Our First College Acceptance! - and How to Get your Teen into College --

How to go from homeschool to college, without stressing about it!  #homeschooltocollege #homeschoolhighschool #getintocollege

My teen has been aiming towards college for awhile now...  We have researched college websites, scheduled and prepared for the SAT (and survived!),  kept our records, dealt with transcripts, not to mention the college essay, college visits and applications, oh my.....!  AND today:

 

My teen's first college acceptance!

She is now a college grad, working in her field of study for the marketing department of a large engineering company.  

Colleges all around the U.S. are accepting homeschooled applicants with their homeschool transcript.

But, then do I have to use accredited high school curriculum?  

The answer to that is no, you do not.  We can use our homeschool curriculum choices, as we are used to doing.

My own daughter got accepted with her homeschool transcript, to each of the colleges that she applied to with scholarship offers.

What are the key steps for going from homeschooling high school to college? 

Today I am sharing 5 important steps and things to know about for going from homeschool to college, including:

• 1.  College Admissions Requirements
• 2.  Homeschool Requirements?
• 3.  High School Electives
• 4.  Overall Homeschool High School Plan
• 5.  SAT/ACT Testing
• 6.  Homeschool Transcripts

Let's start at the beginning.  What are college admissions requirements are where can you find them?

1.  Know your teen's College Admissions Requirements

Each college has their own admission requirements.  

The easy way to find them is to google your teen's likely colleges.

We began by researching the college websites, for likely colleges that my daughter might be interested to attend. 

How do you pick their likely colleges? We just made our best guesses as to likely colleges for my daughter.

Then we looked up those college websites and search for their requirements.

Specifically their: Freshman College Admission Requirements. 

You will see them listed on each of the college websites, and they are easy to find!

Choose 3 or 4 likely colleges and then just make a note of their requirements.  For recording your teen's college requirements, you can make a simple form.

 Instead you could use my planning printables that are included in my book, called Homeschooling High School with College in Mind, 2nd edition.  

The next step is also not scary!!!

2.  Check for any Homeschool Requirements 

It is possible that your teen's likely colleges may have extra requirements for homeschoolers.  

Many colleges used to have extra requirements for homeschooled applicants.  Such as extra testing.  But now most have dropped them.

 Just in case, I advise you to take a minute and:

Search for "Homeschool admission requirements" for each college website you look at. 

Now that you have done step 1 and step 2 above, you are ready to make your overall high school homeschool plan.

3.  Making Your overall High School Plan

The purpose of making an overall homeschool high school plan is just to be sure that
your teen gets their college requirements done.

With your list of likely admission requirements in hand, you can sketch out what our high school years might look like.....with your best guesses of what we wanted to do when. 

The idea is just to sketch out your teen's likely high school homeschool courses, based on their college requirements.

Next, you and your teen can think about adding in some homeschool high school electives.

4.  High School Electives

Homeschooling allows ample time for our teens to explore their interests and develop their God given talents.

And that becomes their high school electives!

Oh, the FUN of high school electives!  My daughter loved her high school electives, including:

• art
• photography
• dance classes
• and learning how to do video production as one of her electives.

I loved being a part of that, too!  Homeschool high school electives can even help your teen get into college.  My list of 100 High School Electives is in my book mentioned below.

 And electives give balance to their study schedules....especially during test-prep time.  

That is our next topic.

5.  SAT/ACT/ or CLT Testing

Another important step is to do the ACT, SAT, or maybe the CLT testing.  Most colleges are still wanting this kind of testing, and if it's not required, it's still good to get it done.  

Why?

Because it can lead to nice sized scholarships. directly from the college itself.

I also have resources for SAT and ACT test prep in my book mentioned below.

Most colleges use either the SAT or the ACT to judge students for their college merit scholarships.  College sponsored scholarships is the best way to get funding for your teen's tuition.

6.  Making your Homeschool Transcripts

As a homeschooler, we always hear about homeschool transcripts.  But what actually is a homeschool transcript?

It really is just a document or an organized list of courses that your teen completed during their high school at home.

There are many sample homeschool transcripts online.  What is to be included in these transcripts?  The basics include:

• Your teen's completed courses
• Their grades
• How many credits they earned
• The name of your homeschool
• Your signature

Homeschooling to college allowed us plenty of time to do fun and meaningful homeschool high school electives.  

Plus have plenty of family time along the way.  

My mission is to encourage and equip moms who come after me, so that they can enjoy the benefits of homeschooling high school, as my family did.  

That's why I wrote this book:  Homeschooling High School with College in Mind, 2nd Edition below:

Get the best tips on college from a homeschool perspective!  Make your high school planning easier, with the printables included in my book or ebook.  And they are all downloadable.

Note -----It is FREE to read on Amazon Prime.

What are people saying about it?

"This book guides the reader step by step through the maze of requirements for college AND gives the gift of comparing requirements for various types of colleges. I am beyond grateful for this book. Being able to see a long-term educational plan, laid out so effectively, is a gift. 

.......Theresa Harmon, homeschool mom, WA state

Thanks for stopping by BJ's Homeschool,

Betsy

Betsy is Christian mom to her now college graduated daughter whom she homeschooled through high school with her husband. She blogs at BJ's Homeschool, about the early years, high school & college.    She offers homeschool help and messages at BJ's Consulting. 

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