High School Diploma Not Required?

<p>"STrick (please no offense!) but I am very leary of giving out where my son goes to school as I'm concerned about those that lurk, lol. I hope you understand."</p>

<p>Fair enough. My S goes to the first of those schools to be established. (Say no more, nudge, nudge, wink, wink.) I hadn't understood that this was a case where there was an oversight in you son getting all the required courses. Sorry. </p>

<p>I can say that if the list of schools our kids have gotten into over the last three years is any indication, universities who understand who they are have no trouble accepting them. I know that the law requires our state universities to require that students to take certain courses, but even there there are valid exceptions and outright early admission. Hope everything works out for you. </p>

<p>I need to go check my S's transcripts again now. :eek:</p>

<p>mominin, check with your local hometown school board. Your hometown school district MAY be able to issue a diploma on the basis of work completed elsewhere. (It is fairly common, for example, for students who choose to go to full-time college after finishing 11th grade to get a diploma from their hometown high school AFTER successful completion of their freshman year in college.) Perhaps your hometown school district has similar authority to issue a diploma based on his completing the additional coursework at the state gifted school after his first 2 years at your local high school.</p>

<p>Another option--check with the state education department. THEY may be able to issue him a diploma based on his completion of all state requirements.</p>

<p>Either of those routes might minimize future hassles down the road.</p>

<p>I do think your son's school is very much at fault, from what you describe, in not advising him better so that he would be able to complete all THEIR requirements in the expected time frame. You might see whether there is any room for negotiation there--could he do an on-line distance-learning course quickly to make up the credit, or could he self-study and take a CLEP exam to make up the credit, etc.</p>

<p>No matter what, I can't imagine any college penalizing him by rescinding admissions for a technical issue like this under the circumstances you describe!</p>

<p>There might, however, be some issues with the FAFSA Federal aid in his freshman year if he hasn't earned a diploma or GED before enrolling. The FAFSA does ask if the student will have a high school diploma OR GED OR state-recognized homeschool equivalent prior to enrollment.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

<p>* It's a shame that in a small school like my son's that the counselors could not have kept better tabs on his credits, but it happened. My son takes part of the blame and the school is going to be flexible about ways for him to make up the deficit.*</p>

<p>I just re-read your post more carefully and saw this at the end. It's good that your son accepts some of the responsibility and also that the school is willing to be flexible about ways to make up the credit--that's probably the best route, if they are wiling to be flexible. (Perhaps he could do credit by exam or write a research paper or something along those lines, possibly over the summer if necessary.)</p>

<p>Again, good luck!</p>

<p>The way our hs has handled the issue of credits for college classes is to give high school credit for those classes.</p>

<p>The ironic thing is that my son HAS met all of the graduation requirements for our state and then some as he has many many high school credits and started accumulating them in 6th grade. He could have gone to college early, but elected instead to go to this gifted high school and loves it. </p>

<p>Our local school administration would indeed let him receive a diploma locally, in fact, he could have done that last year already. My son wants a hs diploma from his current school and I guess since he's worked so hard I can see why. ALthough my husband and I are open-minded to us printing off a homeschool diploma from the printer. Our state would allow this and I could certainly show any college his great transcript.</p>

<p>Son has been given the choice by the current high school of taking an independent college course, a college course in fall, etc. They listed several things and I'm thankful for that. It's simply a shame it had to happen. So yes, Strick11 check that high school transcript carefully!</p>

<p>Thanks again for the great postings.</p>

<p>I know you're getting tired of explaining this, but do I understand correctly? Your son met the state's requirements, but because some of those requirements were met outside your son's gifted school, they won't consider them for graduation purposes? Or is it that he missed one of the school's requirements that's in excess of what the state requires.</p>

<p>We've had some problems with our S's school, but I admit I don't think either of those things are possible there. Their requirements are essentially what the state requires only much more advanced and more weighted to math and science. They're used to giving students credit for courses they took in high school, or at least I think they are. These kids were ahead of everyone else; that's what the school was for in the first place.</p>

<p>"Your son met the state's requirements, but because some of those requirements were met outside your son's gifted school, they won't consider them for graduation purposes?"
You are understanding correctly.</p>

<p>"Or is it that he missed one of the school's requirements that's in excess of what the state requires"
No, simply electives he's missing :( This school does indeed require 2 more years (on top of what incoming students already have) of sciences, math, english, colloq, etc.. My son has met all those requirements. He simply didn't fulfill the total amount of credits that the school has established in its guidelines.</p>

<p>Someone suggested I go over the school and talk to someone at state but I would never do that, plus my son would be horribly embarrassed if I did.</p>

<p>Clarification again to my first paragraph. Son did meet state requirements and school requirements for graduation EXCEPT for the amount of credits to be in the form of electives. Whew! Hard to put into words.</p>