College acceptance rate for homeschoolers

[Anonymous]

Just trying to get some feed back on college acceptances for folks who homeschool. Do ALL college accept diplomas from online schools? Can a home schooler be as competitive as a "traditional" student?

[Anonymous]

Test scores will be scrutinized to determine the student's academic readiness. Is your child dual enrolled with your local community college? Taken any AP tests?

[Anonymous]

State requirements for a diploma are the same across the board. Homeschool diplomas carry the same weight as any other public or private high school diploma.

[Anonymous]

According to ACT.org, “Mean ACT Composite scores for homeschooled students were consistently higher than those for public school students.”

I imagine they do just fine getting into college.

[Anonymous]

It almost seems like you would have researched this before homeschooling your child. Why risk limiting (or not) any future education chances without fully understanding what you are doing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It almost seems like you would have researched this before homeschooling your child. Why risk limiting (or not) any future education chances without fully understanding what you are doing?

Welllllll....that's why I'm asking. To get information BEFORE making a decision. Thanks for your post anyway, Karen

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:According to ACT.org, “Mean ACT Composite scores for homeschooled students were consistently higher than those for public school students.”

I imagine they do just fine getting into college.

Mean scores are pretty low in general, so that’s not saying much.

There are hundreds of colleges that will accept nearly everyone, so if that’s all OP cares about, it won’t be an issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It almost seems like you would have researched this before homeschooling your child. Why risk limiting (or not) any future education chances without fully understanding what you are doing?

Welllllll....that's why I'm asking. To get information BEFORE making a decision. Thanks for your post anyway, Karen

Just homeschool for college as well…why stop at high school.

[Anonymous]

I know a homeschooler, who was accepted at colleges, where a "traditional" student was rejected. I wouldn't worry.

[Anonymous]

Many states set you up with a liaison that reviews your work each year to go to the next grade. You can ask the school to meet with that person to discuss homeschool.

Most states also allow you to take a couple classes at public school while remaining homeschooled. This is good for AP classes and lab classes or music ensembles and many take advantage of this.

Homeschool co-ops often offer elective standardized testing annually so that can become part of your permanent record and good for comparative data.

I say consult with the homeschool liaison or contact a local co-op director or regional director. You’ll get much better answers there.

[Anonymous]

I have a kid who homeschooled and then went to an alternative high school (think no grades, learn at your own pace kind of thing). When he was applying to colleges, the most helpful resources for us were for/from homeschoolers and I am quite sure that his application was assigned to the admissions officer in charge of homeschoolers and kids in online academies.

My kid felt that, given his unusual transcript, it was especially important that he take the SATs and ACTs, enroll in college summer classes, and self-prep for some AP tests -- and also do extremely well in them.

He was ambitious and hoping for top 25. Givn test optional policies, I do not think that the test numbers would have been necessary depending on the level of college. But given that he was applying to the most competitive places, he felt like he NEEDED some numbers. Otherwise he was a top candidate, with excellent and varied extracurriculars -- it's unlikely that he could have been as invested as he was if he had been at a typical high school.

In any case, he applied broadly and did very well acceptance-wise and is at a top 25. It is possible that some schools were turned off or felt like he was a risk--but if a school rejects over 90% of applicants... he likely would have been rejected no matter what.

Overall, I feel like being a very strong student with an unusual profile helped him.

[Anonymous]

8:49 here. To your first question... all the colleges my son looked at were definitely open to the possibility. Homeschooling is not so unusual and, for example, it's likely that many D1 athletes homeschool so there have to be avenues for homeschoolers to be accepted most everywhere.

That said, it's clear that at some schools the bar might be raised in other areas because the academic transcript might be considered "less reliable." At least, that was our concern. But again, my kid got into very selective colleges, including some with single digit acceptance rates so I do think that most colleges are genuinely open to the profile.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:According to ACT.org, “Mean ACT Composite scores for homeschooled students were consistently higher than those for public school students.”

I imagine they do just fine getting into college.

It's a bimodal distribution. Individual applicants don't apply with a mean school averaged out with other homeschoolers, but their own.

The ones who do rigorous work and have a love of learning usually do just great. The ones who faff around without accountability, not so great.

The parents and the child can determine which way that goes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know a homeschooler, who was accepted at colleges, where a "traditional" student was rejected. I wouldn't worry.

A "traditional" student was rejected somewhere? You don't say!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:According to ACT.org, “Mean ACT Composite scores for homeschooled students were consistently higher than those for public school students.”

I imagine they do just fine getting into college.

It's a bimodal distribution. Individual applicants don't apply with a mean school averaged out with other homeschoolers, but their own.

The ones who do rigorous work and have a love of learning usually do just great. The ones who faff around without accountability, not so great.

The parents and the child can determine which way that goes.

Edit: ^^mean score