What are colleges that don’t discriminate being a homeschooler ( I have taken online classes- accredited) / will my transcript appear as a normal high school student, I have a counselor and teachers, but I chose to be homeschooled because I didn’t want to take the FSA and the EOC)
In our experience, the vast majority of colleges are very homeschooler friendly. We ran into a couple that had more requirements for homeschoolers than other applicants (UGA and Emory), but those were the exceptions.
My S was homeschooled during HS and had no problem getting into schools that ranged from large state schools to selective LACs. Agree with @kokotg that some schools may require additional materials from homeschool applicants, but my S only ran into 1 that did out of the 12 he applied to. If there was a homeschool stigma, I think it has largely faded.
My D started being homeschooled when she was 8 yrs old. At 16, she had no problem getting accepted to different universities, small and large, private and public. She ended up matriculating at a flagship state university.
Our S homeschooled for high school, attended courses at our local community college, and had 10+ college acceptances - from large state schools to small LACs. We did not get the impression that he faced any discrimination from any of the ~12 schools he applied to this year.
It’s probably easier to discern which colleges are homeschool unfriendly, since most colleges we’ve interacted with are fine with homeschoolers. I’ll start: SUNY schools are enormously unfriendly to homeschoolers and hold them to different admission standards than conventionally-schooled kids.
My D applied as a homeschooler to 10 schools–the most homeschool friendly was Smith College and they are test optional which was a perk too. Any school that is holistic in its approach and encourages diverse applicants will likely be helpful and “friendly” to you as a homeschooler.
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@kokotg — I am a homeschooler and I applied to Emory. What additional requirements did you run into? I’m concerned now.
@VinceLestrade, Did you read the admission requirements page of each college? That will tell you what colleges require from homeschooled applicants.
Which colleges did you apply to? We sent test scores, course descriptions, a guidance counselor letter, and a school profile. Some colleges wanted other things such as sample work. It depends on the college.
Make sure you know your state homeschool regs and how their requirements compare to what colleges want. The number of years required for each course is important. NY doesn’t make homeschoolers take a foreign language but most colleges want 3 years of it, so students who weren’t aware of college requirements could fall short. Make sure you know what your targets want.
@austinmshauri I did read the admission requirement page, and I have created a profile, providing everything it requested. I’m in a rather homeschooler-friendly state, so maybe that simplifies things, but I was just curious as to what colleges may require from homeschoolers specifically. I’ve never had to submit example coursework, though I have kept much of it in case.
Religious schools tend to get more homeschoolers so they are usually better equipped to assess and accommodate them.
Is this opinion or do you have a source for this information? According to the Wall Street Journal, accepting homeschoolers is now “routine” at most colleges. And most homeschoolers attend secular colleges, not religious ones.
Neither, it’s an observation. Our church has a small percentage of home schooling families, they have had good experience with transition to these schools. As these schools get a higher number of home schooled and small school graduates, they understand their needs well.
According to the US News, over 4/5 of US colleges have formal policies in place for evaluating homeschoolers. The reality is that the majority of US colleges are more than capable of “assessing” and “accommodating” homeschoolers. I don’t think the Harvards and Yales of the world have any problems understanding the needs of homeschoolers, and neither do thousands of other US colleges and universities.
Well, what percentage of any group ends up at Harvard or Yale, we have to keep whole homeschooling demographic in mind. It can be tough as all homeschoolers may not adjust easily to huge schools, rigorous curriculum, logistical requirements or social demands.
Good grief.
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Emory wanted three subject tests from homeschoolers. My son only had 2 and applied anyway…he was waitlisted at both Emory and Oxford and later offered a spot off the waitlist at Oxford, so it appears not to be a hard and fast requirement.
The same exact way that not all public (or private) school students adjust easily to those same things?
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FWIW, my homeschooled daughter is a junior at George Washington University majoring in engineering on a music scholarship. She’s doing great. She was accepted to several other universities with scholarships and we found that all the schools were well equipped and experienced with processing the applications of homeschoolers. None of the schools were religious, as we are not religious. The application process IS a bit different but it is manageable and most schools have someone specifically assigned to assisting homeschooled students through the process.
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You know, by your own count, a handful of homeschool families. You should research homeschooling sometime. Colleges like homeschoolers because they, as a broad demographic, are self-starters who are used to rigorous courses, demanding schedules, and are adept at socializing with both peers and adults. Your stereotypical views are a bit antiquated.
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