|
|
About College/Teens |
|
|
Colleges actively seek out homeschoolers. They find them to be independent, self-directed learners, and far more diverse than regularly schooled students. Ask the college you are interested in if their application process is any different for homeschoolers than it is for regularly schooled students. Each college is different.
Laurie offers a workshops for parents on homeschooling for high school and creating a high school transcript. It is typical for homeschoolers to take college courses while still in high school. It not only provides classroom experience, but also helps to prove their abilities on college applications. One A from a college may imply that all other non-graded courses have been done at that level. College credits look impressive on a resume, and can help to establish high school diploma equivalency (though most colleges don't require this). Homeschoolers in NYC can take advantage of the CUNY campus scholarship program called College Now, which requires a PSAT or SAT score to apply. But not all colleges require this from a high school student, and there are colleges that no longer require an SAT score from new applicants at all (such as Bates, in Lewiston, Maine).
Local homeschooled teens have earned credits from: Mercy College (a letter from a school or DoE official determining high school grade level status will get you a reduced rate); The School of Visual Arts (there are precollege courses for one credit each, and continuing ed courses for two – four credits each, all open to age 13 and up); Columbia U. (you will have to qualify the same way any applicant does, and pay full tuition); CUNY (Lehman, Hunter, John Jay, Brooklyn College, and more); colleges in New Jersey; and summer programs at colleges outside of NYC, including College of the Atlantic's Islands Through Time program. The North Atlantic Regional High School (NARHS) offers consultation and tools to support course planning, student work assessment, quality academic learning, and goal setting leading to a high school transcript and diploma which have far-reaching transferability and acceptance. A homeschooling parent's review: "We used NARHS for all four years of high school, and one of my sons attended SUNY Maritime. SUNY had no problem with the NARHS diploma. We were fairly happy with NARHS. However, we left in the last year of the "old" NARHS. The founder retired and sold the business to someone else, who changed various things. So I can't really comment on today's NARHS. At the time, they offered no courses and there was no distance learning option. It was entirely up to you to find your own courses, whether self-designed, community college, on-line, etc. Many people thought that NARHS offered some sort of "program" but it did not. Which was fine with me, as I wasn't looking for a program, just accreditation of the work we were doing already. They required a lot of documentation, but overall they were extremely flexible. You could do almost anything you liked, as long as you could document the work." Not everyone needs to go to college to have a successful life. In Michael Ellsberg's book The Education of Millionaires Comment about your homeschooler's college experience by sending an e-mail to Laurie@HomeschoolNYC.com
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Driving laws are very confusing in NYC. Here are some facts:
Note: Parents and teens have actually been pulled over, sirens lights and all, practicing in the empty parking lot of Orchard Beach in March. There is NO practicing anywhere within City Parks lines! Try going to the Crosstown Shopping Center in Yonkers in their off hours (such as very early) and using a huge empty parking lot north of the city.
It is possible to take Driver's ed through a school or college, as opposed to a driving school. Driving schools work with the schools/colleges (usually offered at private schools but anyone can sign up..for $500-$600) to offer the Driver's Ed curriculum. These classes have varying schedules, usually during the week after school or Sat. mornings for a fall or spring semester. Included is a 16-hour lecture and 16 hours driving practice. Driving practice is in a car with 3 other students. Each student drives their allotted time and then must observe other students' turns for the rest of the hour. This is not flexible.
Remember that even if you get a junior driver's license before age 18 you CAN NOT drive anywhere in NYC! But you will not have to take the road test again, and the license will be a valid driver's license (that you can only use outside of NYC).
Over age 18 there is no need for driver's ed except for the required film (5-hour class), and you can practice with any other licensed driver until you are ready for the road test.
Families have recommended the Uptown Driving School in Inwood, (212) 304-5115. Also recommended: Driver's Ed 5-week course at School for Ethical Culture on the Upper West Side. It is possible to take the lecture 730am-830am and then do the 1hr driving 630pm -730pm and finish the course while working during the daytime. One student did this over the summer.
Autonatics is a driving school based in Brooklyn that has a contract with private schools and colleges In NYC to teach Driver's Ed. So you can sign up with them for driving lessons, 5 hr course etc (like Uptown Driving School). If you want to find the Official Driver's Ed course, Autonatics would know which schools and colleges offer them...since they are the ones that do it in NYC. You register with the designated school or college for Driver's ed.
