Homeschooling vs. regular hs and getting into college

Applying to College
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<p>Can someone explain to me how grading/demonstrating you've completed the requirements for high school works with homeschooling? I'm sure it varies some by area, but... </p>

<p>My younger DD is a high school freshman, straight A's. She's very interested in going to a "good" college. Though she does well academically, her depression and related social struggles are making it difficult to continue to attend regular high school and we're looking into homeschooling. She's concerned about getting credit for this year, having her A's from regular high school "transfer", that sort of thing. If she were to homeschool through her entire high school career, how does she get a GPA and other factors colleges look at? Are there some colleges that don't consider homeschoolers, period?</p>

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<p>sushi: you might want to post this on the 'Homeschooling and College' forum.</p>

3

<p>Yes, these are the sort of questions that have been addressed on the homeschooling board. We will all be glad to answer any specific questions you have. You also might subscribe to a Yahoo group like hs2coll -- far more people there whose brains you can pick. Cafi Cohen has also written books about homeschooling high school and applying to college.</p>

<p>I don't know of any colleges in the US that don't consider homeschoolers, period. A very few ask for additional SAT II tests (I know of Notre Dame, Georgia Tech, and Columbia). I think the U Cal system is tricky for an OOS homeschooler. </p>

<p>The issue of grades is one where homeschoolers don't necessarily see eye-to-eye. Some of us don't give grades and think colleges disregard whatever parents might give. Others think it is important and that colleges do (and should) give identical credence to parent-generated grades.</p>

<p>I asked all prospective colleges if they needed grades. None of them said they did. The only place that ended up having a problem was the NCAA Clearinghouse, but we finally negotiated that one and my daughter got eligibility.</p>

<p>Colleges definitely look at the other aspects of the application when assessing homeschoolers. At the less selective places, test scores may be sufficient for admission; such was true for my daughter's safety school. At more selective places, they will look at test scores, grades in outside classes, outside recommendations, awards, essays, ECs, course descriptions, reading lists, work samples, and whatever you provide. I asked each prospective school what they wanted from homeschoolers -- they pretty much said "whatever you can give us that will help us decide." </p>

<p>In addition to her safety, my daughter was accepted at Brown, U Chicago and UNC - CH (OOS). I know homeschoolers accepted at other Ivies, Stanford, MIT, the service academies, etc., so it definitely can be done. If homeschooling is best for someone emotionally, there is no reason to hold back for fear that it will preclude a good college.</p>

<p>There is no reason to worry about "transfer" of credit. In your daughter's case, you would come up with a master transcript showing the grades she got in 9th grade, plus the work you did at home. You would also arrange for official transcripts to be sent from the high school and any other program where she might take classes (distance learning, community college, etc.) to prospective colleges.</p>

<p>If you want to know the legal requirements for your state, you can go to <a href="http://www.nhen.org%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.nhen.org&lt;/a>. You can also find links to homeschooler groups that can clue you in better as to how it all works, what resources are out there, get-togethers, and whatever.</p>

<p>I know it all seems rather overwhelming, but I found that other homeschoolers are very willing to offer advice and encouragement. You take one step at a time and you end up where you want.</p>

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<p>I think it all depends on the homeshool program that you choose. I know they differ in every state and region. I was homeschooled for the first sixteen years of my life however, and it was a lot like normal high school. My mom taught me and administered all of the tests and stuff (we were sent very detailed lesson plans and all the required books) than I got to send everything that was required to teachers living hundreds of miles away. The tests, essays, and all other assignments were than scored and returned to me. Thus I actually had real grades and a normal looking transcript that I was able to request from their main office. So on my official transcript that was sent to all of my colleges I had my current high school with my Sophomore, Junior, and Senior grades. Than at the bottom I had Alyeska Central School with all of my home school grades. I had friends however that went through a different home school program and they never had to send in anything. Basically their parents wrote their lesson plans and graded everything. Personally I believe that the structured programs are much better. I'm not really sure how their transcripts worked though. Anway hope some of that helps. And if you have any specific questions about how homeshooling worked for me I would be glad to answer. Just PM me.</p>

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<p>Yes, homeschooling can really vary. We selected what we would study, how, and with what. The only review was by an umbrella school, which basically is an alternative under my state's law to review by the local school system. The umbrella doesn't have any required courses or curricula of its own. My state has no required testing, etc. I would write on a form each semester what the courses were, what we used for them, and how many hours were spent on each, and at the end of the year a consultant would come by and we would chit chat. That was about it.</p>

<p>Then there is unschooling. We didn't do that, so I won't presume to explain it ...</p>

<p>In other words, you can customize the homeschooling experience to your child and your own preferences. I happened to look at my daughter's transcript today and saw that, of her 31 high school courses, only 8 are offered at the local high school -- and those 8 we customized in the sense that we selected the texts we thought best. A major reason we decided to homeschool was dissatisfaction with the customary high school curriculum, so the last thing we wanted was selecting someone else's.</p>

<p>It really isn't that difficult to find your own materials; you just research a course at a time and before you know it, you have it all done. We started homeschooling in the middle of the school year and my initial research was during the two-week notice period required by state law. Also, some people pick different ways to do different courses. Some might be all do-it-yourself; others might be distance learning or by tutor or outside classes.</p>