Need success stories for colleges/careers and homeschooling through high school!

[NoPlaceLikeHome]

I need to hear success stories for college admissions, merit scholarships, etc. and homeschooling through high school:)

 

Thanks!!!

[Melissa in Australia]

I homeschooled my oldest through high school. He got into one of Australia's largest universities, Monash, and is studying Aerospace Engineering. He got 3 scholarships plus a unit credit off his degree.

[texasmel]

We homeschooled our older two children through high school; they both received scholarships. One received full tuition and the other partial. Ds was a national merit commended scholar. They were accepted into every university they applied to and had several scholarship offers to choose from. (This was back in early 2000, when home schooling wasn't quite as common.) Our son is a CPA and double majored in information technology and our daughter is a physician's assistant. Glory to God for blessing our journey!

[Chris in VA]

Have you been to the college or the high school board? Lots of stories of success there!

 

My own son hs'ed high school. He had some challenges. He got into Virginia Commonwealth University, which has a top rated Visual Arts program and is actually VA's largest uni. He got into the very highly selective Cinema program his second year, and is majoring in Cinema with a double minor in Art History and History. He's a Sr and has made Dean's List nearly every semester.

 

This is a kid who, we were told, would basically need Special Ed his whole life. Homeschooling, I believe, allowed us to expose him to wonderful literature and reach him on a level he could not get in public school because of various issues.

[Chris in VA]

oops double post

[lynn]

I have several friends and acquaintances who did home school through high school and all their children have done great through college years, one I know is a firefighter the others have gone on to nursing school, aerospace engineering I forgot what my neighbors daughter is going to college for but she is doing well. Several of those teens did dual enrollment for some if not all of their high school credits. I am so thankful to know those families as I am planning on hsing my youngest 2 through high school. hth

[southcarolinamom]

My son is a sophomore in nursing this year. He has a GPA of 3.8 and is loving classes (thank you, Apologia Science !) His SC merit-based scholarships plus the Pell Grant have given him a "free ride" .... all we are basically paying for is gas money!

 

He had enough time and ambition in the summer of graduating high school to study for, and pass, 7 CLEP exams, which freed up 21 college credits before he even started school. :D

[1bassoon]

My eldest is a sophomore at a well-respected liberal arts college.

 

We homeschooled all the way - without any online classes or co-ops - and she was awarded quite a few merit scholarships and entrance into the honors program. She's currently designing her own business degree (business and dance, combined!). Homeschooling allowed her to pursue her passions, and build relationships with her siblings.

 

Hope this encourages you!

[Michelle in AL]

My oldest just graduated high school and is now attending Mississippi State Univ for Aeronautical engineering. She got 3 scholarships which erased out of state tuition and paid for tuition in full. She'll be eligible for more scholarship $ as a sophmore in engineering.

 

She's made all A's so far even in chemistry and calculus, and is finding school pretty easy. I credit the calculus ease to Derek Owens and her work ethic to her own personality plus the difficult but passionated teachers she's had over the years through various online classes.

 

She also just made the Rocket Team. There were only 2 openings and it's pretty impossible to be picked as a freshman. The rocket team competes nationwide against schools such as MIT, VA Tech and GA Tech and has placed in the top 3 every yr. She'll be head o their outreach division which reached over 2000 students last yr.

 

Ok, enough bragging. :tongue_smilie:

[DianeW88]

My two oldest are homeschool graduates (never been inside a brick and mortar classroom, never used a charter, K-12, or other public school satellite program). They were homeschooled since kindergarten. They both received scholarships to the universities they are currently attending and they are both on the Dean's list. In fact, my dd has a 4.0 GPA. :) My son's is a 3.92.

[Miss Marple]

Head over to the High School Board and the College Board. Lots of success stories there.

[Tap]

A freind of ours was home schooled through high school and then went into an engineering program. Graduated with honors and is now working a great job.

 

Another friend that I grew up with was home schooled in the 70/80s an was an RN at 18yo due to homeschooling.

 

 

In our area a lot of home schoolers start community college at 16yo due to dual enrollment through the public school. Ds18 is a 'late term sophomore' at a private college and will have his bachelors at 20yo. He got an academic scholarship and also had the first 2 years of his school paid for free through the dual enrollment program. He tested in pretty high, so he got to skip a few of the basic level classes that many people have to take as pre-requisites for upper level classes. He would have had his associates degree but he changed majors part way through and customized his schedule to replace classes that he was going to need to take at the university.

[FaithManor]

DD, homeschooled 1-4th, 7th -12th. She is halfway through her chemistry degree and choosing to take a break, get married, and then switch to nursing since she has definitely decided NO to pre-med. GPA 4.0 - professor favorite, and now working full-time as a paramedic. She's getting married in June, and begins nursing school in the fall of 2013. She's going into a paramedic to BSN bridge program and with credits from her first two years as a chem major, will only have one year to go. She'll graduate somewhere between the end of May 2014 and August of the same year depending on class scheduling.

 

She had plenty of scholarships though not total, full-rides. But enough that she is debt free to this point and will get out of school without a loan.

 

Eldest son is 15, almost 16 and only attended brick and mortar for K. He has some scholarship money already from competitive rocketry and his current scholarship estimate from Michigan Technological University is 60% of tuition, room and board. We'll see how much more he gets since his A.C.T. score is likely to rise, and if he passes both his AP computer science exam plus manages his first level JAVA certification before entering college as a freshman, there are departmental scholarships he would be likely to win. He's also looking at five other uni's and two safety schools.

 

Faith

[linders]

A young man who started working for my DH this year graduated from a well-known university with a degree in Nuclear Engineering. He homeschooled through high school. I'm looking forward to meeting him and finding out more about his life path!

[Miss Marple]

Head over to the High School Board and the College Board. Lots of success stories there.