Most colleges do not require a diploma and are satisfied with proof that the student has received the equivalent of a high school education. This can be done by writing a brief but thorough transcript (the homeschooling parent should call this the Official High School Transcript), taking exams (such as the SAT), writing essays, undergoing interviews, submitting letters of recommendation, or by obtaining one of the following diploma equivalents.
SUNY requires a diploma or equivalent. Some private colleges demand extra SAT II exams from homeschoolers. When my son was applying for college with an intended major theater or film, Yale and Carnegie Mellon wanted three SAT IIs from him as a homeschooler, while NYU wanted only the regular SAT and no more. I think if he had been applying to NYU for math or business or science, he might have needed those extra SAT IIs.
SUNY will accept the following as proof of high school equivalency: the TASC (formerly GED) OR five Regents exams (not all, just English, math, US Gov't, science, and global history/geography) OR 24 college credits (which are supposed to be in general subjects like the Regents exams) OR a letter from a school principal or administrator. A parent in Yonkers got such a letter for her son from the Yonkers district office (making him eligible for scholarships to Mercy College as a high school student). If you ask for it and your local DoE office chooses not to provide such a letter, you can always go back to the college where you are seeking admission and ask them what documentation can stand in for such a letter.
(more info at: NYS Bd. of Ed: Home Instruction)
Fair Test has a list of colleges that don't always require the SAT or ACT exam for entrance. This list includes some well-known schools, such as Antioch, Goddard, Bard and Simon's Rock, Bates, Bennington, Bowdoin, Bryn Mawr, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke, Naropa, Sarah Lawrence, Texas A & M, Wheaton, and many more.
DIYCollegeRankings has college information spread sheets that are helpful for compiling a list of colleges to apply to, based on acceptance rates, costs, etc.
These are several ways of establishing high school diploma equivalency that is recognized in New York State:
Heres the NYSED page, which links to the Q&A.
A student may meet the preliminary education requirement in section 3.47 through completing a home instruction program, pursuant to the requirements of section 100.10 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education, provided that the superintendent of schools certifies in writing that such program is substantially equivalent to a four-year high school program. If the superintendent determines substantial equivalence, a letter to that effect from the superintendent to the home instructed student is the appropriate documentation that the college should maintain in the student's file to demonstrate compliance with the preliminary education requirement for earning a college degree. For students of compulsory school age, the superintendent, upon request of the student, is required to perform the evaluation for the substantial equivalency determination. In the case of students beyond compulsory school age who ask for the evaluation for the substantial equivalency determination, the State Education Department strongly encourages the superintendent to perform this evaluation.
This memo (above) states that a superintendent (or other official) is required to provide a letter of equivalency, but only for students of compulsory age. For this reason you should request this letter before your teenager turns 17 (compulsory age ends at the end of the school year in which your teen turns 17 by June 30). Also, the statement that they are required doesn't mean that they want to provide it. They are overworked and likely to resist establishing a standard of equivalency in writing. I suggest copying the wording above from the regulations, with the links to the official documents, and sending that your DoE homeschooling official with a letter* for them to sign. Write a cover letter stating that you are saving them time and trouble by offering them a letter that they can sign and return, and asking them to attach that letter to their letterhead. Go in person, or if you mail it, send it return-receipt-requested and include a stamped self-addressed envelope. Be willing to repeat your request before your child is beyond compulsory age.
* A letter of substantial equivalency should be a simple statement, something like this:
I have reviewed the educational records of [student's] home instruction program and find that it is substantially equivalent to a four-year high school program. (signed....) including their name and title
This letter, provided by the homeschooling office, should satisfy SUNY's graduation requirements. However, I dont know that it will satisfy federal financial aid requirements (FAFSA does not require a diploma, while TAP requires a diploma or equivalency).
Make sure you visit or write each school individually and ask what is required. Each school can vary in what they need from homeschoolers.
(more info at: NYS Bd. of Ed: Home Instruction)
Section 3.47(a)(2)(ii) provides six alternatives for students beyond the age of compulsory attendance seeking to demonstrate acceptable preliminary education before they may be awarded a college degree:
It is my understanding that you can apply to branches of CUNY as a homeschooler without a diploma equivalent (such as the five Regents exams or the TASC (formerly GED) exam). (You can also attend CUNY as a high school student, taking FREE courses through College Now.) However for branches of SUNY you need a diploma or equivalent (such as five Regents exams or TASC). The letter of compliance from Bill Harrington will not be sufficient to apply to SUNY.
