Questions about high school credits/classes (long)

Parents Forum
1

<p>I am a homeschooled high school sr but due to issues in my past I did not complete much work in my first two years of high school:</p>

<p>9th Grade English
10th Grade English
Earth Science
Health/PE
Computer Science Elective
World History
two or three more electives</p>

<p>During my Jr year and continuing into my sr year I got myself together mentally and have been working hard to get a good number of courses done. I hope to graduate high school with at least these classes added to the ones above:</p>

<p>11th Grade English
12th Grade English
US History
Government
Spanish 1
Spanish 2
Algebra 1
Geometry
Algebra 2
Biology Lab @ comm college
Chemistry Lab @ comm college</p>

<p>That would put me at</p>

<p>4 English
3 Math
3 Science (2 lab)
3 History
2 Foreign Language
1 PE
Around 4Electives</p>

<p>Around 20 credits</p>

<p>Some of the schools which I am interested in have higher required/recommended credits to apply. For instance Clemson asks for 4 English 3 Math 3 Lab Science 3 Foreign Language 1 Fine Arts 3 Social Science 1 PE 2 other (20 but more core and foreign language). I am wondering how much it will hurt my application to have crammed so much work into the last two years of my high school career and also to be at the bare minimum or below the minimum as far as core credits go.</p>

<p>I believe it should hurt a bit which is why I am applying to schools where my SAT should be a bit higher then their average to help compensate. I just want to make sure that my beliefs are correct and if not then to lower my sights instead of being disappointed if rejections come in.</p>

<p>Just for what it’s worth, the schools to which I will be applying are as follows:</p>

<p>Penn State University
University of Minnesota
Clemson University
University of Iowa
Indiana University
University of Alabama
University of Arizona
George Mason University
College of Charleston</p>

<p>and my projected GPA and SAT scores are:</p>

<p>2000-2100
3.5 when applying in winter
3.75 once sr year is complete (no AP’s)</p>

<p>I apologize for the long post, hope someone can bear reading it all.</p>

2

<p>Sorry for this, bump. Anyone?</p>

3

<p>You should be able to Google “admission requirements X University” to find out if you meet their requirements. I checked IU for you [Admission</a> Standards: Future Freshmen: How to Apply: Office of Admissions: Indiana University Bloomington](<a href=“Freshman Applicants: How to Apply: Office of Admissions: Indiana University Bloomington”>Freshman Applicants: How to Apply: Office of Admissions: Indiana University Bloomington) It looks like you would meet their requirements. Do know that public universities have higher standards for out of state students than in state students. Good luck!</p>

4

<p>I’ve looked that up for a number of schools and I match the minimum for most of the schools to which I am applying. Others I am just below and most of the websites say they accept people below the minimum too. I am mainly wondering how much having such a weak number of credits/courses taken will hurt me in admissions. I am hoping that having an SAT of around 2000-2100 at school’s which 50th percentile is about 1750 will compensate. Does anyone know if that is correct?</p>

5

<p>Many universities require SAT2/subject tests from homeschool students. This shows proficiency in specific areas. Do any of your target schools request subject tests? Even if they don’t subject tests may boost your application if you have only the minimum credits required. Since you are not coming from a school where they can judge your GPA in the top 10%tile for instance, or you took the most difficult classes offered, showing proficiency in subjects on standardized tests is helpful. They want to know you can succeed in college level work when you get there.</p>