Chspe

Parents Forum
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<p>California High School Prof Exam
Soph HS D met with her HS counselor for the first time today. My D is new to the school this year. She came home with applications for National Honor Society and information on taking the CHSPE and also on an alternative option of finishing up HS at the Community College. I was taken off guard. My D has expressed a strong desire to leave the HS since Day 1. We have pushed staying the course.
The counselor said if you take the CHSPE and pass you can continue on at the HS and have it just in case. Or you can take it and leave HS at the end of the 10th grade and enroll at the CC as a full time student. This is a path my D would like to strongly consider. She feels she will complete her first two years of college by 18 and be ready to transfer as a junior at 18. Or possibly be able to still apply as a freshman.
There is an alternative program that you enroll at the CC but are still a HS student and take a mix of independent study HS classes along with some CC courses. You end up with your HS diploma with your HS class. This option expressly states that it is not for students who want to go to a 4 yr school as a freshman.
Anyone have any experience with the CHSPE? Or know colleges that don't require a HS diploma.
Just letting the whole idea stew in my brain. My first reaction is to make her stay the course and complete two more yrs of HS. Or at least not leaving HS till after junior year.</p>

<p>She has had no academic or discipline problems at school. She is an ideal student. Kind, respectful of the teachers and a diligent student. She has never been a fan of traditional school.
I was kind of shocked that the counselor didn't just encourage her to stick it out.</p>

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<p>Wow.</p>

<p>I have no experience with this at all, but wow.</p>

<p>She must be an awesome student.</p>

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<p>I’d say let her do it…</p>

<p>if she’s miserable at school(and there are lots of great students who are miserable) why make her “stay the course” She has a different, perhaps more difficult option…find a way to make it happen</p>

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<p>There are some threads about this - if you look around. I’ll try to find them - but there was a really long thread in the parents forum about kids who wanted and did leave high school early.</p>

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<p>MaterMia- thanks. I found one of them. We had some conversation at dinner. She said her counselor told her that your parents probably aren’t going to be happy with me for giving you this information.
I think the next step is to talk with the CC and try to find some students who have taken this path. We are leaning towards letting her take the exam with no promises on our part. Also she would need to take the math and language placement exams at the CC. Her counselor felt based on her courseload she should pass the placement exams without a problem.
Also have her make some phone calls to colleges that she is interested in.</p>

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<p>As a high school junior, I’ve also taken the CHSPE. Results haven’t been mailed out, but I assume I passed. If I were to enroll in community college for my senior year, can I still apply to my desired colleges with the rest of my class (2011)? Or will I be a transfer student who has only attended community college for one year?
Would the credits earned in community college transfer to my desired college or would they be considered high school credits? (This may vary by college…)
Also, will colleges ask to see high school transcripts as well as the CHSPE diploma, or just the CHSPE diploma? </p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

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<p>@Mom60-
MIT does not require a high-school diploma, and neither does CalTech.</p>

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<p>If a student leaves high school early, and then begins at a CC, the student ruins his chances for big merit scholarships from colleges - if those are desired. Big scholarships are for graduating students who will be incoming freshmen. However, if the CC classes are taken “concurrent” with staying in high school, then no problem.</p>

<p>Are scholarships desired?</p>

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<p>mom2collegekids- you are right. There are definitely less schools that offer merit aid to transfers. Though if you spent the first 2 years at the CC living at home and paying very little for tuition (at least in our state) you could still come out saving money.
My D took the Chspe so we will see what happens.
Corncake- you would be considered a transfer student. Does your CC and HS district offer some sort of “middle college” program? You complete your HS grad requirements along with taking some CC classes. All taking place at the CC. You graduate with your HS class. Though most of the middle college programs state that they are designed for the student who is not interested in going to a 4 yr school immediately after graduating.
What my d is probably going to do is dual enroll. Take 4 classes at the HS and two at the CC. That way she will get some college credits and also keep her options open.</p>

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<p>Thank you, mom60 and mom2collegekids.
If I decide not to enroll in CC during my senior year, and instead choose to work as an intern or volunteer abroad, would I apply to college with the rest of my class as a high school grad? Or a high school dropout? Or still a transfer student…?
I believe I wouldn’t be a transfer student because I would not have enrolled in a CC.</p>

<p>Thanks again. :)</p>

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<p>Corncake- you should also check with the schools you are interested in. Schools outside of Ca do not have to accept the CHSPE as equivalent to a HS diploma.
Also don’t know what the Ca law is regarding when you can stop going to school. In my D’s case the counselor said by Ca law she must be enrolled in some form of school next fall.</p>

