We homeschool. My kids have a lot of control over what they study and they can progress at their own pace vs. the controlled pace of a classroom. My 11th grader started studying French in 3rd grade. By 6th grade the content, pace, and output was on par with a high school classroom. She started Latin in 6th and by 7th was studying at a high school level. She opted to drop Latin this yr (after earning a gold on the NLE 4 poetry last yr) in order to make room for art history and linguistics.
Her older brother (the physicsgeek who influenced my user name when I joined this group his sr yr) was similar except in terms of math and physics. He graduated having completed 300 level courses in both.
Anyway, that is why I stated that I have a general framework they have to comply with (4 English, 4 math, 3 science, 3 foreign lang, 3 history, etc) but beyond that, they drive what they study and to what degree.
Homeschoolers are often evaluated differently than âtraditionalâ students by college admission staff. They have to provide a more holistic package to support their learning programs. Given that, your D may not have to have the exact requirements that regular school kids need.
@mtrosemom Even homeschooled students need to meet the minimum required threshold requirements. The homeschoolerâs situation is pretty similar to the case faced by all students who donât meet the recommended or exceed minimum requirementsâŠfor example, the university requires 3 sciences, but they recommend 4âŠit does not mean the student will automatically be rejected without 4, but their application better be compelling to overcome the recommended 4.)
As to if they are evaluated differently, it really depends on the school. Many universities do not evaluate homeschoolers any differently than any other applicant: test scores and transcript. Others may require subject tests. Others may require LOR + subject tests. I have had 3 kids accepted to the universities they attend(ed) with nothing more than test scores and transcript. When they have applied to more competitive schools, they have supplied more.
@Ynotgo I must have missed your earlier post. My daughter is taking AP Calc BC this year, so yeah, Iâm talking about Multivariable for next year. I hade the same thought as you, that MV may be less important in Bio, whereas Stats is very important. She can always do MV in college closer to the time she actually needs it. My thinking.
Our course selection meeting with GC is next week, so weâre just running through some options.
It depends on the school. Some ask counselors if the student has taken the most rigorous schedule available. It sounds like even without MV that may well be true but she could ask the counselor if I take xyz next year would you consider that the most rigorous when colleges ask. FWIW my S16 is in multi-var/matrix algebra as a dual enrollment class at a 4 year college and he does think the material is easier than calculus in terms of the depth of the material. Heâs a very mathy kid and is disappointed itâs not more challenging. He took AP Stats as an elective and thought it was very easy. He didnât have a good teacher but read through the Barronâs prep book for a few hours before the test and got a 5. Stats would be more useful for a Bio major. She probably wonât need MV in college unless she goes somewhere more of a tech school or some schools offer a choice of BA or BS and more math may be needed for the BS. My son wonât get any credit for his MV because it doesnât sync up well with the college he will probably attend math curriculum.
@dcplanner Thanks. Thatâs a good idea to ask her GC how she would answer that question on the LOR. My daughter was thinking of BioMed Engin originally, so thatâs kind of how she got on the current track. I have a feeling sheâll do MV because she is worried about the rigor issue. Iâm actually more concerned that AP Lit will take more time.
@2muchquan, if this were DD (also thinking Bio in college) then my thoughts would lean towards taking APstats and AP Lit.
I agree with @dcplanner that how your counselor views the rigors of your daughter schedule should be taken into consideration if you are thinking about top school or chasing merit.
Similar to @Mom2aphysicsgeekâs experience, DS14 with high stats had great results chasing merit money.
The kids at our school really donât have a choice about whether to take the AP exam of not. We have to pay $92 for the exam and it âcountsâ as their final exam. The school gets the scores back and uses that to give statistics for how many kids take the exam and what scores they got. The APUSH teacher even has a board in her room with all the previous students that got 5âs in APUSHâŠ
Does anyone know good websites for official ACT practice tests AND for the answers AND explanations. My son has done all the practice test in the red book and needs more to do. Many of the websites I found have very old tests or seem like scam websitesâŠthey require you to download multiple applications and even then I canât get them to work (like â â â â â â â â .com)
@jjmama I donât think youâll find more than 4 official ones. Google âofficial act tests pdfâ and you should find some. Some are quite old, but still good for prep work (IMO). â â â â â â â â .com should have them too, but only use the direct link to a document, never download an âapplicationâ. They are tricky to find sometimes.
If you donât have any luck, PM me and Iâll dig up the ones my D used.
@jjmama â I have not tried this site but sent the link to my older son when he was prepping for SAT. I think you can view one test for free and see what your child thinks of the videotaped explanations. If I am reading correctly, it may only cost $49, which seems a bargain compared to local tutoring rates.
@2muchquan I donât know how to PM. Tell me how and Iâll do it. LOL. Yeah, the â â â â â â â â .com website is slippery. I did download an app and instantly regretted it and it still didnât help me. I have all the official ones in the past 5 years, which is about how far I want to go back. I really want to be able to download the Real ACT Tests Pdf Downloads, like 73C, 73G, 72G, etc. but canât figure out how to do it. If you have any tips, let me know.
Through google we found 4 official old tests. I think the oldest is 2005 and the newest is 2011. My daughter has been doing them oldest to newest and she says they older ones are harder but I think she is getting better at predicting the questions.
I signed DS up for SAT subject test in May and June thinking that he can retake the Chemistry test if May score is not good. Looking at the score delivery schedule https://sat.collegeboard.org/scores/availability, I noticed he wonât have the scores before the June test.
Why is College Board messing up with Class of 2017 so much :((
@payn4ward - Whatâs the hurry to take back to back tests SAT subject tests? Is October too late for colleges? My S is thinking of taking in June and October.
@srk2017 I trust the CB so little these days. Iâd like to have all DSâ testing done by June so that our only interaction with CB in the fall is getting them to send the scores to colleges (which was a huge problem for many seniors this year).