College and the Homeschooled Kid....

Okay-I know w eare not near thsi point for a long while-but mainly posted thsi in case anyone else was interested and for me to keep and look into.....
This is from Michelle Bartlettes overview on college admissions class she was teaching this week..

Michelle shared her experiences regarding how she enrolled her two homeschooled teens at USU. These homeschoolers (ages 16 & 15) not only were approved for admission, but also received four-year scholarships too. We were all very impressed.


High School/College Credits

• When our kids are middle school or high school age, we should begin looking into Concurrent Enrollment and/or Advanced Placement Classes. These are classes offered at high schools that allow your child to earn "accredited high school classes" for their transcript, but also allow them to count towards their college degree.
• I am still a little murky on the difference between the two programs, but from what I understand Concurrent Enrollment requires your child attending high school classes to receive the credit, while an AP class gives you the option of attending the class or just showing up to take the exam. I believe that with an AP class you must pass the test to get the credit, while the concurrent enrollment might just require the attendance.
• Advanced Placement - Cache Valley
  http://www.ccsdut.org/departments.cfm?subpage=501
  Listing of AP classes offered at local high schools.
• Concurrent Enrollment - Cache Valley
  http://www.ccsdut.org/departments.cfm?subpage=500
  Listing of Concurrent Enrollment classes offered at local high schools.
  

ACT/SAT

• Your child will need to do either the ACT or the SAT entrance exams. USU seems to prefer the ACT.
• Good study source is "English From the Roots Up" (available from many homeschooling booksellers).
• Michelle's advice was to buy (or check out from the library) ACT study guides to help your child prepare for the test. Many come with an interactive cd.
• You can sign up to do the regular ACT or the "residual" ACT. The residual ACT is done at USU (instead of a high school) and is graded immediately. The bonus is that you get your scores so much quicker (which can take several weeks the regular route). The drawback of doing the residual is that it is ONLY good at the school you take the test at. However, if you know that you only want your kids to enroll at a particular school... this is not an issue. For Michelle, since her children were still young, she only wanted them to attend a local university.
• Important to know is that if do the ACT several times - they will take the best score from your best score of your first three tests. (Therefore, if you blow it on the first 3 tries... but do awesome on the 4th... that score won't count.)
• ACT "Residual Testing"
  http://www.act.org/aap/infosys/residual.html
  Information on how the "Residual Testing" process works.
  

Preparing Admissions Paperwork

• The paperwork Michelle submitted to USU, along with the application, included: a high school transcript; portfolio (resume, list of leadership abilities, community service experience, & college entrance essay); and letters of recommendation.
• Michelle's high school transcript her children had done at home PLUS any concurrent classes they had participated at the local high school. For a "school name", Michelle used the name their family has always used to call themselves.
• Michelle's transcripts were organized by grade. She then listed the name of the class, a letter grade (ex. A, A-, etc.) and then credit hrs for each class.
• Michelle stressed that it is never too early to begin thinking about what to include in your child's portfolio. Every contest they win, award they earn, co-op they participate in, etc. should be written down or saved in a folder... to be added in when you need it.
• Michelle also urged us to keep out an eye out for opportunities our children can participate in that will look good on the resume (ex. City Youth Council, Photography or Writing contests, 4H wins, etc.)

Scholarships

• When you submit your child's application to USU they are also evaluated for any scholarships for which they qualify.
• If you apply earlier (November instead of January) your have more change of obtaining scholarships.
• If you don't get a scholarship when you apply, check to see if there are any department specific scholarships you qualify for.
• Check with your local high school to see if they have any information about scholarships you can apply for. (Ex. Mountain Crest puts out a booklet called "Mountain Crest High School - Post HS Education Planning Handbook)
• You can research national scholarships online at: http://www.fastweb.com/

Some other websites worth checking out:

High School Graduation Requirements - Cache Valley
http://www.ccsdut.org/departments.cfm?subpage=2288
This is useful for signing up for AP or Concurrent Enrollment classes... OR for creating high school transcripts for your child.

Utah Electronic High School
http://www.schools.utah.gov/ehs/faq.htm
They offer FREE online classes to homeschoolers in UT. The classes are accredited classes that can be used on your child's high school transcript. Students are responsible for paying the costs of any text books needs (and possibly, the cost of the final exam).

Utah E-Learning Connection (formerly UT Electronic College)
http://www.uec.org/index.html
This is NOT a free service because it is college level correspondence online classes with 10 different UT colleges/universities (including USU). They do allow "high schoolers" to enroll and take classes and consider it "concurrent registration", which I assume counts as both high school and college credit.

Early College (UT Gov't Website)
http://www.schools.utah.gov/curr/Early_College/AP.htm
Good website for getting information about Advanced Placement (AP) Classes, Concurrent Classes, & Scholarships available for college.

USU's Admission Policy for Homeschooled Students
http://www.usu.edu/admissions/information/home.cfm
Here's what the basic admission policies are for homeschoolers.