Homeschooling and College Admissions Difficulties

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Homeschooled neighbor (all through HS) went to a not-too-far-away state U last year. Strict religious family. Now she's back home. Guess being sheltered didn't prepare her for college life.

Yeah, I’m sure she was the only kid in history, homeschooled or not, who couldn’t handle college.

[Anonymous]

Community College and transferring would be your child’s best option.

[Anonymous]

Don't do a gap year. It will not change anything in terms of admissions.

Either do community college or rolling admissions at a school that is low tier. See how she does the first year then reevaluate. Plenty of kids do community college or another college and transfer. She need a baseline and either of those will give her one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, you better have a real good reason for homeschooling. You say, "medical issues". That is not enough information, not for colleges. As pp noted, if your DC's condition prevents them from being able to attend public school, how is it they will ok going away to college?

This is SUCH BS! Op, engage a private college consultant to navigate the process for you, it will be worth the money. Not only can they give you guidance with respect to your DC's medical issues, they can form a relationship with your DC and give advice on the personal essay and interviews.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Homeschooled neighbor (all through HS) went to a not-too-far-away state U last year. Strict religious family. Now she's back home. Guess being sheltered didn't prepare her for college life.

Hmmm, I have several of "those" in my Bethesda neighborhood who were not home schooled but instead attended our fabulous public high schools. To what do you attribute them sitting on their bums in their parent's homes after only one year of college. Could it be the Bethesda lifestyle did not prepare them for college life?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Community College and transferring would be your child’s best option.

OP, are you in the DC area? Not all posters here are. If you're local: Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA) has a program where students attend for two years then, if they meet requirements, get a guaranteed transfer to one of 40 area colleges and universities. I'm not talking about "just attend CC"--this is a specific program aimed at students who want a four-year degree from a college/uni but who, for whatever reason--need to save money, not quite ready academically, undecided about field of study, not ready to leave home just yet, whatever--can't get to a four-year college straight out of high school. Look up "guaranteed admissions agreements" on the NOVA website at www.nvcc.edu.

If you're not in this area--I think other community colleges in other areas may have similar programs. Might be something to pursue if your DD needs to live at home longer but might be able to handle going away eventually.

[Anonymous]

Lack of knowledge about college applications is a separate mistake from the specific challenges of homeschooling or managing medical issues or special needs in children. I know homeschooled children who are exceptional students and whose parents carefully planned their entire education and transition to college. It takes VERY committed families and some money to make homeschooling successful.

Don't worry about the Ivy League, OP. It's a lottery for even the best students. I would enroll her in community college, provided your local one has a good reputation. Some have honors programs that your child could perhaps qualify for. Then plan for a transfer to a decent college. If she wants a graduate degree, nothing is lost! She may be competitive for a reputable grad school in a few years, and then that diploma will be the most important one on her resume. I know a friend's daughter who did exactly that. She is now in a prestigious PhD program at John Hopkins.

The silver lining is that you will save money, and be able to prepare better for her working life in a few years, perhaps help her with a downpayment on a house or something.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We've homeschooled our eldest through HS due to her medical issues and have faced much difficulty with the college admissions process so far. The process at most colleges espe those in the top tier doesn't seem homeschool friendly. Plus the lack of good advice of a decent guidance counselor during the 4 years of HS planning has made things even more difficult. We don't have the money for private college counseling. My husband remembers the process from the 1980s and thought the journey would be similar for our daughter. We were so deluded and didn't realize until too late that getting into to top colleges has become magnitudes more difficult than in our day. Applicants are expected not only to have top grades and test scores (understand that standardized test scores are even more important for homeschooled kids) but multitudes of meaningful extra-curriculars and/or athletics and strong evidence of leadership skills. Our D has been rejected from all her early action/early decision choices including the college my husband attended and are fearful for her regular decision outcomes. We realize now that we didn't prepare our D well for the whole college admissions process and feel awful that we've given her poor advice. How do the rest of you successfully navigate the college admissions game?

Totally disagree here. All of the schools have a standard process for homeschool applicants and admit them. However, it is true that uninformed parents are at a disadvantage to schools with active college counseling. My kids have done well in college admissions, but yes, the eldest was the guinea pig.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In your situation, I would do community college for a year or two and then transfer.

This thread is old, but why on earth would they enroll their child in community college if they thought she was prepared for a top tier school? The difference in education is dramatic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Patrick Henry College in Purcellville.

Your normal path is probably not going to happen.

THIS is ridiculous! Your child will be admitted to many schools if they apply to the ones that match their record. Ivys are lotteries for everyone, but there are many schools between that and Patrick Henry. Lots of these responses are not by experienced homeschool parents.

[Anonymous]

Patrick Henry College in VA is for homeschooled kids.

[Anonymous]

OP, I think that upper tier universities of quality are going to look closely at extracurriculars for a homeschooled student, along with standardized test scores. The latter give an objective measure of information learned, but also you would expect someone with a much more flexible schedule to do more with that time.

I mean, you can have a child who is restricted from doing much, including attending classes, and that is unfortunate and unfair. Life is like that. And then you have to address how this would be different at university -- can she make it to classes on a regular basis? Keep up with the work? If she cannot, then a better fit may be a more flexible alternative.

One way to show the student can be creative and resilient enough to figure out how to make a rigorous university work for her and within her restrictions is to find a way to shine in extracurriculars and personal projects. But if she hasn't been able to do that, either -- how is university going to work out for her? And specifically, how can she be competitive and show she will take that opportunity and shine?

It's not that she can't. It's that she hasn't yet shown that she can, and those are a limited number of spots in high demand. Keeping up with classes at community college, or a state university, while using her non-class time creatively and with purpose has a chance of filling that gap.

[Anonymous]

I know a homeschooled kid (a Christian) who is at Carnegie Mellon. Kid took a bunch of SAT subject tests to demonstrate knowledge in a variety of subjects.

Y'all don't know what you're talking about.

[Anonymous]

There’s a new path to Harvard and it’s not in a classroom

18-year-old Claire Dickson is entering into Harvard College this fall.
What got her into the most famous school in the world, one with a record-low 5.3% acceptance rate?
Homeschooling, she tells Boston Magazine.

https://www.businessinsider.com/homeschooling-is-the-new-path-to-harvard-2015-9

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Patrick Henry College in VA is for homeschooled kids.

Some kids attend religious colleges, some don’t. Some went to public, others to private, others were homeschooled.