Before she starts high school....

Pre-College Issues Home Schooling and College
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<p>Hello!</p>

<p>I'm a homeschooling mom and my oldest daughter hopes to go to college (she would like to be a zoologist/marine biologist/wildlife biologist -- something in that area).</p>

<p>She's due to start 9th grade next Fall, so I want to make sure everything looks good as far as her academic "forecast".</p>

<p>9th Grade:</p>

<p>English: Winston Grammar Advanced/Worldy Wise Vocabulary/Analogies
Math: Saxon Algebra I
History/Literature: Sonlight American History
Science: Apologia Biology</p>

<p>10th Grade:</p>

<p>English: Wordly WiseVocabulary/Analogies
Math: Saxon Algebra II
History/Literature: Sonlight 20th Century World History
Science: Apologia Chemistry
Foreign Language: Beginning Spanish I & II (Community College)</p>

<p>11th Grade:</p>

<p>English: Wordly Wise Vocabulary/Analogies
Math: Saxon Advanced Mathematics (Trigonometry & Euclidean Geometry)
History/Literature: Sonlight American Government & Civics
Science: Apologia Physics
Foreign Language: Intermediate Spanish I & II (Community College)</p>

<p>12th Grade:</p>

<p>English: Jensen's Grammar/Wordly Wise Vocabulary
Math: Saxon Calculus
History/Literature: Notgrass World History
Science: Apologia Advanced AP Biology</p>

<p>She hopes to start volunteering at a Bald Eagle Sanctuary near our home in the spring - she's involved in lots of church activities - she's been studying the piano since she was 8. As far as sports, she's into swimming and horseback riding.</p>

<p>She's already chosen a few favorite colleges: Auburn University (her #1 choice!), University of Virginia, Virginia Tech, James Madison University, St. Mary's College of Maryland & the University of Mary Washington</p>

<p>Is there anything else we should do to prepare for college?</p>

<p>It's so hard being teacher, administrator, guidance counselor, etc. - all rolled into one!</p>

<p>Thanks in advance!</p>

<p>Kelly</p>

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<p>I know how hard it is to be the whole high school staff when you homeschool...mine is going into 9th grade next year, also.</p>

<p>Are you not planning on continuing the Spanish in the 12th grade (or later in college)?</p>

<p>Are you planning for your daughter to take an Advanced Placement exams or SAT II exams? </p>

<p>Also, if your daughter is really interested in science careers, have you thought of stepping up the science (double up the course load, etc.) and having her take some science courses at the college level in 11th or 12th grade? she could take an intro Marine biology course, or zoology or something else she is interested in.</p>

<p>I am not seeing composition in the classes above? It is standard to take it for the entire four years in a college preperatory curriculum, maybe it is part of the sonlight curriculum?? How are you counting credits? most kids take 7 classes or credits each year of high school for college prep...is the sonlight numerous credits?</p>

<p>I don't know how competitive the schools you listed are, so hopefully someone else will give you an idea if you have a tough enough schedule. I have heard of sonlight, but have never used it or seen it...so I don't know about it.</p>

<p>Also, I don't use Saxon math...but I have heard from others that the lack of a geometry course can cause problems if you are looking to score well on the PSAT test...you might want to ask around about that.</p>

<p>I think I asked more questions than I answered, but i hope I helped somewhat.</p>

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<p>Thanks for your post!</p>

<p>As far as the foreign language goes, she will have completed 4 semesters of college Spanish, so that more than fulfills the requirements for admission (and also is the extent of Spanish she can take at our community college). She can then take a Spanish literature class in college, if she'd like. I'm having her take them in 10th and 11th, so she can take the SAT-II Spanish exam.</p>

<p>Re. SAT-II Subject tests - I know she's going to take the SAT-II Math IIC test as well as the Spanish SAT-II test. I know the SAT-II Writing test is called for now, but since they're re-doing the SAT exam to include writing, I will imagine that this test will soon fall by the wayside.</p>

<p>For science, I'm now considering having her take a science class at the community college, possibly in lieu of the Advanced Biology class at home. Haven't thought <em>that</em> far ahead yet! Good idea, though!</p>

<p>Re: Composition and counting credits - the Sonlight cores include literature and composition, as well as history, so that's 3 credits each. (There are required essays, critical writing papers, etc. that need to be completed).</p>

<p>As far as Saxon Math goes, Geometry is included within all the upper level books in their curriculum, so if you don't use the books in sequence, you can miss essential geometry. </p>

<p>Some homeschooling friends of mine used Saxon all the way through for math and one son is now at MIT and another son is at Cal-Tech. Both boys praise Saxon math.</p>