Parents of homeschoolers who are approaching age 17 will receive a letter from the DoE requesting an interview. The DoE interview is about a "letter of completion" which states that you have completed the required number of hours and subjects and fulfilled your paperwork obligations.
For some colleges, this "letter of completion" can serve as proof of high school equivalency. (For most private colleges, a transcript and other validations (such as a few college courses with grades, an SAT or ACT score, and two or more letters of recommendation) is enough to satisfy them that a high school education has been proven, and this letter would not be asked for.) However there is another motive for the DoE to request an interview. The DoE wants homeschoolers to age out when they turn 17 and leave the system. This cuts down on their paperwork, and on perks that cost the city money (such as the free student metrocard and free CUNY courses through College Now).
I have seen these letters of completion given to students who leave at age 17 (at the end of grade 11) and they seem the same as letters for students who legally homeschool through age 18 and leave at the end of grade 12- however these letters have varied over the years. Note that this letter does not state equivalency to a high school education, and the DoE does not evaluate the student's past four years of work - it is just a letter that states you, as a homeschooler, have fully complied with the regulations for the DoE. It is my understanding that you can apply to CUNY colleges as a homeschooler without Regents or TASC, but with the letter of completion. However for SUNY colleges you now need the TASC [formerly GED] or the five Regents. The letter of compliance from the DoE will not be sufficient for SUNY.
Here is the link to CUNY that mentions the need for homeschoolers to have a transcript, as well as the letter of completion.
Effective 2 January 2014, New York State selected a new high school equivalency test called the Test Assessing Secondary Completion (TASC) to replace the General Educational Development (GED®) as the primary pathway to a New York State High School Equivalency Diploma.
New York State no longer administers the GED test, but GEDs issued before 2014 are still valid, and certain provisions are grandfathered in: A candidate may use up to four (4) passing GED® sub-tests (score of 410 or above) taken between 2002-2013 to count towards earning a New York State High School Equivalency Diploma. The use of these scores will be allowed for two years (2014 and 2015). Candidates taking TASC for the first time must take all five TASC sub-tests. Each TASC sub-test that the candidate passes will be posted on the candidate's transcript. If the candidate does not pass the TASC sub-test but passed the same GED® sub-test, the GED® score will be accepted as a passing score. If a candidate has already passed all five (5) GED® sub-tests but did not attain the minimum total score of 2250, such candidate must pass at least one of the TASC sub-tests to obtain a New York State High School Equivalency Diploma. HSE Preparation Programs
The TASC is a far more rigorous exam than the GED was. Five Regents exams (in English, mathematics, US history & government, a science, global history & geography) also proves high school equivalency. I know of no down side to taking the TASC or the Regents (other than the time and effort involved), but it may not be necessary to take them. A letter of completion (see below) and a transcript is all you will need to apply to CUNY or most private colleges.
The NYS high school equivalency diploma may be awarded to candidates who meet all NYS requirements and who submit an official report of results from a HSE Test taken outside NYS, and/or GED® tests taken prior to January 1, 2014.
The diploma is only $10, as noted above, plus whatever it will cost to have Vermont (or the state where you take the test) send their transcript to NYS.
The New York State High School Equivalency Diploma Based on Earned College Credit may be awarded to candidates who have completed 24 credits (or its equivalent) as a recognized candidate for a degree or a certificate at an approved institution. See College Credit from the NYS Education Department.
Homeschooling teens, while still in high school, have earned credits at the School of Visual Arts, Mercy College (get a reduced tuition rate with proof that your child is attending high school — just show the current letter from the DoE), Pace University, CUNY (Lehman, Hunter, etc., through their tuition-free program called <a data-cke-saved-href="College Now), and others. See more information on College Now and one parent's comments.
The credits are transferable and sometimes are worth more or less depending on the college. Earning 24 credits, in the right subjects, is equivalent to a high school diploma accepted by SUNY. So is two years full-time at a community college. Check out the free and low-cost precollege programs in What's free or cheap in NYC: Precollege Programs.
SAT and ACT exams are easy to sign up for online, but for these other exams you have to find someone willing to invite your student to sit with their own. Contact private schools (which tend more receptive than public schools) in late August, as soon as the administrators have returned, to make your request. There will be a fee (maybe $20).
AP exams are harder to find, so try Catholic and religious schools. Students have been able to sit for Regents exams at Brooklyn Tech. Often middle school students will take these exams in order to qualify for gifted programs, so not only homeschoolers come from elsewhere to take these tests.
