FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. What information is important on a high-school application? An appropriate Education Plan is essential to the enrollment of a high schooler. In order to prevent problems later on, we research your planned curriculum to ensure that it merits high school credit and is progressing towards graduation. Be sure to use specific high school course titles (e.g., "Algebra I" rather than "Math," "Biology" rather than "Science," etc.). Please also specify the publishers of your curriculum. If you are not using a standard homeschool curriculum, you may need to list the titles and authors as well.
Q. What is an acceptable score on the ACT/SAT? Gateway expects a college-bound student to make an ACT composite score of at least 20 (or SAT equivalent). The maximum score for the ACT is 36. For the SAT it is 2400 (3 x 800). Check with colleges or scholarship foundations to ascertain their ACT/SAT requirements for admission/awarding of scholarships. An ACT score of 20 (or SAT equivalent) is the national average (50th percentile) and sufficient to enter many colleges. Those with 29 or above may be candidates for full academic scholarships.
Q. What is the CEEB code (AKA the High School Code)? Gateway's code is 431421. CEEB stands for College Entrance Examination Board.
Q. What is Physical Science? Physical Science is an introduction to Chemistry and Physics. As such, it should be taken before Chemistry and Physics.
Q. What about summer school? Summer school is an extension of the previous school year. A full summer session is typically 55-60 days, and the maximum number of credits is three. When completing the Education Plan at the beginning of the year, you may enroll for fall, spring, and summer. The online grade form also has space for fall, spring, and summer grades. If you require paper forms, there is a "Summer Term Grade/Attendance Report," which you may request. If you decide later in the school year to add a summer session, please access the student's online Education Plan and add the summer courses, curriculum, and credits. Please also send an email alerting us that you have made additions to your Education Plan for our review and approval.
Q. What is a credit? A credit is considered as the equivalent of 150 hours of traditional classroom instruction.
Q. What high-school credits can my student receive before ninth grade? A student may acquire up to three high-school, core-curriculum credits before he/she enters ninth grade. However, not all core subjects are acceptable (e.g., English and U.S. History are not awarded high-school credit before 9th grade). The following courses may be taken before 9th grade for high-school credit: Algebra I & II, Geometry, World History, World Geography, foreign languages, as well as college-prep sciences, such as Physical Science and Biology. Please indicate planned credit for all high-school coursework on the Education Plan. If you have a question about the acceptability of a course, please contact us.
Q. How many credits per year? Twenty-two credits are required to graduate. The maximum number of credits for a school year is eight (minimum four), for a semester four (minimum two), and for a summer session three. Students may choose to do more academics in 9th and 10th grades, leaving more opportunity in 11th and 12 grades for work, apprenticeships, travel, exploring prospective colleges, and applying for scholarships.
Q. Whom does Gateway consider to be a full-time student? Students must do a minimum of four credits per regular school year (two per semester) to maintain full-time status. However, since 22 credits are required to graduate, more than four credits per year would be required to complete high school in the traditional four years. Although a regular school year is 180 days, seniors are not bound by this rule. The senior year may contain less days if all required credits for graduation are completed in an appropriate amount of time.