When people find out we homeschool one of the things they are always curious about is college. Many people know someone who has homeschooled for a few years, but homeschooling all the way through and sending a child to college is still unusual. I have sent two kids to college from homeschooling, and have learned a lot.
One of the first decisions to make was what kind of college to apply to. At first my daughter was planning to go to a community college for the first two years and save money. Then she started attending the local community college part-time, and realized she wanted something different. We live 45 minutes from the closest community college, and the drive gets tiring fast. Every day she goes it takes at least 1 1/2 hours out of her day for the commute, more if the weather is bad. Plus with the price of gas going up daily it isn’t as cheap as it seems at first.
My daughter tried an online class last summer. Online education is a great option for saving money and time, since there is no commute and no gas to buy. Unfortunately it was too hard for my daughter to stay motivated without seeing the teacher in person. This kind of education is best for a dedicated, self-motivated student, which I’m sure is why it is so popular with older adults returning to college.
So in the end she applied to eleven traditional 4 year colleges. She probably didn’t need to apply to that many, but we were worried about how colleges would view her because of the homeschooling. There were no issues though, even with the state schools. My daughter’s grades and test score are good, and that is what the colleges care about. She was admitted to all 11 colleges, and now has to make the hard decision of which one to attend!
Applying to college as a homeschooler means lots of paperwork for the parent, but we found that the colleges were quite receptive to admitting homeschooled students. So I’d encourage parent’s who want to homeschool to keep good records during high school and not stress about the process. Start early and explore all the options and realize that homeschooling doesn’t limit your child’s opportunities.
What an interesting post!
Wow! You drove THAT much every day!? And, people think homeschooling is all done at home. Ugh!
I love your advice “…to keep good records during high school and not stress about the process. Start early…” Now, that we are homeschooling high school, I am much more conscientious of record keeping.
But, I’m curious, what do you do for grades? Or, are you talking about SATs and the community college credit courses? I’d love to know what kind of “records” you kept and offered in your application. I know mine will definitely NOT be conventional. 😉
Yes, I have the same question. What do you mean by keeping good records? Is it just SAT your are talking about?
We are debating if we should enroll my daughter in an accredited program for high school or do it like the other grades homeschooling.
would be great to find out how you kept record?
We are sending our homeschooled graduate to a 4 year university next week – which she received an all tuition & fees + meal plan scholarship for all four years to. From what we heard when we were doing our in person visits – homeschooled students are actually valued quite highly and recruited often to attend prestigious universities and colleges – most of them are far more ready for ‘real world’ situations than traditionally schooled students.
We kept a very detailed transcript from 9th to 12th grade and she had only one dual college credit and no classes done through co-ops or instructional institutions other than her pre-calculus course, so I agree with you that as long as you keep good records it’s fine.
I hope she has an easy transition to college! I’m sure it’s overwhelming for everyone!