I know, it’s a stupid question. I’m homeschooled and on Honor Roll (I know, what a sacrifice to not graduate completely) but it’s really complicated. I’m basically on a time crunch and don’t know if I’ll possibly ever finish high school if I really want to get into my university of choice (TWU; Trinity Western University). Also, will that interfere with the whole official/final transcript thing? I’m really stressed and frustrated and would really love to know. Thank you :I
That’s a question for their admissions office. Generally I’d say “no” if you don’t have a diploma (or the equivalent) colleges won’t take you.
That said, I know little about homeschooling and perhaps there’s more to it in your case.
Actually, many will accept you w/o a diploma. Just check the Common Data Set of the college – plus, even if they say otherwise, they’d be open to being persuaded if you can make a solid case for your circumstances. Basically, call them, explain your situation and ask. There’s no blanket answer.
Many places will accept you without a diploma.
However, you won’t be eligible for federal financial aid if you don’t have either a high school diploma or a GED. So if you want to be able to file the FAFSA and borrow student loans and/or be considered for other federal need-based aid, then you need to come up with a strategy for assuring that you fulfill that requirement. If you have enough money for one or two semesters of college without any federal aid, then you could conceivably use courses from the first semester or two of college to fulfill high school graduation requirements, and then receive your HS diploma.
http://twu.ca/undergraduate/admissions/us-students/ indicates that TWU requires 4 years of high school English for frosh admission. So if you complete only 3.5 years of high school, will you have doubled up a semester of English to make 4 years of English? Or will the school accept some other means of validating that requirement (e.g. completion of a college English course or passing an AP English test – ask directly)? Similar might apply for other subjects listed as required.
Home school could be a special case in various ways. It would be best to ask the school directly to find out how home school students and their academic records are handled.
It depends on the state. NYS colleges require proof of high school equivalency from homeschoolers. Students can take community college classes for a semester to count as a year’s worth of required courses then get a Letter of Substantial Equivalency from the district superintendent, they can take the TASC (formerly GED), or they can take 5 (specific) Regents exams. Students who have more time than you do can take a specific set of 24 college credits to show equivalency.
I would check your state homeschool requirements because state law trumps college regulations. Then check specific college requirements to see where you stand. The state school my son is attending strongly recommends 4 years of the 5 major courses (Eng, history, math, foreign language, and lab science), so he wouldn’t have been able to finish early unless he took classes at the local community college. Make sure you have enough courses to be competitive for whatever colleges you’d like to attend.