Homeschooling to College and Making the College Choice

Summary:  Helping your teen make their college choice, considering the social environment, tutoring options, scholarships, and more.  Homeschooling to college is really not that hard and my teen ended up with multiple college acceptance letters.  That can be your homeschooled teen, too.  Choosing between a smaller vs. larger college. Socialization issues for 2e teens.  Helping your 2e teen find their tribe at college.

Do you have a teen who has applied to college?  One who has to make a choice as to which college is the best fit for them?

Our 2e daughter got into each college in her list.  We were all pleasantly surprised.  And it was wonderful that she had a choice as to which college to go to.

Sharing today the process we went through to help our teen make this important college decision.

It all started at the library, where we did some more research on each of my daughter's college options....

The main decision to be made was between a larger college, and a smaller one, both within commuting distance of our home.  Both had a large choice of majors.  (Note - Commuting was one way that we were affording her to go to college.)

on our first college visit

My teen was enticed by the excitement of the larger college, which had an especially good reputation, and a student size of more than 60,000.  She knew that some of her friends would be going there, and she liked the architecture and the plaza on the gorgeous large campus. 

My main concern was choosing a college that best fit my teen's social needs. 

My daughter was used to working in small groups, and did well with those, finding her way, as she has in Youth and Government. How could that work out at the larger state college?

So, together, we researched the two colleges again, first at the library, then at home, with the help of our cat.

First, we looked at what each college offered for incoming freshmen...

Freshman social environment

The smaller option offered freshmen seminars, where the students would work together in small groups. This would give my daughter plenty of opportunity to get to know her classmates.  And she has

thrived in this kind of environment!  

Small groups, that's just like her Youth and Government!  The seminars would last all year, giving them time to build friendships, and learn together.

The larger college did not have freshmen seminars, but did have a first quarter freshman into class, and nice raft trip for incoming freshmen, as a way to get to know each other.  But after that, they could be in some large lecture halls with over 700 students!

Then we compared the two on the basis of support offered to the students.

 Academic support

This is what we found.....The larger one did have tutoring on campus, but was known to have a very competitive academic environment.  The smaller one had way more tutoring options available, with easy access to the professors.  

The larger one had many more students per professor, and the teens would usually be dealing with TA's instead of their professors.  Yet, the class size was ideal at the smaller college, about 30 students in each class, compared to 100-600 per class.  Both colleges had solid reputations.

We talked about these two issues together, and with my husband at dinner all week.  My teen soon realized that having a smaller, more supportive environment was more important to her than the status of going to the larger college.  Soon a decision was reached.  And I am so happy that she chose the more supportive environment at the smaller college.

So Thursday, we got out the formal papers, and my teen prepared them for mailing.  She accepted the scholarship offer at the smaller college, and sent in her college acceptance papers! 

And she was thrilled!

I am so happy for her, excited, relieved to have the decision made, and a little sad at the same time!  We decided that, if my daughter was really going to college, my family needed a road trip.  

So, on Saturday, and we all headed out, of course with our cameras!  Nice, family time was just the ticket, especially for my husband and I.

 Country roads......  And the mountain was out...

 ......plus we saw a field of daffodils, still blooming this late in their season!  Then we saw this sign....it was funny, as it was no where near the daffodils!

Then we found a small town, near the mountain, and a nice park in the middle of town, where my college student-to-be, decided to pose for a picture in front of the merry-go-round... 

Big decisions call for big playground equipment, don't you think?

We enjoyed the road trip so much, and we plan to go back there next year, to see the daffodils in April, with our favorite college freshman, ...and have fried chicken again, at this little cafe...

This was not an ordinary week in our house.  What out of the ordinary thing has happened lately in your home?

Are you homeschooling high school and wondering about transcripts, assigning high school credit, and all those other important details?

After helping my teen get into each of the colleges she applied to, I wrote this book - and it guides you through planning high school at home and helping with college application.

Below is the book and the table of contents.

On Amazon

For more information: Homeschooling High School with College in Mind. 

You are also invited to join my encouraging group for high school moms, called at Homeschooling through High School.  

Lots of moms just like you there, sharing triumphs and challenges.  Get your questions answered there, too.  

Lots of moms just like you there, sharing triumphs and challenges.  Get your questions answered there, too. 

Join us here.

Thanks for stopping by BJ's Homeschool,

Betsy

Betsy is mom to her now college grad, whom she homeschooled through high school.  She blogs at BJ's Homeschool, about the early years, highschool, 
college, gifted/2e and wrote -Homeschooling High School with College in Mind, 2nd Edition,   She offers homeschool help through messages at BJ's Consulting,  and has had some of her articles picked up by the Huffington Post.

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