I wanted to know would a college accept my home school transcript without proof from Florida that I was being home schooled.
I attend a Florida high school for less than a month than got a transfer , but I never returned to a traditional high school.
My problem is I never informed anyone of my plans to home-school , nor did I register with the state as a official home school student. If I fill out my home school transcript take the sat and act test will colleges accept my application without any official documentation from the state ?
Any help, advice or info would be greatly appreciated
Thank you @neogeezer I asked someone else and they said they provided proof in the form of a letter of completion that was sent to the school board after finishing home school.
@blueandgreen, I have experience with one state only, not Florida, but my guess is the letter of completion, if it was actually required, was required in order for the school board/state agency to monitor compliance with state compulsory eduction requirements in place up till age 17 or so.
It is only my opinion, but I doubt it will affect your college application unless a school specifically requires an official state-recognized diploma. You can find out for sure on each school’s website. Even in that case, I doubt they will request to see a diploma if your homeschool transcript and any dual-credit transcripts are convincing as to the academic rigor and thoroughness of your work. But, if they ask, you will be compelled to answer honestly.
I don’t want to frighten you, but I assume you are a junior, so consider that the school board bureaucracy may yet catch up and contact your parents about your education. With the little I know about your situation, I don’t even have an opinion on how you should deal with that possibility. Perhaps an anonymous call to your local school board would give you an idea of how to proceed.
We homechooled our D, now a graduating senior at a flagship state uni, from 5th to 12th grade. No one ever bothered us at all. When she applied to college 3 years ago, none of the schools asked for “proof of homeschooling.” She was admitted to several prestigious univ, including some ivy-league schools.
CA law requires the homeschool to maintain a curriculum, and an attendance record. It doesn’t say what the curriculum should be, so we printed out a copy of CA public school curriculum and kept it on file “just in case.” The attendance record was just a calendar with a check mark for each “school day.”
Thank you guy’s I read the colleges website and I was still confused so I contacted them and I’m waiting for a response. You guys have calmed my nerves a little and if worse comes to worse I’ll apply as a GED applicant , and still send in my transcripts from home school. What do you guys think.
I helped several students over the last few years apply to college as homeschoolers - no school ever asked for any documentation from the state or anything and none required any diploma or anything. They did require a transcript and complete course descriptions about what courses they took. Just realize though that the SAT and subject tests or the ACT with writing weigh a bit more in your case.
And like the post #6 above - they too got into the Ivys and everywhere else.
Wait, just a general question, not aimed at the OP.
So it’s possible to stop attending school, provide no proof that you received any schooling, prep for the SAT, and get admitted into a college?? How on earth is that possible?
How is it possible to get into college without completing high school?
Forget college, how is it possible to drop out of school and have no one check that the child is receiving an education? I realize the OP was probably 16 or so when he/she stopped attending the local school. But are there any follow-ups on younger kids?
Or can the parent of a 12 year old pull the kid out of school, claim “homeschooling” and terminate the kid’s education? No one will check???
I was always under the impression that there was a process, a series of checks and balances to ensure that kids who were homeschooled were actually receiving an education.
Someone please tell me that I’m missing something here, and that those checks are still in place.
@bjkmom, most states do have some type of system in place to ensure homeschooled kids are actually receiving an education, but in some states it works about as well as the systems in place to ensure public schooled kids are actually receiving an education.
@bjkmom Yes it’s a state by state thing. We started homeschooling more about 10 years ago when we lived in MA, in a very small school district. MA was an “approval state” meaning that the principle of the elementary school had to “approve” my curriculum and I had to show a “portfolio” of student progress twice a year. The principle did not like homeschoolers and did not want to approve an age appropriate elementary Latin program (Minimus) even though I had a state certified Latin teacher in to tutor once a week! His argument was that they don’t teach Latin in the town’s elementary school so I shouldn’t teach it to my kids at home!
We moved to FL for about 6 months while we were trying to sell our house in MA and getting the house built in TX. To home school in Florida you have a few different options I choose to register under an “umbrella school” I never really understood the Florida rules I just sent the “umbrella school” a check and some paper work and I had to report my kids attendance to them.
We moved to Texas to home school because it’s very home school friendly. I did not have to register with the state or local school at all. In Texas home schools are considered private schools and since the state doesn’t regulate private schools they don’t regulate home schools either.
I can’t imagine a parent pulling a 12 year out of school and not providing them with an education. Parents have a vested interest in their children’s success. Even though TX has no “checks and balances” colleges like TAMU actively recruit TX home school students, so I guess we must be doing something right;-)
So far two of my three children have decided attend public school for high school, they make straight A’s and are academically ahead, despite the fact that no one from the state has approved or checked on their academic progress since they were in second grade.
