So what does this mean for a 9th grader planning...

[mlktwins]

On 10/21/2019 at 8:57 AM, Farrar said:

I think part of the problem now is that not doing DE and AP's and so forth feels more like swimming against the tide than ever. So much so that people start to think that everyone saying they think it's a "good idea" and that colleges "like it" and that it "validates homeschool grades" means you really have to do it if your child is hoping to go to any kind of selective college. So people aren't typically saying you "have to" do those things. But the attitudes in the posts and the quantity of them start to make it feel that way for sure.

YES, YES, YES!!!  Especially in my area!!!

All of our homeschool friends, that my boys grew up with, are now in public or private school.  We are kind of starting over here.  When I meet new moms of high schooled homeschoolers in our area, most talk about "when" I DE my boys for 11th and 12th grade - like that is the only option.  Freaks me out -- LOL.

[Lori D.]

34 minutes ago, mlktwins said:

With regards to the SAT Subject tests, they are currently in a local Honors Biology class with lab... Part of this class, for her Honors students, is prep for the SAT Subject test (for those kids that want to take it)....

 

19 minutes ago, mlktwins said:

   On 10/18/2019 at 1:59 PM,  Penelope said: 

My thought about the subject tests is that they are easy to register for and are about as low stress as you can get for standardized testing in high school. They could be a complete waste of time, or they could be a nice boost to the application when it comes time, depending on what other strengths the student has...

This is my feeling on the subject tests

As with any of my comments, YMMV. 😉 Since your DSs don't mind tests, will be well-prepared for the SAT Subject Biology test, and colleges in your area may give you a boost for having it, go for it! 😄

23 minutes ago, mlktwins said:

Just from reading posts on this high school board and what I hear local people talking about (homeschoolers and public schoolers), I feel very behind the 8 ball on this part...

...We live in a very academically competitive area (Northern VA) and it seems the kids are pushed earlier and earlier into deciding on college and career paths in their first years of high school.  I think it is sad for those kids that aren't sure what the heck they want to do..

Ug. I hate that high competitiveness about college, when it really is not warranted for most students. So stressful. 😞  And so unnecessary and unhelpful. Kids may be forced to make those choices earlier and earlier -- and still a *majority* of college students *radically* switch majors partway through...

23 minutes ago, mlktwins said:

... I just want to be sure that we don't get to 11th and 12th grade and not have done something big we should have in 9th or 10th grade.  And "I" don't want to be the reason for something to have gone wrong...

Totally just my opinion, but I really can't think of anything critical that, if not done in 9th/10th grades, can't be added in if needed for 11th/12th grades.

However, I can see that it, if you have the time, it may be useful at this stage to begin looking at general college requirements, and understanding what financial aid is all about to help you have a better idea of what kinds of colleges to look at later on -- to know what kind of aid you need, and how much aid/what type of aid different colleges offer. But you have lots of time to learn about all of that, so no worries!

Also... as the saying goes "the best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry"... Unexpected things can happen that knock all your research and plans sideways. Sometimes we miss things. Or just never had the opportunity to learn about them in spite of all our work and research. But you know what... other doors open up and other paths become available that wouldn't have been otherwise. You are so conscientious and diligent, mlktwins -- it will work out, and it will work out *well*. 🙂 Hugs, Lori D.

Edited October 23, 2019 by Lori D.

[Farrar]

5 minutes ago, Lori D. said:

Totally just my opinion, but I really can't think of anything critical that, if not done in 9th/10th grades, can't be added in if needed for 11th/12th grades.

Overall, I agree. But... You do not want to get to junior year and realize you don't have any foreign language credits or any lab science credits. Or really any core subject that you haven't done at all. Of course, any of those things can be done. I knew of a family that got to junior year with no math credits and somehow managed to double up and get them done... but that's hardly a great situation and isn't exactly like realizing that the school you're applying to requires a half credit in civics or a third year of foreign language when you only planned two or something like that. 

Edited October 23, 2019 by Farrar

[Lori D.]

15 minutes ago, mlktwins said:

YES!!!!  This is what I don't want to do, but it is so hard!  And...I do want to investigate colleges, which I already feel behind the 8 ball on.  For some reason, I feel like I should already have this done!  To be honest, I wish my boys were enthusiastic about the topic and took initiative to do some of the research themselves -- LOL.  Alas, I don't see that happening.  College research is on my short list of things to work on during the winter.

