So amazed by everyone in this thread. It feels crazy, all of this coming to an end finally… I have only been homeschooled for 3 years (9th grade was enough for me to realize public high school wouldn’t cut it) but it’s been an incredible journey. I was told by so many people that I would never get into college as a homeschooler, and I’m sure you all have been told the same thing. It feels excellent to have enrolled in a school that I absolutely LOVE, with a huge scholarship from them. I am so thankful to be done with the admissions stress but it was an experience I am lucky to have had. I’m officially part of Simmons College class of 2020 
So happy for @Peggy1897 and @rhiannaps! =D>
Congrats I am sure you will look great in green @Peggy1897! My son is going to the non Fighting Lancers of California Baptist University in Riverside!!
Oh wow, @Baylorpoly, I didn’t even know your son was considering Cal Baptist. Congrats! How did he decide on that?
Thank you! @SouthFloridaMom9 @Baylorpoly
And congrats to your son! It is so nice to leave the stress of college apps in the past!
Congratulations to everyone!
My daughter is about to enter the high school years (homeschooled from the beginning) - we are thinking of using an umbrella school to put together the transcript. Did any of you do that, or were your transcripts all homemade?
I ask because I wonder if it’s an advantage submitting homemade transcripts (the committee has to look more carefully at the application).
I am asking in this thread because of all the wonderful acceptances - congrats again!
@JanieWalker - like most education choices, umbrella schools have positives and negatives. It will also be VERY dependent on your state’s laws.
We never used an umbrella school. We did take some FLVS classes (a la carte), but I always kept my boys’ transcript and kept them legally classified as homeschoolers. At least in Florida, umbrella schools are technically not considered homeschooling. Consequently you get into issues with FHSAA (sports eligibility) and possible problems with dual enrollment (unless it’s a big umbrella school with an articulation agreement). We just always found it more beneficial to be true homeschoolers.
At one point I considered using NAHRS, but ultimately decided it wasn’t worth coping with the issues above, not to mention additional expense.
My older son was very involved in sports most of his life. He then got into theater and performing arts. He had a very unique homeschool transcript which gained him entry to a state university (the only one he applied to). My younger son got in to 9 out of 10 schools with our homeschool transcript. NB: He has done almost 30 credit hours of dual enrollment.
Bottom line . . . take a close look at YOUR state’s homeschool laws. In some states I think umbrella schools are very helpful. In Florida, it didn’t really do anything for us. We didn’t have a problem complying with Florida’s basic homeschool requirements (attendance log, portfolio maintenance [not a big deal], and yearly evaluation [several ways to do that]).
I think some people feel more comfortable with umbrella schools because, in many instances, they get an actual diploma you can hold in your hand, and present to colleges, employers, etc. But for our purposes our homeschool diploma has worked just as well.
Feel free to post again or PM me if you have more questions!
Thanks, SouthFloridaMom!
We don’t use an umbrella organization, and my D was academically accepted into 17 colleges. She would’ve been accepted into another, but she refused to take the ged necessary for admission into that one college. (She applied to so many because she was auditioning for a spot in highly selective musical theatre BFA programs.) She received scholarships at all of the schools, many of them huge, and all based on her homemade transcript and course descriptions, 2 university courses taken during her junior year, and her ACT scores, which were solid but not sky high.
We’re in Ohio. I sign the assessment papers people send in to the state and lead a homeschool co-op, and I don’t know anybody who uses an umbrella organization here.
That is awesome @myloves!
Thanks. I share it not to brag, but to offer encouragement to other homeschoolers.
I agree with @SouthFloridaMom9. Know your state’s laws. If you don’t need an umbrella, there is no need to use one. I create my kids’ transcripts and it has never been an issue. I prefer to do it one my own bc my kids to have non-standard sequences, so by designing it myself I can organize by subject and can include courses taken before high school in a category that clearly indicates their levels of achievement.
It is great encouragement @myloves!
That’s what we did, too, @Mom2aphysicsgeek. It worked well for us and better represented our philosophy of education and life.
A lot closer to home and a lot less expensive. Also the sexual assault issues going on over at Baylor didn’t help either.
Hi everyone and congrats! I am new but just wanted to contribute as I remember when we took our daughter out of public school in junior high how worried I was about college and if I was hurting her chances. She got into GW honors with needs based and merit aid, Northeastern with needs based and merit aid and BU with needs based but no merit. Also she had one wait list at Barnard. Northeastern’s aid was significantly better than GW or BU, by ten thousand a year, so that is where she will be attending.
Love it @AH! Great job!
Thank you! She was crushed by the Ivy rejections, which I still find too depressing to list, so this whole process was long and hard. But I think all her hard work aimed at getting into one of them is what got her such great merit aid.
I was accepted into ECU (with scholarship), the University of Alabama (with a full tuition scholarship and $2500 a year) , and North Carolina State engineering. Had really good ACT scores and strong extracurricular.
I have been homeschooled my whole life too!
Awesome job @fletch2020! Where did you decide to go?