Problem with homeschooler being accepted in Alabama

[Sonshine]

My son is applying to a state college in Alabama. We live in Texas. We received an email requesting the name of the church affiliation, accreditation program we are accredited by, and the umbrella school. Nobody does things this way in Texas, which we informed them of. Has anyone dealt with this before? I have had three children accepted by a wide variety of colleges in several states and this has not been an issue in the least. Any suggestions?

[Michelle in AL]

It's probably because homeschoolers in AL are covered by church schools, so that is their norm. I haven't heard of issues with any of the state schools. Dd takes classes through Univ of AL and we've toured UAB. Both are very accepting of homeschoolers.

 

I'd recommend calling the admission's office and speaking with an admission's officer.

 

Univ of AL has a generous scholarship for OOS students with high ACT/SAT scores.

[Sonshine]

That's helpful information. It is indeed the U. of A. he is applying to. He does automatically get free tuition there so I want to make sure he is admitted. It's nice to know that they are homeschool friendly. I still don't know what to do if our email does not satisfy them. I don't want to antagonize them.

[Michelle in AL]

They are very friendly from our experience. Dd has been there to take her Gateway course for entry into the early college program. They are very open to phone calls. I would recommend calling your admissions contact person if you have one and explaining the homeschooling situation in Texas and asking what information you can provide them with.

 

Have you visited yet?

 

The collegeconfidential website has a very active Univ of AL board with lots of information on honors programs and such. We also were really impressed with the honors program at UAB if your son is interested in medicine/science.

[Michelle in AL]

Have you looked at the University Fellows Scholarship too?

[Sonshine]

It sounds as if it won't be a problem if they like homeschoolers that much. Maybe they need more info about homeschooling policies in other states.

 

No, we have not visited. For some reason it is very difficult to get my kids to visit colleges. I may have to go visit my mother in Tennessee and take him along for driving help and stop on the way at a few colleges. I have read all about U.of A. on collegeconfidential. I too pass on the tip @ looking on the cc website. It sounds like a good school. He is applying to a lot of schools and waiting to see what the scholarship offers are. Free tuition is good,but a full ride is even better.

 

My son is an English major, possibly business double major. Any other public colleges in Al. that you recommend?

[Luckymama]

I wanted ds to apply to UA but he doesn't want a climate that HOT. Doofus, those Honors dorms are fabulous :lol:

[TravelingChris]

Haven't had this happen yet officially anywhere but we had a similar type of issue with a college in SC. Apparently, many colleges don't realize that homeschoolers are regulated state by state and that what applies in their state doesn't in some other state.

 

By the way, how did this come up with U of A? My dd might be applying and I was just going to use their application form and send in the usual things= transcript, recommendations, etc.

[Sonshine]

Chris- We got in our application materials last week. They emailed us that question after receiving the application.

 

Michelle - Thanks for the suggestion to look at the University Fellows program. I have been trying to figure out which honors program to suggest he apply to.

[Michelle in AL]

Sonshine, I can tell you some things about the colleges that we visited in AL.

 

Univ of AL: Beautiful campus with gorgeous brick antebellum style buildings. Spread out over a large areas. The honors dorms are on a branch far from the classes, so a hike each day to class would be required or a ride on Crimson ride. You can definitely see keeping off the 20#s here. Most class buildings seem to be centered in a central area, so once you're there the walking distance decreases. If you tour you will have to make time to see the honors dorms on your own. Definitely worth the trek to take a look.

 

Negative of campus. They don't show you any of the inside of the class buildings. I know some are new and beautiful as Shelby Hall is. My dd took a class in one building which appeared elegant on the outside. Inside was cream colored cement block walls with linoleum floor. No color, no comfort, no motivation for learning. It looked straight out of the 1960s. This didn't bother anyone else.

 

We went in the summer when there were barely any students there. We went to the strip to get the "full effect." There were only about 4 tables of students, but each student had their own pitcher of beer. That sort of bothered me at 6pm. "The strip" was very small" a couple restaurants, a bar and Publix. Maybe 2 blocks long.

 

Overall feel was very friendly. The president is making great strides to make this a top notch university and it shows.

They get the freshman students together before classes start for Alabama Action and Outdoor Action. This along with freshmen learning communities would seem to foster friendships.

 

Very good business school and public relations school.

 

Birmingham Southern: beautiful campus. Gated in a somewhat "Iffy" part of Birmingham. I felt safe both off and on campus which is very guarded.

 

Beautiful, state of the art classrooms with teachers who care and work closely with students on research or projects. Very cool January interim term where you can study abroad or study am unusual topic which is provided or study something on your own.

 

Smaller size campus with some student diversity. Saw all races and different types of people from hippie style to preppy. There was a significant amount of community awareness and volunteer opportunities posted in several places. Seems to be a campus that reaches out and cares about social issues in the community. Big plus for us.

 

Excellent Merit Aid. DD qualified for 1/2 of total costs when we visited. You can look at their website and find out what your so would qualify for.

 

Samford: Very beautiful campus from it's lawns with statues to its marble walls. Had a very formal feel to it. Gorgeous marble and heavy wood paneled buildings. Not much student movement around campus. Where was everyone? Didn't see anyone was "having fun." Excellent pharmacy and law school. Known for good, solid academics. Too formal for dd.

[MGK]

 

Univ of AL has a generous scholarship for OOS students with high ACT/SAT scores.

 

Would you mind elaborating on this? We thought UA would be cost prohibitive because we are out of state.

[Michelle in AL]

Here's a link, they do require high scores: http://scholarships.ua.edu/types/out_of_state.html

[Michelle in AL]

National Merit Scholarships:

http://scholarships.ua.edu/topscholars/nmpackage.html

[Luckymama]

There is a VERY active subforum for the University of Alabama on College Confidential. Anyone whose child is eligible for the automatic scholarships would do well to read and read and read that subforum. One poster in particular (her screen name is something like Mom2CollegeKids) is a wealth of information as both her boys attend UA and are in various Honors/Fellows groups.