 

http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/showthread.php?t=333508&highlight=college+success

 

I have one college graduate who is successfully employed in his field. He received 2 paid internships as well as some specialty trips because of his class standing. He received $8000 in merit scholarship as a freshman (this was over 4 years - so $2000 per year). But he went on to receive scholarships based on his GPA such that his last 2 years of college were completely paid including books, fees, room and board. He did quite well academically - the field he chose has a lot of money to give those students.

 

My second son has received the same merit scholarship. He is in a field that does not have an abundance of money to give their top students. He is just beginning his sophomore year and is doing quite well.

[PrincessMommy]

I have three who went all the way through high school being homeschooled.

 

Oldest did community college and then she transferred to U.MD. She got into both colleges she applied for. Now she's working on her Ph.D in Cell Biology (Genetics) at Johns Hopkins and getting paid to do it.

 

Next son will grad next spring in Chemical Engineer at UMBC (he also transferred from cc). He's looking to at post-grad colleges.

 

The last one I homeschooled all the way through is also at UMBC in Mechanical Engineering. He's the only one that got a little money (we weren't too good at applying for that stuff and transfer students don't often get some anyway).

[NoPlaceLikeHome]

Keep those stories coming if you will:D

 

I am torn since I love homeschooling but we enrolled ds in a school that has made top ten lists many times in our country. The opportunity fell in our laps and we thought we should try it. He is only late elementary but this school will go to high school and is free. I do think this year will definitely benefit him in regards to organization skills and in regards to following directions as well as fostering his independence. However, I truly believe homeschooling does beat even top schools in many respects.

[Barbara H]

I understand the draw to the safe bet of the highly ranked school. However, there is plenty of evidence, both anecdotal and statistical, that homeschooling through high school works. It did for our family and it does for many. I'd start with the assumption that in terms of college admissions both of these paths can work and work well for many teens.

 

The bigger question is what do you want your teen's life to be like for those four years of high school and what do you want your family life to be like? Here are a couple of articles from my site that you may find to be helpful as you weigh these decisions:

 

Family Benefits of Homeschooling High School

 

Academic Benefits of Homeschooling High School

 

Best of luck!

[creekland]

My oldest was homeschooled from 9th - 12th then went to college (got merit aid from all the colleges he applied to). He's now a junior and doing well. When I've asked him he's told me he thought he was better academically prepared than his ps counterparts, but he was also high in stats compared to most at his college.

 

Middle was homeschooled from 7th - 12th and is now a freshman at college (w/merit aid). He's loving it. He just had his first Bio test and told me it was a lot easier than he was expecting. He's also told me that so far everything in Calc and his Brain and Cognitive Science class are just review of things he did while homeschooling. We sort of set it up that way on purpose. He might go pre-med, so having a high GPA is important.

 

Youngest was homeschooled from 5th - 8th, but decided homeschooling wasn't for him for social reasons. He's been at the high school since 9th grade and is thriving there (one of the top students - considered by many to be a genius), but his academics are definitely subpar compared to what we did homeschooling. It's not a "top anything" school. It's an average high school with slightly below average stats. Nonetheless, it's the right choice for him. He thrives being a top fish in a smaller pond (but still a pond).

 

You really ought to make your decision based upon the personality of your student and what you can offer comparatively for their needs/path. The same choice won't be "right" for every student.

[dirty ethel rackham]

I have homeschooled through high school and have one in college. My oldest was accepted by all 4 selective liberal arts colleges that he applied to and received significant merit money. Most offered their top scholarship. None of them offered a full ride in merit money, but enough to make them less expensive than our flagship state university. He was a National Merit Scholar.

 

By the time ds was in 8th grade, it became clear to me that I would not be able to keep up with him and provide him an appropriately challenging curriculum while homeschooling my other children, running a small home business, tending to my elderly mom and deal with a chronic illness. Thus, I began outsourcing some classes. We did some subjects at home, some in small co-ops with a couple other families, some online classes and some classes at our local liberal arts college.

 

ETA: Ds is a Biology major - he wants to do research in evolutionary biology and zoology. He is currently in an Honors Biology lab where he is doing original research. I can't take credit for all of his accomplishments. My biggest contribution was seeing what he needed and finding a way to make it happen. More than teaching, I tried to create an environment where he would blossom.

Edited September 19, 2012 by dirty ethel rackham

[Beth S]

Our 2 oldest have graduated homeschool high school, with dd now a Labor & Delivery Nurse, and ds a freshman engineering student at Alabama. Both received full scholarships.

 

In late elementary school, it is easy to worry about the unknowns. The child is still in his formative years. Don't worry that you sent him to a brick & mortar school, but just realize that either path will/can create a successful student--but he will end up being a much different INDIVIDUAL because of his educational choices.

 

The momentum will be to keep him in brick & mortar school until he has an overwhelming problem. Which is fine. But then you have a problem to solve, and a child who hates learning will be difficult to teach at home.

 

Of course, the opposite scenario could have happened--he fails to learn well at home, and so he gets put into a brick & mortar school.

 

There are plenty of examples of failure (and success) in ANY educational environment, but each family needs to assess their individual situation (like your good brick & mortar school choice) and move on with full commitment! Your challenges will be to make the evenings and weekends a time of solid, positive family time and possibly fill gaps you see.

 

Parenting is filled with many winding paths along the way. :001_smile: And the goal of raising a successful child is all-encompassing.

 

Personally, I'm enjoying the anecdotes in this thread! Thanks.

Edited September 19, 2012 by Beth S

[Artichoke]

Another success story here as well. We've homeschooled one through high school so far, and he's double majoring in Physics and Earth Science Systems. He's attending a state university on an academic scholarship -- books, tuition,room and board, plus a small stipend each semester.