Ged

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>I am a home-schooled student from the UK applying to American university this fall (most of my family live in the US and I would like to join them). I am a little confused as the majority of top universities (ivy-league standard) seem to require that home-schooled students take the GED exam - which I thought was for people who have dropped out of high school and not for home-school students who have studied a rigorous curriculum. </p>

<p>I cannot understand why taking a range of SATs subject tests/AP levels in addition to the ACT+writing and SAT is not enough to demonstrate my academic standard. </p>

<p>In addition, the GED includes US history which, as a British Citizen, I have not studied and it would be difficult to learn a whole new subject at the same time as taking multiple exams.</p>

<p>I have emailed various undergraduate admissions departments and have so far received a reply from Boston University and Carnegie Mellon reiterating that home-schooled applicants are required to take the GED. The only other reply I got was from Brown - and luckily they didn't require the GED from international students.</p>

<p>I was wondering what other parents/students experiences have been? Were you/your daughter/your son required to take the GED?</p>

<p>I was curious about your post, because I home school my kids, and my son just received his first admission offer from a university here and I provided that university our official home school transcript. I created the transcript using a software program available to purchase online ( [My</a> Homeschool Transcripts? | Generate official transcripts for your homeschool](<a href=“http://www.myhomeschooltranscripts.com/]My”>http://www.myhomeschooltranscripts.com/) ), and I included additional documents that described our school (the School Profile which included information about our state’s legal statutes regarding homeschooling), our graduation requirements (which match Florida statute as well as as entrance requirements to Florida public universities), and I included copies of transcripts from any of the places my son took classes (he did take quite a few of his academic courses through Florida Virtual School.) During our years homeschooling, I have been very diligent about following state law, meeting and exceeding requirements to demonstrate progress, and doing everything possible to have a third party vouch for his progress at least on an annual basis. And I was able to describe all of that in his applications.</p>

<p>We gave our home school a name, and I presented his application using as much of the kind of language that admissions offices understand. I included a watermark on every page of the transcript, I created letterhead that added another official touch, and I signed and dated every single page. I think all of that helped give an official presentation and might have helped.</p>

<p>But probably what really opened the doors were his SAT and ACT scores, the annual standardized test scores he took every year, and maybe even the fact that I included his planned tests - SAT Subject tests in Physics, Chemistry, and Math 2. I agree with you that those tests should be weighted significantly when reviewing a homeschooler’s application.</p>

<p>There is no way I would have him take the GED. His high school program was/is college prep and far exceeds the requirements of the GED. Based on Florida law, my son will have completed the requirements for high school graduation here in Florida. </p>

<p>I was especially curious about Carnegie Mellon (we lived in Pittsburgh - love that city) and when I read the requirements for homeschoolers, I don’t interpret their requirements as you say you are being told by admissions. I wonder if your contacts do not fully understand. You are required to complete the Homeschool Supplement, include an academic portfolio/transcript consistent with your locality’s guidelines, and a list of all textbooks you have used. In addition, you are asked to provide an official high school transcript OR a GED OR a certificate of completion from a public school district or state board of education. We homeschooled while living in Pittsburgh, and I would have approached an application to Carnegie Mellon the same way I have these other schools. I administer our homeschool, and I created an official high school transcript. If my son were applying to Carnegie Mellon, I would be sending them our official transcript created using that software, signed by me, as the homeschool administrator, along with all of that other documentation they request. But no GED.</p>

<p>Of course, I am not familiar with homeschooling laws in the UK so I don’t know what kind of records you have created over the years to vouch for your high school program. Can you create an official high school transcript, with courses, grades, course descriptions, textbooks and curricula used, etc? Do you have any evaluations done by third-parties to vouch for your academic progress over the years? What are the requirements for obtaining a high school diploma where you are, and can you match your homeschool coursework to those requirements? Can you match your completed coursework to the expected high school programs that schools like Carnegie Mellon or Boston University expect of their applicants?</p>

