Should I Weight Homeschool Honors Classes?
What about Honors classes? I see you didn't "weight" the grade for Honors English. Don't the public schools do this? If I wanted to would I make it a 1.5 credit course, or a 5.0 for the grade? We used James Stobaugh for American Lit and it was very rigorous, plus Evan is taking Brit Lit with a teacher this year who is even more demanding (really a college level I think).
Thanks.
Leanne
Dear Leanne,
That's right, I decided not to weight them - mostly because it was difficult. I also found out that colleges will "re-weight" them to fit their own purposes. If they want academic classes weighted, they will weight them for themselves. If they don't like weighted classes, they will "un-weight" them by themselves. When I found that out, I figured it was a big "why bother" for me.
Although I did not weight classes, I do have some blog posts that might help: How Much Does an AP Class Weigh? How Do You Assess a Homeschool High School Honors Credit? Give 110% to the College of your Choice!
After doing a ton of research, I found that weighting classes made my life more complicated, but it didn't improve our chances of scholarship and admission. I did indicate classes which were "honors" classes, I just didn't give them a higher grading scale. Colleges tend to focus more on test scores for scholarships. If possible, have him take an AP or CLEP exam in those honors areas - that will have more of an impact (in my opinion.) Good idea to check with colleges, and do what your first choice college prefers. Remember, your transcript isn't "done" until you turn it in during senior year, so you have plenty of time you change your mind!
Readers, I would love to get your opinion on weighting honors classes. What will you decide to do?
Homeschooling is NOT the same as doing schoolwork at home. There is LOTS of freedom! My Gold Care Club will give you all the help you need to succeed!
Comments 7
Hi Kimberly,
Lee is not in favor or weighting classes, but in her article Two for the Price of One she says, "Make sure you put every college level course on the transcript, no matter how you prove the class (community college or CLEP exam) and no matter how old they are."
Blessings,
Robin
Member Services, Artistic Manager, and Technical Support
I was not going to assign grades for everything or to weight but we are submitting to the NCAA and they require grades. They want weighting as well. Those things calculate the minimum scores required on the SAT.
So I am weighting like the public school in town does, with the same scale.
level 4.0
honors or pre-AP 5.0
AP 6.0
My only confusion is the high school offers dual credit classes inside their building and gives only 5.0. My son is taking CC dual credit in the classroom so I would think that is the same as AP! Note the school does not encourage the taking of many AP tests (!) and kids takes 4-6 APs each year (not just in their subject strong area).
I plan on doing an honors math course next year with my daughters and intend on just assigning the typical 4.0/1 credit. As you stated, it's much easier and it seems like the colleges do as they want anyway. I will follow your suggestion to make a special note in their transcripts about the course being college-level, etc. Thanks for your input on this subject.
If you decided to weight your classes, then any class that was honors level or AP or pass a CLEP then you might either grade it on a 1-5 scale or perhaps give it 2 credits per class instead of 1 credit per class. It's quite complicated, and that's why I don't usually recommend it. It's just not worth the effort!
Blessings,
Lee
On what criteria would you "weigh" a home school class as Honors? How do you decide if it's "college" or AP level?
In my experience, altho' I did not weigh, my children did honors history and english. They were far better prepared than their public school counterparts once they got to (private) college, and tested out of several Freshman level courses. They also told me that, contrary to what they had heard about college being MUCH harder than high school, they had no problem! Both made Dean's list, one every single semester so far!
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