What to do during homeschool to college transition?

What is homeschooling?

What exactly is homeschooling? Homeschooling is an educational alternative in which a child is educated at home, usually by their parents, instead of attending a traditional public or private school. Some go through a homeschool to college transition and see no problem adjusting.

Homeschooling allows for a customized and flexible curriculum, often with a strong focus on individual interests and abilities. Still, it can entail responsibilities such as creating lesson plans, assessing progress, and meeting state requirements.

Homeschooling is becoming increasingly popular and is legal in many countries, including the United States, with homeschooled students often participating in standardized testing and extracurricular activities.

Requirements for homeschoolers for college

Transcripts

One of the prerequisites for homeschooled students is their transcripts. If you are a homeschooled student, your primary instructor or parent is the person who is responsible for preparing your high school transcript and delivering it to the universities to which you are applying. The following are several approaches that parents can take in this situation:

• Being affiliated with a larger school that is responsible for the production of official transcripts and diplomas
• Making their transcript and diploma;
• Using the services of a company that specializes in the production of transcripts and diplomas;
• Joining a homeschool group that generates professional transcripts and diplomas.

The day-to-day activities of a student being educated from home are likely to look quite different from those of a student educated in a conventional setting. As a result, the work of converting a student’s academic experiences into courses and credits may appear to be an arduous one. Even within the same school district, there is no such thing as a “correct” or “standard” transcript; thus, parents can take comfort in the fact that there is no “right” or “standard” transcript.

Your transcript has to comprise every one of the following pieces of information:

• Your name, the name of the school you attend (if relevant), your address, and your phone number
• A chronologically arranged list of all of the courses you took in high school (grades 9-12)
• The grading system is used in your homeschool
• Your total GPA
• Credits provided per course
• The institution where each class was taken (for example, a homeschool, an online institution, or a community college) (listed per semester and year)
• the anticipated date of graduation
• a signature and date from each parent

As you prepare for your homeschool to college transition, make sure to contact every school you attended outside of your homeschooling or online to confirm that they will also send schools an official copy of your transcript. This is especially important if you take classes outside of your homeschool. The transcript that your mom generates for you should be cumulative and contain not only the coursework that you took while homeschooling but also any classes that you took at another institution.

GED and diploma

To apply to college or be eligible for financial aid as a homeschooled student, you do not need a GED or a diploma; all you need to do is affirm that your homeschool education satisfies the requirements set forth by the state legislation. Since universities would place the most importance on your record and standardized test scores, most homeschooled kids opt not to take the GED if they already have acceptable transcripts.

If you receive your education at home through an online academy, a virtual school, or an organized homeschool program, the institution that provides your education will choose the criteria for giving your certificate. If you’ve been educated at home by your parents on your own, and your transcripts show that you’ve satisfied the minimum requirements for graduation in the state where you live, then your parents can give you a high school diploma.

When filling out the FAFSA, when it asks for your high school completion status, you should tick the box that says “homeschooled.” To avoid any potential delays in processing your application, you should select “homeschooled” rather than “high school diploma,” even if an umbrella organization manages your homeschool. This will ensure that your application is not held up in any way.

Recommendation letters and cover letters

Preparing during your homeschool to college transition recommendation letters is important. Recommendations written by external teachers are generally favored by colleges and universities over recommendations written by a student’s parents. If you have taken a class at a community college in your area or online, you should consider asking your instructor to write a recommendation.

Additional letters of recommendation can be obtained from a coach, a mentor, a member of the clergy, or a volunteer coordinator. These individuals can provide insights into how you might contribute to a university campus’s academic, social, and cultural components.

It is in your best interest to get in touch with the colleges directly and ask what they would like to see in terms of who writes your letters of recommendation and whether or not they will accept a letter from a parent. Because the policies regarding recommendation letters vary from school to school, it is in your best interest to do so.

The school report

If you are a homeschooled student, your school report should be prepared by either your parent or the administrator of the homeschooling program you are enrolled in. In a more conventional educational setting, the guidance counselor often fills out the school report.

This is the section where you should give information about your institution, such as the grading system for grades and the number of available honors and advanced placement classes. When filling out the school report, parents need to remember that several fields will be left blank because their completion depends on comparing children from the same school.

Below is the procedure your parents should follow to access this profile online. When logged into the Common Application website, navigate to the “Education” area and click on the “Find School” button. A new window will appear with a list of all the schools located in your immediate vicinity. To select “I was/am homeschooled,” scroll to the bottom of the window and make your selection there.

After that, you will be prompted by the site to provide the contact information for your counselor. Instead of entering your contact information, you should provide your parents’ contact information here. Then, an email with instructions on how to create a counselor account (a My Recommender Account) will be sent to your parents. This account is where the school profile and counselor recommendation will be filled out.

