I am homeschooled, i am a senior?

Question

i know what i want to do with my life.

and i know what classes i will need to take. for the most part.

since i am home schooled, i do not have a guidance counselor to sit down and help me with all of the college stuff, what can i do?

i am sort of confused on how to get started, deciding on a college, and finding a scholarship. How can i do this alone?

who else can i go to?

ps/ my parent doesn't know anything about this process,

i am stuck on how to get the ball rolling.

thank you for any help!

Answer 1

First off you need to have a good idea of what you want to be! Be realistic and if you still aren't sure there are free career aptitude test on the internet that might suggest something that you haven't thought of yet! Once you know look at Uni's in your area and see if they offer the program! Then all you have to do is apply (which is very simple! but may require a credit card)

Hope that helps, try to Apply early!

Answer 2

To begin with, you could learn basic first grade writing skills.  

Sentences begin with a capital letter.  

The letter I is always capitalized.

Questions ask for information, not state it.

All sentences contain a subject and a predicate.

Answer 3

First, if you know where you want to go to college - talk to the college.  Find out what they offer and what they require for you.

Take the SAT or ACT.  These are usually required for college admission and some scholarships.

Go to: http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/

You NEED this form to be filled out to even be considered for financial aid.  Fill it out AS SOON AS POSSIBLE after January.  Your parents will need all their tax information for this as well.

Start applying for scholarships - this is a great site to start searching for scholarships: https://studentaid2.ed.gov/getmoney/scho...

*NOTE: start this part NOW!*

As a homeschooler, you have legal rights to utilize the resources of the public schools in your area (though the schools might not always know this).  You can go to the schools and find out about preparing for college.  I bet you could even talk to one of the guidance counselors.  

Nowadays, most colleges love to get students who were homeschooled...they are generally more advanced in their studies and have better study habits.  Just because you didn't go to a public or private high school does not mean you won't get into college or get financial aid.  

Here's another website that might be helpful: http://www.hsadvisor.com/advice/scholars...

It's about financial aid and homeschoolers.

Also, check this site out: http://www.homeschool.com/Homeschool_Con...

I hope this helps!  And good luck to you!!

Answer 4

There are books in the Library that list all the scholarship organizations.

Some religions provide scholarships.

Some companies in your town provide them.

Some colleges provide them.

This is your first step in becoming a college professonal, for professors at college have to go out and find grants to do their research.

In fact, grant writing is a professon all its own!

So you have to do the leg work.

Research, because that's ALL you'll be doing in college for 4-8 years.

Answer 5

maybe you should have went to a accredited school. bad for u. i cant see how your going to get a schollarship.

Answer 6

Easy as pie!

There are a few books that you can order:

1. From homeschool to work and college, by Aluson McKee

bittersweet house

p.o. box 5211

Madison, WI 53705

2. LifePrep for homeschooled teenagers, by Barbara Frank

www.CardamomPublishers.com

3. How to survive getting into college - (get at borders, etc.)

4. College Planning for gifted students, by Berger

These will help tremendously.

Have you taken the ACT and SAT?  If not get registered (and either way) get a study guide/CD Rom and get focused.

You can start by registering at a community college and taking dual credit - classes for both high school and college credit.

Present samples of your work in different subjects for your portfolio as well.  Pick things that make you shine.

Simply, ask yourself what your passions are and what you "want to be when you grow up?"  Then start googling and researching college programs that are well known in these areas.  Worst case, you can go to community college for a year and get your ducks in a row,and get some general education requirements out of the way.  

See what the admission requirements are, not only for the overall college admission - but for the specific area in the school you want to pursue.  For instance, VetMed, biology, mathematics, occupational therapy, business, etc..

Early admission has already started this year for incoming freshman, so get started quickly.  Get your portfolio and resume polished, choose references and practice interviewing.  Remember that the interview works both ways.  You are interviewing them, and You want to know what dorm housing area fitst your needs the best.  You don't want to be stuck in a party dorm that limits your chance of lasting the first hard year out, etc..

Take campus tours and try to arrange a campus docent and to visit on mass "recruitment" days.  Ask every school for a listing of scholarships, and try to find alternative means to tracking them down.  Worst case, all your local high school and have them email you listings and sites, and apply for a pell grant and start the financial forms through them.

There are college admission counselors who would be happy to allow you to "pick their brain".  Utilize them.  Also, many colleges even have home school requirements on their websites.

Remember to take into account that larger colleges have 200 - 500 plus students a class, often with the teacher assistants mostly teaching the classes. The teachers often only have a few office hours for the whole week to share with the entire student population that hey are teaching.  If this is comfortable, research larger universities.  If not, gear yourself toward smaller ones. These will give you more teacher individualized attention (one-on-one) small group discussion and potentially a chance to form better study group bonds.  Check how long the accreditation is for.  The long, the better.   I think that 3 years is the best!  6 months -watch out...  

See if your potential class load will transfer easily to other schools.  You don't want to have to take and repay for a class numerous times.

Find a mentor in the field/s that you are interested and get advice from them.  This really can narrow your search.

Also, so a Myers Briggs inventory online (free ones exist) and see what yoru personality type says about what careers would be best for you!

My teens are a few years away, but this is the information that I have gleamed so far.  If you or yoru parents want to contact me, I'm willing to share anythings that I can.

You are a motivated self starter and your parents must be proud of you.  Good luck on your journey!

Answer 7

Your parent needs to help you.  If you were in a real school they would be helping you make educational plans.

Answer 8

there are sites that list different scholarships and you can see if you are eligible.  if you have a community college in your area i would go talk to a counselor there.  or check into the local high school, they usually have college reps come in to talk to seniors, you may be able to get in there.contact different colleges online, ask for info about the school, they will send whatever you need.  the college will help you with financial aid, but it doesn't hurt to apply at a few banks for student loans once you decide where to go.  if all else fails, go to a community college, get an associate, then transfer to where you want to go.