<p>Kelly</p>

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<p>if you use Saxon sequentially you will cover all of geometry and be at no disadvantage mathematically. But it is spread out over multiple years. So you may be at a disadvantage taking exams that assume that the students taking the test completed all of geometry in 10th grade.</p>

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<p>I agree completely about Saxon!</p>

<p>For instance, there's additional geometry in their Advanced Mathematics text, which my oldest won't be using until 11th grade.</p>

<p>Our plan is to have her take the PSAT exam in 10th grade for practice.</p>

<p>Should her geometry be weak (possibly non-existent! LOL!), then I could pick up some sort of supplementary geometry text (perhaps one of the Key Series books).</p>

<p>It would give us an idea of how she's doing and what areas she might be weak in before she takes the PSAT again in 11th grade for the National Merit Scholarships.</p>

<p>Kelly</p>

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<p>I would just like to say that I did all of the Saxon texts sequentially and am a National Merit Scholar (so I was prepared enough for the PSAT) and a student at MIT (it was good preparation for a math/engineering school). Saxon is an excellent text to use for math. I think the only thing the student must watch out for is moving on from a topic but not really understanding it and just doing the problems mechanically. If the student makes sure they understand everything before they make the next step, they'll be doing great.</p>

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<p>Kelly, your plan looks good! I don't know if you're planning on fitting a few electives in there (for me, public speaking was most valuable), but since your daughter already has schools picked out, I guess you already know what is needed for admission.</p>

<p>On a side note though, I think it's great that your daughter has already decided on where she wants to go. I never had any specific goals regarding college until this last summer, and I've had to work really hard to make sure I have all of the requirements met. It will be much smoother for you two. </p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

<p>-Joel</p>

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<p>We had bad luck with the Saxon math books, so we abandoned them and just used high schooland college texts. I'm not here to slam Saxon, but you might want to consider doubling up two of the early years into one school-year, and then seeing if a pre-calculus course is needed after trig. If not, your D is just ready for Calculus one year earlier. We did this in 8th grade with our D and it worked out fine.</p>

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<p>Would you say that a student who completed the Saxon Advanced Mathematics book isn't ready for the Saxon Calculus book and would need a Pre-Calculus text in between?</p>

<p>I'd love to know if you felt this was the case! I haven't seen these texts up close yet!</p>

<p>Kelly</p>

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<p>I haven't used Saxon Calculus, but I did the Advanced Math book and went on to get an A in college calculus.</p>

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<p>Saxon advanced math was good enough for me to advance to Saxon calculus. I made the transition without a problem. I think your daughter should be just fine.</p>

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<p>I personally destested Saxon. Couldn't stand the repetition. But I am not a math person, nor am I your daughter.</p>

<p>I was homeschooled all my life. We lived in an area where community college classes were not available, since that would have meant driving for over an hour each way, but I took some online classes. Now, in my senior year, I'm taking three comm. college classes each semester, and they are incredibly useful. Adjusting to due dates, teachers, and classrooms, I know, will help me make the transition to a regular college much more easily. </p>

<p>I can't recommend community college classes highly enough. Of course, that may depend on the caliber of your local colleges, but a few a semester, especially durning junior/senior year, beyond just foreign language, may be wonderful. If you choose not to go with comm. college classes, you may want to consider more than just one AP test. I do believe that selective colleges will be looking for some validation of your grades and your daughter's ability. Also, online classes, if you find good ones, may be good resources. If you need flexibility, look into thinkwell, a website that offers online lectures. I'm using their biology lectures now and I'm learning much better than I ever did just trying to plog through the text.</p>

<p>Try: <a href="http://www.thinkwell.com/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.thinkwell.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>I'm not familiar with Winston grammar, but your curriculum seems to be rather light on the English side. Even if she is more interested in science, good paper writing skills will be essential in college. Also, you probably should use college texts for the science she is interested in. These tend to be much more challenging than HS texts, and cover the material much more thouroughly and deeply. Look into what texts your local colleges use--or even the ones she wants to go to.</p>

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<p>Oops, sorry, just saw the part above about the Sonlight core requiring composition. However, if colleges see a transcript list just like the one you posted, they may not understand either. </p>

<p>Re: your college list - are these colleges she found on her own? I'm guessing you live in the Maryland/Virginia area. Does she have to stay close? I realize this is a plus, but as she gets older, her priories may change slightly. There are many excellent colleges on the east coast if she widens her range just a little--the northeast comes to mind.</p>

<p>How far up the scale in terms of selectivity does she want to go?</p>

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<p>The geometry on both the PSAT and SAT is elementary. Most of the geometry that appears on those tests is from grade school or middle school. However, I do recommend students take a solid proof-based geometry course.</p>

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<p>Re. the writing, she's already taken an essay writing curriculum, so she's now going to put it to use at the high school level by actually writing papers (I plan on including some with her transcript, so that they can see samples of her essays).</p>

