We just got back from a trip to Colorado. Amanda
wants to attend the Community College in Lamar which
provides an Associates of Applied Science in Equine
Management.
During our visit with the school admissions staff we
discussed the WUE(Western States Undergraduate
Exchange) Program and I thought that I would post a
little about it as until we started the research we
weren't aware of it. The Wooee(WUE) as it is known is
an understanding between several western states to
give students a lower tuition so that they will not be
paying the outrageous Out-of-State tuition. And there
is also a Reciprocity program where some of the
Western states provide In-State Tuition for
Out-of-State students.
This particular school maybe able to offer the
reciprocity and a discount on dorm costs.
So....if your older teens don't want to hang out in NM
for some reason or there's a program they are
interested in in a Western State check it out.
Sheila (posted on NewMexicoHomeschooling, June 2003, a yahoogroups e-mail list)
As I said earlier, I will be putting a transcript together (probably
along with a narrative) for her and just wondering what I'll put on
it, if she doesn't complete more "traditional" classes. I know, not
very unschooly of me, but I just think that a more traditional route
might be easier for school people to understand if she does decide to
pursue college at some point.
So....your goal is have her unique learning experience look like every
other traditional high school student's in the US?
*WHY* would that be appealing to a university? What about that would
make the college stop and think, "Hmmm...maybe *this* student would be
a good match?"
If her transcript looks like every other transcript that passes across
the admissions desk, WHY would the admissions officer look twice? Why
would he look once? It's just the same ol' same ol'—nothing new.
Nothing inspired. Nothing diverse.
Colleges and universities are looking for students who SPARKLE! Make
her transcript sparkle! SHOW that she's different! Unique! An *honor*
to have her as a student there!
They don't NEED another "A" student cheerleader president of the
student body. Seriously! Those are a dime a dozen.
What they want is diversity. What does *YOUR* child have to offer the
school? What does *your* child have that NO other applicant has?
Submit THAT!
I have three teenage daughters, 13, 16, and 19. The older two have
extensive college credits from the local community college and plan to
go on to transfer to universities as juniors.
We kept no records of any kind at all.
The National Home Education Network website has some good information
for High School and Beyond and I think there is helpful information
about transcripts there, if you search around a bit.
I have a suggestion for a place for you to get some great information
about transcripts of all kinds, including samples. It is a California
resource and some of it pertains specifically to California colleges,
but the transcript information is absolutely wonderful, it includes
actual transcripts of various kinds.
This is SUCH an unschooling-friendly resource (Wes Beach, the author,
is very much an unschooling advocate) that I'm going to give all the
information about getting it here - but, for much more information, go
to the HomeSchool Association of California website at www.HSC.org
HSC distributes Wes Beach's book, titled Opportunities After "High
School": Thoughts, Documents, Resources.
It includes a number of transcripts he has written for his students;
these transcripts can be used as models for homeschool transcripts.
This book also discusses community college enrollment; preparing for,
choosing, and applying to four-year colleges; and opportunities other
than formal academic study. A number of resource books are described in
Opportunities After "High School". Cost is $10 per copy, tax and
shipping included.
Make checks payable to HSC; send order to HSC Book Order, 5520 Old San
Jose Road, Soquel, CA 95073
-pam
National Home Education Network
www.NHEN.org
Serving the entire homeschooling community since 1999
through information, networking and public relations.
He doesn't necessarily need a transcript. If he had gone to high school
they would want the transcript of that, but there are other ways to get into
college than the high school route. Really.
And he's only 13. Don't rush.
Sandra
I put together a transcript that only included grades for the college
courses my sons took — for everything else I just used an "x". It's
on our homeschool resource center's website, along with a couple other
samples. The address is www.hshub.org. Scroll down toward the bottom
of the list on the right until you find transcripts. Feel free to copy
and use any of the sample transcripts.
Kathy Joyce
With a portfolio and good SAT scores, your son doesn't need a
transcript to go to most colleges.