@blueandgreen, It’s always best to look up the regulations yourself, not guess at them or let other people guess for you. FL home schoolers are required to file a Letter of Intent each year, keep a portfolio for each student, send the district a yearly evaluation (test results or a report from a certified FL teacher, etc.), and inform the district when they’re done home schooling. FL home school regs can be found at:
You’d have to contact the colleges you’re interested in to find out what documentation they might want. The Univ. of FL, for instance, wants a completed SSAR form (Self-reported Student Academic Record) from home schoolers which they validate after students complete high school. They don’t say whether or not that validation includes contact with your home district. http://admissions.fsu.edu/freshman/admissions/requirements.cfm
If you’re not a senior now, I think your best options are for your parents to submit the appropriate paperwork to your district or plan for you to take the TASC (formerly GED) just in case you need it. Good luck.
In CA, there is no such thing as “home school.” From the legal point of view, there are public schools and there are private schools. A “home school” is a private school.
A private school is required to maintain a curriculum. Of course “maintain a curriculum” doesn’t mean the student achieves the goals of the curriculum (similar to public schools). All it means is what the school intends to teach the student. There is no laws saying what the curriculum should be. The law also requires a record of attendance. This is as simple as a calendar showing instruction days.
Note that the purpose of the affidavit is to inform the state government that you are running a private school. It’s not to ask for a permit. Instead of filing the affidavit, you can choose to register the student at a “school” of which main purpose is to keep attendance record. An example of that is BayShore School (I’m not endorsing this school. I know the name because a person in our HS group used it).
It’s possible. These days universities, public and private, are well aware of homeschooling. Each year they admitted many homeschoolers. Just ask any admissions counselor. Even National Merit Scholarship Corp. allows homeschoolers to participate (my D was a finalist).
In order to get into college, you need to complete high school education. Homeschoolers DO complete HS. They just happen to do so NOT in a conventional school environment. My homeschooled D was admitted to several prestigious colleges, public and private. In the application, she submitted a detailed table of the classes she had taken (instructors, textbooks, scores, …). But none of the schools she applied to asked for, nor did she submitted, any “proof” that she’d completed HS education.
Unless there are signs of abuse, and someone reporting them, no one checks. It’s the same thing as a kid going to a private school, there is no way to tell if one day the parent decides to pull the kid out. My D was homeschooled since 5th grade, and no one bothered us at all.
For the record, before pulling our D out, we did talked to the local public schools. Either they were not interested in helping, or they were but didn’t have the necessary resources. They had their hands full with thousands other kids.
Sad but true. But the kid remaining in a conventional school doesn’t necessarily mean (s)he is getting an education.
I’m not saying that homeschooling is good or bad. It’s not for everyone. But that’s the way things are.
I think it is should be careful not to conflate homeschooling with un-schooling. They are not the same. Un-schooling the parent does nothing active really and the kid just lives life and odes what interests them.
I know a good bit of homeschoolers and helped several myself in terms of college applications. Every one of the were in the 1% or better of SAT scores, all attend or attended top 10, mostly top 5, universities and colleges and so far there are in top 3 business schools and law schools. So I am biased, I think it is a good thing, if parents know how to do it.
Please realize, I’m not trying to bash anyone. I’m a teacher in a private school, but realize that no one system works for everyone.
But if a parent of a kid in a traditional setting drops the ball and stops sending the child in for an education, in theory someone will notice when the kid stops attending school.
If a teacher in a traditional setting drops the ball and doesn’t teach the curriculum, in theory someone will notice-- at observation time, or next year when the kids don’t know anything.
It simply never occurred to me that there was no “in theory” way for “someone to notice” if a homeschool parent opts out of educating a child.
Obviously I’m talking about a tiny minority, and not to anyone on a site dedicated to getting into college. It just never occurred to me that there wasn’t someone checking to ensure that those kids were getting adequately educated.
I actually received a transfer from my high school after only attending for a few days. The transfer stated I was moving out of the country which I never did , so I just stayed home studied learned my way and stayed on top of things by following what my friends up north were learning. No one ever checked up on me.
@blueandgreen - depending on how high your SAT scores are, some colleges may not be interested in any homeschool documentation aside from a transcript (which all colleges will want). I am in the northeast and no college that my children applied to asked for anything aside from a transcript (which I made) and SAT scores (sent in from College Board). That’s it. Had they asked for some ‘you had permission to homeschool’ letter or ‘proof that you actually were homeschooled’ letter, I wouldn’t have been able to comply as I don’t have anything like that from my state. IT just doesn’t exist. So, it’s certainly not something that colleges need.
Just document what you actually did during high school and send in your SAT/ACT scores and include any outside classes (like community college) and you’ll be fine.
Another option is to go to community college for a while and then transfer. If you choose this option, just know in advance what articulation options your college has. One of my daughters did this and it was an excellent option for her. She is now working doing exactly what she wanted in her field (and her degree was far, far less expensive than many of her co-workers).