<p>The main reason for the Virginia colleges is due to the in-state tuition! :)</p>

<p>St. Mary's College of Maryland is on her list because we used to live about 20 minutes from the college and we've fallen in love with it! They also have an outstanding natural science department, due to the campus being on the water.</p>

<p>Auburn is on her list because they have a zoology degree (a real plus!), but the out-of-state cost is over $20,000 a year. The only way we could afford it is if she receives a scholarship. Because their admission standards aren't extraordinarily high (the average SAT score is a little over 1100), it wouldn't be hard to receive a scholarship (I think she needs a 1250 or higher to receive a full-tuition scholarship).</p>

<p>She doesn't mind being away from home, as long as she's close to a big airport and could fly home for holidays and summers. It's mainly an issue of cost. Do you know of any other colleges that offer a zoology degree on the East Coast that wouldn't cost us an arm and a leg?</p>

<p>Kelly</p>

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<p>First, I suggest posting your question about potential colleges over on the parents forum. You'll find a lot more knowledgeable people there than me! :) Some of them are absolute experts. Find carolyn. </p>

<p>You can also go to <a href="http://www.colllegeboard.com%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.colllegeboard.com&lt;/a> or <a href="http://www.princetonreview.com%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.princetonreview.com&lt;/a> for college search options. The advanced searches will let you narrow the search for specific criteria, such as a zoology major, and location. </p>

<p>Second, keep in mind that her interests may change over the years, particularly in college. The majority of students change their majors at least once. She may find another field that she is interested in. That doesn't mean that she shouldn't definitely go to a college where she will find zoology classes, because she already knows she likes them, but don't pass up courses and colleges that will give her the chance to expand.</p>

<p>Third, most colleges offer some form of financial aid. Don't just look at the price tag, even for the most expensive colleges, and write them off because it is too high. You've already realized this with Auburn, but it holds true for most. If you qualify finanically, you'll get significant need-based aid. </p>

<p>Look into colleges that guarantee to meet 100% of need. These colleges will plug in family income and give out an award package that covers what they think you won't be able to pay. But keep in mind that the college will base this offer on what THEY think you can pay, not necessarily what YOU think you can pay. Most of the people on here will tell you to build a college list that includes "financial safties," or colleges where you know you will get enough aid to be able to pay. Again, you're already doing this with Auburn, as long as she gets that SAT score. Look at college board's calculator: <a href="http://www.collegeboard.com/pay%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.collegeboard.com/pay&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>For example, I am going to Scripps College this fall. In with the acceptance letter was a financial aid package. They guarantee to meet all demonstrated need. Tution costs $28,000, room and board costs $8,000, which is a huge amount of money. Far too much for my family to pay. But they, based on our income, are covering most of it, with a combination of a scholarship, about $2,500 for me in loans, and $800 in work-study. Which means I'll work on campus and graduate with a debt of about $10,000. That is much better than trying to pay for that caliber of education by myself. The aid package is not perfect, and they did not offer quite as much as we had hoped, but it will work. </p>

<p>My point is, at this stage, don't limit yourself by price tag. Once you have some idea what her SAT scores will be, you can have some idea of selectivity. Then you can think about money. </p>

<p>Hope this helps! :) Sorry if you knew it already.</p>

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<p>Also, about the writing, you might want to look at Brave Writer. They offer short--about one month long--courses on different aspects of writing. </p>

<p><a href="http://www.bravewriter.com/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.bravewriter.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Oh, and I don't mean to imply that she shouldn't go to a state school, if that fits her. I'm just a big fan of small, liberal arts colleges. :) Saint Mary's looks like a wonderful school. And she is just beginning high school now, so you have several years to go. </p>

<p>Question: Does Sonlight give a HS diploma? They have a core curriculum that you follow for all four years, correct? Is it just a curriculum plan? </p>

<p>Another thing, and I'm really not trying to advertise here, just help give resources. I did Clonlara through my high school years, and really found them wonderful. They will give you a HS diploma with absolute freedom of curricula. So you could continue with Sonlight, and use those books to get accredited HS credit. All you do is record the hours you spend on a particular subject. Once you have reached 180 hours, you send in a credit report for with a description of what you did to deserve this credit, such as materials used. They do not "look over your shoulder" like public school programs do. They also provide you with a contact teacher, who will help all through, but especially with college admissions. Mine was invaluable.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.clonlara.org/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.clonlara.org/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>An option, if you like the idea of Clonara, is NARS <a href="http://www.narhs.com%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.narhs.com&lt;/a> you still do your own curriculum and they are very helpful about making sure you get full credit. It is cheaper than Clonara and NARS is fully accredited. We are going with a diploma from an accredited school because some scholarships require that....just more food for thought as you start your high school journey.</p>