Joylyn
[Regarding the suggestion that a transcript could just be faked up...]
[F]ind a solution that maintains the integrity of the unschooling
philosophy and helps future unschoolers in the process.
. . . .
People who've stepped away from mainstream ideas about kids and learning
aren't going to find it easier or acceptable to lie and compromise their
beliefs.
Deb L
[more from Deb:
I'm suggesting unschoolers are smart enough and creative enough to get
what they want without compromising their principles. If faking
transcripts isn't one of the things an unschooler on this list would find
compromising, then my opinion won't mean diddly squat.]
I talked to the admissions officer at Stanford University. He told me
that if an unschooled kid made up a transcript that made it look like
they'd taken classes and gotten grades, and if he found out later that
it was all made up, that they'd consider the kid had gotten in
fraudulently and they'd evict him from the school. He said he wanted
the truth about what the kid had been busy doing during those years,
not something made up. He said that courses listed and graded by a
homeschooling parent didn't mean much to him anyway because ALL
homeschooling parents pretty much give their kids all "A's."
AND he said he'd be FAR more likely to take a close look at a kid
without a traditional transcript, too.
When we chose to unschool, we chose to NOT school and that meant we
don't get the trappings of school. So - to later make up something that
implies that we DID school, that is clearly dishonest. I'd far rather
have my kid never go to college then to go based on a complete
fabrication like that.
But it really is not a choice of "lie or miss out" - to create a
transcript that describes what the child REALLY did, that is honest and
can be pretty wonderful, is very possible. It doesn't have to list
courses he didn't take with grades he didn't earn and it doesn't have
to be done under the pretense that he "did school."
If you ask them, colleges will say, "Yes, he must have a transcript."
But the transcript can very often be a narrative, not a course/grade
listing. Even when they want it in a more traditional format, it can be
without grades, just a list of subjects that the kid has spent time
learning something about during the previous few years. It certainly
does not have to be a course list divided into semesters with credits
and grades EVEN if the college says that is what they want, when they
actually get the application, they'll review it. IF the student has
high SAT or ACT scores, they will barely look at it.
There ARE universities that will not take homeschoolers based on
coursework at all - unschoolers or otherwise. University of California
is one of those. They have coursework that is required and it has to be
pre-certified that it meets their requirements. This means they have to
have, in advance, approved the textbooks and subject matter for the
courses. Most public schools have had their courses approved and some
private schools. But there is no way an unschooler is going to qualify
based on "coursework". Still, unschoolers get into UCLA and Berkeley
and other UC's all the time. They often do it based on high SAT scores
and they also do it based on community college coursework. And all
schools have a "special admissions" category.
When you step outside the mainstream, it is not honest to suddenly jump
into the middle of the river and pretend you've been swimming along
with everybody else all those years. And, it is the nonmainstream
activities that will get a child noticed anyway - pretending to have
done coursework just like everybody else makes the kid look just like
everybody else. Not an advantage for getting into a prestigious
university and not necessary.
-pam
National Home Education Network
www.NHEN.org
Serving the entire homeschooling community since 1999
through information, networking and public relations.
Homeschooling the Teen Years: Your Complete Guide to Successfully Homeschooling the 13- to 18-Year-Old by Cafi Cohen
http://www.fun-books.com/authors/Cafi_Cohen.htm
Also at the same link:
And What About College? by Cafi Cohen
Wes Beach's book, titled Opportunities After "High
School":Thoughts, Documents, Resources, from the HomeSchool Association of California website: www.HSC.org. (The book is described up above, in Pam Sorooshian's first post.)
Alison McKee: From Homeschool to College and Work : TurningYour
Homeschooled Experiences into College and Job Portfolios
This is not from an unschooling point of view, but the suggestions about interviews and letters of recommendation are worth reading about! http://www.collegeboard.com/article/0,3868,5-25-0-56,00.html
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More on
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parenting unschoolers.
If you have additions for this page, or links to college info for homeschoolers which isn't readily available, please e-mail Sandra@SandraDodd.com.