I am a new member. My son is in 10th grade. He has completed or tested out of all the math high school curriculum in 9th grade itself, and has been dual enrolling for advanced math courses in local michigan community colleges. By the end of 10th grade he will also have cleared all math and much of physics courses that community colleges can offer. Nest step will be to dual enroll in university advanced courses. Here I come to a screeching halt, The university tuition is prohibitive. A 4 credit math course for dual enrolled students costs $3000 for a semester ( as opposed to $800 for community college). High school only provides upto $600 for a semester for dual enrollment.
–>My 1st question is where can I find merit based funding for dual enrolees like my son?
–> My 2nd question is is there any downside to doing all these dual enrollment courses? (Expectation is that universities will count them as credit towards his future university coursework)
I am disappointed that the “system” while trying to shore up the bottom 10% with many financial schemes (no student left behind, etc), has nothing to encourage the top 10% to excel even more with any financial incentives.
This also holds true for undergrad education,…I am finding that while there are plenty of financial aid packages for need based students, there is nothing much out there that I can find for merit based students.
–>My 3rd question is where can I search for full/rides or substantial merit based funding at “better” universities? (My thinking is that my son can probably get accepted say in MIT, but I absolutely don’t want to pay the ridiculuous tution that they ask for, I’d rather he would go to 2nd or 3rd choice if they give a full ride).
Check out the merit scholarship thread. http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/52133-schools-known-for-good-merit-aid.html#latest If your son can score well enough on the National Merit/PSAT test junior year there are a number of places he could get a full ride. My son was in the top 1% of his class had 800s on all his subject tests, and 1560/1600 on the SATs and still didn’t get into MIT. (Which was fine, he loved Carnegie Mellon.)
Well, the top 10% in high school are probably more like the ones taking calculus AB or BC in 12th grade. Your son is probably in the top 0.0002% of math achievement to have completed calculus BC or equivalent in 9th grade.
http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/
http://competitivefulltuition.yolasite.com/
http://nmfscholarships.yolasite.com/ (11th grade PSAT is the qualifier for National Merit status)
Also note that if the cost of university tuition is a concern, he may be eligible for substantial financial aid at some of the more expensive universities. Each university has a net price calculator on its web site that can be used to get a preliminary estimate of financial aid.
As for his university courses during high school… usually you can only get financial aid if you are enrolled as a degree seeking student, so a student taking one or two classes probably won’t get any financial aid. Your state has put a limit on the amount it will contribute per course and you have to find something that fits within the limit or pay the difference. I don’t know of many merit awards for students who aren’t full time either, but you may find a civic group that would consider helping - American legion, Rotary, Elks - but only at the local level. Ask your high school guidance counselor if she knows of any businesses that might help.
You might also consider online courses. He may not get credit, but he’ll keep up on math.
Here are some ideas, but it will depend on where you live.
My oldest son had taken all the math and physics classes at the local community college by mid-10th grade, and he still wanted to take more math and physics. In our case, we opted to use an online mentor/tutor who worked with my son on advanced differential equations, dynamical systems, and a little real analysis. It was a very casual situation; he met with the tutor once a week (and sometimes missed a week) and probably didn’t have more that a couple hours of “homework” each week. My son loved the unschoolish nature of it.
The other thing my son did to keep sharp in math was to do math competitions. We have a great local math circle, so he did AMC10 and AMC 12, and AIME three times. He wasn’t motivated to really study much for the competitions, so he never made it to USAMO. He also did the local math olympiad, and did ARML, a team competition, three times (his absolute favorite). He also just read a lot of math books for enjoyment.
To help pay for the online tutor, we got financial assistance from a particular organization that supports highly gifted children, and offers financial support to families of moderate means.
As for physics, what we did was to contact a professor at the local state university which is about 10 minutes away. We did not contact admissions; my son went into through the back door. I basically emailed the prof, told him about my son, and he agreed to meet with my son. The prof allowed him to audit for free an upper division electromagnetism class for a year, and told my son to do it just as if he was officially enrolled. Because my son had the highest grade in the class, the prof invited my son to do physics research the following summer.