The exam results will be sent to you, not the school where the exam was taken. Each school has an ID number; your student will fill out a form before the exam that includes name, SS number, address, and school ID numberuse the ID number specifically for homeschool. Your student will have to have a proper photo ID in order to gain entrance to the exam (my kids used a non-driver's license ID).
AP® exams are rigorous, multiple-component tests that are administered at high schools each May. High school students can earn college credit, placement, or both for qualifying AP Exam grades. Each AP Exam has a corresponding AP course and provides a standardized measure of what students have learned in the AP classroom.
The College-Level Examination Program (CLEP) gives students the opportunity to receive college credit by earning qualifying scores on any of 34 examinations.
One parent's experience taking CLEP tests: My boys took the CLEP test in French last year and did very well. It was cheap, easy to schedule, and didn't take long (just 90 mins). You get the results instantly. Many colleges will accept CLEP results for credit. But even if your college doesn't, I figure it can't hurt on college applications to have a few CLEP test results. You need two forms of ID. We used passports plus homemade IDs (made off the internet). We went to the Borough of Manhattan Community College to take it, but there are lots of NYC locations. You can find out all about it on the collegeboard website. CLEP tests are much easier to schedule than APs and SAT IIs. Whether they carry the same weight, I don't know. I think they may be easier tests.
See also One parent's comments below.
Note: the SAT mentioned on this page is the college-entrance exam (originally called the Scholastic Aptitude Test and now called the SAT), and not the Stanford Achievement Test which is a standardized achievement test that also uses the abbreviation SAT.
Beyond Standardized Tests: How Non-Cognitive Skills Indicate College, Career Success
Homeschooled students can take the PSAT and SAT exams at any local school. Choose a school conveniently located. Give them a call and ask to speak to their testing proctor so that they will expect your child on the day of the test. There is usually a small fee. Try calling in mid-June, or two or three days after school begins in September. (Never call on their first day, when chaos is expected.) More information for Home-Schooled Students.
To register for standardized tests, homeschooled students will need the appropriate code that represents homeschooling:
For other states' codes, see PSAT Homeschool Codes.
Free SAT Prep program online that includes a catalog of over 100 strategic study guides, an interactive vocabulary builder with over 5000 common SAT words, practice quizzes with explanations, and simulated practice tests.
SAT II tests are tests on specific subjects. See the College Board's page on SAT Subject Tests.
The SAT and ACT have placement tests designed for students who have been out of school for a year or more. These exams are used by colleges to determine if a student needs remediation.
Due to recent changes in the regulations regarding state financial aid, it is now in the best interest of homeschooled students to obtain a letter of completion from the DoE. This letter may vary from district to district. This is not a letter of substantial equivalency which is supposed to be a choice available to families who request it from a superintendent of schools. A letter of completion just states that you have filed your homeschooling paperwork and fulfilled all of those requirements through 12th grade. It does not say what level your work was done at, and it is not the same as an equivalency diploma. However, it may satisfy the requirements of some schools in New York State, such as CUNY (in NYC) and RIT (in upstate NY), where such proof of high school completion is necessary to obtain a college diploma.
This means that it may be in your interest to continue filing with the DoE through 12th grade even if the student is no longer of compulsory age (compulsory attendance ends when the student turns 17 by June in NYC, or 16 by June in the rest of New York State). Your local DoE office might suggest that you stop filing when the student is no longer of compulsory age, because less paperwork is easier for everyone, but that choice does not give you the option of obtaining a letter of completion.
You, the parent, can create your child's high school transcript for college applications, summarizing all of the experiences and courses taken in grades 9-12. It is helpful to have some graded courses taken at a local community college or other school included in the transcript, because those grades can help to validate nongraded homeschooled courses.
by Loretta Heuer. This books guides you on different ways of writing transcripts and documenting your childs work. Included are methods of computing units of study.
, by Cafi Cohen. You can browse this book on Amazon where part of the chapter on transcripts is on view.
, by Cafi Cohen
, by Lee Binz
by PhD David P. Byers
by Loretta Heuer. This books guides you on different ways of writing transcripts and documenting your childs work. Included are methods of computing units of study.College Now at CUNY offers free college courses to NYC public high school juniors and seniors, including homeschoolers. See College Credit Courses and eligibility requirements.
