What do you think of my high school classes?

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

<p>I was looking through the boards and saw that this question is asked frequently. I'm just curious -- I mean I think I am on the right track but I'm just looking for other opinions. </p>

<p>I have been homeschooling since freshman year and I am aware of the homeschool section but I figured I'd post in this section because there seems to be more traffic here. </p>

<p>I take most of my courses at community college and will graduate high school and my community college at the same time. I don't know my high school GPA off the top of my head but my community college GPA is 3.97 - all A's and one B+. I will be re-taking that class this fall. I hope to graduate community college with a 4.0 and be considered for valedictorian/salutatorian. </p>

<p>I have taken my classes from a variety of institutions - only a few have been self-study courses. I noted where I took each class. </p>

<p>Since first grade I had guessed my way through math. I was still placed into the high levels and was in way over my head and it only got worse every year. I had no foundation whatsoever. It was very frustrating and I felt like an idiot. I constantly failed tests and it wasn't that I didn't study; I'd look at a problem and my basic skills were so lacking that I never even knew where to begin. Still, I always got B's on my report card! In 10th grade, I came to the realization that I needed to go back to the very beginning. I took two semesters of remedial math. I had a life-changing professor, a great tutoring/support system, and the right attitude/work ethic. Everything came together for me. I pulled myself out of the "I can't do math" mantra and am now thriving in the subject. I just took pre-calc 1 and finished with a 99 average. So while there are some easy math courses listed on my 10th grade transcript, please keep my history in mind. Now I love math and am interested to see how far I can go with it.</p>

<p>A 1 means that the class was a year long; a 0.5 means it lasted half a year. I took/am taking/will take some of my community college classes over the summer. There are two summer sessions, Summer I and Summer II. </p>

<p>I list sports on my transcript because they count as my gym classes. </p>

<p>Sorry for the long explanation! </p>

<p>FRESHMAN:</p>

<p>0.5 9th Grade Composition (University of Missouri Homeschool Extension program) - A
0.5 Literature Self-Study - A
1 American Government Honors (Keystone High, online school) - A
1 Algebra 1 (Compuhigh, online school) - B
1 Biology w/lab (Compuhigh, online school) - A
0.5 Spanish 1 (community college) - A
0.5 Spanish 2 (community college) A
1 Orchestra (the youth orchestra in my county)
1 Figure skating</p>

<p>Total credits: 7</p>

<p>SOPHOMORE:</p>

<p>0.5 Freshman Composition 1 (community college) - A
0.5 Freshman Composition 2 (community college) - A
0.5 Effective Speech (community college) - A
0.5 World History 1 (community college) - A
0.5 World History 2 (community college) - A
0.5 Introductory Algebra (community college remedial course) - A
0.5 Elementary Algebra (community college remedial course) - A
0.5 Intro to College Algebra (community college) - A [taken summer 1 session]
1 General Science (University of South Queensland online course)
0.5 Social Problems (community college) - A [taken summer 2 session]
0.5 Art (Alpha-Omega Homeschool program)
1 Skating (figure and hockey)
0.5 Karate</p>

<p>Total: 7.5 </p>

<p>JUNIOR:
0.5 Modern Literature (community college) - A
0.5 U.S. Literature 1 (community college) - A
0.5 U.S. History 1 (community college) - A
0.5 U.S. History 2 (community college) - A
0.5 Intro to Trig Self-Study - A
0.5 Pre-Calculus 1 (community college) - A
0.5 Statistics and Probability (community college) - will take summer 2 session
0.5 College Chemistry 1 w/lab (community college) - A
0.5 Intro to Organic Chemistry Self-Study w/lab - B
0.5 Macroeconomis (community college) - currently taking, summer 1 session
0.5 Cultural Anthropology (community college) - currently taking, summer 1 session
0.5 World Geography (Compuhigh, online school) - currently taking
0.5 Music Appreciation (community college) - will take summer 2 session
1 Spanish (Rosetta Stone) - currently taking
1 Karate </p>

<p>Total: 8.5</p>

<p>SENIOR PLAN
0.5 U.S. Literature 2 (community college)
0.5 Contemporary Women's Literature (community college)
0.5 Pre-Calculus 2 (community college)
0.5 Calculus 1 (community college)
0.5 Discrete Mathematics (community college)
0.5 College Physics 1 (community college, Alg. 2/pre-calc based)
0.5 General Physics 1 (community college, calc based)
2 Spanish (Rosetta Stone)
1 Karate </p>

