Homeschool World Forum

Whether you have transcripts from an accredited high school or not, most U.S. colleges also ask for the SAT or the ACT. Some accept which ever one you want of those two. Some have their own test you can take as an option instead of one of the standardized tests.

Ask at any college you're interested in applying to what their policy is for admitting homeschooled students.

Ramona

Colleges will require either the SAT or the ACT or both (usually just one), as well as either a portfolio of work or nationally standardized test scores showing you covered your high school graduation / college prereqs properly. Since putting together a portfolio of work is a pain, and requires more work from the college (making it harder for them to rank you higher than other applicants), it's generally better to test out of as many subjects as possible. I took AP or CLEP for virtually everything.

Another option is community college courses. I recommend this for anything involving lab, since it's easier and probably cheaper to pay $300 for the course and not have to worry about buying all sorts of equipment.

Community colleges aren't 4-year colleges.

No, they aren't. But they are colleges--post-12th-grade education. They are within the scope of what the OP was asking about, IMHO.

Not everyone goes to community college during the high-school years. Many people go to community college for a couple of years first and then transfer to a 4-year college or university.

Ramona

Don't colleges usually start contacting you when you're a junior? That's just after you take your PSAT, if I remember correctly.

Actually, if colleges contact you after you take the PSAT sometime during your junior year (mine wasn't until February), and s/he will be a junior starting next month, then s/he probably hasn't yet been contacted by any colleges.

I think s/he was just asking about "college" as a vague, general concept, meaning "whatever comes next after one finishes 12th grade."

Ramona

I meant no point in me quibbling over semantics. Yes, you could be correct, but I don't see the advantage in not taking the ACT or SAT even so. It doesn't take long, it's a good way to figure out how well you're doing, and you may decide to do a 4-year college (or even Master's) later on and need it. If you don't need it, you're not out much in terms of time and money, and if you do need it, you'll have it. Always be prepared and you'll never be disappointed