@DadOfJerseyGirl I have been looking into and studying for my SAT on Khan Academy
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University of Alabama, the state flagship - depending on your SAT/ACT scores and grades, you can also get considerable merit money towards tuition.
Quite a few posters on these boards, including me, have kids that have been to or are at Alabama, so lots of people to help.
What is your budget for college? Have you asked your parents?
@CollegeMamb0 Thank you for letting me know. I am not entirely sure and have not talked much about it to my parents. But I am exploring options for colleges, and that may be worth looking into as well. Thanks!
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Alabama also has lots of on and off campus religious life opportunities so your parents can feel comfortable that you can still explore that side whilst away at college.
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Thank you! It definitely sounds worth looking into
Here’s where you can download a free ACT practice test, to start off with (there are tons more available). Free ACT Practice Test
Just take this, and grade it, and let us know your score. Of course you can improve it with prep, but this will give us an idea of how well your homeschooling has prepared you for college.
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Also make sure when you take the practice test that you follow the time limits. If you don’t have the full time to set aside, do it a section at a time and make sure you follow the time limits for each section. If you don’t finish a section on time, you can do the following: score the section based on how you did within the time limits, and then go back and finish the questions. That helps tell you whether any low scores (if any) are based on a knowledge gap or a speed issue. Another way to do this is to use a regular pencil until you run out of time and then a colored pencil for the extra-time section.
Also be sure to actually bubble-in the answer keys, not just circle the answers on the test. Bubbling correctly takes time and practice and it’s easy to make mistakes during that process. Getting those skills practiced also helps, as silly as that seems!
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I recommend you try a practice SAT and also a practice ACT to see which you prefer. Colleges will accept either, and some students greatly prefer/do better on one vs the other.
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When we did homeschooling and dual enrollment at community college we didn’t really do any homeschool classes. I think that’s the way most homeschoolers do it in our area — the community college classes just count for the homeschool classes.
Berry College has Christianity in their mission statement but it’s not like Liberty University or Oral Roberts or anything. There are a lot of schools that have a religious history that might appeal to your parents but might be fine with you as well.
If money is an object a state school is often the cheapest way to go. That’s why it’s important to get that budget piece in place — to know your options.
With your social anxiety and your homeschooling history you might be more comfortable at a smaller school instead of one of the big publics but you’ll need to look at that budget.
You could look at a womens college too. Maybe your parents would like that? Hollins in Roanoke Va and Agnes Scott in Decatur GA are two good ones. They both have chapels on campus which might appeal to your parents but both are diverse (ASC exceptionally so) and not really religious any more although there are opportunities for students to be involved in religious experiences if they want.
Berea College in Kentucky might be another one worth investigating too. It’s a more unique work college and kids have a job for the college on campus in exchange for free tuition. They do accept quite a few international students (as do Agnes Scott and Hollins).
Definitely agree on practicing that SAT and/or ACT.
You’ve gotten some good advice from other posters here. Study up and start looking at your options and talking to your parents. You’ve got this!!
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Oh, and just wanted to add that the parents and students on College Confidential are typically a self-selecting bunch of high achievers and not at all representative of the average college student. I am on here to research and learn like you are doing but I told my daughter not to get on here because I thought it would be too anxiety inducing for her. So take any posts about “I only have a 4.8 and a 1500 SAT” that you come across with a big ol’ grain of salt and know that that is not the typical college bound high school experience.
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Maybe the title of this thread should be changed to something like “applying to college as a homeschool student”? I think you might get more folks with this expertise viewing it.
Just a thought.
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Do this soon if you can using one of the links provided (above). It’ll really let us know where you stand with colleges.
I’ve seen the homeschooling world around me for years and I know it can vary from very college prep to not-so-good college prep. None of us know what you’ve had, but if you take one or two of these tests honestly (with time constraints) it will give us an idea. You sound very intelligent and definitely college level ability, but you don’t want to get into college courses having a poor foundation. That will only make anxiety worse. You want to have a solid foundation.
Have you had Bio/Chem/Physics? How high in math did you go? What curricula did you use? What about a foreign language? How many years, and using what?
You might. That’s true, but again, you really don’t want to be underprepared when you hit college classes. If you start at cc they will also test, at least in math, to put you into a class you’re ready for. It may or may not be college level. CC is there to help all students get more education and some of those need a more solid foundation too, like adults getting back into school or kids who didn’t do their best or have the opportunity to do so in school, etc. Others in CC go there to save money and would be fine at a 4 year school. It’s a wide group taking classes there.
What’s most important now is finding out where you’re starting - then it’s easier to see viable paths.
FAFSA won’t depend upon the college, that’s just the gov’ts decision on how much they expect your family to contribute. Not all colleges will agree, but it gives us an idea of whether you’d be eligible for need-based aid or not. Net price calculators are college specific.
Can you do this now? Are there any youth groups at your church or volunteer places in your community?
Sounds great!
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Notre Dame, Emory, Kenyon, Georgetown…
Do you think your description applies to them?
No sense getting nitpicky right now. Colleges can be discussed once more of the beginning parts are figured out. It’s common that students (and parents) don’t know all the variances of various colleges. The OP isn’t unusual in that aspect. Everyone gets to learn at some point along the way. It’s not inborn knowledge.
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All the more reason not exclude whole categories of colleges at the start.
I’m pretty sure from the sound of things that they have an open mind. They’re just sharing what they “know” right now, which is the same as probably 95% of first time (among siblings) applicants (what they “know” may not include all aspects about all colleges). It takes a bit to learn all that goes into applying to colleges. An open mind is terrific.
If I were to reword your post I’d say something to the effect of:
Note that schools like Notre Dame, Emory, Kenyon, and Georgetown are religious in a sense, but don’t require devout adherence to any sort of faith, plus are very good at education so could be worth considering if they work for you. They’re different than schools like Liberty or Oral Roberts that are very dedicated to religion and then education. The former are respected by nearly everyone. The latter can be dissed by those who don’t share their faith and that can sometimes affect hiring.
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@Starr4 You still there? We haven’t scared you off, I hope. I seriously think you’ll do well in college…
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@Creekland Sorry, you didn’t scare me off. Lol
I didn’t have enough time to check, and this site wasn’t sending notifications properly. I’ll read what was said now. And thank you
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@parentologist I downloaded the ACT test you send. But I have been preparing for the SAT, so if there are any SAT practice tests as well, I’ll try that first
@thumper1 thought about it, but CC does not let you edit your post. And I have plenty of helpful people in this comment section as well