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College Prep for Home-Schooled Students
Overview
Home-schooling involves full-time education outside the classroom, usually at home or within the community. Some home-schooled children remain enrolled part-time at their local school.
If you are being home-schooled, your "teacher" is probably your parent. You may also receive instruction from tutors or the parents of other home-schooled children.
Home-schooling laws vary by state, and it is important that you thoroughly understand the laws in your state. In some states:
- There are no legal requirements.
- Your home-school curriculum must comply with state laws.
- You must complete standardized tests at different checkpoints.
Considerations
Home-schooled students interested in going to college should keep the following in mind:
- Studies show that home-schooled students greatly outperform their peers in public school. This can be a great advantage when it's time to apply to college.
- With home-schooling, your parents can customize the curriculum to best fit your learning style. Such customized coursework may make you eligible for more scholarships and can help you better stand out in the application process.
- You may want to search out extracurricular activities. Extracurricular activities will not only look good on your college applications, they can better prepare you for the college admissions process itself.
The College Outlook
When you begin your search for colleges, you'll likely go through the same process that all college applicants do: You'll need to take the ACT1 or SAT2 test and submit an application. A few colleges may ask you to provide additional documentation of your course materials.
As a home-schooled student, it will be to your advantage to schedule a college interview. And provide letters of recommendations from instructors or other superiors who are not related to you.
Contact each school you are interested in to find out if there are any additional requirements for home-schooled applicants.
Want to Know More?
- As a home-schooled student, you belong to a prestigious family of other home-schooled individuals: George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison, and Rosa Parks, to name a few.
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