I actually think it can be very counter-productive to make *young* high schoolers focus to much on college search process/college research. It stresses them out, and they don't know any sooner what they want to do with their lives. It can actually contribute to academic burn-out if they feel they have to push so hard in high school and have nothing left by the the time they hit college. And it can take away the strength of high school -- the ability to explore interests and see the wide variety of things out there.

Totally just me, but rather than having DSs do college research in 9th grade, I'd support their interests, build in them time to work on projects and topics of high interest, get them involved in a wide variety of interesting extracurriculars, do unit studies on bunny trails of interest in the main subject areas, and do some fun career exploration one afternoon a month.

And don't forget to ENJOY this fast-shrinking window of opportunity to make memories with your DSs as a family, and to enjoy your homeschool high school adventure together! Wishing you all the very BEST, taking each stage in stride, and not stressing about things still way down the road. 😉 Warmest regards, Lori D.

[mlktwins]

22 hours ago, 8FillTheHeart said:

In terms of my response in this thread, it was bc the OP posted a question that asked what to do and did so in a way that demonstrated lack of understanding about admissions in general and being stressed.....

But, my main thought in responding to the OP's thread was to reassure that there is no need to panic. Nor is there any need to associate homeschooling with lack of college acceptances. 

 

8 hours ago, 8FillTheHeart said:

The OP's tone is one of being overwhelmed and confused. Based on her description, she already fully embraces your perspective and is planning on having every form of "validation" available:

She is asking what more she should plan on doing. 

My posts are meant to be part of a conversation offering an alternative perspective to assure her she doesn't need to do anything more. She doesn't even need to everything she is planning; even for the most competitive schools you don't need subject tests/APs and DE. (they will need something far more compelling than just a transcript and test scores, though, for those schools.) And if her kids aren't considering competitive schools, maybe she isn't aware at all that she may not need any of those other than just simple ACT/SAT test scores. Most homeschoolers I encounter today do not know that. They don't think their homeschool "mommy" transcript would even be considered without lots of outside proof.

 

I am overwhelmed and feel behind , but the responses to this thread have helped me think about how I should proceed.

I was coming off a very stressful week when I posted this on Friday.  It was one of those weeks where a bunch of BIG things converged all in the same week and I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off.  And... I do keep seeing articles like the one I posted above, the fact that there will be changes to the ACT starting in September 2020, etc., that make me wonder what might be changing around the time my boys will be applying for college. 

I do want to clarify a few things.  I have posted this on the high school board before, but we are in a very competitive area school wise.  Within 10 miles of us, we have schools with a Cambridge Program, AP Scholar Program, Pre-Governors and Governors Program (this school was ranked in the top 25 in the country), and IB Program.  My boys were accepted into the IB Progam, which is a great program at a school that gets horrible ratings for many other reasons.  We are fine with our choice (the boys made the final decision), but I feel a little pressure to be doing at least as good as what they would get in the IB Program.  I am working on that.  Many of the public school kids here can DE during high school.  For their junior year, I am able to utilize the AP Scholar school for 2 classes a year (that school becomes our base school in 2 years).  I don't think I want to be tied to the school's schedule, but I'm pretty sure I will have access to many AP tests should we choose to do them.

I live 15 minutes from a well regarded community college that I just found out has an Honors Program.  They also have reciprocal agreements with many of our in-state (VA) schools.

I am feeling very good about our 9th grade year.  They LOVE their biology teacher.  I wish she taught more science classes, but the boys will be able to take social sciences with her over the next few years.  My husband is so impressed with what my boys are learning in Biology, he said they can take anything they want from her in future years.  She also works really hard on good study skills and setting them up for success in college.  Her social science classes can be On-Level, Honors, or AP - students choice.  This is where I think we might try an AP test or 2 - because we are taking the class anyway and I think she will set them up well for taking the test.  I think she might also be a good source for a letter of recommendation when the time comes.

I will most likely consider DE at some point and will be coming back here to post on that after the New Year.  I know I want to take the advice I've read here and have them take something they will do well at to get them started on the right path at CC.  I don't want to take something (like a 4 credit science class with lab) when I'm not sure how that would go, especially when I won't know the teachers.

