queenjane555

Someone asked on a state-specific homeschooling list i'm on:"I have
looked and looked and cannot find an answer to my question. Is
there a set number of credits that are needed to graduate? Set
courses? Or do we get to do what we want because we homeschool?"

I responded:"I'm pretty sure we get to do what we want. Some
homeschooling parents make up a diploma for their child, give grades
etc. Since we don't "do school" in any way, shape, or form i don't
plan on doing that unless my son requests it. I will ask him if he
wants to take college classes when he's a teen, and will also offer
him the opportunity to take the GED if he so chooses."

Someone responded to my post with "When and if your child wants to
go to college you will need a high school transcript with all the
required credits in your school district. Even with a high school
diploma issued by you they will require a transcript. Find out what
your local school requires and go from there."

Of course i responded that i dont think all colleges have the exact
same requirements, and that they really just want to be able to
check off a little box that they got the required form (such as a
transcript), that since my son is unschooled he does NOT HAVE a
transcript, and i dont think i would feel comfortable just making
one up with grades and such (since it would be a total fabrication)
but that i would be happy to write up an outline of the kinds of
work he's done, with appropriate "subject" designations if the need
be there.

I also pointed out that if someone takes a GED they dont have a
transcript for high school, if they didnt go, but they can still get
into college.

But then it occurred to me that i dont actually have any experience
in this situation, as my kid is only ten, but thought i would throw
it out there to see what other unschoolers' experiences were. Esp,
at a non-community college which seems to have more flexible
admissions practices.


Katherine

[email protected]

Rain is going to be attending the University of Kansas next fall as a non-degree seeking student. They accepted her with SAT scores and a brief letter from me saying that she was a homeschooler and would benefit from college-level classes (I basically repeated their verbiage).
She specifically chose this route because it maintains her eligibility for various financial aid and scholarship opportunities if she should want to attend college elsewhere in the future (she's only 14 now). She's limited to 6 credits a semester this way, and she can't get financial aid. However, in Kansas, they would have given her regular (degree-seeking) admission if I had written that she had "graduated" from our homeschool high school and she had submitted the same SAT scores. No transcript would have been required.
FWIW, the SAT scores were, overall, above average for a high school senior, but not extraordinary. They only required that she score above the 50th percentile - an out of state student would have been required to submit slightly higher scores. She had never done any formal mathematics until she decided on this plan, and she spent about 2-3 months sporadically prepping for the SAT (mostly on math).
Daron


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Sandra Dodd

-=-But then it occurred to me that i dont actually have any experience
in this situation, as my kid is only ten, but thought i would throw
it out there to see what other unschoolers' experiences were. Esp,
at a non-community college which seems to have more flexible
admissions practices. -=-

It's different state to state and university to university. It's not
the best of topics for this list. Too local and too particular.
It's not about learning, it's about hoop-jumping.


Sandra

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