The 72 Credit Freshman

Texas HS4CC moderator, Drew Floyd Pinion, has used the past several years resourcefully and carefully planning her son’s high school plan. Read below how she injected college credit so he could earn his high school diploma, associate degree, and a 100% tuition scholarship at the state’s flagship university.

What state are you in?

Texas

What made you start Homeschooling for College Credit?

Efficient, high quality education at an affordable price was our reason for Homeschooling for College Credit.

When did he start and what that like?

Grayson started slowly his first semester of his junior year (11th grade) taking 10 credit hours at our community college. We quickly realized that he could earn additional credits through CLEP testing, AP testing, Project Lead the Way, and dual enrollment.

Did he pursue a degree in high school?

Yes. Within 3 semesters he was “core complete” (a Texas term for general education requirements) and had enough credits for his Associate of Science degree by December of his senior year.

That’s a fast pace, did he graduate high school early?

No! Because of his fast pace, Grayson was able to spend the spring semester of his senior year pursuing two passions: Science and Latin American culture. He applied for and earned an internship teaching science in Central America. He was the youngest person (17 years old) to be awarded this internship which is usually reserved for college juniors but because he had earned his Associate of Science degree as a high school senior, he was eligible. None of this would have been possible without Homeschooling for College Credit.

How many college credits did he earn in HS?

72

What is his plan after high school?

Grayson was accepted to University of Texas at Austin as a chemistry major. He earned a 100% full-tuition scholarship and a place among the Polymathic Scholars Honors Program.

The University of Texas at Austin is the #1 public university of Texas and the flagship institution of the state, and #10 in the United States of all public universities.

Was his college credit accepted at UT?

Through careful planning Grayson was able to transfer all 72 college credits.

Since UT doesn’t accept CLEP, how did he get to use CLEP at UT?

We “laundered” our CLEP credits through the “core complete” status at his community college. What is credit laundering? Don’t miss out on the opportunity to get college credit. There is virtually no downside to clep unless your student has severe test anxiety. But even then it’s a no risk test.

Was he admitted as a freshman or as a transfer student?

He is will begin his freshman year in the fall with 72 college credits!! His honors advisor at UT stated that she had not had any of her students transfer in that many credits. She was surprised and impressed!!

Can you share his stats?

4.0 unweighted GPA/ 4.55 weighted GPA
National Merit Commended
National Hispanic Scholar
3 AP classes (calculus, chemistry, world history)
1470 SAT (one sitting)
Pharmacy internship
International internship
AS degree
72 college credits

We are so thankful for this group and all the advice from everyone. We could not have done it without you! Thanks for letting me continue to moderate in the Texas group even though I no longer have a homeschooler.

SAT Tips?

(I pulled this portion from Drew’s advice to our Texas community in our HS4CC Facebook group)

These are my tips for SAT:

1. He reads for pleasure at least 30 minutes per day from an actual book not electronic book. We felt like this prepared his eyes and brain for reading passages. (I know the test is going electronic soon so this tip may not stand the test of time)

2. He has never had a math break. We do math year round and study to excellence not just understanding.

3. We do not use Khan Academy of other types of apps. We use the practice tests in College Board and dissect every question to understand why it was asked, what they are looking for and the skill/knowledge to successfully answer the question.

4 He always does the free response questions first. His thought process is that if he got behind in his time management, he still have a 25% chance of guessing correctly in multiple choice but virtually no chance at guessing the free response correctly in a rush.