homeschool admissions requirements for college

[LLMom]

My daughter has been in private school for 9-11 and wants to come home for 12th grade.  One school she is interested in has the following requirement. 

For homeschoolers: 

Proof of high school graduation must be sent before you arrive. This requirement may be satisfied by supplying any of the following: 1. Official scores from the official High School Equivalency Examination (GED). 2. A letter from your local superintendent of schools as proof of your readiness to enter college and that your home schooling was conducted in accordance with state laws. 3. Certificate of graduation from a diploma-granting organization or non-traditional school. Failure to provide will result in a registration hold

 

Anyone ever seen a requirement like this?  I really feel like it is forcing homeschoolers to use a cover school for a diploma or take the GED.  Makes me mad.

 

[happypamama]

That sounds like some of the colleges here in Pennsylvania; is it?  Our law changed in 2014, so that a parent-issued diploma now suffices, but as of ten months ago, some of the websites were still saying things like what you quoted.  However, when I talked directly to an admissions representative, she said that they do indeed accept the parent-issued diploma, per the new law.  I would contact the college directly and ask.

[Melissa B]

I don't know how all states work, but in FL you can get that letter from the local school board. You don't need to be in a cover school.

[JanetC]

If your state system does not provide letters, you may need to have a talk with the admissions office about what you can provide for your situation. Yes, academia sometimes likes credentials. Sometimes admissions are flexible, sometimes not. It used to be the case that you had to have the above to qualify for federal aid. This is no longer the case, but some schools never updated their requirements.

[almondbutterandjelly]

Wouldn't you be #3?  Certificate of graduation from a non-traditional school.  

 

If you tell us what state, we could probably offer better suggestions.

[LLMom]

The school is in New York. We live in Texas.

[clementine]

I asked for a letter from our district saying that I complied with state laws. We only have to submit an intent to homeschool each year, so it wasn't a big deal at all. They typed one up while I waited.

[snowbeltmom]

The school is in New York. We live in Texas.

I would call the college and ask them directly how you can comply with their stupid requirements.  NY is tough - Unless something has changed in the last year, the NCAA requires NY homeschooled students going through their approval process to take the GED because NY refuses to recognize a homeschooled diploma.

 

[Garga]

That whole superintendent thing: I wonder if that's something that is required for New York homeschoolers? But since you're not in NY, then your state doesn't provide it. I'm not sure, I'm just speculating because it sounds like they took the hs guidellines for their state and made them requirements for their college. It would be somewhat logical to do so, except that there are 49 other states with all different requirements.

 

But I might not be right about that. I'd call the school and start asking around.

[LLMom]

Is this common practice? I homeschooled my first 2 but neither went on to college. Third child graduated from private school and was accepted easily into the colleges of his choice, so I really have no experience with a homeschooled child getting into college.

[regentrude]

Is this common practice? I homeschooled my first 2 but neither went on to college. Third child graduated from private school and was accepted easily into the colleges of his choice, so I really have no experience with a homeschooled child getting into college.

 

No, it is not common practice. Almost no colleges have such requirements; normally, a parent issued transcript and standardized test scores (ACT or SAT) are all that is required.

 

ETA: We ran into one school whose website had such requirements. An email to the admissions counsellor cleared this up; the wording on the website did not reflect their actual procedure which was to accept parent transcripts if the homeschool operated in accordance with state law. Why they keep the wording they know to be misleading on their website is a good question.

Edited April 7, 2016 by regentrude

[Garga]

No, it is not common practice. Almost no colleges have such requirements; normally, a parent issued transcript and standardized test scores (ACT or SAT) are all that is required.

 

ETA: We ran into one school whose website had such requirements. An email to the admissions counsellor cleared this up; the wording on the website did not reflect their actual procedure which was to accept parent transcripts if the homeschool operated in accordance with state law. Why they keep the wording they know to be misleading on their website is a good question.

I have only recenty joined the yahoo group 'homeschooling toward college' https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/hs2coll/info, and this comes up on there All The Time: where the website is misleading or totally wrong and the school never fixes it.

 

It also comes up a lot that the admissions people completely botch what the actual requirements are for admissions for homeschoolers. You sometimes have to call around and ask for different people until you find the truth if the admission requirements seem "off." Homeschoolers are often a very small percentage of the student body and the admissions people sometimes get their facts confused. Some colleges are on the ball with this and some are all muddled up.