My son, about to turn 16, has been homeschooled all his life. We did eclectic homeschooling with no tests, and a lot of his work has been self-directed. He scored a 25 on the ACT last month, which is enough to get a full scholarship whenever he wants to attend a state school. Our plan is to have him attend community college full time for what would be his Junior and Senior years of high school. I’m now freaking out that he may do poorly, be overwhelmed, and not get the 3.0 GPA he needs to maintain his scholarship. Can anyone ease my nerves about this? He’s a bright kid - not the most motivated - but I think having deadlines to keep up with and grade requirements to meet will help his motivation level. And of course I’ll be here to help him study, etc, as he will still be a minor. He’ll be taking all online classes his first 2 semesters, then a mix of online and on campus. Thoughts? Am I freaking out over nothing?
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He scored a 25 on the ACT last month, which is enough to get a full scholarship whenever he wants to attend a state school.
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What state is that?
And when you say “full scholarship”, does that mean TUITION ONLY?
Louisiana - yes, all tuition plus $200 a semester towards fees/books. Fees at the community college he’s planning to attend are about $150 a semester.
Has he completed 11th and 12th grade coursework? The first question on the page below says that homeschooled students must have completed that level. I know very little about how it works for homeschooled students but I’d verify that first.
http://www.osfa.state.la.us/MainSitePDFs/TOPSAlternateEligibility_QnA.pdf
Personally I would worry a bit about grades slipping. A lot if kids lose TOPS. Seems like a younger kid who is not accustomed to the structure would be at more than average risk. It’s also necessary for students to get 24 hours per year. And once they fail to do that in a year, it’s gone, wheras if the GPA drops TOPS is suspended but can be resumed if the GPA comes back up. although the stipends will not be resumed if the GPA drops–the best you can do then is get the basic level back.
Are you graduating him from high school now or do you want him to stay in high school and take dual enrollment courses?
I see from your other post that your son wants an associate degree. That’s great, don’t get me wrong. But he has to finish high school unless you mean through dual enrollment. What are the requirements in your state to graduate a home school student?
I think he should “stay in homeschool high school” and take DE classes at the CC…that will make him more likely to get BETTER merit from a variety of schools…and he’ll be older, too.
Dual enrollment will also give him the chance to learn how to deal with the more regimented environment before it is a sink or swim situation.
As far as hovering while he leaves the nest to take regular courses- don’t. He needs to be able to function as an independent individual when he attends any type of college. My 16 year old (nearly 17- fall birthday) did well as a college freshman at our large flagship. He had gone through middle and HS with the others in his grade and his age did not matter in handling dorm life, honors classes et al. In fact, he was not the youngest in an honors physics class- there was a 14 year old girl doing Youth Options taking the course while a local HS student.
A 25 on the ACT will not get a student very far for most higher tiered colleges. Are you sure your son should be aiming only for an AA degree instead of preparing more while being a HS student so he has more career options? Why push him out into the world at 16 instead of preparing him for a college experience commensurate with his ability level? Two more years of good schooling likely will improve his ACT a lot- it doesn’t sound like he is academically that well prepared. Being well read and learning to problem solve/do critical thinking is needed.
I think you should rethink your notion that your son has completed a HS curriculum. With that low ACT score he seems more like his age- a HS sophomore. The best gift you can give him is to allow him to mature and learn to deal with the real world. Starting with academics as a dual enrollment student will allow him to be eligible for a four year college without starting as a transfer student. He then could get the fantastic experience of being a college freshman living away from home. He has never been with his academic peers I suspect.
btw- my son’s HS grades started slipping senior year secondary to boredom and he needed major help in waking up for school but did fine in college. He was more motivated and more engaged in his classes.
What are your SON’s thoughts? Does he want to do this, or is it all dictated from above by parents?
So much more preaching I could do.
