The advising staff has been very accommodating at Wake Tech, our local community college. When we decided to put Kelly and Christian there for a couple of years instead of starting right in at Campbell University (mostly for budgetary reasons), we had to figure out the process pretty quickly. I started by ordering the official test scores (ACT and CLEP) to be sent there. Then, I found out Christian cannot attend as a dual enrollment student (college during high school) until he reaches 16 years of age. I investigated a little further and found that he can enroll as a regular student as soon as he qualifies. I decided to go ahead and graduate both the kids from high school if they met all the criteria required by Wake Tech.
A high school transcript that shows he studied a specific number of classes in a specific set of subjects areas and a qualifying ACT score of above 21 is what was required. Both the kids qualified easily on the ACT score and had taken all the required high school classes, so all that was left was the needed high school transcripts. Fortunately the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) has a set of sample transcripts on their web site. I down loaded one of the samples and modified it to build a transcript for each of the kids. One thing I learned from the Home School admissions officer at Campbell University is that it is a good thing to grade classes on a 5.0 scale for those classes where the student is studying college level material. For us, that meant all the classes for which the kids had taken and passed CLEP tests, I could grade on a 5.0 scale while the rest of the material I graded on a 4.0 scale. That put both of their GPA’s above 4.0. I had to either hand carry the transcripts into the academic adviser at Wake Tech so they knew it was my official transcript and not something the kids made up.
The staff was very helpful. Based on Kelly’s ACT score and CLEP tests, she did not have to take any placement tests. Christian has to take a placement test just for math. He is preparing for that right now. One thing I found out about the CLEP tests is that even though most Community Colleges accept almost all of them, only about two-thirds of the four-year, state universities here in North Carolina accept the bulk of them. The rest of the state universities accept a few. In addition, even though all the classes the kids might take are accepted by previous agreement with the state universities, the bulk of them are accepted only as elective credit. Only about a quarter of the classes are accepted as direct equivalents to the classes the kids will need for their four year major. That means, we have to be very careful about what the kids take so the credits will transfer in a meaningful way. I will talk more about that later.
Thanks for sharing. I find this interesting, and especially useful now as you have had me thinking more and more about CLEPs for Michaela.
Lynn
Thanks Lynn. Of course, if there is any way we can help in all this, all you have to do is ask. It hurt our brains thinking about all this, but we finally think we have a great plan–it even includes doing some CLEP tests!
Ken
“One thing I learned from the Home School admissions officer at Campbell University is that it is a good thing to grade classes on a 5.0 scale for those classes where the student is studying college level material” (copy/paste from your posting)
I find this interesting. Are the classes you are referring to CLEP classes or classes that you did yourself? We used college level math textbooks but did not complete them in one semester time, therefore I would not count them as college level courses. I had wondered about this grading scale. We have not taken advantage of ClEP tests yet but they are tempting.
I wonder how a college would judge between a 4.0 student and a 4.5 student considering that the first student got all A’s on their work but the second student pursued more difficult work.
Deanne
Deanne, Sorry I did not see this note until now. I am not sure how to answer that question. We generally took the normal amount of time to cover the material (one semester for a semester of college material), but sometimes did it a little faster and sometimes did it a little slower. The way I looked at it was in terms of mastery of the material. For instance, if someone struggles with some kind of math, they have to put in the time they need to understand it. Whether that means they stay up all night long studying because the course is a semester long course and the final is on a hard set date or they have the luxury of spreading it out over an extra month or so, they have had to put in whatever time is necessary to master the material. We take enough CLEP tests that, that became the demarcation point. If they passed the test, then I graded on a 5.0 scale.
It was very interesting because we went to the NCSU Civil Engineering graduation of a friend from church. Their valedictorian had a 4.12 GPA, but it was a graduation from college, not high school. My buddy explained that at NCSU they gave an extra 0.333 if you got an A+, B+, etc. rather than just an A or lowered your score by 0.333 if you got an A-, B-, etc. I guess they do that so they can differentiate students a little more because of all the grade inflation.