As the parent of a senior, Id like to give a little information about the Capstone classes now that we are coming up on the end of the first semester. My daughter, who takes honors and AP courses, decided to take a Capstone class her senior year based on the description of the course and the real-life applications she could gain from it. We were concerned about the acceptance of these credits for colleges, but she really wanted to try it. As for her specific Capstone class itself, she said it started out slow, but, as the class has progressed, she really enjoys it. She said her teachers are excellent, there is a ton of writing, and its a good class. As for college acceptance of credits... heres where it gets dicey. She had no idea where she wanted to go to college last spring when she registered for her senior year classes. Halfway through this fall, she decided on MSU and applied - as well as applying at Grand Valley. Grand Valley accepted her within the week. I called MSU to ask about the Capstone classes and was told, from the MSU admissions receptionist, that MSU does not accept Capstone as a core class from Holt. Being that it is a new class for Holt, MSU will review its content and determine if it will be accepted in the future, but for this year for sure, the Holt Capstones are looked at as electives. MSU requires four years of english and four years of math, which the Capstone was supposed to cover, as STEM: Science, Technology, English, and Math. Holt had told her at scheduling that the Capstone class would cover those core requirements, but, in actuality, they do for Holt graduation, but not necessarily for university requirements. MSU suggested that we review her schedule and make sure that she has the additional english and math classes to cover her for her senior year. Mrs. Schaeff, at the North Campus, has been wonderful with helping us navigate this. She has called and talked to the MSU/Holt admissions liasion for us to find out what our daughter needs to do. As of today, the information, as reported to our daughter, is that her english credits are covered, because MSU accepts the Pacesetter English 12 which she took with her Capstone this semester and, next semester, she has British Lit II. They will not, however, accept the math part of her Capstone. She has Adv Alg Topics next semester, but, because she doesnt have a full year of math, she will need to contact MSUs admissions office directly to ask if they will accept her second semester schedule, along with her full year schedule, for her senior year on an individual basis. Two colleges, two very different acceptance experiences. I wanted to alert other senior parents whose students are taking Capstone classes so they can ensure that their students classes work for their college of choice.
Posted on: Mon, 15 Dec 2014 19:19:26 +0000