<p>I went to regular high school my freshman year. After that I decided to enter home school. I finished and got my GED. I've taken the ACT and got a 29. I'm going to apply to the University of Oregon.
I think I have a good chance. The only thing i'm worried about is will my freshman year hurt me? I got suspended during that time for a food fight and I want to know if that'll hurt me or is there some way I can have that erased? help!</p>
<p>From the Univ. of Oregon website:
"With a GED, you are not required to submit SAT or ACT scores, or high school transcripts. To apply to the UO, complete the application for admisssion online...select "GED" as your high school and leave blank the section for coursework."
So if they don't want a transcript, they will not get any info. from the school you attended freshman year. This info. was easy to find on the OU website-freshman admissions. You should probably do some more looking there and gather the necessary information before you get worried about things :-)</p>
<p>There is also an alternative admissions option for homeschoolers where you can submit your ACT (or SAT) and with certain scores on that plus 2 years of foreign language you can be admitted. If you don't meet the foreign language requirement, you can arrange to take a foreign language as a freshman to address that. In that case, as with the GED path, you can forego submitting any high school transcripts.</p>
<p>Also, remember - it was just a food fight, and it was just a suspension! I assume the repercussions were not what led you to homeschooling? If you had a good year in the 9th grade, besides that suspension, I would consider using it. </p>
<p>So, it looks like you have three options for your application. Consider carefully which one would make you look best.</p>
<p>My daughter is attending Southern Oregon Univ., but they use the same admissions guidelines as UO as far as homeschoolers go. It was a very simple process. She submitted her application and had her SAT scores sent to the school. She had taken some classes at the local high school, so she had them submit a transcript too, but she didn't have to do that. She took 2 years of Latin through a correspondence course, so that fulfilled her foreign language requirement, but the college understands that for some homeschoolers meeting the foreign language requirement can be difficult, so they'll let you enter as a freshman with a contract to take your foreign language there.</p>
<p>I don't think you'll have any problem at all, and like anotherparent says, even if there is some mention on your high school transcript of a disciplinary action for a food fight as a freshman it isn't really going to outweigh some strong grades you might have earned there.</p>
<p>I would consider, though, that if you really don't want to submit that transcript for some reason, you might well be asked to by UO if you put on your application that you attended there. It's a little tricky, because the application DOES ask if you attended any schools (high school, community college, or college), and does want you to submit transcripts from all of them, even if you're applying under the GED or homeschooler guidelines. You would be withholding information if you don't report your 9th grade attendance at your former high school. So, since I can't imagine that suspension would hurt your admissions chances (even if it's on your transcript, which it may not be), I think you should just fill out the application and submit transcripts as they instruct you to.</p>
<p>If I was you, and I say this ONLY for your own peace of mind, I would request an OFFICIAL, SEALED transcript from your high school. One that would be normally sent to any college you apply to, but keep this one for yourself. You can open it and see exactly what they are sending to UO. If you don't feel good about any information in it, then you can send a note along with your other application materials to the college explaining the circumstances around that suspension, or maybe even get the school to remove it. Maybe they won't, but you can't know if you don't ask.</p>
<p>Or, you could just not mention the high school on your application at all, but that would be an omission of specifically requested information. Might not be worth even considering given the benign nature of your freshman "crime." ;)</p>
<p>All good advice so far. My son was homeschooled and now attends the U of Oregon. He also went the GED route. They knew he attended public high school part time all four years and still had no interest in seeing his transcript from the public school. His girlfriend (also homeschooled and took the GED route) was admitted into the Honors College there, but I'm not sure what else she did for that. I believe it was her SAT test scores and an essay. Your ACT score should be high enough to make that a possibility for you as well.</p>
<p>Call the admissions office, tell them that you are applying as a homeschooled student with a GED and also your ACT score. Ask them if they want the transcript from your freshman year or not. If the suspension is on your transcript (I can't imagine that it would be, but get a copy for yourself and check) just let them know that you got into a bit of trouble, and ask if it will cause any complications. In the big picture a food fight in your freshman year is pretty minor.</p>
<p>Whatever route you take, don't wait. The closer to the cutoff date, the more stressed the admissions folks are and the less willing they are to spend extra time on you.</p>
<p>Mgoog, just tonight I was looking more carefully at the UO application, and there should be NO problem at all for you. The application does specifically ask applicants to list all <em>colleges</em> where they've taken classes, but nothing like that for previous high school classes. </p>
<p>If you're applying under the GED guidelines or the homeschooler guidelines, there is no question about high schools you might have attended, nor a request for transcripts. There is a page full of questions for traditional high schoolers about which courses they've taken, etc., but you can bypass that page entirely since there's no way for a homeschooler to fill it out to begin with, nor are they expected to.</p>
<p>Anyway... just thought that info might be helpful for you. There really isn't a mechanism for you to report it, even if you wanted to. ;)</p>
<p>A fine example of the way College Confidential can work. Thank you to the contributors to the thread.</p>
<p>well i think that all that matters is confidence. i wood say that if you know you can apply and be accepted it would be ok.. nad about the suspension, oh well.. many people have been suspended during those times and so they dont have anything to do with that is that there is also an alternative admissions option for homeschoolers where you can submit your SAT being a homeschooler... now i have a question for you... is homeschool fun?</p>
<p>Ok, but here's another question about the suspension. If it was never put on your transcript then do you have to report it?? No matter what it was for, it's not on your transcript, right? Just make sure the guidence counselor's letter (if you need one) doesn't ask specifically since that person might feel conflicted even if it's not officially recorded. Right guys??</p>
<p>It's a non-issue. If the OP applies to UO as a homeschooler she/he doesn't need a counselor letter... or even a counselor, for that matter. She/he doesn't have to report anything at all except her/his test scores.</p>
<p>Or are you talking about another situation, another student applying to another college?</p>
<p>Well yes, my situation actually...I was "suspended" but was told by my dean of students and principal, guidance counselor that it is not on my transcript and has no bearing on college for me. I think I'm ok not to report it as it's unofficial??</p>