I do want some of our school work to be "at home."  The 3 of us thrive on time at home and not rushing around.  They already swim 6 days a week (they love it), volunteer at the library, take 2 outside classes, and are part of the National Honor Society so they have meetings and service projects for that. They are doing great, but we are really protecting our Tuesdays and  Thursdays when we can be home more.

I do feel like we are a bit on a hamster wheel and I need to step back and think about the end result and what I want our high school experience to look like.  My new motto is "Comparison is the thief of joy."  I am going to try and keep this in mind as we move forward :-).       

Edited October 23, 2019 by mlktwins
typo

[Lori D.]

4 hours ago, Farrar said:

Overall, I agree. But... You do not want to get to junior year and realize you don't have any foreign language credits or any lab science credits. Or really any core subject that you haven't done at all. Of course, any of those things can be done. I knew of a family that got to junior year with no math credits and somehow managed to double up and get them done... but that's hardly a great situation and isn't exactly like realizing that the school you're applying to requires a half credit in civics or a third year of foreign language when you only planned two or something like that. 

Granted. But my experience with the handful of homeschool families I know locally who haven't been keeping up with core subjects in high school are also not planning on college.

And both Science with labs and Foreign Language are pretty easy to work in starting in 11th grade if you haven't done them at all -- many colleges only ask for 2 Foreign Language credits, and many ask for 3 Science credits with only 2 of them having labs. So even if you haven't done your research on colleges prior to 11th grade, as long as you're not planning on a selective/competitive college, it's not going to be that hard to work in something you realize is missing. 😉 

I'm not saying "don't look at college admission requirements before 11th grade." In fact, just the opposite. I give a lot of mentoring info sessions to homeschoolers in my area, and provide them with a packet of info on getting started, how to make a high school plan, and how to look at state high school graduation required credits and blend those with college admission required credits to come up with a bare bones skeleton of number and types of credits to plan for in homeschooling high school. In other words, I always advice preparedness from the *start* of homeschooling high school. 😉 I'm just saying "relax about the college search process." Or thinking you have to match up 9th grader with their future college before the end of the 9th grader's first semester in high school. 😉 

Edited October 23, 2019 by Lori D.

[mlktwins]

On 10/22/2019 at 12:47 PM, Penelope said:

To me, doing high school without outsourcing in any way (co-op, online, or tutors) would feel like swimming upstream. But it is my perception that more homeschoolers do DE and AP for credit reasons, to save on away college and graduate early, or be able to double major. Or because it is available and feels like the appropriate next step for the student.  Not so much because of what colleges think.

This is one of the things I've been wondering about.  I have heard that many public schoolers in our area, that attend our schools with the Cambridge Program, AP Scholar Program, etc., end up not getting credit for all the classes they should have once they actually apply to colleges.  This was a big complaint I heard this past year especially - maybe because I had quite a few friends with kids graduating this year.

For me, I think my goal is to look good to colleges and if credits are accepted, then that is an extra bonus.  I am not having them take classes expecting to get credit, except for maybe DE.  But...I am not sure how all of this works!

[mlktwins]

2 minutes ago, Lori D. said:

Granted. But my experience with the handful of homeschool families I know locally who haven't been keeping up with core subjects in high school are also not planning on college.

And both Science with labs and Foreign Language are pretty easy to work in starting in 11th grade if you haven't done them at all -- many colleges only ask for 2 Foreign Language credits, and many ask for 3 Science credits with only 2 of them having labs. So even if you haven't done your research on colleges prior to 11th grade, as long as you're not planning on a selective/competitive college, it's not going to be that hard to work in something you realize is missing. 😉 

I'm not saying "don't look at college admission requirements before 11th grade." In fact, just the opposite. I give a lot of mentoring info sessions to homeschoolers in my area, and provide them with a packet of info on getting started, how to make a high school plan, and how to look at state high school graduation required credits and blend those with college admission required credits to come up with a bare bones skeleton of number and types of credits to plan for in homeschooling high school. In other words, I always advice preparedness from the *start* of homeschooling high school. 😉 

Just to add, we are good on all our core subjects and we have a rough sketch of the next 3 years.  They will have 3 (most likely 4) years of Spanish, 3 years of lab sciences, 4 years of social sciences, etc.  I'm comfortable with all that.  It is more where they are taking these classes and what level they should take them that I am thinking about.  And...I think they will be through Trig and Pre-Cal by the end of 10th grade.  Or...maybe we slow down and they get that done by the end of 11th.  We will need to figure out 1 or 2 more math classes at that point.

