Does anyone know how homeschooled kids get admitted to college?
sue36
15 years ago
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Comments (26)
scarlett2001
15 years agosue36
15 years agoRelated Discussions
? for parents of college-age kids
Comments (36)Funkyart writes: "I think it is a sad reflection on our educational system and what we value when liberal arts classes are considered fluff or not of value. The arts and humanities are essential to a balanced education and essential to becoming a well rounded individual. Your son has chosen an artistic and creative path for his future-- clearly he has interest and talent in this direction. Any college or university that frowns on developing that part of his education will not, IMO, value his chosen path or offer him an environment where he will thrive. " But, generally in the US educational system one's *university* education is the venue in which an individual chooses what direction of study s/he wants to take, be it science, liberal arts, business, pre-professional etc. At the college level students concentrate on a particular major, focusing on one in which they have (hopefully) interest and academic ability. High school curricula by definition aren't intended to concentrate on any particular area; coursework is intended to adequately prepare all those who plan to go to college in a well rounded fashion. Therefore I wouldn't say liberal arts is denigrated in HS. I would say a good college preparatory program in HS includes required coursework in all the topics that make a well rounded scholar. Students who wish to excel and/or be recognized by competitive universities choose to take far more than the required academics. Then too, universities also expect some breadth of study. Even the most focused academic majors, like engineering, require some liberal arts credits. There may not be many but they are a requirement. And conversely liberal arts students have to take some math/science. As for the particular situation being discussed here, from the OP this is what the student in question wants to take senior year: "Apparently his courseload looks too "light" because he is taking 2 English classes, 1 History, Video Production II (he wants to go to film school so this is essential), and Art History (didn't get his first choice here, which was Photography)." There is not a single math or science course selected! Frankly for this student it seems that the quantitative side of his education is being sorely neglected, at least in his plan for the year :). So in this particular case a university will not be dismissing the fact that this student chose to take a heavier load of liberal arts coursework. But any competitive university will definitely take notice of the fact he avoided all math/science in his last academic year. And in most cases, for a student who didn't do well beforehand in them (as was also discussed) to be ignoring those subjects in the last year is not going to be a great package to send off to college admission committees. Ann...See MoreWho else is dropping their kid off at college for the first time?
Comments (34)sue, is it bad that I'd like my daughter to tell me she's feeling lonely sometime and ask me to visit pronto like your son did? It's really very sweet; be thankful. My daughter attends university 8 hours from home yet never seemed to miss home last year (freshman year) and couldn't wait to return to school a couple weeks ago. Of course I realize it's a positive thing that she loves her studies, friends, surroundings and adventures so much, but ... gosh. We do talk and text a lot, though, something I don't expect to do as much of with my son when he goes off to college in two years. I'm laughing at the comments about engineering students as my daughter attends an engineering school and is studying biomed and mechanical. Her housemates created a spreadsheet listing every item in the house along with separate shopping, utility bill and housework spreadsheets. This is something none of my friends would've ever considered preparing in college. So yes, they are indeed extremely tidy and organized, but I'm also married to an engineer and am well aware that tidiness is not a universal trait in the profession!...See MoreWould You Send Your Kid to Renesslaer to College Knowing.....
Comments (19)Running, That is true. However, for several generations now, in our country, a university education has been linked to upward mobility ... so much so that people forget that this was not always the purpose! NYTimes did a fascinating piece on how education became synonymous with economic success over this particular point in history, ... wish I could find it (it was in the magazine several years ago). That said, most people cannot afford 50k+ per yr to study something for the sole purpose of enlightenment. I think of majors like Victorian Lit. as reserved for trust funds kids, dynastic wealth, or the fortunate few who can happily lead lives of penury for their art. Or, they are majors undertaken as undergrad by kids who go to excellent schools, and who know they can do post grad in a marketable field anywhere they'd like. But for the vast majority of students, who, on top of it, borrow to fund their studies, they need to select a major that does, indeed, give them a good ROI....See MoreKids off to college - is it time to build our dream home?
Comments (63)Wow! What amazing words of wisdom - thank you for all your comments. Just to add a little color on some of the questions that were asked: We had our 3 kids very early, so while they are all off to college now my wife and I are still relatively young (48 & 46, respectively). We are still very healthy and active so we probably won't think seriously about retiring until we are around 55 or so. We have been working with an amazing architect over the past several months. He has been incredibly thoughtful in the design and flow of our house. It is absolutely beautiful. We are in the Midwest so part of the square footage includes basement space. The current design has about 3,600 sq ft on the main floor, 1,600 sq on the 2nd floor and about 2,200 finished sq ft in the basement for a total of roughly 7,400 sq feet of finished space. This does not include the 6-car garage, pool area or outdoor space. The first floor is pretty normal - foyer, kitchen, dining room, great room, master suite w/attached laundry, pantry, mud room, office, music room, lanai and a couple of half-baths. The 2nd floor has 3 bedroom suites and a laundry room The basement is where all the "nice to have's reside" For example, we have a large bar area, wine cellar, TV room, fitness room, dry sauna, play room (for future grandchildren), pool bathroom and a bunch of storage. The basement also walks out to a covered outdoor kitchen area which then flows into the pool area. We entertain a ton so we designed the basement to be very open and spacious. We also have a lake house that is a couple hours away. Honestly, we are thinking of selling it because we are not sure we will ever want to leave this house... although I think our kids will protest quite heavily because they love to go to the lake! The house will sit on roughly .75 acres. We fully intend on outsourcing all the landscaping, yard work and pool maintenance. We both have pretty demanding jobs and don't really want to spend all our free time pushing a mower around or cleaning a pool. No offense to anyone - we have done this work for years, but the older we get the less appealing it is. We are installing a geothermal system that will not only heat and cool the house and provide hot water, but it will also heat the pool very efficiently. We are also going heavy with insulation, windows and doors. We had an energy study performed and all indications are that our utility bills should not be significantly higher than our current house. Long story short - we are going to go for it! Maybe in 10 or 15 years it will be too much for us to handle, but until then we are going to squeeze every ounce of enjoyment out of this house and create some wonderful memories with our family. Thank you again to everyone who contributed to this thread. We are sincerely thankful for your input....See Moresheilajoyce_gw
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