Hi! Fellow Louisiana homeschooler here! Not a parent, an incoming community college freshman, but I figured I’d chip in some insight to posters who are saying his ACT score isn’t very impressive. For CC it isn’t, but in Louisiana its a very good score & it will get your tuition at the very least fully paid, IF we’re talking about in state schools. No he won’t be a top candidate elsewhere, but if he WANTS to stay in Louisiana a 25 will do it. My brother, also homeschooled with me, got a 26 and stayed at home, LSU was pretty much paying him. I got into a university here with a 21. No scholarships, but still it gives you a picture of the state. Now are you sure your son wants to stay in state? If he does then don’t worry about his ACT, the score is fine, but if he’s even considering leaving LA, or even wanting to stay on campus he needs to bring his score up & he can only do that by learning more at home. But that’s just me.
I agree you should be worried about him losing TOPS too soon though. My brother had to upkeep the same GPA & lost it after his first semester, and he was the “smart one”. Your kid sounds a bit more like me - not dumb by a long shot but not very motivated, and if I’d been thrown into community college at 16? The sink to swim ratio would probably have tipped heavily in the sink part.
But like the poster said above, what does your son want to do? That’s 85-95% of what matters, because if he doesn’t want community college or he’s not interested, his grades might reflect that
He very much wants to do it - which is why I’m asking for advice. He has Aspergers and wants to stay in the state. I’m trying to help him succeed, and he’s getting bored with the current routine. This seems a logical next step, despite what some folks here are saying. I think 4 intro level courses at CC should work out okay, I was just wanting some other perspectives. I also think it’s funny that people are bashing a 25 ACT when all I’m asking about is a 16 year old attending a local community college. He could get a free ride to any 4 year state school PLUS stipend with that score - yet people want to say it’s “low.” For our purposes, it’s great. Considering it’s the only test he’s ever taken in his life, I’m certainly not complaining.
I think that taking some CC classes is a logical next step. I think starting the 4-year TOPS clock and GPA pressure for a kid who has taken only one test in his life is risky. If he’s bored, taking a coupe of CC classes may be just the thing. But he doesn’t have to graduate to do that (I would assume a homeschooler can take CC classes just as other HS students do).
Has he really completed a high school curriculum already, or why push him into college as a high school junior? If you have significant concerns that he may not perform that well, why would you put him into this situation? The ACT score does not impress me as a kid who has nothing left to learn at the high school level. Have you thought about putting him into high school? He will have a lot to adjust to with college tests and deadlines, especially with his condition, I think it would make more sense to get him used to being in regular classes and dealing with all kinds of things he never had to before as a homeschooler.
Four intro-level CC classes sounds like a lot to start out with; the structure, quizzes and deadlines are a lot to get used to, especially since his education has been self-directed and less structured. My daughter, a homeschooled high school senior, took her first CC class through dual enrollment as a freshman, but at that point she had already taken a lot of standardized tests and a number of graded online classes.
As a home school student who did some “eclectic” home schooling as well as more structured courses who has taken community college courses while in high school, let me give some perspective. My first community college class was Calc I. I had been tested before, mostly in math and science as well as some standardized tests, but even with that preparation it was very stressful. I only took one cc class that semester. There was no way I could have handled 4. The following semester I took 2, and last semester, 3. I ramped up slowly to get used to the college pace and numerous deadlines that required much more time management than I had needed before. (I did get As in all my courses.) I will be taking 4 classes in fall at a regular university.
You have not answered the question as to whether or not your son has finished high school. If you intend to have him enter as college as a freshman, at the very least he needs a GED (or some other form of equivalency test) if you cannot show proof of his high school education. Please understand that in NO WAY am I suggesting that your son is uneducated. It is just that I understand how tedious it can be to keep perfect of schoolwork completed, so in case you didn’t do that, that is another option if that is not possible. If it is possible to write a creditable transcript for him that shows him to be a graduated high school senior under whatever your state regulations are for that, then that’s great.
Also, am I to understand that a 25 on the ACT guarantees tuition at both the Louisiana community colleges and 4-year universities? I’m just clarifying because I know nothing of the Louisiana system, not trying to discount you.
If the ACT is the only test he has ever taken, I would not suggest that he jump into 4 college classes. That is a great scholarship they offer and you don’t want him to blow it the first semester just because it’s too new of an environment. See if you can get him in as a dual enrollment (or concurrent enrollment, whatever they call it there) student and try 1 class. Yes, you might have to pay for it, but that way he can still do high school classes and not take full unit loads at college until he’s ready.
