Homeschool World Forum

Hi, my daughter is in the 12th grade and she is home schooled through the NYC Department of education. I would like to know how she can get her high school diploma. Thank you in advance.

With homeschooling, you award yourself a high school diploma after completing the high school graduation requirements for your state to your satisfaction. Just look up what they are (certain number of sciences, certain level of math, maybe language requirement, etc.) and complete the coursework.

As for actually getting into college, you can keep a portfolio of work, or just take standardized tests for as many core subjects as possible. AP, CLEP, etc. Colleges are generally friendly to homeschoolers and will accept your portfolio of work, but it makes it a lot easier for them to compare you to other applicants if you have a nice neat list of standardized test scores (and those scores are better than everyone else's...) You will of course want to take the PSAT in your junion year, and eventually the SAT and/or ACT as well.

The GED is also a possibility, but while it's theoretically equivalent to high school graduation, in practice it's equivalent to a low-quality high school graduation. You're better off with test scores if you're looking to get into a top college.

Thank you very much for the information.