Aras Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 I'm not sure if this should go in this board or on the regular High School Board. I read on another forum that some colleges don't accept labs done at home as part of the 2 years of labs requirement. That those colleges only accept labs from accredited schools, like local high schools, community colleges, or certain online schools. Is this the case? For planning purposes I have looked at the requirements for a few colleges, but I have not seen that requirement anywhere. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted January 21, 2017 Share Posted January 21, 2017 Don't know, but what would be the reasoning? They accept everything else at home, but not labs? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kassia Posted January 21, 2017 Share Posted January 21, 2017 I have read this, too. I think it had something to do with the lab experience, collaborating with others, etc. It definitely concerns me. We were signed up to do a biology intensive with Landry Academy before they closed and I am panicked about what we will do about the lab experience. Our plan is to do chemistry and physics as a DE student so the labs shouldn't be an issue for those credits. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Girls' Mom Posted January 21, 2017 Share Posted January 21, 2017 None of mine applied to super competitive schools, but I've not seen anything that indicated that labs needed to be from an accredited school. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted January 21, 2017 Share Posted January 21, 2017 (edited) I'm not sure if this should go in this board or on the regular High School Board. Yes, you will probably get more responses if you put this on the High School Board. :) ...I read on another forum that some colleges don't accept labs done at home as part of the 2 years of labs requirement. That those colleges only accept labs from accredited schools, like local high schools, community colleges, or certain online schools. Is this the case? ... Not been my experience. Nor of anyone I know of in my homeschool group. Nor of any of the posts I've seen by people on these Boards -- and there have been a LOT of WTMers who have gone on to some very prestigious, top tier, and competitive / selective colleges, all without anyone questioning science labs. :) What the other forum poster *might* have been referring to is the one additional "hoop" required from homeschoolers when they apply specifically to ONE university: Arizona State University. ASU requires homeschoolers to fill out a special lab form that shows labs *were* performed, and done with scientific equipment, following scientific inquiry procedures. See these past threads: "Colleges that require proof of labs" "Obnoxious lab science requirements" "ASU only accepts live labs on high school transcript? Advice?" "The FlyingBunny: Response to your "ASU requires only live labs" thread" Of far more importance to colleges will be things like test scores (ACT/SAT) for admission and distributing scholarships, or SAT Subject or AP test scores or dual enrollment to show rigor of work level, and extracurriculars / awards / volunteering / work / personal passions to show that the student is an interesting, rounded, and responsible applicant for college. JMO. ;) BEST of luck as you plan for high school and beyond! Warmest regards, Lori D. Edited January 21, 2017 by Lori D. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JanetC Posted January 21, 2017 Share Posted January 21, 2017 Arizona State has been notoriously homeschool science unfriendly. You have to document you did "real" labs. https://students.asu.edu/sites/default/files/science_form_for_home_school_applicants1.pdf But I didn't see anything that said they had to be done at an accredited school. Some folks turn "one oddball college" into "colleges." If you do not do labs in an accredited school, there will still be plants of other places to apply. Things change over time as well. There was a school in California(?) that didn't accept religious biology courses, but I'm not finding a link for that. University of Washington used to require a lot more documentation from homeschoolers but has backed off almost off of that. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted January 21, 2017 Share Posted January 21, 2017 (edited) None of the colleges my kids applied to questioned our home taught labs. That included a number of top tier schools for DD. Edited January 21, 2017 by regentrude 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kassia Posted January 21, 2017 Share Posted January 21, 2017 I'm not the OP, but wanted to thank everyone for posting because I've been stressing about this and feel a lot better after reading the responses. :) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garga Posted January 21, 2017 Share Posted January 21, 2017 I've not heard of that either. I'm keeping careful notes of every lab we do, giving the briefest of descriptions of what it is and what our goal was for the lab and how it turned out all on a Word document and I'll also be keeping my son's lab reports or worksheets he did for the labs. I included the supply list for each lab since I used a kit and it had decent chemicals and equipment in it. Not just hydrogen peroxide from the medicine cupboard but things like hydrochloric acid and stains and a microscope and all the doo-dads that come in science kits. I have no clue if anyone will ever request it, but it's super easy to jot this stuff down on a document and will be easy to stuff the lab sheets in a folder somewhere. It takes me less than 10 minutes per lab. It makes me breathe easier to know that the information is there if there's every some sort of question about it. Though, I highly doubt there will be a question about it. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teachermom2834 Posted January 21, 2017 Share Posted January 21, 2017 My ds applied to ten schools ranging from not competitive regional public, moderately competitive state flagship, to somewhat selective liberal arts colleges. No one questioned anything on our transcript or wanted course descriptions or any extra documentation at all. