<p>On Brown's Common Data Sheet, it says, "high school diploma is required and GED is not accepted."</p>
<p>I'm homeschooled and don't have a high school diploma. Does this mean I can't apply for Brown?</p>
<p>In general, homeschool diplomas are considered high school diplomas. Although I don't specifically know whether Brown has changed its admission policy, I know that in the past Brown has accepted homeschoolers with home-created diplomas. A GED is different from a homeschool diploma, as it was traditionally used by applicants who had not finished a high school education. Homeschoolers are educated, they just receive their educations outside of traditional classrooms.</p>
<p>If Brown is of interest to you, email the admissions office and specifically ask what their policy regarding homeschooled students is.</p>
<p>HTH</p>
<p>You will have a diploma, as homeskulmom said. The Brown CDS doesn't say you need a diploma from an accredited school. If they meant this, they could say it. I know one school my daughter looked at DID say this :(</p>
<p>Possible exception -- if you live in New York. I know there is some different sort of legal status for homeschoolers there. For instance, to get NCAA eligibility, NY homeschoolers have to take the GED, which is not required for those from other states who can use homeschool diplomas. </p>
<p>Anyway, my daughter is at Brown now and has a diploma from an unaccredited umbrella (no courses from it, much less grades -- just a substitute for local public school review of our homeschooling). So in applying we submitted an explanation of the home study program. It was very clear what we did. I don't think the outside diploma was given any more credence than if I had written one myself. Well, I actually did write it; the umbrella printed it ...</p>
<p>It is easy enough to email or call the admissions office and confirm the acceptability of homeschool diplomas and stop worrying. You also can get some idea of the sort of information they would appreciate getting in support of your application. Someone I know from another list recently visited Brown and talked to someone who gave them such information. She was told that Brown likes homeschoolers because they tend to be self-directed learners, something that fits in well with the open curriculum.</p>
<p>If you are a very strong candidate with high scores, an interesting application with good ec's I doubt that not having a diploma would prevent them from admitting you.
I would as Diane has said call admissions and ask them for a definitive answer.
My son is in Princeton w/o one and he is not alone:)</p>
<p>A diploma is just a piece of paper. </p>
<p>We ordered one for our homeschooled son (who graduated last May) from an online source and it was beautiful. It looked nicer than the ones my husband and I each got from our public high schools. </p>
<p>We ordered it so that when our son was asked, "Do you have a high school diploma?," he could answer, "Yes!"</p>
<p>Don't stress about the diploma. Make your application stand out by providing sufficient back-up documentation to make the school of your choice want you. Go for it!</p>