Freshman Kid is enrolled in an online high school (We live too far from school) and has a 4.0; school is easy. Kid could switch to a more challenging online school and perhaps lose in GPA. Which is better for college admissions? Kid will take AP classes this summer and next school year.
Admissions where? A HS degree plus a pulse gets you into most state universities in those places where students can still live too far distant to attend school.
the adcoms will know which school is hard or easy and they will pick top students from the hardest schools. That is if you are targeting the top 50 colleges or so, in CC everyone is superstar.
Is your goal for your kid to get into a good college, but nothing else after that matters? Kids who coast through high school with an easy 4.0 may not learn the study and work habits that are necessary to success in college or life after college. At some point most of us need to learn to work hard and effectively to master difficult challenges. If the first time a kid faces this challenge is at age 19 away from home it can be a real problem.
A challenging high school is important. It provides the foundation for everything that comes after.
They need to learn to write very well, and if they haven't learned in high school, it's usually too late.
You may find it helpful to read through some of the college websites for advice to homeschooled kids (the Stanford website has a useful summary). I doubt the difference in the online schools is significant enough to make a difference in admissions. The real difference is what he learns, and how his testing record demonstrates that mastery.
