Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment National Merit Scholarship and other programs

Thanks, Lorel. I knew you'd know oh so much more about this than I would!

I think you make an excellent point about colleges expecting homeschooled HG+ kids to make use of their "extra" time. I would think that would be true. It's hard to think that they would expect kids as young as 12 to be on the same path as a student of 18 at the same point in the educational cycle. You've got 6 years on the average college student--why wouldn't you do something unusual? It seems pretty logical. Unavoidable, even.

It's all about balance, isn't it.

Thanks for all the info. I know they profiled a girl in the news that graduated from Stoney brook at 14. But it was the local school. She lived at home and that is what I was talking about, just taking courses with no end in mind. But in these cases, many of them just graduate. I am just posting the practical side from someone who is really removed with a 3 year old.

And I totally get what you said Kriston about colleges wanting the unusual, self starter. Bill Gates did donate a huge amount of money to Harvard, despite not graduating. Tangent...

But the kind of kid that takes off early, like that kid who wants to get the record for sailing around the world at 16, is homeschooled, is doing his studies on computer while sailing. If DD told me she was sailing around the world at 16, I would lock her in a room.

Ren

Lorel - how did you find these mentors?

I am getting bogged down by the dreaded Box (I refer to the traditional, one-size-fits-all Box of public education). I want to think creatively, but am having trouble with high school graduation requirements idiocy. Do those of you whose kids enroll in college courses forego a high school diploma? Do you get permission from the high school to take the courses if you're trying to get dual credit? Or are you blowing off high school bureaucrats entirely and just enroll in what your kid wants regardless of how many credits they need, blah, blah, blah?

I certainly know of people who have gone on to college without a high school diploma. I think my niece is planning this by just getting her associated degree instead, but I don't really know the details.

Dazed-

I found contact information on geology profs at local colleges and inquired for my son. I have heard that it is better for the child to initiate contact, but I felt more comfortable doing the introductory part for him. A friend here PMed me with a suggestion when I said I wished for DS to have a math mentor. She told me to look at private schools. It was only when I started browsing a local boarding school's web site that I realized that I had met one of the math teachers before- she had homeschooled her son for a period several years ago! So I contacted her, and ds just met with her for the first time.

Here's an article on the subject: http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art42217.asp


Homeschooling parents can award their own high school diplomas. I purchased a gorgeous one online for my son, and it doesn't matter to any of the schools he applied to that it wasn't accredited. Some parents DO get scared at not having an "official" diploma, and they may pay hundreds or thousands to an umbrella school in order to have that stamp of approval. They just feel safer that way. I didn't feel it was that important.

http://www.homeschooldiploma.com/

The problem I see with matriculating at a 2 year school and actually getting a degree is that you lower your chances of getting into a prestigious four year school. Colleges accept far fewer transfer students than freshman, and with the current application situation, I feel it is better to rack up credits without matriculating. If you are not looking at very competitive schools, that's fine, but if you are, then in a bizarre twist, accomplishing more gets you in trouble! Schools like MIT regularly admit kids with MANY college credits, as long as they never entered a degree program.

Just to confuse you and make this reply even longer, here's MIT data points on admission. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any stats on transfers, but I have seen them before and they were very low numbers. http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/apply/admissions_statistics/index.shtml

My 11 yo son scored in the second tier on their ACT chart for incoming freshman.

Thanks Lorel!

Lorel,

Thank you for explanations. I feel like a dog chasing his tail with the high school credits/diploma/early entrance stuff.

If a child has done original research prior to admissions to a top tier school ( MIT, Caltech, Harvey Mudd ) then this places them above their peers.

Most kids are not capable of devoting time every day to a project that will span years.

Just something to keep in mind for HS kids - they do have the time to do this.