<p>Total: 6.5 </p>

<p>EXTRACURRICULARS:</p>

<p>-Sports:
Figure Skating
Hockey
Karate </p>

<p>-Volunteer:
Art club at former elementary school
Math tutor at community college
Garden State Undergrad Math Conference
Appalachian Mountain Club Teen Trail Crew
Animal Shelter </p>

<p>-Clubs:
Community College Math Club (might apply for a small officer position in the fall)
Phi Theta Kappa Honors Society</p>

2

<p>WOW, that’s a heck of a lot better than mine.</p>

3

<p>Really? Thanks for the encouragement! </p>

<p>Bump???</p>

4

<p>Bad schedule. Even though you are probably 3.9 unweighted or so which is good, you took no honors and no AP classes so your schedule is really easy.</p>

5

<p>@ChatterQuill
Do you have access to AP or Honors classes? Because I agree with theeboy3, your schedule is not rigorous at all. Have you taken the SAT?</p>

6

<p>Rosette Stone is garbage, just saying.</p>

7

<p>I am so glad I didn’t read these comments three years ago. They would have really discouraged me. </p>

<p>I graduated CC at age 17 with a 4.0 GPA and transferred to a state university. I am majoring in math and have completed my second year (I will need a total of 4 years at my university because I switched majors upon transferring). Currently, I <em>still</em> have a 4.0. More importantly, my love of and fascination with math is continuously deepening. I love my department; every single math professor I have had has been both a phenomenal teacher and a source of inspiration and guidance. My high school experience was amazing and I can’t say enough positive things about my CC and the warm, nurturing, supportive, and intellectually stimulating place I found it to be. My time there set the stage for all the wonderful experiences I have been fortunate to have over the past few years. My CC/high school classes were certainly not “easy” or lacking in rigor and the overall experience was enriching and life-changing. The path that I took was tough at times but it taught me so many invaluable life and academic skills. It was truly the experience of a lifetime and I am so thankful that I was able to take a non-traditional path. </p>

<p>I transferred 62 of my 80-something CC credits to my university. I believe they did ask for my high school transcripts but never inquired about standardized test scores (good thing, as I never did end up taking the SAT or ACT). I adjusted well to life at a big university and found that I was better prepared, both academically and socially, than I had expected. </p>

8

<p>So because all these classes were at the community college, are they all considered AP?</p>

9

<p>Nope…I transferred as a regular transfer student, not as an incoming freshman. I got my HS diploma half a year prior to graduating CC. So I got credit for the CC classes but they weren’t counted as “AP” classes. :)</p>

10

<p>@ChatterQuill Congratz on your accomplishments :)</p>

<p>I was going down that same road as you but sadly due to family complications, I had to stop full-time dual enrollment. I had taken nothing but college courses for my junior year and summer before senior year and I already have 31 college credits (not including credit I’ve received from the only 7 AP courses I’ve taken). The universities I’m looking into are fully transferring my credits and I’ve knocked out a complete year for two of the colleges! Also, the CC I went to had many resources and cared about the DE/high school students on their campus.</p>

<p>Bottom line, please don’t diss CC/DE classes because they aren’t tagged as “Advanced Placement”. I chose DE over AP because not only did these college courses automatically gave college credit upon passing/completion, but it was also as weighted as AP and IB classes. And I truly wish I can continue to pursue DE classes and get my Associates of Arts AND high school diploma. These college courses allowed a lot of freedom in completing classes that could be exempt when you start an university.</p>

<p>And being a high school student who had been in IB from freshman to mid-sophomore year (had to drop out of the program due to a family move), an AP student for the rest of my sophomore year (all my Pre-IB classes transferred as AP courses…which was 5 AP courses), a full-time dual enrollment student for my whole junior year and summer, and a continuing AP student for my senior year (picking up 5 more AP courses), I have to say that my dual enrollment experiences was my favorite overall. I won’t lie, AP courses are amazing and interesting (especially when you have the perfect instructor!) but I felt more independent and more space for self-study (and more time to do assignments) with my DE classes.</p>

<p>And a huge plus side, I have all of my high school graduation requirements done because of DE classes and now I can focus on courses that I WANT to take (including AP Calc BC lol), not courses my strict parents expect me to take.</p>