COLLEGe!!!?

Boomer: COLLEGe!!!?
Alright I need some serious help with the whole college thing I’m completly lost. I’m 17, and a juinor in highschool. The thing is though I’m HOMESCHOOLED (if I was in public I’d probably be a sophmore)! I dont have credits and a GPA. My parents would not let me go to a public school my whole life so its been like this since grade 1. I could go now though. How am I supposed to get into college under these circumstances? I’ve always wanted to go to college, its been the one thing I’ve always looked foreward to but I didnt realize there were certain things you had to have and do to get into one… how does college work anyway? If you guys could put it into perspective it would be alot of help no ones ever layed out the guidelines for me and like I said… I’m lost. also I want to either be a pediatrician or something along the lines of a physicist for NASA. So if you guys could lay out the guidelines and rules and all that for those specific career paths then that would be even more help

Answers and Views:

Answer by Steve R
gpa isnt everything you should take the sat or act tests that will tell you wehre to look. You still have to meet certain criteria if your home schooled

Answer by hsmomlovinit
You don’t need to go to a public school in order to get transcripts, credits, or a GPA. This is something that your mom is responsible for and should be keeping records on. There are many programs out there (like Homeschool Tracker or Edu-Track) that she just needs to plug the info into and it will produce all of these documents for her.

My son is homeschooled and wants to be a doctor; he’s starting 5th grade, but knows that he will need a lot of science and math, as well as a basis of Latin and Greek, in order to do well in pre-med and med school…so he’s loading his schedule with those. He wants to be a medical missionary, which will require a knowledge of foreign languages and an understanding of history and worldviews, so he’s making sure to take those every year. I discuss his schedule with him a couple of times a year, and we tweak it to what his interests and his goals are.

I decide what he is definitely going to take (writing, language arts, what period in history, the next math level, etc.) and he is allowed to fill in his classes from there. I plug all of his work into my tracker software and it does all the tracking for me.

Many colleges are actually courting homeschoolers and are eager to receive applications, but you have to have done the paperwork leading up to the app – the transcript, letters of reference, etc. – to go with them. If you go to www.collegeboard.com, there will be lots of info for you.

As far as classes that you should have under your belt, you need to figure out the colleges that you would like to apply to and contact them for their requirements. Each college has different things that they want to see. Being homeschooled, you have the freedom to take the classes that you need, in the way that makes the most sense to you. Take advantage of that to figure out what you want to do, and go for it. You actually have an advantage, but you need to take it.

Hope that helps!

Answer by brat
If you are a sophmore you could start some college classes now! You should go to the local community college and talk to them. They have an assessment test you have to take before you can start taking courses…..take this to see where you are. You could also take an SAT test. Your parents have homeschooled you so you do have credits…you just don’t have them from public school. Your parents can make you a diploma because you graduated, yes I know you haven’t yet but you will, their homeschool program. I’m assuming you have some sort of portfolio or something with some of the stuff you have done over the last couple years, before 9th doesn’t really matter……get it together and have it ready if they ask for it. In my college endeavors they have never asked for my “diploma” but for my transcripts…so have your mom make you a transcript….

good luck!

Answer by Arslan Anjum
No you dont need to go back buddy..

Answer by Earl D
Many colleges make room for homeschoolers.

Based on what you say you BETTER have the following under your belt:

1 Year foreign language, conversational, reading and writing. Any second langauge will do.

Algebra 1,2,3,4. Geometry 1,2, Trig. Caculus

Economics

Contemporary Politics or Problems

Math oriented Chemistry

Math oriented Phyisics

Bilogy 1 and 2

Rudimentary Astronomy

2 years of English Grammar, Composition and Literature and writing in a style format (e.g. chicago Manual)

ALSO big tuition money

Local State University will probably cost you $ 3,000,$ 5,000 per semesters

Major top 10 University is $ 50,000 a year (Cal Tech, Cornell, NYU, Harvard, USC, UCLA if you are not a Californiar resident)

ALL collleges will give you a Math and English placement test

Some systems, such as New York, REQUIRE and accredited Diploma or GED, not every system requires this.

Taking the SAT or ACT can be of benefit. Many colleges want to see a high SAT or ACT score

That test will cost $ $ $ and you should take it within the next six months or so as it can take almsot a year to get the results.

You should apply for scholarships and apply to all colleges you can by the start of next year.

