Good morning, my name is John; and I fell into a really uncommon scenario. Basically, I am still in high school. I went to this small private school near me, and my plan was to apply for Bright Futures. Now, Bright Futures requires fifteen high school credits and turns out this private school I was going to is a sham! They are not accredited and cannot provide me with any transcripts or high school credits. I wasted all my high school years there, and I am about to be a senior. I am now enrolled as a home school student in a dual enrollment program. I seemed to have developed a lot of stress and depression over this which counter productively knocked down my GPA from 4.0 to 3.89… I cannot afford college at all. It is impossible for me. How can I qualify for Bright Futures as a home school student that I am now? SAT scores and GPA isn’t an issue for me currently. My DE GPA is 3.89 and SAT 1400. I have a lot of capacity to learn and a very strong will to do whatever amount of work necessary for me to get into college now. I’ve always taken pride in my academics, and it’s something I enjoy; but my stress has been through the roof because of this which dropped my GPA to 3.89…
Homeschooled students can qualify for BF. There are certain course requirements to graduate from HS (as a home schooled student or as a student registered at a school). There is a foreign language requirement. You can take courses on Florida Virtual school. If you are home schooled, one of your parents should be certifying your courses and preparing a transcript. Why can’t your parent certify the courses you took? Did you cover the required material in those courses?
Call the BF office and go over what you need. I found them very helpful.
@twoinanddone I have covered all of the required materials at home. How can my parents certify those courses and prepare a transcript? It’s too late to get them all through FLVS at this point. It’s too many. I even have tested on all those subjects as I have taken the most advanced Terranova available for every year and have aced it every single time.
Do talk to the BF office. Home schooled kids are eligible these sort of awards. A transcript, after the fact, can be done. Since your parents are supposed to be overseeing this homeschooling, perhaps they can do some research?
@cptofthehouse The lady that answered the phone twice in a row was not in a good mood. She told me I needed the credits without hesitation. I would like more insights on this. Maybe from another homeschooler? Also, how does BF work in case I don’t need credits. Do I just submit my 1400 SAT score and my volunteer hours, and that is enough? Would a letter of recommendation help? I suppose it wouldn’t hurt? I am sorry if it seems as if they are repetitive questions. I really have no one around me to guide me.
Bright futures apparently doesn’t accept parent transcripts. Since you meet the higher test score threshold, you shouldn’t need to send the transcript, if I read correctly (we homeschool, but not in FL). It would be nearly impossible to go back and recreate an acceptable transcript with all the years work you’ve already done lost from BF perspective. Your parent should and can make you a transcript for college admissions though.
One of the requirements for BF is that you have to graduate from a Florida high school. That can be from a home school situation, but somehow you have to graduate and meet Florida requirements for that graduation.
I’m sure there are Florida home schoolers who can help you with the requirements. You could also go to your local high school and see if they can help you transfer in and graduate from that school.
BF is not just going to accept your SAT score. You have to graduate with a Florida HS diploma.
You need to keep calling and have your parents involved to call as well. When parents homeschool, it is essential that they know the rules of recordkeeping and all the college admissions things because there is not the “herd” or infrastructure that kids going to public school have. For high school., it’s difficult. I’ve seen many phenomenal homeschooling parents stumble badly in the college transition.
Both you and your parents are late in learning the rules and benefits, so you all have to hustle to learn them. Yes, the people you deal with are going to be in bad moods especially in dealing with last minute issues that should have been understood years ago. But that’s their job and the mood doesn’t matter. You need the info.
You need TWO FULL YEARS of registered homeschooling to qualify for BF.
Register yourself as an 11th grader (right now), homeschooled. Then register yourself for next year as a 12th grader. Or have your parents do it.
Then consider that you’ve been homeschooled all 4 years, documenting the work you’ve been doing (textbooks, syllabus, exams, etc). If you did the work, your parents should be able to certify it (even if originally it was from a non accredited school, you still did the work). This way there’s a track of courses completed before the Dual Enrollment/Homeschool situation.
Register for SAT subjects for June - choose your 2 best subjects. You want as much external validation as possible. (This is not for BF but for universities themselves).
Plan to apply broadly.
@atleastitried1 It seems you have reached a real gate keeper receptionist. Sounds like you need to appeal to someone in management there to get a real answer. Have you considered emailing a higher level person listed on their site? Another good approach would be to write a letter and send it certified mail (only a few bucks). Send it to the head of the program. Ask your questions and ask to be put in touch with someone who can help you and be sure to include your phone number and email address. Yes, old folks do take mail - especially certified mail, seriously. You can request a return receipt - just hand address the green postcard and the little white and green slip the postal worker will give you to attach to your letter. You will get a copy of the receipt showing when it was sent and a return post card acknowledgement when it was received. If you don’t hear within a week of sending this, let us know. Good luck!
Do you or your parents know of any good homeschooling groups in your area? Ones that are homeschooling kids with the goal of getting them into college? You and your parents need to talk to people who know how this works in Florida.
DO NOT lead with “I attended an unaccredited school” but with “I m a homeschooled junior, currently dual enrolled”.
You need 2years as a registered homeschool student. Junior + senior will qualify you.
Do you know your efc?
Or, if you or your parents don’t want to do the paperwork for homeschooling, go register at your local high school and graduate from it next year. It’s possible you can go to the community college through DE for almost all your classes, or through FLVS for any required HS classes that you don’t have (health?) and it won’t cost you anything. The following year you’d get the BF and be able to transfer or apply as a freshman with the DE classes, maybe even an AA from the community college.
What happened to all the other students at the unaccredited high school?
I don’t think sending a letter to BF will help you. They do not waive requirements and the hs diploma is required. I don’t think the person you spoke to was being difficult, just telling you the requirements. You do not have a diploma and you need one.
Yes, writing won’t help. But when you call, always say you’re a homeschooled students so that they transfer you to the right person.
You can do health and personal finance through Fvhs very quickly.
My daughter did health through FLVS, and it takes about 8 weeks because you have to keep a log of physical activity for several weeks (6?), and you have to arrange a CPR class, which can also take a few weeks to find one with an opening.
I say go to your local school. If there were others at this private ‘sham’ school, they may have turned to the local school district for help too. I think they could get you into a local community college with DE and that won’t cost you anything. You can then officially graduate next year.
@twoinanddone Thank you for your reply! I spoke to another representative at Bright Futures who said they do not require transcripts or credits from homeschooled students. I meet the required SAT score as well as everything else, so I will be applying next year. I am registered for my second year of homeschooling coming up now as well as DE. My EFC would be $1,961.
I think you really need to make sure you are meeting the home schooling requirements, follow up on any filings and paperwork No one is going to do this for you and if you don’t do it right, you do not get a second chance with BF. You don’t need the transcript but you will have to show you have a high school diploma, have taken the required courses with a certain gpa, have taken 2 years of a foreign language.
BF is guaranteed IF the legislature approves the money for it. If BF isn’t funded, the colleges can’t do anything about it.
Assuming you get it, you have to meet the requirements while in college to keep receiving it - register for at least 12 non-remedial courses, maintain the gpa, etc. I’ve know many kids, good students, who lost it after the first year. Again, nothing the school can do to save you and once you lose it BF doesn’t give a second chance.