<p>I have seen Boston University mentioned many times in articles about colleges recruiting, or at least gladly, offering admission to homeschool students, so I am surprised that they, too, are telling you that you must take the GED. Boston U’s application instructions don’t indicate that, at least to me. The instructions (under Additional Supporting Documentation) do address homeschool applicants, and includes a special phone number. I would want to speak to them over the phone, rather than by email, especially if this school is at the top of your list.</p>

<p>Do what you can to provide the schools with what they need rather than taking the GED. In my opinion, that should be a last resort, and only after you have provided these schools with everything they ask for as part of your application. Give them what they want - an official high school transcript that lays out in detail all the courses you have taken and grades earned, and which shows you meet and exceed what they expect of freshman applicants. Add to that some awesome SAT or ACT scores, and regardless of what someone is telling you in emails, I would be surprised if they asked for more than that.</p>

<p>Best wishes.</p>

<p>Home-schooling, and school in general, is very different in the UK. </p>

<p>I attended private school for 4 years (the top school in the country). There were no such thing as transcripts and students were given written evaluations by each individual subject teacher instead - this is the same everywhere. There were no grades given so as ‘not to encourage students to compare themselves’. Therefore no class rank and no GPA either (as how can you find your grade point average from non-existent grades). This means that it isn’t possible to compare UK students until they take GCSEs at the end of the equivalent of Grade 10, and I disliked the school system so much that I left after completing Grade 9 to be home-schooled. </p>

<p>Now, whilst home-schooling is a growing trend in the US and you will find many students that are home-schooled for various different reasons, here in the UK it is almost unheard of. Home-schooling is for those that live in the middle of nowhere or for odd misfits with strictly religious parents - that’s the general opinion. Therefore there is nothing to help home-schooled students - virtual online courses are non-existent and a home-schooled student will be turned away if they try to take a couple of classes at a local college.</p>

<p>I chose to email the universities I was interested in applying to so that I’d have an answer in writing that I would be able to refer to later on. However I will phone Boston University, given that they have a special phone number which I was unaware of until reading this. Since the original post I have also received replies from New York University and Yale, neither requiring the GED , so I am more hopeful. Your post has also made me feel more positive about the admission process for home-schooled students so thank you for replying. </p>

<p>I am not home-schooled by my parents (I no longer live with them and they both work full time) and instead have a private tutor who will be writing my recommendation. I am planning on taking the SAT and ACT in the September/October window, followed by SAT subject tests (Biology, Spanish listening, English, Math) in November and December. I will then be studying for AP levels (I haven’t decided on my final subject choices yet) at the same time as earning a foundation degree in acting at drama school. Whilst I won’t be able to provide grades for my coursework, I still plan on listing all of the subject areas that I have studied, which textbooks I have used etc. I can only hope this will be enough in leu of the usual requirements. </p>

<p>It is especially difficult to know what those requirements are as students here aren’t awarded a high school diploma on completion of high school, in fact graduating high school is as much of an event as finishing middle school. Therefore there is no criteria one has to meet in order to ‘graduate’ - as long as you have attended five days a week. </p>

<p>Best wishes.</p>

<p>Thanks so much for sharing all of that regarding home-schooling in the UK. Very interesting.</p>

<p>What I came away with is that you are definitely at an advantage, in my opinion, because you will be able to provide great description of your coursework, but you also have the validation from your private tutor. I wish we would do away with the GPA here, because, in so many cases, the GPAs are inflated (public school teachers are under constant pressure to award higher grades than students should receive.) When my kids were in public schools, I would have preferred for them to have received a written assessment of their successes and failures. But here, it is such a numbers game these days. The proliferation of 4.0+ GPAs borders on ridiculous. But that’s another thread :)</p>

<p>Then, when it comes to homeschooling here, schools don’t want “mommy grades” - they assume that moms like me have no ability to assess our kids’ performance. If anything, I am a lot more demanding on my kids than any public school teacher ever was. Yet I understand why they want third-party verification, and so my kids take all of those tests to validate their home school education.</p>

<p>You have a great plan in place, and your application is going to wow many admissions officers, so I have no doubt you will get many offers. Best wishes!</p>