<p>After reading faransaa's thread, the advice given, and what parents have said, i've realized that I want something different. Right now i'm supposed to be homeschooled through Clonlara, so I can get a diploma. I just realized that i'm no longer interested in this. Right now I am taking an introductory chem course at my local community college, and I think I want to take classes through there full time (and do some high school work if I choose to) instead of worrying about the large amount of requirements for a Clonlara diploma. I'm going to bring this up to my parents and see what they think, but I think they might approve of it because it's more structured. Does this sound like a good idea at all? </p>
<p>Also, if anyone knows about my ability to withdraw from Clonlara, please share...</p>
<p>I don't know anything specific about Clonlara, but I do know many homeschooled high-school-aged students who take classes at community colleges or 4-yr publics. If your state has a public university system that appeals to you, it can be a great option to take those comm. college classes, because within a state the courses are often articulated and will transfer easily. This can save you a lot of money, among other benefits.</p>
<p>Or you can just take the comm. college classes as part of your homeschool secondary ed program, and then apply as a freshman elsewhere -- not necessarily expecting to transfer the credits.</p>
<p>Right now i'm taking a single cc course, intro to chem. I really like the whole idea of just taking classes there for the completion of my secondary schooling, but not really expecting them to transfer. I've heard of kids doing full time college programs for high school, but are they a good idea? Well received by colleges?</p>
<p>Basically, I know what I want to study and when I want to accomplish it by. With Clonlara, I have so many requirements to complete that i'm burning out just thinking about having them done by when I want them completed. This seems like the easiest, quickest, most self satisfying way for me to complete high school.</p>
<p>I'm bumping this just because i'm curious as to how colleges may view me being full time dual enrolled. I'm okay with the credits not transferring out of state, but would this be viewed as good/bad/neutral with more competitive schools?</p>
<p>According to my dad, this isn't a good enough solution for him, because I will apparently not be a high school graduate. He doesn't like the idea of homeschooling. I find this extremely amusing because technically i'm homeschooled now. He won't even listen to me...</p>
<p>Clonlara has an excellent reputation. However, I get the impression that their market "back in the day" was to help home schoolers "pass muster" with colleges and employers. As home schooling has become more common place, and more people are taking community college and university courses as home schoolers, the kind of "seal of approval" they provide has become less important.
To some extent, the particulars of the state in which you live may be important. In our state, Illinois, home schools are considered private schools, which are not regulated, educationally. We would just print out a diploma on our home computer if anyone were interested. No one has been.
However, my kids have only applied to private elite colleges. It may be that some state schools are more bureaucratic in their expectations.
I can't say whether a program like Clonlara or actual success in college courses might carry more weight with college admissions folks. But I could guess.</p>
<p>Sometimes parents have this impression that being a high school graduate carries more weight than it actually does. The only post-secondary-ed options these days that seems to require an actual diploma are union trade apprenticeships... and even then they'll accept a GED. But colleges don't generally (I'm not saying there are no exceptions to this, but I haven't encountered one), and rather look at what you've studied, what you've read, how you've been assessed (test scores, grades), and how you've spent your productive time. But it's always kind of funny how surprising this is to people. It's as though they can't quite believe that you can have college options if you didn't graduate.</p>
<p>A diploma is actually just kind of a fancy CONGRATULATIONS! card. It's the transcript that matters; subjects, grades, scores. But not the actual graduation. In fact when you apply in your senior year to colleges, they accept you (or not) based on your work up to that point. Later, after the year is done, they'll want you to send them your transcript to show that you stayed in your courses and finished them satisfactorily. They won't ask to see you diploma. ;)</p>
<p>I made my kids beautiful diplomas when they graduated from homeschooling. But they are just keepsakes... nothing more. Just like my own high school diploma from the public high school I graduated from.</p>
<p>I live in Michigan. I know that our homeschooling laws are very lenient, and I really don't need to/want to complete the Clonlara diploma program. It's a good program, but not for me. I know what I want to study (science, mostly bio, and English, as well as a few other courses that i'm interested in) and I want to accomplish that as fast as possible without worrying about various requirements. My parents are also not involved enough with my education for it to really work. When I brought this up to my dad, it was an automatic no due to the whole lack of diploma thing. If he would just calm down a bit, I would be able to explain this to him...but nothing. I know already that I can get into college without a traditional diploma, and I don't really feel the need to have one.</p>
