Planning Thread for Senior Class of 2021?!

[easypeasy]

Is there one of these already and I just can't find it? 🙂 DS is pretty much finished with everything for junior year. A couple of AP exams coming up and he's prepping for the ACT (whenever that can happen again!). So we're starting to make final decisions together for next year and I was wondering how everyone else is doing planning-wise!

With summer effectively canceled, we're looking at this as an opportunity to front-load his senior year. So far...

Summer:

• English Comp I (concurrent, online)
• College Algebra (concurrent, online)
• US History (concurrent, online)

Fall:

• English Comp II (concurrent, online)
• US Gov't (concurrent, online)
• Public Speaking (concurrent, possibly online)
• Biology (concurrent)
• AP Statistics (PAH)

 

That would leave his spring finishing AP Stats and one AP exam to take in May - and we might bump the US Gov't to spring semester. He is involved in approximately eleventy-billion music classes, ensembles, etc and is in a competitive sport at a high performance level... so having the spring more open when he's doing most of his college music auditions and competing in his sport is ideal.

I can't believe this is the last time I'll ever have to plan this!!! The baby of our family only has one year left!!! 🥳 Now just hoping this virus doesn't screw up his senior year too! 😕😷

Edited May 3, 2020 by easypeasy

[....]

My 17 year-old will be finished in December (we're calendar-year schoolers), but he won't officially graduate until May, so he can play one last year of high school football and track & field.  So, he's working on his senior year now, basically.  

I'm going to do pretty much the same thing with him that I did with his sister.  Finish school in December.  Spend spring semester applying to the college, taking the placement tests, going to all those advisor appointments, registering for classes, buying his books, buying a laptop, etc.  

Here's what he's doing now to December:

• Beautiful Feet's Ancient History and Literature
• Apologia Marine Biology
• Life of Fred Statistics (we haven't started this yet - also, he's working through all the LOF high school books for a big review)
• ACT Prep (he's probably not taking the ACT, but this will prepare him for the college placement tests anyway)
• German - mostly reading books/stories at this point 
• Creative Writing - playwriting, short stories, etc.
• PE - together
• high school varsity football

His year is actually lighter than the younger kids'.  He's kinda done, if you know what I mean.  lol  

 

Oh, I forgot to add - here's my timeline for myself.  I'll just do the same stuff I did with dd18.  We were pretty happy with how that turned out.

• November/December - finish up his transcripts.  Print out 3 bazillion copies and sign them.  Put signed copy in envelope and sign over back (for admissions office at the college)
• November/December - put together a folder for him with all of his paperwork: awards, copies of transcripts, booklists, curriculum he's used, extracurriculars and sports, volunteer work, etc
• January/February - build his scrapbook on Snapfish (I did this for the oldest and sent copies to all the grandmas)
• February/March - build his diploma and order it (we used homeschooldiploma.com last time and I'll just use that again)
• April/May - go shopping and put together a gift bag for him, along with his folder with all the paperwork/transcripts in it
• May - have our graduation party

Edited May 5, 2020 by Evanthe

[BusyMom5]

We are having a hard time making a final decision with all the Covid stuff going on.  She wanted to take 3 classes on campus at the local community college.  Some of them are major-specific courses that I think do need to be in person, so if classes are canceled I'm not sure if she even wants to attempt them online.  We are leaning toward a mix of home-based and online based classes.  It's May already, and I really have no idea what her next year will look like!  

 

Option 1- on-campus classes

Macroeconomics, Accounting and Writing 2 in the fall

Microeconomics, Accounting 2, and 1 other class at the college in the spring- she needs a Biology w/ lab

*This one will leave her time to intern at a local business, work, and fill out scholarship applications!

 

Option 2- if classes are online only

Macroeconomics, Writing 2 (she really likes this professor, and only if her class goes online) in fall

Microeconomics-   These are the only ones left that are available that I think could be done online without loosing a lot of content.  

At home:  World History, Physics or another science, and get a job or intern.

[teachermom2834]

My ds has taken all his requirements and then some so he will be using dual enrollment at the local university to hopefully get some things out of the way for his undergrad. 