I do want them to follow their interests with their extra curricular classes.  They will probably be taking many of the same core classes though.  While we are driving to our classes, we've been talking about things like whether they want an easier science year next year and do Chemistry and Physics in 11th and 12th, or do they want to get those done in 10th and 11th and have an easier science year their Senior year.  We are having good conversations about that.

And...the stars have aligned this weekend (no swimming) and we are getting away to Williamsburg and Busch Gardens for some FUN.  We are taking our cameras and they will be working on their photography fine arts credit while we are there :-).  I'm leaving all other school stuff at home!!! 

[mlktwins]

On 10/22/2019 at 2:05 PM, 8FillTheHeart said:

(FWIW, I can say that I absolutely do not believe that co-ops or unaccredited online courses mean much of anything in terms of admission  Doesn't mean that parents shouldn't use them.  Hey,  I am thrilled my dd took Connie's chem class.  I just don't believe that any admission office cares that she did.)

 

22 hours ago, Penelope said:

My kids have taken some fabulous online courses that surpassed what they would have gotten in many schools, and a small minority that didn’t impress. But I highly doubt they make a transcript stronger.  I have never signed up for one for that reason, but rather because we decided it was the best way to meet a need at the time. But again, is it true that no school looks upon them positively? Who knows, some may see online courses as a negative. Oh, to be a fly on the wall during some of those application reviews. 

I totally agree with this!  The classes I am outsourcing locally are because I know the teachers are excellent and my kids respond well to their teaching style.  Not my main reason, but I also think these help with letters of recommendations when the time comes as they will know my boys pretty well after a few years with them as students.   And...we are planning to take Connie's chem class :-)!!!  That will be our first on-line class!

[Roadrunner]

28 minutes ago, mlktwins said:

This is one of the things I've been wondering about.  I have heard that many public schoolers in our area, that attend our schools with the Cambridge Program, AP Scholar Program, etc., end up not getting credit for all the classes they should have once they actually apply to colleges.  This was a big complaint I heard this past year especially - maybe because I had quite a few friends with kids graduating this year.

For me, I think my goal is to look good to colleges and if credits are accepted, then that is an extra bonus.  I am not having them take classes expecting to get credit, except for maybe DE.  But...I am not sure how all of this works!

 

I am also seeing the attitude that unless you get credit, it’s a “loss.” I wonder if that has to do with the cost of college. But I agree with you that if credit is granted, it’s a bonus, but not the primary motivation for us.

 

And now that I know where you live, I feel for you. 🙂 We are not in Bay Area (similarly intense as Northern VA),  but not far enough from them either not to be acquainted with what I call “crazy.” The only way to stay sane is to tune that crazy out. I do that both in real life and on this board as often as I can. It took me a long time to get to this point, but that’s the only way to find “peace” with our decisions.

I have an extremely extroverted but dreamy 9th grader, and we are finding some pleasant surprises in our decisions and some not so pleasant ones. I think our experience this year is going to have significant impact on how we will approach the rest of his schooling. So I can say that experimentation has been successful in hopefully helping us see more clearly, so I say try different things and see what sparkles. 

[Sneezyone]

1 hour ago, mlktwins said:

Just from reading posts on this high school board and what I hear local people talking about (homeschoolers and public schoolers), I feel very behind the 8 ball on this part.  My friends just took their 9th grade public school kids (my boys' friends) to the huge college fair that was held at one of the local high schools in September.  I'm thinking to myself they are in 9th grade!!!  My local homeschool friends also talk about what colleges their kids are interested in going too and what different schools require at a young age.

We live in a very academically competitive area (Northern VA) and it seems the kids are pushed earlier and earlier into deciding on college and career paths in their first years of high school.  I think it is sad for those kids that aren't sure what the heck they want to do.  I didn't know what I wanted to do until my senior year of high school.  I also wasn't planning to go to college until my senior year.  Things were very different back then though.

I just want to be sure that we don't get to 11th and 12th grade and not have done something big we should have in 9th or 10th grade.  And "I" don't want to be the reason for something to have gone wrong :-).  My problem that I am working on!  

