As I am planning my daughter's high school courses and lessons, I am
struggling with many issues... the main one being whether or not I
should enroll in an "umbrella" school such as Clonlara or Kolbe to keep
my records and issue transcript to verify the work that I have done with
my child and verify that they are not just "mommy" grades....will it
make my life easier in the college admissions process? >
I live in NYS. I recently spoke with the admissions director of one of
our colleges to find out what they're looking for in all students, and
homeschooled ones in particular. She said colleges tend to like
homeschooled students because they're generally good about time
allocation. Many have been self-directed for at least a couple years so
the transition to college is easier for them which increases the chances
that the student will be successful. Remember, they're not just looking
for who can get good grades for a year; they want someone who they can
project will be there for the entire 2-4 year program. The traditional
high school student has to quickly adapt to a 16 week class session
instead of the traditional 40, which is a shock to a great many. She
said they want "well rounded" students. I, personally, don't care for
the umbrella schools. I don't want one more layer of people (besides the
state and local school district) telling me what I'm supposed to do. I
don't think the colleges are looking for a traditional transcript from
homeschoolers anyway, and I think it's a mistake to try to create that
for them.
As far as admissions, the local admissions director said the following
things are some of the important things her staff looks for:
* Doing well on the SAT or ACT. (Turn in the one your child does
best on. Have them study books and take practice tests before they
take it. Expensive workshops are not necessary.)
* Doing community service is very important. Colleges are looking
for a "global perspective".
* Get involved in outside activities that will help show them your
child's interests and passions.
* Showing progression, is important. By that she means if your
daughter joined karate, did she stay until she got her black belt,
or drop it after a year to do something else, and then something
else the year after that? You could show progression by following
an interest, like art, by taking various workshops over the course
of a few years. If you take successive courses in drawing, or
design, for example, one course will likely build on a previous
one. You could volunteer in a soup kitchen as a young teen (I
think you have to be 13 or 14 in NYS to sort vegetables and help
prep). By the time you're 16 or 17 you could be coordinating a
crew to cook the meal.That shows progression.
* Languages are extremely important. Colleges want students to be
bilingual, or working towards that. Find a place to take at least
a year or two of (the same) language.
* Use your local community college, if you have one, to take summer
courses. Our local colleges say you have to be at least 15 to
enroll in a summer course. It doesn't have to be an extremely
difficult one though. One of the beginning English classes is good
because it's required and it will show your student is
academically prepared for college (i.e. they understand deadlines
and can budget their time). It's good for you too, because that's
one less course your child has to take to get her degree. If a
child takes just 2 summer courses during her high school years,
she could have a lighter load her first 2 college semesters by
enrolling in 4 classes instead of the traditional 5. She'd still
be considered full-time for financial aid purposes, but with less
work. Less work can translate into better grades, which can
translate into grants (i.e. free money).
* If you are in a regular high school take 4 years of math, 4 of
English, 4 of science, 4 of history, and 4 of a language if you
can get it, NO MATTER WHAT THE GRAD REQUIREMENTS ARE for that
school. Take Honors classes if you can get them. AP classes are
better. A difficult Honors or AP class that you get an 80 in is
better than an easy class you get a 99 in. A 99 at one high school
won't be a 99 at another. The colleges have a book about all the
high schools (similar to the Fiske guide we have about the
colleges). They can rate the difficulty of one school compared to
another, they know what classes they offer, what extra-curricular
activities they have, etc.
* Since colleges know what kind of school district you come from
they know what limits your child has because of what your school
can afford to offer compared to a bigger school in a richer
district. I think that's important for homeschoolers as well.
They'll know, for instance, that what's available in a smaller
Upstate NY community isn't going to be the same as the activities
a parent in Westchester or Long Island will have available to them.
* The essay is extremely important. Have your child write every
single day. Make sure when they do their college essay that it
couldn't be written by anybody but him/her, because it's "the
single most important way the college has of distinguishing your
child from the thousands of others who apply". The woman I spoke
to had a son accepted to nearly a dozen colleges. She said at
several of the colleges they visited the dean of admissions sought
him out because she remembered his essay and wanted to meet him.
It must have been something because he had the luxury of choosing
Yale over Harvard and several other prestigious schools.
I think this gives us a lot to work with when we think about what kind
of programming we want to create for our children. Maybe contact the
admissions office at colleges you might be interested in to see what
they'd like to see from homeschoolers.
I hope this helps.
Jennie Q. Colabella
Founder, Hudson Valley Home Educators
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