Answer 9

I know it is not going to help you now, but you should have thought of this a few years ago.

There is a free resource at our local library.  It is a specific state "one source for college information" but perhaps your state has something similar.  You could do research online to find out.

Your second option, go to your local community college and talk to the guidance counselor there.  They are very helpful and can give you a placement test to see if you need remedial courses before attending one of their programs.

Answer 10

If you know what you want to do with your life then contact some colleges that offer what you need and see what their requirements are.  Also be sure to take your SAT or ACT tests.  You really should have started this last year at the latest, but its still not too late, you just might find that you have to settle for you second or third choice school instead of your first. (Thats alright, you could always try to transfer later.)

Without knowing exactly what it is you plan to do in life, I certainly can't recommend a specific college, however the college board website might be good place to get started.

http://www.collegeboard.com

Answer 11

oh ok

Answer 12

Congratulations on graduating high school and good for you that you want to go to college.  The first thing you should do is sit down and figure out what you would like to do for a career.  Figure out if you want to run a restaurant or be a pharmacist or engineer, there are all sorts of options.  Once you know what you want to do then start looking for schools that have that major and schedule tour with their admissions department.  Once you pick out a couple schools and your major, apply to them to see if they will admit you into the school.  Once you get an acceptance letter from the college you would like to go to, talk to the colleges financial aid department.  they will help you with scholarships and how to get registered with FAFSA (free application for federal student aid).  Good Luck!!!

Answer 13

Well, I was homeschooled by my mother up untill third grade. She later put me in a private school knowing I'll have trouble getting into a college in the near future. All I can say is that maybe you should go through another year of the 12th grade in a local highschool. That'll will help a lot. But if that is no help to you, you should try to get a GED or talk to a guidance counselor in a local college.

Answer 14

My son is in college now (sophomore year). Not only was the process relatively painless, but he got a pell grant and a full tuition scholarship for his entire degree program. Don't let the process scare you.

Here is a checklist of what you need to be doing this year if you have not already.

1. Take the ACT or the SAT test and request that the scores be sent to colleges that you are thinking of entering.

2. Get your high school transcript ready. You will likely be sending off applications in the spring even before you have completeld your senior year. The information you need to have on it is your full legal name, home address/school address, parents full names, your social security number, your courses from 9th to 12 grade, and the grades for each course. You will need to include the computed GPA for courses completed so far. That isn't hard. An A gets 4 points, B gets 3, C gets 2, and D gets 1. Take the average to get your GPA. List your rank in class as 1/1 (some scholarships require a rank in class).

3. Apply for the Pell Grant. Unless your family makes quite a lot annually, you will likely qualify for at least some Pell Grant money. You will do this after your parents file their income tax return spring 2008 for the filing year of 2007. Pell will pay up to $4,000 of college tuition. You should have a few colleges selected by then so you can direct Pell to send the grant information to those colleges. You will need to get a government PIN number if you file electronically for the Pell. Keep that number for refiling each year and gaurd it just as you would a social security number. Getting the PIN takes about 2 to 3 days. You can get the link for the PIN number directly from the Pell website - www.fafsa.ed.gov. Be sure to use the dot gov not dot com link. There was a dot com look alike. You do NOT want that one! Set aside at least an hour of quiet for the form you will fill out electronically. It feels endless, but you (more likely your parents) will survive it. The colleges take it from there. They will process the information sent to them by Fafsa and send you an awards letter. Most colleges make that merely an announcement, but a few will require you to send an acceptance or you will forfeit it at that school.

4. Pursue scholarships. Don't dilly dally around on these. Get your college's financial aid department to send you their scholarship offerings. Apply for every one of them you qualify for INCLUDING the essay ones. You may think the essay ones are too hard, but that is exactly what most seniors think and therefore they don't try for them. Often these go unclaimed because no one tried for them. Other sources of scholarship money are your parent's employers. Many companies offer scholarships to the children of employees.

5. If at all possible, visit the campus of the colleges you are thinking seriously about, including the freshman dorms. When you visit the dorms, don't do it as part of the official tour and try to catch it at a meal. Check the laudry facilities as well, especially if you will not be able to drive home each weekend. You will want to see the real view not the idealized view. Often students are shocked at the living conditions when they don't take the time to see it themselves. Be bold enough to ask the students what they think of their professors if you happen to strike up conversation with someone in the major you are thinking about. You may get a heads up on the best and worst professors. We did that and were fortunately warned away from a few nightmare profs.

Many times the colleges you want to go to will offer online courses to high schoolers. If so, sign up for 12 credit hours or less. More than 12 and you will lose your freshman status and miss many scholarship opportunities. This will give you a head start on your degree, prove you can handle college level work, and the admissions officers often see you as already being one of the family.

You will be fine. In our experience, colleges love homeschoolers. The counsellor in charge of helping students select their courses at my son's college said that the homeschoolers there have set the benchmark both academically, in maturity, and in leadership. She was even considering homeschooling her own child because of it. They liked my son so much they pursued him to work in their telecom department. He didn't have to take the job. Between the Pell and the full tuition scholarship he actually gets about $300 every quarter from the school because the two add up to more than his tuition. He wanted to take the job to put his skills to work (business systems and information technology is his major). It makes for a busy schedule though: 13 credit hour load plus 25 hour/week job. Not to mention he started a Technolgy Club on campus as well. The club will help local non-profits with their computer woes by repairing, maintaining, and setting up computer systems and networks. That is what that counselor saw in homeschoolers - leadership, a giving instead of a me attitude, and a work ethic instead of a party hardy orientation to life.