We are in Hampton Roads but most of the college bound kids here went to the big college fair (ours was early this month) too. We sat it out but will go next year. DD will also tour some more schools next year to get a feel for more campuses. 
 

The fair is big not because kids have to *know* where they want to go but because parents want their kids to know what the requirements are for schools in this region/of the caliber they want their kids to attend. Most families in our area are two+ degree households. It is a very competitive area too. There’s a Kumon 15 min (walking) from my front door. It’s driven by the competition for state flagship slots, not just selective private schools. There’s real, palpable fear that kids need to max out their degree of difficulty in every subject to maintain the level of success their parents have achieved. 
 

That doesn’t mean you have to follow the herd tho. If that’s not the path you want to take, steer your kids in another direction. Our approach to testing is very different form the locals, for ex. We won’t be stressing, drilling or test prepping for scholarships.

Edited October 23, 2019 by Sneezyone

[lewelma]

mlktwins, my two nephews attended the governor's school in Northern VA (the younger is still there). The older is currently at Princeton.  His experience at Princeton was very eye opening to me (and to him and his family). Basically, he had spent so much time on academics and official ECs in high school that he had never lived. He did not know who he was.  He regretted so much.  He told me that he should have taken the gap year that Princeton offered to go so SA and teach English.  That all the students on that program were more interesting and more interested and had actually *lived*. He ended up doing what he called his "voyage of discovery" in the summer after freshman year, where he got in his car and drove randomly across the USA for 2 months, sleeping in his car and stopping at as many national parks as he could. He unplugged. His goal: to find himself. Basically, the *intensity* of highschool got him into Princeton, but left him a shadow of the man that he could have been.  He pushed me *hard* over many late night talks to learn from his errors, and do things differently with my boys.  He was 19.

Your more recent posts make it appear to me like you are trying to recreate the Governor 's school in your home.  That you are trying to compete on the same playing field as kids that have 28 full time teachers helping them over 4 years. I think this is causing you quite some stress because my guess is that you have realized that it is a HUGE ask to personally recreate these environments.  

I would gently suggest that you think about what *you* and your homeschool can offer your children that the Governor's school could not. That is where you will get an edge up if you are keen to compete for top schools.  But as others have said in previous posts, you may not need to compete at all depending on what schools your dc is applying to.  And I would suggest that if you do *more* academics and *more* outside work than required, then you do this at a cost - the cost of doing something else.  Of finding yourself. Of having the *time* to be and to think. Of having time to discover.  

It depends on your goals, but I think right now your goals are to be like the others you see around you.  I would stop and think and breathe before choosing a path.

Ruth in NZ

Edited October 23, 2019 by lewelma

[mlktwins]

42 minutes ago, Roadrunner said:

And now that I know where you live, I feel for you. 🙂 We are not in Bay Area (similarly intense as Northern VA),  but not far enough from them either not to be acquainted with what I call “crazy.” The only way to stay sane is to tune that crazy out. I do that both in real life and on this board as often as I can. It took me a long time to get to this point, but that’s the only way to find “peace” with our decisions. 

Yes, I want to filter out the "crazy" for sure -- LOL!!!  I am working on it.

[mlktwins]

38 minutes ago, Sneezyone said:

There’s real, palpable fear that kids need to max out their degree of difficulty in every subject to maintain the level of success their parents have achieved. 

Yes, and moms here on my FB page are starting to complain about why things are this way -- why they need to be this way.  Let them be kids!  But...they are scared to get off the hamster wheel.  Our friends don't understand our decision at all with all these great schools around we could go to.  That has been hard on us too.  I'm glad my boys are confident in their decision and are glad they are home for high school.

[Sneezyone]

1 hour ago, mlktwins said:

Yes, and moms here on my FB page are starting to complain about why things are this way -- why they need to be this way.  Let them be kids!  But...they are scared to get off the hamster wheel.  Our friends don't understand our decision at all with all these great schools around we could go to.  That has been hard on us too.  I'm glad my boys are confident in their decision and are glad they are home for high school.

 

Yep. It's crazy. While I do care about academics, I don't feel like either of my kids needs to be THE best just THEIR best. I think my time over these next few years is best spent enjoying DDs company, celebrating her personal triumphs, being there for the letdowns, and guiding her toward adulthood. The rest will take care of itself.