Fall- Public Speaking, Intermediate Spanish 1, Western Literature (Enlightenment to Postmodern)

Spring- Intermediate Spanish 2, something else that will fulfull a gen ed ?????

All year- Derek Owens AP Calculus (he'll probably start this summer)

This ds knows exactly where he wants to go (and he will get in and can afford it) so the admission cycle won't be too hard or stressful. He will just have to do the college application which is not too extensive and the scholarship application. I'm making him apply a couple other places but they are all easy applications so he won't have too heavy of a load on essays, etc.

[easypeasy]

16 hours ago, Evanthe said:

My 17 year-old will be finished in December (we're calendar-year schoolers), but he won't officially graduate until May, so he can play one last year of high school football and track & field.  So, he's working on his senior year now, basically.  

 

 

We were year-round homeschoolers forever and I've often wished we'd have exited the hamster wheel at "calendar-year" schoolers instead of just sort of spreading it out over the entire school year/summer. Your plan looks like a great one!

 

9 hours ago, BusyMom5 said:

We are having a hard time making a final decision with all the Covid stuff going on.  She wanted to take 3 classes on campus at the local community college.  Some of them are major-specific courses that I think do need to be in person, so if classes are canceled I'm not sure if she even wants to attempt them online.  We are leaning toward a mix of home-based and online based classes.  It's May already, and I really have no idea what her next year will look like!  

 

 

Yes. It's been hard for us to nail anything down - too many moving parts. He had plans for internship & job this summer and that's all out the window. So now he wants to get as much academic stuff knocked out as he possibly can so that when life has started again, he can enjoy it. Ugh. This is so difficult to navigate when it feels like we're standing on quicksand!

 

8 hours ago, teachermom2834 said:

This ds knows exactly where he wants to go (and he will get in and can afford it) so the admission cycle won't be too hard or stressful. He will just have to do the college application which is not too extensive and the scholarship application. I'm making him apply a couple other places but they are all easy applications so he won't have too heavy of a load on essays, etc.

 

Jealous!!! Seriously - so envious!!! My kid has a solid list of where he wants to apply, but then I've added two "safeties." Like his sisters before him, we usually toss the safeties out pretty quickly, but I want them there in the beginning just in case. DD2 didn't use the Common App because most of her schools didn't use it. I'm hoping/praying that most of DSs will because it makes the process (especially tracking down LOR-writers) so much easier.

I guess they're pretty "lucky" right now, though. They really DO have ALL summer wide open to write those essays!! 🤪 Gotta find a silver lining somewhere... 😷

Edited May 6, 2020 by easypeasy

[BusyMom5]

9 hours ago, easypeasy said:

Yes. It's been hard for us to nail anything down - too many moving parts. He had plans for internship & job this summer and that's all out the window. So now he wants to get as much academic stuff knocked out as he possibly can so that when life has started again, he can enjoy it. Ugh. This is so difficult to navigate when it feels like we're standing on quicksand!

 

Yesterday she said she wanted to do Calculus, Physics (the harder one, not conceptual) and World history at home- starting now.   She is not willing to consider not being able to go in the fall on campus.  She is craving the interaction and I want her to have it.... I just don't really think it's going to happen.  Maybe for a few weeks?  Maybe classes will just be 1 day a week?  She did so many basic classes this year, there really isn't a lot left!  I went through the course catalog yesterday.  At this point I'm just hoping she can go to the 4 year university in fall of 2021!!!

[skimomma]

Ours is pretty simple.

Full-Year:  Clover Creek Physics and home-based US History

Fall Semester: DE Calc 1 and DE US Government

Spring Semester: DE Calc 2 and DE Public Speaking

All DE classes are at our local university.  They don't know if they will be in person or online.  But dd handled the switch to her DE classes online mid-semester this spring just fine so I think she will be good either way.

We may add a class to each semester if dd's other activities continue to be reduced and/or canceled.  We had planned a "light" year to accommodate some big extracurricular things and travel but that may no longer be necessary:(  Might as well knock off a few more general education classes. 