My son also audited an upper division optics course in fall of his senior year. (Same great prof) His prof even got him a job working at the state uni tutoring a student in electromagnetism. In the spring, his prof had him enter his research in the u/g research symposium even though my son wasn’t enrolled in the college.
The one stipulation is that my son was homeschooled/dual-enrolled, and thus had a much more flexible schedule than a student in a B&M school. I don’t know what constraints your child has as far as schedule, but auditing a class at a local university might be the way to go.
As far as competitive scholarships, those links above are great. For my son, he won full tuition scholarships at Vanderbilt, Harvey Mudd, and University of Pittsburgh. He won a full ride at UT Dallas. He didn’t win anything at WUSTL and didn’t get invited to compete for the full ride at Pitt. However, since our income is moderate, he got a lot of need-based aid at many of the colleges to which he applied, and he ended up at a college that meets 100% demonstrated need. It turned out to be very cheap for us because he also won a special Corporate National Merit Scholarship. Definitely check out National Merit opportunities.
BTW, don’t assume your son can get into MIT or any highly selective college. Though my son is graduating from MIT and gained admittance to all his colleges including several Ivies, we never, for a moment, assumed he’d get in. College admissions is more competitive than ever, and sometimes the process can seem random. Go in with an open mind and low expectations.
I agree that $600 is far too low, as it doesn’t cover one course at the CC. Can you appeal to the School Board for more $?
Putting high school students through college isn’t the responsibility of the local public school district or their taxpayers. I don’t believe that giving every child a free, appropriate education means providing college courses for advanced students at the expense of those who are struggling. “Appropriate” is defined by the state high school graduation requirements, not the academic potential of individual students. Many districts in our state struggle to meet state mandates; funding college courses that are many levels beyond what’s required to earn a high school diploma at the expense of high school programming wouldn’t go over well. Parents who want more pay out-of-pocket for college courses or to enroll their children in private high schools.
If the parents can’t/won’t pay for college classes or private school, their son has other options. He could try to get an internship at the local university, take online courses, self study, or get a job to pay for the classes he wants. Some employers will help pay for college, so he may want to look into getting a job that offers that benefit.
Have you checked any online courses? Some of those are less costly.
Where I am, dual enrolled students receive free tuition for college courses taken at the local CC or local state U branch. The HS pays for those. Have you checked with your HS guidance office?
For your son’s actual college enrollment…his job now is to get the best possible GPA and the best possible SAO or ACT score so that he will have good college admissions prospects…either to schools that meet full need. Or to schools where he could garner significant merit aid.
Our school district use to pay for 4 classes at the local U. More than that is at the student’s expense. Now, they have a program for gifted kids where they spend most of their day at the U. They have a special STEM program.
My son wasn’t the only one who ran out of math in 9th grade. It cost me $2000-2500 for 5 classes, many years ago.
I know a student like your son whose family elected to send to college after 10th grade. He did just fine there, and now is in a top PhD program in his field.
Check the universities your son could commute to, and the ones on this list for ideas: http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/early_college.htm
This is a bit of a long shot, but when considering colleges, look into the College of Creative Studies at University of California, Santa Barbara, “A Graduate School for Undergraduates.” They have a math program. All of the CCS programs are VERY selective. Students can go directly into grad-level research/work in their freshman year. Contact with top faculty. Enormous academic freedom in how they chose spend their undergrad years. Yes, it’s a public school and UCs in particular don’t give FA to non-residents. BUT THEY STILL GIVE MERIT AID to nonresidents. Maybe your son can be one of them?
Can he finish all high school grad requirements and graduate early? Of course, this could impact selective college admissions because he may not have 4 full years of language etc. Just putting it out there as an option.
Will the district pay for online accredited college math courses? Could try edx.org for free courses. Or look through “art of problem solving” website - may find someone there willing to be a paid tutor for real analysis or abstract algebra, which he can study on his own. At this point, he should start the theoretical math courses like analysis or abstract algebra anyway. And these classes are largely self-motivated, even with a real live professor.