American School student - In dire need of help.

Pre-College Issues Home Schooling and College
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<p>(I know this is a lot of information, but I'd seriously appreciate as much help as I could possibly get. I'm very ignorant and worried to the whole College life.)</p>

<p>Hi all, I'm looking for some very much needed help. I'm enrolled in The American School of Correspondence - (Accredited</a> High School Diploma and Distance Education with American School) - and I'm looking for some help with a few college questions. </p>

<p>This program is an accredited school to my knowledge, but nobody in my family has ever aspired to achieve an education, so I don't know how well they can understand the program. </p>

<p>1 - Does anybody else use/know of others that use this program? If so, is this something I can expect to get into a decent university with? (Texas University)</p>

<p>I plan to go to Texas State University, I'm making all A's/B's so far. I'm not sure if this will allow me to get in or not. I know SAT scores reflect admission too, I'm aiming as high as possible but in actuality I only expect myself to get 1200-1400. I'm not the best exam taker. (I'm going to take the ACT too but don't expect to score any higher).</p>

<p>2 - I'm really worried because I was looking at CollegeData information, and this is the required units for TX State:</p>

<p>English 4<br>
Mathematics 4
Science 3
Foreign Language 2
Social Studies 3.5<br>
History no required
Academic Electives 3.5 </p>

<p>Here's my courses I'll be completing:</p>

<p>American Literature
British Literature<br>
Career, Planning Your
Ess Math II
Geometry
Physiology
Physics
Practical English
Psychology
Social Civics (Gov)
Spanish 1<br>
Spanish 2<br>
Und English 2 (1st Sem)
Und English 2 (2nd Sem)
English IV
United States History
Economics (1/2 credit)
Earth Science
Algebra 2
Calculus</p>

<p>(I already have these classes from before I was enrolled into home school I was at a high school:)
Biology
Algebra 1
Webmastering (Elective in 8th grade, highschool credit)
BCIS (Elective, freshman year)
P.E. (Elective, freshman year)</p>

<p>So I'm not sure whether or not I have a shot at Texas State. The school doesn't consider EC's in the admission according to CollegeData, so that's good.</p>

<p>I just don't know much about this program, I'm very very worried that I'm doing something wrong and setting myself up for failure. I'd appreciate any help possible. Thank you all.</p>

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<p>rseating,
What state to you reside in?</p>

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<p>I live in Texas, I’m 17 currently.</p>

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<p>Ok, so you have requirements for what qualifies as homeschooling in Texas (accredited/state approved programs).</p>

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<p>So American school is state approved in Texas? I appreciate your responses. I’ve tried to talk to my Mom about this, she doesn’t know any of it and the counselors themselves at the school weren’t prepared to answer my questions. The programs about all we can afford though, so I’m hoping it’s something I’m not wasting my time on</p>

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<p>I am not sure what your question is…you of course have to follow the state laws for homeschooling, which it looks like you are doing. Homeschooling is different for everyone, so we did not use an online “accredited” program. But as long as you are learning and getting good results…I don’t see a problem. </p>

<p>Make sure you do cover all of the requirements for the colleges you are looking at. </p>

<p>Perhaps you could see help with your SAT/ACT exams. There are a lot of self studies online or you could look at a tutor or local course to help you improve your scores.</p>

<p>I am not familiar with the college you mentioned but obviously you want to at least be in the 50% median for test scores and preferably in the top 25%…but look at the schools other criteria for admission too. </p>

<p>No one here can guarantee anything that will get you accepted to one particular college and you need to have other schools too. Don’t get fixed on one school, find a good number that you will be likely to get accepted to based on your grades/scores etc.</p>

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<p>I am not sure if American School is approved in Texas…you will need to contact them and ask them that directly! I just know that Texas requires an accredited program, but which ones they approve, I don’t know since I reside in Kentucky and we have a very relax homeschool requirement for the state (thankfully).</p>

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<p>Check with American School and ask them if they are approved in Texas, also check with who ever oversees homeschoolers through the education system (state) and see which programs they approve. You need to make sure they will recognize your program!</p>

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<p>Is there a way to check if the program is approved online, or would I just have to call them and check?</p>

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<p>I don’t know…they could state that they are approved in the following states through their website…or they may not. But it is you and your parents responsibility to make sure it is approved for you to graduate. You don’t want to waste your time and $ and find out you won’t get the high school credits to graduate. Homeschooling requires extra work especially if you intend to go to college.</p>

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<p>Okay, i’ll check with them as soon as I possibly can, thank you. I’m still hoping I run into other people who know about the program here, I’m very worried about this whole thing. I’ve been aspiring to go to University my entire life, i’ll be the first in my family to do it and it’s the biggest goal I plan to achieve.</p>

<p>To anyone wondering why I left my public school:
My family isn’t very financially well, so we live in a very lower class neighborhood, and the schools around me are terrible. Literally crime stricken schools, I was threatened for my life numerous times so I took off. I would rather live and be confused with home schooling than die, haha.</p>

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<p>Well, I wish you the best. I am sure you will get to go to college as determined as you are!</p>

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<p>Anybody else able to shed some light on this?</p>

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<p>I have never heard of Texas “approving” a homeschool curriculum. During the time that I homeschooled, the focus was on preparing my son for admission to MIT and similar schools. My understanding is that parents are required to cover certain vague categories of learning but there is no approval process. Only if there is some kind of investigation based on specific concerns would the state evaluate the education provided to see if it met minimum standards. As previously stated, research the requirements of the college you want to attend and backup schools and cover those things. You might pay a local admissions officer on the side to help you with this process if you are not planning to attend that college. Not sure if they can help you if you will apply there. You might get someone at a local community college to help you for free in their office. Or see if an experienced, well educated homeschool patent can help you sort this out.</p>