Edited October 23, 2019 by Sneezyone

[8filltheheart]

1 hour ago, lewelma said:

mlktwins, my two nephews attended the governor's school in Northern VA (the younger is still there). The older is currently at Princeton.  His experience at Princeton was very eye opening to me (and to him and his family). Basically, he had spent so much time on academics and official ECs in high school that he had never lived. He did not know who he was.  He regretted so much.  He told me that he should have taken the gap year that Princeton offered to go so SA and teach English.  That all the students on that program were more interesting and more interested and had actually *lived*. He ended up doing what he called his "voyage of discovery" in the summer after freshman year, where he got in his car and drove randomly across the USA for 2 months, sleeping in his car and stopping at as many national parks as he could. He unplugged. His goal: to find himself. Basically, the *intensity* of highschool got him into Princeton, but left him a shadow of the man that he could have been.  He pushed me *hard* over many late night talks to learn from his errors, and do things differently with my boys.  He was 19.

Your more recent posts make it appear to me like you are trying to recreate the Governor 's school in your home.  That you are trying to compete on the same playing field as kids that have 28 full time teachers helping them over 4 years. I think this is causing you quite some stress because my guess is that you have realized that it is a HUGE ask to personally recreate these environments.  

I would gently suggest that you think about what *you* and your homeschool can offer your children that the Governor's school could not. That is where you will get an edge up if you are keen to compete for top schools.  But as others have said in previous posts, you may not need to compete at all depending on what schools your dc is applying to.  And I would suggest that if you do *more* academics and *more* outside work than required, then you do this at a cost - the cost of doing something else.  Of finding yourself. Of having the *time* to be and to think. Of having time to discover.  

It depends on your goals, but I think right now your goals are to be like the others you see around you.  I would stop and think and breathe before choosing a path.

Ruth in NZ

Beautifully shared, Ruth.  

 

1 hour ago, mlktwins said:

Yes, and moms here on my FB page are starting to complain about why things are this way -- why they need to be this way.  Let them be kids!  But...they are scared to get off the hamster wheel.  Our friends don't understand our decision at all with all these great schools around we could go to.  That has been hard on us too.  I'm glad my boys are confident in their decision and are glad they are home for high school.

Only you and your family can decide what is the right path for you. We are a deeply religious family and we spend time reflecting on the life we have been given and that we only get this one to live.  We talk about we how can choose to live purposely according to decisions we consciously make or we can just follow the path that society puts before and just do whatever everyone else does bc they are doing it without our reflecting on why.

My 12th grader and I have been philosophizing a lot together and a literary quote that we have been tossing back and forth is from F451 where Clarisse describes her life as a student in a world where life is so fast paced that actually having time to be still, reflect, think, and philosophize is a crime: "They just run the answers at ya, bing, bing, bing, and us sitting there for four hours of film teacher. That’s not social to me at all. It’s like a bunch of funnels and a lot of water poured down the spout and out the bottom and them telling us it’s wine when we all know it’s not. They run us so ragged that by the end of the day, we can’t do anything but go to bed or head to a fun park to bully people around…”  From our family's perspective, that is where we as a society have arrived. But at what cost? Academics is cram-knowledge focused with such an incredibly structured do this, this, and this that kids lose the opportunity to explore. Is it beneficial to children and teenagers to be scheduled from rising until crashing in  bed exhausted, too exhausted to reflect on who they are, what they want, what they believe, what their goals are?

Anyway, I agree with Lori that you don't need all the answers in 9th grade. You already have a strong grasp of understanding core requirements. If I were you, my first step after philosophizing would be to understand budget and determine how that budget might or might not influence options.  

Second, I would contemplate whether homeschooling offers any opportunities for your kids to stand out in their applications bc they don't look like every other applicant and actually stand out bc they did something different. 😉 

No matter what you decide, they will have lots of options. No need to panic.

 

Edited October 23, 2019 by 8FillTheHeart

[8filltheheart]

17 hours ago, 8FillTheHeart said:

 If I were you, my first step after philosophizing would be to understand budget and determine how that budget might or might not influence options.  

