How do colleges feel about home schooled kids?

Answer 1

Most universities are beginning to realize that the hs environment actually prepares students for college life MORE than the ps system does.

Most homeschool students thrive in college due to the fact that they are used to independent study, time management, scheduling, and buckling down and making sure they understand the material.

Some homeschool students are used to working while schooling or devoting themselves to excellence in extra curricular activities while maintaining good grades, so this makes them appealing to admissions too.

Most universities are actively recruiting hs students because they are looking for success both academically and in non academic areas.

Most universities accept letters of recommendation from a variety of sources not just teachers. Acceptance procedures have been standardized not only in university admissions policies, but also by the NCAA as related to offering sports scholarships to hs sport students.

Universities and colleges are prohibited by law from expecting more or accepting less from hs students.

Active recruitment includes: attending hs fairs, developing prep programs, on and off campus recruitment, hs visitation days, actively communicating with state hs organizations, workshops for parents special scholarships and grants, equal access to all scholarships and grants, and active advertising in hs magazines, stores and so on.

Universities that participate in this type of recruitment and are "on the books" as being homeschool friendly, include: Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Brown, Wheaton, Princeton, Purdue, Rutgers, Notre Dame, Cornell, US Naval, Air Force and Coast Guard Academies, Tulane, West Point, Cal-Poly, Duke, Dartmouth, DePaul, Universities of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas, Kentucky, North Carolina, Miami, Alaska, Hawaii, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, and California (all campuses) Penn State, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Arizona State, USC, and many others.

Many many workshops exist (most sponsored by leading universities) that teach parents how to take their hs experience and translate it in to a portfolio. the University of Texas is leading in this area right now, as their admissions offices found that most hs students were selling themselves short and not listing all their achievements.

the number of hs students taking Advanced Placement tests have tripled over the last five years and the number is expected to sky rocket this year.

Simply put, universities look for excellence when recruiting and attracting students to their campuses. As homeschooling continues to rise, university leaders, instead of embracing the discrimination towards hs families that seems prevalent in other areas of education, are recognizing that homeschooling continues to be a viable, productive, do-able form of education, and these leaders are rewarding the hard work, diligence and excellence hs families are producing by making their campuses hs friendly.

Not by offering bias, but by offering the same help to homeschool students that has been available to public school students all along.

Answer 2

Most colleges recognize home-school kids as any other high school student. Some colleges send you through the run around. They want you to take numerous standardize test that no public school/private student would have to! That's why they suggest that home-school kids keep at least a C average, and score high on the SAT/ACT to get into the college of their choice. Good Luck!

Answer 3

I don't know about ALL college administrators and admissions people but in our experience it has been good.

The admissions counselor at the college my daughter currently attends was over-joyed to have another home-school student join the campus. She told us that ALL previously homeschooled students are great workers, studious, smart, helpful, kind --- unlike some base-ball scholarship students that she had recently processed.

My daughter is treated just like every other student on the campus. I doubt that her instructors even know what was her K-12 education. She receives 'A' grades in almost everything.

Many of our home educated friends go to other colleges and universities. They have received excellent scholarships and grants. One in particular is being paid to go to Graduate School as a Nuclear Engineer. She received the highest marks at her previous University.

Another friend was home-schooled for his entire K-12 years and is now a practicing veterinarian. His brother is an research chemist.

The list is very long --- we know many home-schooled students that have gone on to college and are well received.

Answer 4

Not sure, but colleges look for well-rounded people. Even though the schooling is at home, make sure to be involved in lots of outside activities. Join some community clubs, do charity work, take on a job that might involve your future career interests. Get some letters of recommendation from people you become involved with and even include an essay on why someone with your background would make a great addition to the university. And make sure to get high scores on your SAT/ACT to show your schooling paid off.

Answer 5

http://learninfreedom.org/colleges_4_hmsc.html

This should tell you what they feel. This is a huge list of all the Universities and colleges that accept homeschoolers. Most colleges are excited when a homeschooler comes in because they know how well they do in their studies. I was amazed whhen I saw the list. People have been trying to tell me that if I homeschool my daughter she will never get into college. That makes me so mad when they don't have their facts straight. My friends homeschooled son just got accepted into Harvard.

Answer 6

My son came home from the first day of college and said, "Mom, you overprepared me." It has been this way all alon. He's doing great. My daughter just started school also and she couldn't believe how easy it was. They have always been homeschooled. I guess it worked out after all.

Answer 7

It depends on the school. In general, private schools are more friendly to homeschoolers than public schools and the further east you go, the more they like homeschoolers (for example, the Ivy's lik homeschoolers, but UCLA and most CA public colleges don't).