You need an SAT, ACT or PSAT score in order to take classes for credits. A 480 (in English) or 530 (in math) are the minimum SAT scores needed (not too difficult to get out of a possible 800). Registration dates for the SAT.
Homeschooling parents, whose kids have taken courses through College Now, say that it's best to approach individual campuses and not just rely on the website.
Comments: The staff at BMCC are helpful, kind, and prompt in all their replies. Many homeschooling parents recommended the biology department there. On their website, biology was not listed as a course offered in College Now, but after speaking to them it appears that they are going to allow our daughter to enroll in a biology lecture and lab. I encourage you to speak with the directors of the College Now program at each school to see what they might be able to offer you. To apply, an application, test scores, teacher recommendation (if you don't have Regent scores) are required. Do this sooner rather than later. ~ homeschooling parent
For accurate course offerings, don't rely on the College Now website. It is better to contact the colleges individually for course. Here is a partial list of CUNY colleges with links, contact info and the College Now contact person (where available):
, by Grace Llewellyn (ed.). This new edition includes updates from each contributor ten years later, looking back on their homeschooling experiences and letting the reader know where they are now.
, by Blake Boles.
by Loretta Heuer. This books guides you on different ways of writing transcripts and documenting your child's work. Included are methods of computing units of study.
by Cafi Cohen.Evaluating Online Learning: Challenges and Strategies for Success, from the U.S. Dept of Ed
You can browse sites that connect the colleges by subject at DegreeDirectory. LectureFox gives descriptions of the lectures.
Try Bears' Guide to Earning Degrees by Distance Learning, by Mariah P. Bear MA and Thomas Nixon
Also available (some titles possibly out of print)
Bears' Guides are recommended by John Taylor Gatto as a way to think out of the box and still do college.
Also, there are many ways of getting a higher level education without attending college or obtaining a degree, beyond the use of local libraries or private tutoring. For example, most of MIT's courses are available free on-line as courseware. In fact, there is a consortium of colleges and universities around the world that have put their courses on-line for free (and some for a fee): www.ocwconsortium.org .
OCEAN PARK, WA, USAAfter spending much of the past year hunting down scholarships available to home-schooled students, David Craft realized there was a problem. There are lots of scholarships available only to those in traditional schools, but none to speak of just for homeschooled students, he lamented. When I searched online for homeschool scholarships I came up with only a few results, most of which had nothing to do with homeschooling.
When David saw that many scholarships were in the $200 to $500 range, he realized there were businesses run by home school families who could probably also offer scholarships. Perhaps they had just never thought of doing it, he said. Its an important concern, because while some general scholarships invite homeschoolers to apply, the forms are designed for students in traditional schools. They place a lot of emphasis on class rank, and often have several pages asking for involvement in student government, school clubs, and student leadership positions. Homeschooled students are clearly the underdogs in these competitions.
David, along with the support of his family, has launched a website, homeschoolscholarships.org . The two-fold purpose, as stated on the site, is to inspire businesses and individuals to recognize the unique potential of homeschooled students by creating scholarships designed for them, and to provide a place for homeschooled students to find those scholarships. Businesses who provide scholarships will be given a link to their own website.
Not destined to become another of the many scholarship search sites, this site will feature only those scholarships designed specifically for homeschool students, or scholarships that have a proven record of being homeschool-friendly. David hopes the homeschool community throughout the nation will help provide him with little-known scholarship opportunities to post on his site. Hes well on his way with 15 homeschool-specific scholarships already listed, and hopes to grow the list as more businesses and organizations decide to take the challenge. David can be contacted through the website.
See homeschoolscholarships.org for more information.
Who ever said that homeschoolers don't have proms! My kids went every year in their high school years, and had a blast!
The NJ Spring Prom for Homeschoolers happens every April in central coastal NJ, maybe a 90-minute drive from NYC (http://njspringprom.com/). There are chaperones, but parents aren't allowed (take a walk on the beach and have dinner while they party up a storm). Teens get dressed up, request musical selections in advance on-line, dance, have their photographs taken, eat a catered meal, and generally act like teenage grown-ups.
There is a similar NJ Homeschool Prom at the end of June, marking the close of the school year. This one is farther south, maybe as much as a two-hour drive from NYC.
Both proms end around midnight or slightly after. Both proms are created for homeschoolers. Non-homeschoolers are welcome only as guests of homeschooled attendees.
, he interviewed nearly 40 millionaire and billionaires, and NONE of them had finished college! Here you can read Ellsberg's