<p>I am a homeschooled, high school, senior and am looking forward to college. Problem is, I have no idea where I should go from here. So far, I have toured two colleges with my family during Sophomore year. Presently they are not willing to discuss touring Universities/Colleges. So far they haven't invested much serious research. They have kindly let me know I will be paying for my own tuition. (This much is understandable given our financial situation) But I need information and I'm afraid time is slipping away from me! This is all scary. Most of my classes this year will be at a local college, where I will enroll in dual credit. My current GPA is a 3.5.
What should I be doing right now???
Who should I be talking to??
How do I acquire student loans and how many can I receive?
I do not meet FASFA's requirements.</p>
<p>Are you a rising senior, hoping to enroll in a 4 year college in Fall of 2013?
Have you taken the SAT or ACT?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Do you mean to say that college financial aid will expect your parents to pay a lot, but that they are actually unable or unwilling to pay anything?</p>
<p>You can borrow up to $23,000 for four years on subsidized Stafford loans.</p>
<p>If so, then you need to either look for very large merit scholarships or very cheap schools (cheap local community college and/or cheap local state university that you can commute to). But many of the very large merit scholarships (e.g. the ones offered by the University of Alabama campuses in Tuscaloosa, Huntsville, and Birmingham) depend on test scores as well as grades, and you have to check each college to see how it handles home schooled students.</p>
<p>If your goal is to be a military officer, the academies and ROTC scholarships are additional options.</p>
<p>Otherwise, you may have to wait until you are 24 years of age, married, or a military veteran to avoid having your parents’ income count against you for financial aid purposes.</p>
<p>^ ^ ^ Yup, what she asked!</p>
<p>And what do you mean, that you don’t meet FAFSA’s requirements? What’s your family income? It might be low enough that you qualify for need-based aid. If not, you’re going to want to look for schools where you’d be eligible for merit aid, if possible.</p>
<p>Where you’d be eligible for merit aid depends in large part on your SAT or ACT score, so if you haven’t taken one or the other, you need to pick a test and start preparing for it now. They’re quite different, so try and pick the one you’re more comfortable with.</p>
<p>If I were you, I’d visit the [home</a> school forum](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/home-schooling-college/]home”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/home-schooling-college/) to get better information on what you need to so, as a homeschooled student, to prepare for the college application process.</p>
<p>Then take a look at the [Colleges</a> That Change Lives](<a href=“http://www.ctcl.org/]Colleges”>http://www.ctcl.org/) website. This is a great place to start for looking at colleges. I’d also highly recommend getting the book [Cool</a> Colleges](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Cool-Colleges-Hyper-Intelligent-Self-Directed-Different/dp/1580088392/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1338269969&sr=8-1][u]Cool”>http://www.amazon.com/Cool-Colleges-Hyper-Intelligent-Self-Directed-Different/dp/1580088392/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1338269969&sr=8-1) by Donald Asher - you should be able to find it at your local library. It’s an easy read and should help you a lot in figuring out what you’re looking for in a college.</p>
<p>Both of my older two boys homeschooled through high school (the oldest 9 - 12, middle 7 - 12) and neither had any issues getting into colleges. The vast majority of colleges are well-versed with homeschoolers at this point.</p>
<p>What you need (if looking at 4 year schools):</p>
<ul>
<li><p>ACT or SAT scores. If you haven’t done these yet, you need to go to your local public library and get a prep book for each. On paper (not in the book) do one of each tests under testing conditions time-wise. See which you’re better at and/or which you prefer. Then, sign up for and prepare yourself for that test. Come back on here and let us know your score range and people can better suggest schools.</p></li>
<li><p>Outside confirmation of grades and/or ability. You should have this with your dual credits. Have you taken traditional college prep classes? If not, you’ll need to prove ability and describe the classwork you’ve done.</p></li>
<li><p>Extra curricular activities - what have you done in your spare time? What passions do you have? Anything can count here. Colleges want to know you have a life beyond the TV or video game console. Jobs count too.</p></li>
<li><p>Are your parents anti-college or just can’t afford to pay for college? It will make a difference.</p></li>
<li><p>What major or general field of study do you prefer? Do you have a preference for types or locations of schools?</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Loans are signed up for much later, but you’ll need to keep in mind how much you can get (not much). Right now you have to start finding colleges that fit (you like them, you can get in to them, and you can afford them).</p>
<p>Another option to consider are community college transferring into a 4 year school. How good this option is depends upon your location, but it’s always an option.</p>
<p>Finally, realize your best bet MIGHT be to do a gap year. If your courses and/or test scores aren’t what you’d like, you can get a job for a year (saving money) and take the course or two you missed or want. This would allow more time to research colleges and see what your best fits are. I’d save this option as a last resort - pending what you’ve done for classwork, etc. It could come in handy financially if your folks won’t help by filing a FAFSA. They’ll need to do this (or possibly the CSS Profile) even if they aren’t planning on assisting with tuition if you are a candidate for need based aid.</p>
<p>Creekland has a lot of good advice. The FAFSA issue is important. You do not need a degree from an accredited high school to fill out the FASFA. Another consideration is who will be doing your transcript and counselor letter? If you are actually looking to start this coming fall, you’ve missed out on most of the financial aid opportunities. </p>
<p>Have you taken two years of dual credit or are you about to max out on the number of dual credit classes allowed? Because if you are still eligible, you can consider extending your time in high school. Make this your junior year and next year your senior year. If you will actually be a senior next year, then you have plenty of time still to figure out what you need to do.</p>
<p>OP,</p>
<p>You’ve gotten some great advice. It really would help us if you could give more information regarding finances, background (ECs, areas of interest, etc), and potential college list.</p>
<p>Also, before you automatically plan on loans, have you looked into scholarships at various colleges? Outside scholarships? What does your coursework look like? Do you have any test scores? Unusual interests? Unusual ethnic background?</p>
It’s been two years since I’ve logged in and I am so sorry for taking this long to reply to all of your diligent, insightful and kind responses! The process of college searching felt overwhelming, confusing and scary. I ended up applying to seven universities my senior year and received a full tuition scholarship to an out of state, private, christian university that was the perfect fit. Two years later, today, I logged back into college confidential to research for graduate schools! Thank you all for taking out the time to write out such insightful answers, I had no idea I’d receive so many! Blessings to you all and thank you!!!
Congratulations on finding the perfect school for you, @Senior18! Also congratulations on the full tuition scholarship. Kudos to being another person that proves homeschooling works!!!
- A fellow homeschooler
Thank you!! 