Dd was supposed to take the ACT last month.  Now, who knows?  We cancelled her AP test.  It isn't accepted by most colleges so not worth the hassle and unknowns.  Dd has always had the fall-back of attending our local university.  With the uncertainty and inability to do campus visits, this is even more likely.  And a gap year has also always been on the table.  So, I really have no idea what application time will look like.

[chiguirre]

Trinqueta's plans changed quite a bit due to Covid19. She had planned to do an REU this summer and that was cancelled. Instead of that she'll be taking Fin Acct and Mgmt Acct and two semesters of English Lit online this summer. In the fall, she'll be taking Honors Micro and Honors Govt along with Calc 3 and Environmental Geology. Geology has already switched to online and I suspect the others might too. She'll only need one semester of government in the spring to graduate, but she'll take a full slate while the classes are free. The specifics depend on what school she plans to attend for her bachelors. 

She'll still apply to UT Austin and TAMU but she's adding U of Houston to her list because she'd prefer to live at home if there's a lot of back and forth with the pandemic. Alternatively, she's seriously considering enlisting in the Navy as a Cryptologic Technician and finishing her BS at ASU Online or U of Maryland World Campus. I think if she ends up with a lot of classes switching to online this coming year, that will tip the balance in favor of the Navy/online BS. She feels that if she's not going to have a full campus experience, she'd rather do something off the beaten path and go to an in person MBA program later on. 

[RootAnn]

I, too, thought there was already one of these. But I looked. Nada. So, here we are.

My rising senior is an artsy, creative writer who is very involved in volunteering in the local community. That's still going on -- just really modified right now. No solid plan, but some items in pencil. She's not yet taken the ACT (was scheduled to have one-and-done it in April). Hoping June's test actually happens so she can be done & have some questions settled (both scholarship-wise & college class placement-wise).

Summer:  Intro to Meterology (DE - online) -- not an interest, just trying to get her science out of the way - 1 credit

Fall: Nutrition & Health (DE), Human Growth & Development (DE) - 1 credit each
Both of those are at the state college she plans to attend. Both will count for her future major. I guess I'll count them both as electives.
Government class with small group locally -- me teaching (??) -- 0.5 credits

Math (full year): Algebra 2B (2nd half). Maybe prep for College Algebra CLEP 2nd semester or take College Algebra DE. -- 1 credit

Spring:  English Composition (DE - tentative), Art DE? Computer Class DE? - 1 credit each, picking 2 or 3 that will count for her future major/minor. -- 1 credit each

So, just a couple classes with me. Trying to get her feet wet with DE so she can ramp up to 4 or more classes her freshman year. Theoretically planning on an Exercise Science major with a Graphic Design minor with the goal of being a personal trainer with enough time to still pursue her other interests (art, book writing, book cover illustrator, animal rescue, etc.).

[Hadley]

I don’t want to belong to this thread, but I do!!!  I’m finishing up with my only, and I am so not ready for him to fly the nest!  I seem to recall posting in a senior thread before, but I can’t find it now.  My plans have changed greatly since then, so here we go...

Summer:

DE Multivariable Calculus  and DE Data Structures with a local university

FALL:

DE math at local college—he knows which class he wants to take—

PA Homeschoolers AP Physics C (whichever flavor he decides to take first)

Rhetoric : Fitting Words by Roman Roads Media at home with me

Fine Art: How Great Thou Art, Discovering Music with Dr. Carol, and a mix of Great Courses Art History videos...still planning this one, but really looking forward to it!

PA Homeschoolers AP Macroeconomics

Spring:

DE math at local college—whatever he cooks up

PA Homeschoolers AP Physics C (the second flavor)

Rhetoric: second semester

Fine Art: second semester

PA Homeschoolers AP Microeconomics

As you can see, he drives all math and science decisions.  I can’t even remember which course is which as I sit down to type, but he is tracking with that. I plan to thoroughly enjoy our study of rhetoric and art this year. I hope it doesn’t go too fast!

Congratulations to all of you and your seniors!  What a fun ride we are in for this year!