<p>But basically, this could be well regarded by colleges if I just challenge myself? I planned on taking foundation courses this year and next year/over the summer I could build onto it with more difficult classes. At this point, I just want to be done with high school. I'm sick of the coursework, and I love the idea of taking college classes.</p>
<p>Colleges will look at what you've studied, how you've challenged yourself, and how you've done.</p>
<p>But most kids are not in a position to simply defy their parents' wishes and expectations. I mean, apart from just understanding that their fears are really because they want you to do well, there's also the fact that you need the support of your parents on an emotional level as well as a practical one as you look towards college.</p>
<p>So you can maybe look for ways to bring this up to your dad, but at a certain point it's probably not worth stressing your relationship just to avoid some Clonlara diploma requirements. I mean, I totally sympathize with you. My own daughter just started college full-time for the same reason. She'd done what she wanted to do and needed to do as a homeschool high school student, and she was ready to start college... so she did. And even though she's a couple years younger than most of the other freshman, she's doing just great and she's SO happy to be in a college environment. So, I get it. I really understand your frustration and how simple this could be if only your dad saw it your way... but he's still your dad and whether his sense of the value of getting a diploma is well-founded or not, it probably is a deeply held belief that will be very difficult for him to shake. (After all, it was drilled into his head too.)</p>
<p>Can you talk to your mother about it first? It might create a bit of an opening if you can reassure her to start with. In any case, you'll probably have to let this evolve, work on it over time, and in the meantime keep up with your Clonlara program. Good luck to you! Either way, you will eventually get to college and I'm sure you'll love it!</p>
<p>Thanks so much for the advice! I did talk to my mom first, and convinced her to talk to my dad. They're okay with this now, because I explained to them what was said in this thread. I'm really excited about this! </p>
<p>If I decide to stay as a dual enrolled student, can I still join clubs and stuff there? I kind of want to find something to join/do at the moment, since i'm in only one class this semester and i'm going to be so bored till next semester.</p>
<p>Christi - my son got into Caltech, MIT, UCLA, Berekely and UCSD without a high school diploma. We did not homeschool through any organization (actually, that is not entirely true, but as far as the colleges were concerned, it was). BTW, he did not take any cc classes, either. He took some online classes and self studied others. </p>
<p>If your parents would like to email me, I would be happy to give them some pointers and some useful links. </p>
<p>My daughter is a student at Princeton, and my son is a graduate of Dartmouth (who was admitted to similar schools) under no school umbrella and with no CC , university, or any other course. Even at home.
What worked for them (and may for you) is strong test scores and the opportunity to do interesting things.
I don't expect you to research this guy, but an educational thinker named Ivan Illich argued that schools maintain their grip on our minds by convincing people that the means and opportunities for learning are scarce (and dependent upon them, the schools). Of course the means and opportunities to learn are unlimited!
I'd love to have you as my son or daughter.</p>
<p>Christi, I'm not sure I completely understand your last question, but are you asking whether or not you can join clubs and other activities at the CC while you're also doing Clonlara? Because I'm sure you will. There's no minimum number of classes you need to be in to be active at the CC. Most colleges, both 2-year and 4-year, LOVE to see students get involved with the activities on campus. Those involved students are what brings a campus to life.</p>
<p>christi, what about Clonlara didn't work for you? I'm interested in somehow getting involved with an online affiliated program such as Clonlara, but would like to know what it is about the program that didn't work in your situation.</p>
<p>Thanks a ton for the replies! I'm definitely working on raising my test scores as i'm not exactly satisfied with what I got when I took them in June. Hopefully my re take in March/April will be a lot better and from there I can start researching my college options. I'm going to see about getting involved at the school too. If there's not many options though, that's okay...I think i've found other good activities to be involved in outside of it.</p>
<p>Clonlara isn't really online affiliated. The main reasons it's not working for me is a) strong lack of parental involvement/they don't have time to dedicate to helping me, and b) I know what I want to study already, and don't want to be tied down by all the requirements I need to graduate in two years. It could be different for you though. Look into it if you want an umbrella program.</p>
<p>Also, thank you danas. I should print that out and show my parents, because they're really getting fed up with my school choices as of late!</p>