College Testing

Seth arranged an appointment at our local college on Thursday, July 24 for orientation and testing.    I went along with him.  First thing was student orientation.  They were very nice and helpful.  I could see that if you were an older person returning back to school after a long period of time you would feel very comfortable.

Next, they took the students for their assessment exams.  There were 3:  reading critically, writing and math.  The exams were not the SAT; they were just to see what level of classes you should begin with.  Did I fret?  I was sweating bullets and my fingernails were chewed down to nothing.  No, of course not!  Why would I do something so useless as fretting?  Ha!  Okay, enough of that.  What do you think I thought about the most?  Reading, writing or math?

If you guessed writing you were absolutely 100% correct.  I think most homeschoolers feel that their weakest area is writing, and I’m no exception.  I did write a post about our approach to grammar here, if you would like to read it. 

None of my children have ever taken an achievement or assessment test in their life.  So even though I know they are knowledgeable about things, will it show on any tests they might have to take?  Worry!  It’s a mothers prerogative, right?

The 3 tests were taken and Seth did very well!  Reading critically – no remedial work needed, Math – he can start in Calculus I, and Writing – he placed in the English 101 class or he could choose to take Honors English 101.  I was so happy!  The personnel told him he had did very well.  I know we probably shouldn’t think we need these scores to validate us but can I be perfectly honest?  It really helped.

After the testing, the students were to go into another room to sign up for classes.  There were several people there to help everyone understand the process.  This was where we started to stand out in three areas. 

1.  He is under 18.

2. He doesn’t have a high school diploma. 

3.  Seth is planning to take CLEP exams to test out of some classes; 

Apparently Arizona changed the law this summer.  If you’re under 18 you have to pass 2 of the 3 assessment tests.  You cannot start at the remedial level unless you’re over 18.  The lady  saw he was under 18 and had to go get clarification on the new law before she could say he could be admitted.

Then another lady saw he had not checked off the box for the GED or high school diploma.  That kind of threw her for a loop and she gave us the suggestion that he really should take the GED just so he could check off that box in future situations!  Too funny!  This little problem is being taken care of since we are issuing him a diploma (from our very own private school ) at his graduation dinner.

I found it interesting that CLEP’s were never mentioned once as an option.  So when Seth said he wanted to try and CLEP out on certain classes they were kind of at a loss of what to say.  One lady didn’t even know much about them.

The one lady that was more knowledgeable than the other finally told him.  "You’re going about things differently then most people but what you’re wanting to do can be done." 

It certainly pays to do some research before you go in, otherwise, you have no idea there are other options besides the ones they tell you.

Since this post is too long already,  I’ll wait till next time to share about a book that has been helpful to us.

Copyright 2008 Treasuring the Moments