Applying To College As A Homeschooled Student

Applying to College As a Homeschool Student

As someone who is currently a homeschooled student, I was so nervous about applying to college. In my head, I was worried that I would have a hard time applying to college due to being homeschooled since I wouldn’t get an actual counselor’s recommendation and not knowing how exactly my transcripts should be laid out. After some research, I have come up with a few tips for homeschool students applying to college. In this article, we will touch on a few subjects: transcripts and diplomas, letters of recommendation, the school report, and standardized testing.

•Transcripts and diplomas

As a homeschooled student, your parent or co-op teacher is responsible for creating your high school transcript and sending it to your college picks. If your parents are responsible for transcripts then you have two different options for going about this: creating their own transcript and diploma or enlisting a service that specializes in transcript and diploma creation. If you are in a co-op or umbrella school then they will be in charge of producing professional transcripts and diplomas for you. P.S. there is no correct or standard way for transcripts or diplomas to look like even for public schools.

Your transcript should include all of the following information:
-Your name, the name of your homeschool group (if that applies to you), address, and phone number
-Your high school course list ordered by year (grades 9-12)
-The institution where each class was taken (examples: homeschool, online institution, or community college)
-The grading scale being used in your homeschool
-Your overall GPA
-Credits are given per course (listed per semester and per year)
-Expected graduation date
-Parent signature with a date

If you’ve taken classes online or outside of your homeschooling, make sure each institution sends schools an official copy of your transcript. Keep in mind, the transcript your parent creates should be cumulative and include both your homeschooled classes and any classes you’ve taken at an outside institution. An example of a homeschool transcript provided by Khan Academy can be found by clicking the following link: https://www.khanacademy.org/college-careers-more/college-admissions/applying-to-college/applying-as-a-homeschooler/a/sample-homeschool-transcript. Also according to Vanderbilt University’s website, it is also helpful for a homeschool student to list out the classes they took for each year of high school as well as the name, author, and publisher of the book they used. The link following is to a template provided by Vanderbilt University (I am sure you could make your own but this would help you get a base for what information you should include): https://admissions.vanderbilt.edu/assets/pdf/homeschoolcurr.pdf.

Something I want to touch on is GED diplomas as some believe if you are homeschooled you have to get a GED to apply for college or financial aid. This isn’t correct. All you need to go is declare that your homeschool education meets state law standards. Whether homeschooling through an online academy, virtual school, or organized homeschool program, they will award your diploma according to their own standards. If you’re homeschooled by your parents, then your parents can issue you a diploma if your transcripts indicate you’ve met the basic state requirements for graduation.

*Quick Tip: when filling out the FAFSA, be sure to check “homeschooled” when it asks for your high school completion status (even if your homeschool is administered through an umbrella organization).

•Letters of recommendation

Colleges typically prefer recommendations from teachers who aren’t your parents as opposed to recommendations from a parent. As much as your parents try to be unbiased, they normally still cannot help but be a little. If you’ve taken a class at a local community college or online, consider asking that teacher to write an academic recommendation on your behalf. If you go to a tutor for any of your subjects, maybe ask them as well for an academic recommendation. Additional letters of recommendation can also come from a coach, mentor, clergy member, boss, or volunteer coordinator who can share insights into how you might contribute to the academic, social, and cultural aspects of a college campus. Policies on recommendation letters are different for every school so it's best you contact colleges directly and ask what they would like to see as far as who writes your letters and whether or not they’ll accept a letter from a parent. The majority of schools will want at least two letters of academic recommendation from adults that aren’t your parents.

•School Report

Your school report should be completed by your parent or the director of your homeschooling program. Your school report is for reporting facts about your school. For example, what GPA scale is used and how many honors or AP courses are offered. For parents filling out the school report, a number of spaces will be marked N/A because they depend on comparing students to others within the same school. For example, your class ranking will probably be N/A.
This is how your parents can access this profile online:
-Log on to the Common Application, find the "Education" section and click on “Find School.”
-A window will pop up that lists all the schools in your area then scroll down to the very bottom of that window and select “I was/am homeschooled.” The site will then ask you to enter your counselor’s contact information which is where you will enter your parent’s contact information.
-Your parent will then receive an email to set up a counselor account (My Recommender Account), which is where the school profile and counselor recommendation are filled out.

This is where your parent should upload the items listed below with your school profile:
-Your cumulative transcript (including homeschool classes and classes taken outside of the home)
-A document with course descriptions of your homeschooled classes (what materials were used, reading lists, major assignments and/or scientific experiments conducted)
-Grading methodology for each homeschooled subject rationale for how grades and credits were awarded
Your homeschooling philosophy
-(Optional) Sample academic papers or descriptions of science projects with teacher’s comments
-(Optional) Free-time reading list

*According to Khan Academy, a Common App tip is that the Counselor Recommendation form only becomes accessible to counselors after the School Report has been submitted. Once submitted, the Counselor Recommendation becomes available for colleges to download if you have submitted your Common Application to that college.

•Standardized Tests
Honestly, colleges will typically place more weight on your SAT/ACT scores if you are homeschooled. I have heard this from many websites, SAT/ACT tutors, and even colleges. Many colleges recommend that you take one or two SAT subject tests although it’s not required by all schools. According to the University of Notre Dame though if you have taken an AP Test or have college classes under your belt, this can be substituted for that. To be safe though check with each school that you are planning to apply to see what their testing requirements are especially as I know many of you may not be able to take these tests due to COVID-19.

Remember you can always contact your college admission counselors for homeschool recommendations for that specific school and if you have any questions about homeschool applications. Hopefully, these tips help you all and good luck as you work on your college applications!