I wanted to come back and elaborate on this comment.  I am in the process of putting together a workshop for local homeschoolers and this topic is one that most parents don't understand. I know we didn't. It took going through the process with different kids at different schools for me to really grasp how the process works.  I know earlier in this thread I stated that our kids have been accepted to every school they have applied to except for on ds being rejected by MIT. Having him apply to MIT in the first place was a waste of time and $$ bc in hindsight we know that even if he had been accepted that we could not have afforded for him to attend.  He ended up being accepted to a lot of schools we couldn't afford. (Lots of wasted time on applications.) Ultimately, he attended on full scholarship. So where multiple top schools would have cost us well over $100,000 for him to attend, he actually got paid to attend school bc he lived frugally and banked scholarship $$. (And after UG he ended up exactly where he had hoped, so no negatives to attending on scholarship. He actually probably benefited from attending where he did bc he was a very top student there and consequently had amazing opportunities.)

Now, for our ds, he didn't do anything different than just being who he is. He didn't add anything or do anything bc he was thinking ahead to college applications. He was an advanced student with strong interests. But, if we had created his high school around attempting to fit a certain profile and had stressed ourselves out trying to gain admissions to certain schools, it would have been for naught since we couldn't afford them anyway. I am very glad that we didn't run 4 yrs of his life around a mirage.

Understanding your budget now might save some heartache later on. (Of course if you have a fully funded 529 with enough to cover both boys' college attendance full pay than all of the above is moot.)

 

[Lori D.]

4 hours ago, 8FillTheHeart said:

... I am in the process of putting together a workshop for local homeschoolers and this topic is one that most parents don't understand...

Wish we could all attend your session! 😄

[Arcadia]

On 10/23/2019 at 11:32 AM, mlktwins said:

For me, I think my goal is to look good to colleges and if credits are accepted, then that is an extra bonus.  I am not having them take classes expecting to get credit, except for maybe DE.  But...I am not sure how all of this works!

 

My DS14 is taking DE this year as a 10th grader to keep him from giving up on homeschooling and high school. He wants a classroom environment, he wants to be in a school building, having a student ID is important to him. As for DE credits, DS14 is thinking of double majoring and possibly triple majoring. If he decides to get an associate degree while in high school, he could possibly finish a 3-2 masters degree program in four years of college. He is thinking of potentially aiming for a PhD so he doesn’t want to close any doors or burn any bridges. 

DS14 does need to ponder over choices for a very long time. It took him all summer last year to decide which community college he wanted to dual enroll in. We visited quite a few nearby ones a few times. He is not someone who would be willing to make snap decisions on where to dual enroll and what courses to take unless it can’t be help. We did the dual enrollment forms and the paperwork required for establishing residency and such last academic year. He started his first DE class last month because he felt ready. 

We went for a campus tour yesterday at a nearby private college that has an acceptance rate of 50% just to get the feel of what a college tour is like. Besides it is less than 5miles from home so a potential safety. My DS13 was bored except for the engineering school tour (which we separately signed up for and is after the campus tour). DS14 was bored but listened to the short talk by admissions, laughed silently during the student presentation session at the jokes by the current students, and paid attention to the engineering school tour guide (who is a bioengineering senior). 

I don’t need to pay for DE classes as long as DS14 takes less than or equal to 10 credits per quarter. So for us DE saves some money that we would otherwise have to spend on a brick and mortar class for him to keep him happy. Even if he choose to take more next quarter and we end up paying, DE is still cheaper for us than brick and mortar classes. My kids are a year apart so we are budgeting as if we would be paying for two kids in colleges simultaneously ignoring any “EFC sibling discount”, basically worse case scenario of full pay zero discount for both kids.

[catz]

I was going to say DE is 100% free and highly accessible in our state (for 2 years) for qualifying students.  I don't see a huge push for homeschoolers to use it.  Some do and some don't.  Some kids jump in head first degree plans ready.  Some kids dabble in a class or two.  Some kids have done a tech program.  I know a senior that finished a cabinetry program last year and another that finished a culinary program last spring as my own kid finished up his own lib arts DE classes.  Some kids take a million classes and none of them count toward a degree later.  But given it was free, it's not a huge downside.  

Anyway - I don't think DE is a necessity for everyone.  But there are reasons why MANY do it some areas.  Here it can be quite a bit cheaper than putting together a curriculum at home and be a nice launching pad for a kid who is ready to follow a syllabus and jump through some classroom hoops independently.