Answer by busymom
Two things that you can do.
First write down all the subjects you studied since 8Th grade.
These can be translated into credits, each subject/class receives credit for completion.
To arrive at a GPA you have to figure out how well you did, my children have to stay above 85% in everything, otherwise they have to it over, so grade wise that translates to a B or above.
We do not grade during the “school years” either, we develop a transcript close to the time of graduation.
If you need help in developing these there are some simple programs available and you just fill in the blanks.
We use the CLASS planner from Christian Liberty Press, the book is about $ 8.00 and has all the forms in it.

Second as any college bound student, you will have to take the SAT, or ACT; sometimes both.
This is what realy counts for getting into college; you can start studying for these now on line, or buy the prep-books.
Contact the college of your choice, and find out what their requirements are, and go for it.
The admissions/recruitment office will have all the information you need, and they often help you through the process.
You can also start taking some college classes now, while finishing your high school program to built up college credits, just make sure they will transfer, and are applicable to either the prerequesites, or your chosen field.

Good luck.

Answer by Melissa
Getting into college is easy for homeschoolers, and nearly every university has a separate admissions program for homeschoolers. Take a look at my alma mater
https://www.ou.edu/admissions/home.html
for more info on a standard university admission. You don’t supply an actual diploma, you give the name of your school. You do HAVE to take the ACT or SAT, every college requires it, but it’s fairly easy, you can find the test dates on their websites (www.actstudent.org) It’s $ 30 per test, you can apply for a waiver, and most people get their scores in two months. Testing is year round, at the website you can enter your state and find upcoming test days. You can take the test anywhere however, it doesn’t matter if you’re willing to drive. Most people take the test twice, once for practice and then again. You can use either number. The transcript is easily done, just a name of the class and how long you spent in it (one year, right) (sample transcript here https://oklahomahomeschool.com

The following is for OU, for Stanford (for example) You’d need one more math and one more science, so you see it’s fairly standard.
4 units of English
taken from grammar, composition and literature only
3 units of college prep math
Taken from algebra I, algebra II, geometry, trigonometry, math analysis, calculus, or Advanced Placement (AP) Statistics
2 units of laboratory science
(does not include general science, with or without a lab) one year of principles of technology may substitute for one of the lab science courses, provided that the student also completes a traditional lab science course
3 units of history and citizenship skills
to include one unit of American history and two additional units from the subjects of history, economics, geography, government, non-western culture
3 units of additional subjects
from any of the subjects previously listed or computer science or foreign language. Two years of the same foreign language will satisfy the University’s foreign language general education requirement.

Once you are in college, you will have an advisor who will steer you the way you need to go for your career choice. Most freshmen are taking basic classes anyway, that every college graduate will take (freshman english, foreign language, social studies, math) After your freshman year, you must declare a major (although you can do it on admission), so that’s when you enter the college of your choice (within each university there are subcolleges based on degrees, science, letters, math, engineering) I would suggest not going premed, even if you want to be a dr, you take the premed coursework, of course, but find a major along a science route, biochemistry, biology, etc. again, your advisor will help you out, you have to go to him though, many college kids never do get to know their advisor, just long enough to get their coursework approved. Good news is that most universities know that kids coming in are clueless and they will tell you every step. And now this is too long, I just want to reassure you that they are used to kids (yes, even public school grads) not knowing what to do their freshmen year. But get that ACT done, have your mom do your transcript and start looking at which colleges you want to apply to. Usually the dead line for application is January/February, so you do want to take the test, and get crackin!

Answer by The Rose
I know many, many homeschoolers and have never seen one of them apply to the college of their choice and not get in. My niece and two nephews, for example, have always been homeschooled and all three are on the dean’s list in their respective schools.

No offense, but I don’t think you truly appreciate or understand your parents love and sacrifice in homeschooling you. Trust me, public school is not all it’s cracked up to be. I wish I was homeschooled! You need to go give your mom/dad a hug and say “Thanks for homeschooling me!!”

Answer by lacaballista
Colleges love homeschoolers. Texas A&M, Sewanee, LSU, Berry, Yale and Harvard have all said that all you have to do is have your mom/dad/legal guardian to write your transcripts and give you credits. They colleges will accept it. In Texas it is illegal for colleges to make homeschoolers do anything different than regular schoolers.

You need to get some extra-curriculars in though. Sponser whales, volunteer at Habitat for Humanity, be a Big Brother, try for the Congressional Award. All of these things will help you get into a college. If you have an interest persue it. Shadow a pediatrician or a physicist at work (if you can).

Go to collegeboard.com and the www.princetonreview.com. It will help you find a university and give you more insight into what you need to do to become a doctor/physicist. You can call the admissions department at different universities that you are interested in and talk to them about what you need to get in.

You can also take some classes at a community college. It willl help you understand what college classes are like and give you a little more meat for your transcript.