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<p>Daughter #2 went the CHSPE/CC route after junior year. She is now applying to UCs as a junior transfer, and is 2-for-2 in acceptances so far, with 3 to go. In our research, we found that most CA schools, public and private, accept the CHSPE. If your child already has specific schools/programs she’s interested in, you might want to contact those schools directly and ask if they accept CHSPE. For UCs and Cal States, if a student takes even one CC or college class after the CHSPE, he/she must apply as a junior transfer student, with at least 60 transferable college units completed.</p>

<p>The downside: Most CCs are commuter schools, with a mix of adult and older teenage students. It’s not easy for a younger student to make friends, or even to find study companions. Levels of motivation and preparation vary widely among individual CC students, which may be an issue for a kid who’s used to taking honors classes. Instead of being assigned to a class, she will need to become an expert user of Ratemyprofessors to find the classes with the best teachers, and of ASSIST to find classes that will transfer/meet IGETC requirements. If your daughter wants to study abroad during her college years, it’s much more difficult to do so as a junior transfer. (We did find a UC-transferable semester abroad program in Paris for our daughter through CCSF, but it was a less-than-wonderful experience.) The UCs, at least, require transfer students to declare a major when they apply, which might be a problem for an 18-year-old. And not only will she miss out on some of the traditional HS rites of passage - the prom, graduation, and so on - and find she has less and less in common with her high school friends, but she’ll miss out on the full college experience as well…</p>

<p>The upside: There’s a wider range of classes available at a CC than in your typical HS, and students have a great deal of autonomy in choosing their classes. It’s easier - sometimes much easier - to transfer to a UC from a CC than to get in as a freshman. Taking classes with older people who juggle homework, jobs, and families can be an eye-opening experience for a lot of kids. Many CCs have honors programs, with more challenging levels of classwork and more motivated students. Many CCs have articulation agreements with private universities as well as with their public counterparts, so classes transfer easily. And taking lower-division requirements at a CC then transferring to a 4-year is an economical way to get a brand-name degree at a bargain price.</p>

<p>Some alternatives you might consider: USC has a program for a few very high-achieving students, who enter as freshmen after their junior year of HS. A coworker’s son was admitted to this program, and loves it. There are other schools that admit strong students after their junior year - check the websites of schools she’s interested in.</p>

<p>By the way, mom60, our counselors give the CHSPE information to all the kids. I was under the impression they were required to do so. </p>

<p>Good luck to your daughter!</p>

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<p>pamavision- thank you for sharing your experience. I would be more comfortable with my D leaving HS if it was for her senior year. Next year she will be a junior. What I am constantly being reminded of is that each child takes a different path. I have to be open to listening.
In our case it is not that she is a high-achiever. She is above average but school has never been her thing. She does what she needs to get the B+ or A-. She doesn’t enjoy school. The social interactions give her high anxiety. She is happiest when creating her art, reading or being with her animals. She gets socialization at her EC activity and she has a part time job. She finds much of the school day a waste of her time. She is in a rush to be done with it and move on with her schooling.
She has stated many times that she has no desire for the traditional college experience. She has no desire to live in a dorm nor experience the party atmosphere that is at almost any college. This is my 3rd child and at this point she has me pretty convinced that she truely feels this way.
At this point we just wait and see if she passed all 3 sections of the test and go from there.
One concern I have at this point is class availability at the CC due to budget.
And good luck to your D.</p>

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<p>If you continue as a high school student BUT take the option of classes from the community college, does that possibly give you the best of both worlds? You won’t have lost your first-time freshman status when you apply to college, and does the high school pay all the CC costs (and perhaps provide the textbooks?) </p>

<p>Does the CC you’d be considering have any transfer agreements with specific UC or CSU campuses you might be interested in?</p>

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<p>She passed the CHSPE. I was hoping she would not pass one of the sections. Now she is going to lobby hard to leave the HS.</p>

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<p>which UCs did your daughter get accepted into?</p>

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<p>I know several students who did the high-school-at-college route at our local CC. They loved it. One went on to graduate from Berkeley, with honors, at age 19.</p>

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<p>It is not uncommon for kids in my area, generally at less-than-awesome high schools, to do senior year at the local CC or regional campus then apply to college as a freshman but finish there early (or be able to finish in 4 years when they might not otherwise). I don’t have any info about how that affects selective college admissions but for kids who hate HS or aren’t challenged there, it’s an option.</p>

<p>With a certain GPA and standardized test score, those classes are free and considered dual enrollment.</p>

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<p>One of Ds friends did this, he transferred into UChicago as a junior, as they are another school that doesn’t require a high school diploma.</p>