Homeschoolers qualifying for scholarships

[beachnut]

Does homeschooling thru high school reduce the student's chance of qualifying for many college scholarships? I know homeschoolers already face one obstacle just by not having a diploma from an accredited high school. It seems like we have to work harder than public/private school to prove our kids are college-ready. So gaining college admission is one hurdle. The 2nd hurdle is financing college. How do homeschoolers fare in winning some decent merit scholarships? By this, I mean that scholarship programs frequenlty specify that recipients attend or have graduated from an accredited high school, thereby placing homeschoolers out of the running for many opportunities. Anyone have any experience with this?

 

Lisa B.

[creekland]

We have had no problem at all with scholarships offered by colleges and universities. We've also had no problems with admissions. The college my son has chosen to attend offered him (and all homeschoolers) a $1000 Homeschool Scholarship in addition to other named scholarships and grants.

 

Locally, many businesses offer scholarships through the local high school, and many of those tend to be out of reach for homeschoolers. However, at our high school, the usual value of those is $1000 and they are distributed among many students (meaning most get only one). Therefore, as I told my son, what his college offered him was the exact same $$ amount he was likely to have gotten had he been in ps.

 

There are also some local and company scholarships that are open to homeschoolers. One needs to dig to find them - watch the newspaper or newsletters, visit the local high school guidance office, etc. My son has won one of those, lost 2, and is still in the running for 2 more. There was a bit of competition for the 2 he lost, so I personally don't think homeschooling had any real affect on it. His homeschooled younger brother won his division of one of those.

 

On the overall "amount of $$ awarded" board at our local high school, my oldest would have been 2nd (out of 300+ students) in highest amount received. His best friend was first, but is also going to a more expensive school - about equal in caliber according to freshman SAT/ACT stats. They were also the two highest scoring SAT test takers in the school for their year (friend highest, my son second).

 

I don't know if that helps, but that's been our experience.

[Blue Hen]

We just went through this this past year and if you look at my signature you'll see that DS won 3 scholarships which at this point more than covers his tuition at U of DE. The one scholarship was from the university, 2nd from DE Engineering Society and 3rd from the DE DOE.

 

For the DE Eng Society scholarship we attended an award banquet. Very nice affair. One thing I noticed was that the recipents were from around the state, some private, some public and only one student from each school. It appeared to me that they were looking for diversity in which schools the recipents were attending. DS was the only homeschooler. Perhaps being homeschooled helped him as they looked for their 'homeschool' recipent. I don't know.

 

The 3rd scholarship, from the department of education required an essay in addition to sending the transcript, school profile, letters of recommendation,..... Being homeschooled did not prevent him from applying it also did not mean that he had to supply DOE with any additional information because he was hs'ed.

 

We looked into applying for local scholarships, such as 'ABC' Garden Club, Rotary Club, 'ABC' Mothers Club........ What we found was that these scholarships required a lot of information and required at least one if not 2 or 3 essays for a possible award of $250 or $500. The scholarships were also not renewable and were only for the freshman year. DS decided that he did not have the time to spend on all the essays (and they were all quite different) for what they were awarding. Yes, there were a few awards that were restricted to only the students at the local high school but they were few in number.

 

That was our experience this past year, YMMV. :)

 

Carole

[Brenda in MA]

Does homeschooling thru high school reduce the student's chance of qualifying for many college scholarships?

 

How do homeschoolers fare in winning some decent merit scholarships?

 

Anyone have any experience with this?

 

Lisa B.

 

Lisa,

 

From my own son's experience, I'd say that homeschoolers have a great chance for merit scholarships at colleges. He applied to 8 colleges and received merit scholarship offers from 6 of them.

 

I will say that I think it is generally easier for homeschoolers to win merit scholarships from private colleges than from state colleges, mostly because private colleges tend to be more flexible in how they look at applicants. Private colleges can take into consideration that a homeschooler will not likely have some of the "standard" credentials (GPA from "known" high school, class rank, participation in school-based things like National Honor Society, etc.). That said, it's not impossible for homeschoolers to win merit scholarships from state schools, just less likely (at least in our experience).

