the magic phrase. They are looking at English, Reading and Math ACT scores, but have placement tests that students can do instead. 

 

That said, at our CC students have to score "college level" on at least two of those placement tests to take any class. My dd scored very high on all 3, but got unimpressive ACT scores, the difference being the placement tests were untimed.

[Ellie]

Yes, this is the magic phrase. They are looking at English, Reading and Math ACT scores, but have placement tests that students can do instead. 

 

That said, at our CC students have to score "college level" on at least two of those placement tests to take any class. My dd scored very high on all 3, but got unimpressive ACT scores, the difference being the placement tests were untimed.

 

At the c.c. where my dc started, they have to place at certain levels to take college-level classes of any kind (e.g. science or history), or they can take pre-requisite, non-college-level classes and pass. For younger homeschooled children, this is not a bad thing. :-)

[foxbridgeacademy]

Our local CC will allow students to take a test called the Compass for placement in replacement of the SAT/ACT.  And yes, some CC's are more friendly then others to HSer's.

[dereksurfs]

In CA it can vary by county and to a lessor extent school.  For example, in Monterey, our kids can start dual enrollment at our CC in middle school after taking a placement test.  They are able to take up to 11 units.  In San Jose (~60 miles away) at SJCC only 11th and 12th graders may enroll and they may only take 'one' course per semester.  I recommend checking other CCs near you.

[Ellie]

In CA it can vary by county and to a lessor extent school.  For example, in Monterey, our kids can start dual enrollment at our CC in middle school after taking a placement test.  They are able to take up to 11 units.  In San Jose (~60 miles away) at SJCC only 11th and 12th graders may enroll and they may only take 'one' course per semester.  I recommend checking other CCs near you.

 

My dds went to Evergreen Valley College in San Jose; they enrolled as "students under 18 not enrolled in high school," and were able to take as many classes as they wanted, earning college credit. Things may have changed since they did that, but even then, SJCC didn't allow that kind of enrollment. I think Evergreen had a huge homeschool population after a couple of years because of that. Mission College and De Anza only allowed dual enrollment (high school students).

[BlsdMama]

Our local CC will allow students to take a test called the Compass for placement in replacement of the SAT/ACT. And yes, some CC's are more friendly then others to HSer's.

Yes, this is exactly how our community college operates.

[journey00]

Wow! I just got home & I'm giddy that I have so many replies to read.  THANKS! :)