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aras Posted January 21, 2017 Author Share Posted January 21, 2017 Sounds like this was the equivalent of a homeschool bogeyman story. Thanks for sharing your experiences, I am very relieved! I will take future comments from that poster with a grain of salt. ASU is not on our radar, but I will still be diligent about recording our labs. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie of KY Posted January 21, 2017 Share Posted January 21, 2017 My son applied to several schools - some very competitive and all accepted his labs just fine. "I" can teach really good labs and many homeschoolers actually come to my home for labs, but of course colleges don't know that. As far as documentation I list science (with lab) on the transcript unless it's an AP course in which labs are already a requirement. I provide a course description with a short add on describing labs done for the course as well as any lab text listed with the course textbook. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowbeltmom Posted January 21, 2017 Share Posted January 21, 2017 My boys also have not had any trouble having their labs accepted by every college they applied to. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathy in Richmond Posted January 21, 2017 Share Posted January 21, 2017 (edited) Same here. All our science labs were done at home, and no colleges had any trouble at all with that. Like Julie, my course descriptions listed the labs we did in bio, chem, and physics. Not sure if any adcoms read that far, but I put them there just in case. Edited January 21, 2017 by Kathy in Richmond 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted January 21, 2017 Share Posted January 21, 2017 (edited) Sounds like this was the equivalent of a homeschool bogeyman story. Thanks for sharing your experiences, I am very relieved! I will take future comments from that poster with a grain of salt. Although, perhaps that poster was just having a freaking out moment from something they "heard"... ;) Edited January 21, 2017 by Lori D. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AFwife Claire Posted January 21, 2017 Share Posted January 21, 2017 Yes, just another one chiming in to say my kids, and kids in our small co-op, have been accepted to a wide range of average to Ivy League schools, including military academies, and not one of the schools has batted an eye at our transcripts, or asked for any single other thing regarding labs (or anything else, either, lol). I teach pretty much all the high school science courses, and we do the labs at my house, like Julie in KY. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom22ns Posted January 21, 2017 Share Posted January 21, 2017 Arizona State has been notoriously homeschool science unfriendly. You have to document you did "real" labs. https://students.asu.edu/sites/default/files/science_form_for_home_school_applicants1.pdf But I didn't see anything that said they had to be done at an accredited school. This was the only one that came to my mind as well. We never had any issues. If it had been necessary, I could have completed this documentation. We used real equipment and did solid labs. I agree that this is another (common) occurrence of one college being turned into "some colleges". If you surveyed every college in the world, you will find one that has about any policy you can imagine. It doesn't necessarily mean it represents a real issue for homeschoolers applying to college in general. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted January 21, 2017 Share Posted January 21, 2017 (edited) Arizona State has been notoriously homeschool science unfriendly. You have to document you did "real" labs. https://students.asu.edu/sites/default/files/science_form_for_home_school_applicants1.pdf But I didn't see anything that said they had to be done at an accredited school. Some folks turn "one oddball college" into "colleges." If you do not do labs in an accredited school, there will still be plants of other places to apply. Things change over time as well. There was a school in California(?) that didn't accept religious biology courses, but I'm not finding a link for that. University of Washington used to require a lot more documentation from homeschoolers but has backed off almost off of that. I had a chance to discuss the lab requirements with a long time member of ASU admissions staff about a year ago. I did not come away from the conversation thinking that ASU was anti-homeschooler. He expressed some frustration that the Arizona entity governing universities had created the lab documentation requirement, but that while ASU was following through, University of Arizona was not. I made a post shortly after the conversation, which I'll try to find. I was struck by the effort he made to explain all of the ways an applicant could document science experience that met the requirement. ACT scores with a strong Science subsection, dual enrollment classes in a lab science, and SAT Subject Tests in a science were all accepted. The document that explained a lab could be submitted if a student did not have other means of demonstrating science experiences. I have not had students apply to ASU, so I don't have first hand experience with their application review process. I did leave the conversation thinking that the requirement would not present an obstacle if my kids wanted to apply. [FWIW, I found schools like Drexel much more "anti-homeschooling" with their requirements for a GED, accredited diploma or 24 college credits. DS did not bother applying there, because of these requirements.] ETA: My post regarding the ASU requirements is post #11 in ASU only accepts "live labs" on high school transcript? Edited January 21, 2017 by Sebastian (a lady) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst Posted January 24, 2017 Share Posted January 24, 2017 None of the schools my daughter applied to or was accepted to rejected her at home labs. She completed 3 at home science courses (with labs) and one online course with labs completed at home. The schools ranged from large public universities such as Purdue to selective state schools such as William and Mary and small LACs like Sewanee or Smith. Solid course descriptions submitted with your application materials should go a long way in establishing solid science courses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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