 

There is a recent thread on the college sub-forum about the lack of class rank and it's effect on scholarship chances. If you read through that thread, you will find that several of us think it is harder for homeschoolers to win local scholarships. However, those scholarships are usually only granted once to high school seniors and are small in $ value, whereas merit scholarships from colleges can be much larger and are often renewable for the student's 4 years of undergraduate study.

 

In my own analysis, the potential loss of a few, small local scholarships is much outweighed by the opportunity to tailor my child's high school experience to his needs and interests. Hence, homeschooling high school is better for our family than having our sons attend a local school for high school.

 

Brenda

[creekland]

I should probably add that the best way to get scholarships regardless of where one does high school is to have high scores, nice extra-curriculars, and be in "desirable" majors that the school wants to have top students in. Interviewing well and the ability to write a nice essay are also pluses. My son has all of the above except the talent in writing. I wish he had that talent... but it's just not him and never has been.

[Blue Hen]

Lisa,

 

From my own son's experience, I'd say that homeschoolers have a great chance for merit scholarships at colleges. He applied to 8 colleges and received merit scholarship offers from 6 of them.

[snip]

In my own analysis, the potential loss of a few, small local scholarships is much outweighed by the opportunity to tailor my child's high school experience to his needs and interests. Hence, homeschooling high school is better for our family than having our sons attend a local school for high school.

 

Brenda

 

:iagree: My son had a similar experience receiving a merit scholarship from every college he applied to. The merit scholarships from the public schools were not only smaller but were also smaller on a percentage basis.

 

At the local high school he would not have had the flexibility to tailor his education as he did at home. I would think this helped him land those merit scholarships too.

 

Carole

[Beth in OH]

I agree with what everyone else is posting: homeschoolers are not disadvantaged when it comes to merit scholarships that the colleges offer; however, in our community, nearly all local scholarships are offered only through the schools (think: Kiwanis, Lion's Club, etc. $500 type awards). Even if certain clubs will accept applications from homeschoolers, the legwork necessary to obtain and complete applications is huge. The public high schools often have a streamlined application where one app is used for multiple club scholarships.

 

Beth

[beachnut]

OK, you are all giving me much hope. I've seriously been doubting whether or not I should homeschool all the way thru 12th grade, or just stop at 10th/11th & send my DS back to public school for the last year or two, just to get that diploma from an accredited high school. I'm feeling much more confident that we can go thru 12th. Thanks for your insights!

[homeschoolally]

Thanks for asking this question--it has been on my mind this week as I make some big school decisions.

 

A slight spin-off--how about kids with lots of CC classes under their belt? I remember reading something about merit scholarships being limited to those who weren't technically 'freshmen' bc of too many CC credits.

 

Thanks for posting your experiences--this is very encouraging and helpful!:lurk5:

[Alyce]

Because of our monetary status my dd got mostly need based scholarships. As to getting into the college with mommy made diploma or an accredited program I don't see it as mattering. None of the schools we applied to cared if it was an accredited diploma. Ours was not because I didn't see the need to got to a cover school just for that purpose and pay out the big bucks. What I saw was they based mostly on SAT/ACT scores, transcript, and extra curricular activites. There were some different requirements for admission as a homeschooler in some of the schools we applied to. The school my dd attends treated us no different as a public or private school applicant but their campus is in a city with one of the largest homeschool communities in the state so they were used to homeschoolers. One we applied to wanted higher SAT scores than public schoolers but that was a joke as most homeschoolers would have no trouble getting those scores. The other school which was a higher tier school wanted a portfolio, course descriptions, 3 letters of reference and an essay along with an interview. Dd decided not to go there because she changed her major and they didn't offer what she needed. As to scholarships with credits from community colleges that differs from college to college. My dd college accepted all credits and kept her at freshman level no matter how many she had. I've seen other colleges that will only accept a certain amount before they are considered transfer student so you really need to check with the college. Keep in mind that some schools don't accept them as well but in our state all CC have an articulation program with the state universities and most of the private school here also accept all of them. Dd ended up half year ahead of her peers.

