College for home schooled children

Rhonda, I understand your concerns.  When I was considering homeschooling I did some research on how homeschooled children fair in college.  I read an article (don’t ask me to find it – few years ago) written by a president of a college that said that they saw a huge difference in the capibilites of homeschooled vs public school children.  This was especially in the area of being self-learners and taking personal responsibility for getting their work done.  Not sure if that helps any.  It is our intentions for our children to go to college for both the education and the life experience.  I am not sure that everyone will agree on this site but I am ok with that.  If you teach your child how to become a self learner then any gaps that you fear he may have will be easy for him to fill himslef.  And to be honest, most public schools today are focuse on teaching to the standardized test so that they can recive their federal money that many children are leaving with huge gaps.  Just my thoughts.

I, too, have looked for statistics, but to no avail! If someone has a link to any studies, that would be great!

I am short on time now…but I will tell you that in our ‘mentor’ family – Christian homeschoolers with 7 children – this is how they did in life/college:

Oldest daughter – a homeschooling mom of 6

Next oldest, son – heart surgeon

Next, son – insurance agent

Next, daughter – former missionary and now marketing director for a large church

Next, son – yacht captain

Next, son – chiropractor

Next, daughter – entering college this year

All of their kids who chose to go to college did extremely well at major universities, many of them 4.0 students. The homeschool mom and yacht captain followed their hearts into arenas that didn’t require college, but they still have a strong sense of purpose and are excellent at their vocations.

I know one family isn’t representative of all, but they are an encouragement to me because they have all done so well in such varied fields, and continued to be strong Christians throughout college and into adulthood. Hope that encourages you, too!

I don’t have statistics, either, but I have one son in college and one preparing to go soon (taking SAT’s, will apply in fall, for admission the following fall.)  I am on a list at yahoogroups of families who homeschool and whose children are in/applyingfor/preparing for college.  It is hs2coll at yahoogroups.  There are many, many families represented there—many are not religious, but a few of us are.  Each week we get an email listing all the colleges who have accepted our terrific children–it is a LONG LONG list!  There are only a few colleges in the country left who make life difficult for homeschoolers, but most welcome homeschooled students, and some actively recruit them.  The college my son is attending has an admissions counselor dedicated just to homeschooled applicants.  It is not only possible but not even particularly difficult to get homeschooled children into college.  In fact, a great many homeschooled students earn many college credits before they ever turn 18.  🙂  Mine did and are.  There are SO MANY options available to help with college prep and college admisssions and entrance.   Your children will have many opportunities and everything will work just fine–most likely it will be even easier than it is now!  As you grow and learn together and discover your children’s learning styles and interests, you will just naturally find the information you need (the forum here is great) and the whole wide world will be open for them as they continue their education.

@ Scoathy – Yes, that is what I find inspiring about their family – they all followed their passions and love what they do!

@ Christie – Thank you for the reminder that college isn’t a necessity to a a fulfilling, and happy life or career!

@ Rhonda – At the risk of offending you (sorry, in advance!)I think as you go down the road of homeschooling a little farther you will find that there are many perspectives you hold about education that change. Our generation has been very institutionally wired to consider a degree as a means to vocational and relational success.

The fact is that, even if that was true in the world system, it isn’t true for God’s people. And today, even in the world system, a degree doesn’t guarantee anything. An education, however, does!

As your children learn to think, learn the ‘science of relations’ and learn their value as God’s children, they will become truly well educated – and THAT will set them apart in any environment.

Be blessed on your home-educating journey!

Heather

At the last conventional I was at we had a speaker address the issue of college.  He was saying that homeschooling families will probably need to be prepared to put much more effort into having their children enrolled where they do not have a traditional transcript.  Portfolios will be much more important.  Many colleges do not yet have a system in place to evaluate homeschooler’s portfolios.  Those schools that would prefer to just plug the grades into a computer and let it decide who is accepted (more for revenue than an actual interest in students) are less willing to look at the students merits or accomplishments.  However, more prestigious, academic colleges and universities have been quicker to recognize that homeschooler’s tend to be more independent leaders and are usually better academically prepared.  These schools are looking for recognition for turning out highly successful graduates are are far more likely to put the effort into reviewing a portfolio from a homeschooler’s in search of those students who show potential for success in their programs.  The speaker highly recommended contacting potential colleges well in advance for a list of entrance requirements (good thing to have ahead of time when planning high school credits) as well as to contact faculty and heads of departments who can often request to have a student enrolled if they are suitably impressed. I’m not there yet, but this is the info we were given, so take it as you like.

Having said that, I do not believe that college is for everyone, though I agree that post secondary training of some kind is to be highly encouraged.  Sometimes thousands of dollars are spent on education that is never fully utilized or could have been acquired in a much less expensive and more efficient manner.  Many students begin college unprepared, or simply go because it’s “the next step” without really knowing what they want to do with their lives.  They are looking for the freedom that comes from no longer being under mom and dad’s thumb, making their own choices.  

My husband and I were on our state’s homeschool board for 8 years. I got calls and emails frequently from colleges asking me to get word out to “my people” about their college. They said they wanted a high enrollment of homeschoolers because those students excelled in all areas. My oldest is 22 and was accepted to every college he applied at with a good ACT score and a hand-written transcript from the umbrella school.