<p>Hi everyone, I hope I am posting this in the right place.</p>
<p>I am about the graduate from homeschool in the next following months, the prob is that I literally had NO idea that students were supposed to apply to college early in their senior year(and not after they had finished as I had foolishly assumed!). Every school I have looked at is WAY past its application deadline. </p>
<p>Must I wait until the year after next to get into a good school? Does anyone know of any that take freshmen for spring semester (all of the ones I have contacted so far don't). </p>
<p>I have worked very had to keep all my grades in the upper 90s through all four years of high school, I hope I can still use those grades to get into a good school...anyway...
Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>The Common App website has a search tool that lets you find all schools that are still accepting applications.
Of course this only covers school that use the Common App, but that is a lot of them.</p>
<p>What are your test scores? SAT breakdown and/or ACT? (have you taken those yet???) </p>
<p>HOw much will your parents pay each year? Your parents’ budget will likely determine where you can afford to go.</p>
<p>(how come your home-schooling parent didn’t know that you were supposed to apply for college already? That was really his/her job to know these things.)</p>
<p>My home-schooling parent did not go to college right after high school and then she went to a community college, I think they take people very close to their starting time. I suppose one of the perils of homeschooling is sometimes people don’t know what they don’t know. I am very disappointed my options are now so limited though…</p>
<p>At this point I am still looking for colleges that take freshmen mid-year, as I have not taken ACT or SAT yet. As I said I had no idea that I should have been applying to schools for the last few months so I had thought I would take the SAT after I finished my math requirements.</p>
<p>If I were you, and you’re not totally crestfallen at the thought of starting mid-year or even Fall of 2014, I would plan for that…and not try to rush through your applications in an effort to make the class of Fall '13. If you are open to delaying college a few months or a year…your options aren’t limited at all. Take your time. Research schools that are exciting to you…and schools that have clear evaluation tools in place for home-schooled kid so you know exactly what you need to have to present the most impressive application.</p>
<p>Well to be completely honest I am a bit late finishing my high school work anyway, so another year sounds terrible but I suppose there is not much I can do about it now. Wish I had only known a few months ago…</p>
<p>Swiftsure – would you consider a year of community college? You could do your freshman year at your local CC and then transfer. You’d still have three years of on-campus experience. It is harder to get scholarships as a transfer student, but your savings from attending community college would offset that to some degree. </p>
<p>This must really be a shock to you. I’m sorry about that.</p>
<p>OP, one thing to be aware of - if you are looking for merit aid, many schools will only offer that to entering freshmen. Taking classes at a CC may make you a transfer student which would toss out many of those potential scholarships. If you really need the merit aid it might be best to wait until next year’s application cycle, get your SAT or ACT done in the mean time.</p>
<p>anouilh – I have considered a Community College. It does seem a shame that the college that I actually want to go to will never see my HS grades though. I worked so hard for them, and many of the colleges don’t want to see the HS transcripts of transfer students.</p>
<p>Thanks though, it has been a hard few days for me since I found out about my horrible mistake!</p>
<p>mom2collegekids – I did call one school that allows for spring applicants they said it would be the same scholarship money(at least at that school). The only problem with them is that they don’t offer very much in what I want to be my area of study.</p>
<p>Oh and as far as money goes, its a bit embarrassing, they will probably not be able to help at all with tuition. I was hoping to tie in my student housing with the loan somehow.</p>
<p>Go directly to the Financial Aid forum and read up. You can only borrow $5.5K as a freshman. Anything else must be co-signed or borrowed by your parents. What is your home state? Some states have in-state grants for college.</p>
<p>You should consider taking a gap year. Get a job, finish your studies, work on SAT or ACT testing, learn about the college search and application process, and financial aid.
You can start by getting a good college guide book from your local library and from reading websites such as this one created by the Federal government -
[Prepare</a> for College | Federal Student Aid](<a href=“http://studentaid.ed.gov/prepare-for-college]Prepare”>http://studentaid.ed.gov/prepare-for-college)</p>
<p>Oh and as far as money goes, its a bit embarrassing, they will probably not be able to help at all with tuition. I was hoping to tie in my student housing with the loan somehow.</p>
<p>You need to “delay” your graduation til next Dec or til May 14 so that you’ll get the BEST aid and the BEST merit scholarships. This will also allow you to take SAT and ACT tests all the way til Fall for the best scores and best merit consideration.</p>
<p>YOU CANNOT borrow much for college. YOU can only borrow the following amounts:</p>
<p>Frosh 5500
Soph 6500
Jr 7500
Sr 7500</p>
<p>If you’re lowish income, then you might also be given a small Perkins loan of maybe $1500.</p>
<p>So, obviously, you can’t borrow enough for tuition, room and board. </p>
<p>Again, you don’t know what you don’t know. Do not assume anything. Your parents aren’t able to advise you so don’t assume anything.</p>
<p>You need to sign up for both the SAT and ACT soon, Get some practice books from the library. Take the tests again in Sept and Oct after further practice. Then apply based on those results for admission for Fall 2014.</p>
<p>Many HUGE scholarships have EARLY deadlines…like Dec 1 or Nov 15, so you really need to delay everything. Graduate next Dec or next May to give yourself time. </p>
<p>Take a gap year. Use a semester or two to study for the SAT and subject tests, get 700 plus on everything, and then use the rest of the time to commit yourself to volunteer work that is meaningful. That is if you’ve finished your high school courses.
The. When you apply ,which I suggest you do as class of 2018, you have lots to say given your gap year. Then it doesn’t look like you forgot to apply to college.</p>