At this point, your parents should be able to provide further context regarding the structure of your homeschooling and how it was conducted. The following items should be uploaded to your school profile by your parent:

• Your cumulative transcript (including homeschool classes and classes taken outside of the home)
• A paper containing course summaries of each of your homeschooled classes (including what materials were utilized, reading lists, significant assignments, and/or scientific experiments that were carried out);
• Grading criteria for each of your homeschooled subjects. Justification for the grading system and credit allocation
• Your overall perspective regarding homeschooling
• Examples of academic papers or descriptions of science projects, together with feedback from the instructor (optional)
• A reading list for when you have free time (optional)

Extracurriculars

When you apply to colleges during your homeschool to college transition, they want to see that you are involved in at least a few activities that indicate your distinct interests and long-term devotion to something. Extracurricular activities are a great way to demonstrate that you are involved in your community and have had experiences that have enriched your life outside the classroom. Because colleges are interested in imagining how you can contribute to their community, it is helpful for them to see that you have already created or are actively involved in a community of your own.

Testing according to standards

If you attended a homeschooling program, colleges would normally consider your SAT and ACT scores more. Even though all schools do not require it, many educational institutions advise students to take either one or two SAT II exams. Check with each institution to learn the testing criteria they have in place.

Tips for transitioning from homeschooling to college.

Get involved.

One good piece of advice for students going from homeschooling to college is to get involved. The homeschool to college transition can give the impression of being extremely alone. Because so many homeschoolers are accustomed to strong relationships with their families, being away from them might be one of the most difficult adjustments for some kids. It is a good idea to look for opportunities to interact with new people, as this can help alleviate feelings of isolation.

Some first-year students find that the easiest method to become acquainted with new individuals at college is through forming friendships with the other residents of their dorm. Some other students could be interested in joining a student group or a sports team. There is something for every student to participate in on college campuses, so they can meet other people who share their interests and values.

No matter how you decide to get involved, you should prioritize developing meaningful connections with others participating in the same activities.

Get to know your instructors and mentors.

When transferring to traditional schools, homeschooled children may have difficulty adjusting to larger class sizes. Instruction delivered personally to each student is a thing of the past. Students may feel that they are simply another face in the sea of other students because of this. Students can get a better sense of their professors’ personalities by visiting them during their office hours or staying behind after class on occasion. This will help them form more meaningful connections with their teachers.

Many positive outcomes can result from cultivating personal connections with one’s instructors. Keep in mind that your teachers genuinely care about your accomplishments. You can feel more at ease asking for help when you are suffering, and you can also find a professor who would make a good reference when it comes time to hunt for a career after you have graduated if you create a personal connection with them.

Look for students who are also homeschooling.

Homeschoolers frequently maintain relationships with other homeschooled children in their community. On the other hand, it’s possible that these students are not attending the same institution or university that you are. Thus, during your homeschool to college transition, it is not a bad idea to connect with those who are experiencing homeschooling like you.

Even though only a small number of children are homeschooled, it might be a good idea to create an online forum or inquire about other homeschooled students to meet others who understand the challenges of this kind of transition.

Making contact with long-lost pals might also be of great assistance. Develop a correspondence with fellow homeschoolers from your hometown. This helps with writing skills and nourishes relationships that have already been created.

Acquire the skills necessary to organize your time.

There is no consistent timetable for some homeschooled children and teenagers. The children in question may find navigating such a regimented timetable difficult. In addition, these timetables are subject to altering toward the middle of the academic year, which may create difficulties for students who rely largely on their schedules. As such, it is wise that, as you go through the homeschool to college transition, you acquire skills in time management.

It is not always easy to schedule enough time for oneself to travel from class to class, attend meetings, work, and finish homework projects. The experience of going to college involves a lot of different moving components. If you want to make sure that you attend the appropriate classes at the appropriate times and finish your assignments in plenty of time before the due dates, purchasing a planner or setting reminders on your phone is a good idea.

Problems with effectively managing their time are common among college students. If you require a little bit of further assistance, working with a counselor or mentor can assist you in developing this talent.

Get past common misconceptions regarding homeschooling.

Individuals educated at home are subject to a wide variety of preconceived notions; hence, when people at your college find out that you were educated at home, you will probably encounter a wide range of responses. Many of these responses will be founded on the preconceived notions individuals have formed regarding homeschooling children and teenagers.

You can disprove these preconceptions, even though they may include some elements of reality. You may also educate others on homeschooling and what it’s like by sharing your experiences with them. Your initial reaction to these generalizations could be to get defensive. Still, if you can remain calm while explaining homeschooling, you might convince some people to rethink their opinions.

Adapt yourself to the ever-changing world.

Life at college will be very different from life at home during school. The best thing you can do for yourself is to welcome this new experience and all of the changes that will occur in your life as a result of the transition. Have faith in yourself that you can deal with anything new that college throws at you, and acknowledge that this will be a learning experience.

The homeschool to college transition can make kids uneasy, but the changes they encounter during this time can be life-changing. Homeschoolers are aware of this and prepare their students for it. A significant portion of the value of a college education lies in individual development that might result from newly acquired levels of autonomy.

Students who receive their education at home are prepared for the rigors of college study. Many students who receive their education at home discover that they are better prepared for college than their peers who attend traditional schools. They frequently attribute this to the personalized aspect of their educational experience.

As your child grows and now moves forward from homeschooling to college life, it is also important to get them into the college that they want. At AdmissionSight, we have over ten years of experience guiding students to get accepted to the world’s best universities. For that reason, you know that you will get the right kind of guidance with the help of AdmissionSight. You can visit and set up an appointment today to book your initial consultation.