One of the most popular topics in homeschooling today is how all those homeschooled teens are getting into college. There’s no single answer to that question, but the landscape of college admissions for homeschoolers has certainly changed over the last decade. Here are some things homeschooling families should consider if college is looming on the horizon.
Read Up! You can save yourself a lot of time and trouble if you read some of the great books that have been written about homeschooling and the college question. Two of our favorites are featured on our Good Books page: Cafi Cohen’s And What About College? How Homeschooling Can Lead to Admissions to the Best Colleges & Universities, and Grace Llewellyn’s The Teenage Liberation Handbook: How to Quit School and Get a Real Life and Education.
The books are quite different. And What About College? contains a marvelous collection of resources for the homeschooling family helping their teen apply for admission to college. The book contains copies of the narrative transcripts Cafi Cohen prepared for her children when they went through the admission process. Some of our members have successfully used those transcripts as a model when preparing transcripts for their own teens. It’s a well-written book with sound, practical strategies for presenting your homeschooled teen in the best possible light for college admission. Many of us consider this a “must read” book when college is the goal.
The Teenage Liberation Handbook comes at the college question from a different angle. Grace Llewellyn encourages teens to think about what they really want, and how they can best go about getting it. She argues persuasively that college is not the answer for everyone, but that if it’s your answer, it’s within your grasp. The book is not a “how to” manual for college admission, but a thoughtful look at things every teen should consider as they think about life beyond high school, including the possibility of college.
Take College Classes Now - For Free: Minnesota’s Post Secondary Enrollment Options (PSEO) program is far more than just a way to compile high school credits. It’s an absolutely free shot at learning about a particular college, college life, and subjects you might major in at college. You’ll also give yourself a leg up on college admission if you do well in the classes you take through PSEO.
If you’re serious about college, take advantage of the PSEO program. It’s now become such a hot topic for Minnesota homeschoolers that we’ve set up a separate web page for it: PSEO.
Explore the Web: The college question is unique to each student, but it’s easy to explore that question on the Internet. By now, virtually every college in the country has a website with information on its campus, programs, students, and admission requirements. If you’re interested in a particular college, take a “virtual tour” of the campus. If you’re not sure which college might be the best fit for you, check online reviews and college ranking services. We’ve listed a number of those resources on our Helpful Links page, and you’ll soon find many more on your own.