[FloridaLisa]

My son also was awarded several scholarships, at a state school -- our state scholarship, a university merit scholarship and an additional scholarship for community/leadership. Thanks so an excellent lobbyist, homeschoolers can qualify for Florida's state scholarship without taking a single accredited class. These 3 scholarships pay for all tuition and much/most of his living expenses.

 

HTH,

Lisa

[K-FL]

Thanks for asking this question--it has been on my mind this week as I make some big school decisions.

 

A slight spin-off--how about kids with lots of CC classes under their belt? I remember reading something about merit scholarships being limited to those who weren't technically 'freshmen' bc of too many CC credits.

 

Thanks for posting your experiences--this is very encouraging and helpful!:lurk5:

 

As always, depends on the school. None of the 5 dd#1 applied to had credit limits if they were earned under dual-enrollment. The most selective school didn't count them as anything but honors classes anyway--no college credit.

 

I have seen on some school's sites, that they do limit the number--just check the most likely candidate's sites or call the admissions office.

[LynnG in Arizona]

My eldest daughter received a merit scholarship at each of the five universities to which she applied. (She also applied to a 6th university, but chose not to do their separate scholarship application because she'd already heard from her #1 choice at that point.)

 

The schools were a mix of public and private schools. In our experience, based on talking to admissions offices, the scholarships were based primarily on SAT scores. She did have nice extra curriculars as well, but good SAT scores were the "heart" of her application, so to speak. :)

[beachnut]

My son also was awarded several scholarships, at a state school -- our state scholarship, a university merit scholarship and an additional scholarship for community/leadership. Thanks so an excellent lobbyist, homeschoolers can qualify for Florida's state scholarship without taking a single accredited class. These 3 scholarships pay for all tuition and much/most of his living expenses.

Lisa

 

Lisa, was the state scholarship the Bright Futures one?

[FloridaLisa]

Lisa, was the state scholarship the Bright Futures one?

 

Yes. I didn't see in your sig line that you are also a Florida mom! :001_smile:

 

Lisa

[K-FL]

FYI: Dd#1 has both the top Bright Futures & FL Res. Access Grant (for in-state private school.) She was always homeschooled & finished her AA w/Dual Enrollment @ 18. No problems!

[LaJuana]

...the application forms seem to require graduation from the local high school. Many years ago when oldest dd was a senior, she contacted the sponsors of some of those local scholarships to ask if she could submit an application since she was graduating from our homeschool, a legal alternative form of education in our state. All the agencies she contacted said yes, and she won two of those local scholarships. The rest of my children have all won at least two local scholarships during their senior year of high school. Our community is very supportive of education, and they recognize the achievements of homeschooled students as well as private- and public-schooled students.

 

And, yes, Lisa, homeschooled students qualify for excellent scholarships from colleges as well as from local sponsors. I don't think there is any disadvantage in competing for scholarships for well-qualified (good test scores, extra-curricular achievements, and active community service) homeschooled students.

[beachnut]

Thank you, all, for your positive feedback. I've been seriously questioning if we should "go all the way" in homeschooling, because of the potential disadvantage this might be when competing for scholarship money. I didn't want to look back -- when my boys were knee-deep in student loans -- and say, "Why didn't we just put the kids back into public school?" I knew I could rely on the wise voices of experience from other parents. Thanks so much for sharing your insights and encouragement.

[Gwen in VA]

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Edited June 28, 2010 by Gwen in VA

[dkholland]

I feel like homeschooling has made my son stand out even more when competing with other seniors for scholarships.

 

one in particular was with Comcast (a communications company...internet/phone/cable) My husband contacted them to see if my son could apply and they were more than happy to help us. it was an online application with a drop down menu of schools in the area listed. So, they gave our homeschool its own application number and listed our school on the menu with all the other pubic and private schools! Ds won the scholarship as well as a computer at the ceremony when he recieved the scholarship. Ds has alson been awarded local scholarships where he is the only homeschooled student.

 

It is worth digging around to find the scholarships and then asking to apply. Everyone we have come in contact with who gives scholarships locally has been very nice and even asked us why we think more homeschoolers don't apply.

 

Be encouraged!