Four college courses per semester is a typical course load for an actual full time college student, so that may be a big change from a home school environment. College courses require a lot of student self-motivation and time management, and college courses often cover material twice as quickly compared to high school courses.
Has he completed the high school curriculum already, and does he intend to graduate from high school, or would the college courses be taken while he is still in high school (perhaps starting out with one or two rather than four, and as dual enrollment if also used to cover high school graduation requirements)?
I agree with people who have suggested taking one college course at at time at first. My D, a homeschool graduate this year, took one class at a time at a local university her junior year. Our reasons for having her take them were to follow her academic interests at a college, to learn to navigate college life, to prove to herself and colleges to which she’d be applying that she can handle college courses, to obtain outside grades from a university, and to hopefully get letters of recommendation from professors. It was a huge success, but it was one course at a time. She could’ve handled more, but that university imposes a one course limit junior year for dual enrollment students, and I think that is wise, especially with many high schoolers’ other activities.
If one of the reasons you would have your son take CC courses is to show colleges he can handle them, to obtain outside grades and/or LORs, or to possibly gain transferable credits, you may want to look into how the colleges in which he’s interested view community college courses and online courses. Some of the colleges to which D applied would only have looked favorably upon courses which occurred on campus (not online), and some held college/university courses in higher regard than community college courses. Others looked favorably upon any type of college course, community or online included.
I am assuming there is a reason you do not want your son to attend the local high school or school in a town nearby. If he has Asperger’s, he would have access to services and programs through the public schools, though you may not want that. I understand if there are privacy issues but the first thing that came to mind for me was the successful transition of a few homeschooling kids into our local high school, and the good things that happened for them there (socially, and through participation in sports, theater, music etc., as well as academically).
There are online high school classes (Virtual High School, Aventa Learning, google educere) that might be useful but they tend to cost about $400 each. Check to see if your local high school is a member of Virtual High School, which would entitle your son to a course or two for free.
In our state, if you finish one year of community college (or any college) successfully, you automatically can get a high school diploma.
If your son does community college, will this be through dual enrollment as a high school student or will he register as a non-matriculated student? Anyone can take classes and pay. There are limits on who can matriculate though- and placement tests for math and writing. He could get a GED. For dual enrollment, I assume you would have to deal with administration at your local public school.
I homeschooled each of my kids for a year, different years each. I don’t have fond memories of their public schools, nor do they really. But there are advantages to attending, as I mentioned before, and they do offer support services. Just a thought.
Does your son have any interests that he wants to pursue? In the arts, technology, crafts? If he went for an associate’s degree, would it be vocational (as in the various med. tech. programs) or liberal arts?
In summary, is an associate’s degree is what he really wants, he can either get a GED or he can take classes that equal a full year and get a high school diploma that way, and continue on with the associates. Or he can do dual enrollment and finish high school and the associates simultaneously, but I would, as others have said, start off slowly with two classes.
p.s. for future reference, here is a list of test-optional schools, many of them top schools in the nation:
http://fairtest.org/university/optional
“also think it’s funny that people are bashing a 25 ACT when all I’m asking about is a 16 year old attending a local community college. He could get a free ride to any 4 year state school PLUS stipend with that score - yet people want to say it’s “low.” For our purposes, it’s great. Considering it’s the only test he’s ever taken in his life, I’m certainly not complaining.”
What’s been the purpose of never having taken any tests in his life?
Thanks - he actually wants to get an Associates in Applied Science in IT/Information Assurance and then see if he can get an entry level job in that field. He has no interest in attending the local public school. He’s tested high enough on the subscores of the ACT to get into the classes he needs for the AAS degree he wants to pursue. Right now I’m just on the fence about full time versus just taking 2 classes in the fall and seeing how it goes. He’s completed his high school requirements and has a transcript for that - so he will be attending as a high school graduate, not dual-enrolled.
"also think it’s funny that people are bashing a 25 ACT when all I’m asking about is a 16 year old attending a local community college. He could get a free ride to any 4 year state school PLUS stipend with that score "
This isn’t directed to you, but I don’t think that portrays LA in a particularly favorable light.
OH, I’m well aware of that - Louisiana is not exactly a hotbed of academic achievement. I was a national merit scholar - but you don’t see too many of those around here these days.