A-G Requirements Lab Science

Hi! I am thinking about doing online public school for Junior and Senior year of high school, but the online science classes do not count towards the A-G requirements. I will have had met 2 years of the lab requirement from Freshman and Sophomore year, but to be competitive for college I need 4 years. Does an AP science test really count towards one year of lab science? I know that community college classes count but that’s not really an option for me. The UC website says that the AP tests count as a year of lab science, but do they view it the same as they do for an approved class? Thanks in advanced!

You may want to double check that. According to the UC websites 3 classes in Connections academy count. None from K12 count.

It may be more of a case of picking the right online school.

Check this website.https://hs-articulation.ucop.edu/agcourselist#/list/search/all

Also looking at Sky Mountain Charter, through the UC doorway website, which is another public charter but homebased rather than online, they list APEX courses as counting as long as they are not taken through the APEX school. Apparently, if they are taken as independent courses.

I am currently enrolling my 8th grader in a public charter program in CA so I am interested in hearing from others on the a-g requirements.

Thank you for your response! I’ve looked into the connections academy a-g science courses, however they are not advanced courses.I see that Sky mountain charter has the approved a-g courses and many are AP classes. I’m not sure about the independent study though… I will look into both programs regardless. Thanks again!

Good luck. Depending on your county (I am assuming you are in CA) you can find a lot of different charter options. Onine you have K12 and Connections with self contained programs. In So Cal there are independent study public charters like Sky Mountain, Excel, Summit (which I think give access to K12 Material), and a bunch more. I just turned in the paperwork for my son for Excel, Summit, and Sky Mountain and am waiting to hear bacK.

K12 and Connections are fully online but the others provide funding (for high school students about $2400 a year) for you to choose from what looks like several hundred vendors - not just academics but also ECs like sports, music, art, etc. They also give you an educational specialists (ES) to help. I know with Sky Mountain they have ES that are specific to high school. The ESs would help you with the a-g requirements. With the independent study charters you would have access to a variety of online courses but you would choose the online program that you want, Apex, Plato, EPGY, rather than use their own systems.

You may want to call and speak to someone from each school you are thinking of. This is what I did. Someone always seems available to answer questions. Ask them specifically about the science requirements and see what they typically do. Also ask them about transcripts and how that work.

If you find out anything interesting, I would be interested in what you learn. I am just starting the process with my 13 year old and actually did the paperwork on Thursday and Friday.

I looked at Sky Mountain and the program looks really nice, but you have to look closely to find the information on the website! Thank you!

I know Sky Mountain has a waiting list. We decided to go with Excel Academy which is combining with California Pacific Charter. They just accepted my son today! They have the same options as Sky Mountain.

PM me of you have any questions. I spent a lot of time on the phone with several schools over the past few days. I have learned a lot.

Good Luck.

Congrats and thanks again!