[SoftTalker]

Good luck. Pretty much anyone who "requires" a high school transcript as a prerequisite for anything will only accept them from an accredited school, or maybe from at least a recognized homeschool program.

If you're entirely homeschooling on your own, a transcript that looks like you created it in Microsoft Word is not going to go very far.

[biomcgary]

I had no problem getting into college after homeschooling using a Microsoft Word based transcript. I'm old enough that back then standardized testing mattered more, so a good score on the SAT or ACT meant that your transcripts were less critical as a signal for future success.

OTOH, some places recognize homeschooling provides a unique perspective on education. For example, I was invited to interview at Yale's biology graduate program at least in part due to my homeschooling background.

My guess is that low end institutions looking for respectability are more sensitive to getting official transcripts, where the high end is looking for more diversity of background.

[ke88y]

Low end institutions just want enrollment. They literally do not care about transcripts. As we approach 2008+18 that will intensify. They’re getting desperate and the long dreaded End Times haven’t even arrived…

(Bonus points if you can make it past freshman year, which when I was tutoring was always a huge concern for the newly free homeschool kids, but tbh freshman tuition and room&board is enough)

[quenix]

What’s special about 2008 plus 18 years? 2026?

[SoftTalker]

It's called the "enrollment cliff" and it's a reduction in the number of 18 year olds, i.e. potential college freshmen.

https://www.bestcolleges.com/news/analysis/looming-enrollmen...

[lotsofpulp]

Fewer and fewer kids and parents interested in paying (and borrowing) tens of thousands per year and 4 years of their youth for an education with a high probability of a low return on investment.

I assume ke88y had their oldest child born in 2008.

[philwelch]

2008 was the beginning of the global financial crisis and 18 is the age when one typically goes to college, so 2026 will be the first freshman class to have lived their entire lives in a post-global-financial-crisis world.

[hobobaggins]

We just created a homeschool transcript in Libreoffice, since it was required as part of the application process. Our daughter was admitted to both universities applied to and offered a "full ride" scholarship for one (which is the one she accepted). She was also offered (and accepted) a part time role in the CS dept at a different university.

Not sure what "a recognized homeschool program" is; we used a mixture of materials.

When you start homeschooling, you will begin to meet other parents who are also homeschooling, but it's still your journey and not anyone else's; we've found that different tools work for different kids, even within the same family. Choose the tools that work best for your children and your style of teaching.

[SoftTalker]

> Not sure what "a recognized homeschool program" is

E.g. something like Khan Academy's homeschool curriculum, or CK-12, etc. that is a complete curriculum ostensibly developed by people who know what they are doing, not just some moms making it up as they go.

Also if a kid wants to be involved in sports, that is more complicated for homeschoolers.

[yellowapple]

Not just sports, either. It ain't like a homeschool's gonna have a band program or a theater class. There are probably non-school-affiliated alternatives for them in one's community, but IME they tend to expect participants to be at least already competent at it. And no, solo tutoring ain't gonna cut it for that; being able to coordinate with dozens (or even multiple hundreds!) of other performers is its own skill, and I don't know of very many good ways to teach it other than practice.

[monocularvision]

This is what the HSLDA is for.

Colleges have become increasingly comfortable with accepting homeschool high school transcripts both because of their increasing regularity but also because of the actions of the HSLDA. One of the reasons we’ve been members for well over a decade.

[mips_r4300i]

My parents joined in 1998 after my school district started to threaten legal action against family friends, and we knew we were next.

It worked, and the school backed off. Might be a good idea for anyone thinking of teaching their kids at home, especially if they're going to be pulled from public schools like I was. Busybodies and troubled administrators are a real mess and aren't always rational, which can be very bad and expensive for parents.

[kej]

Having been homeschooled for high school myself, there are definitely people who won't accept anything that isn't official, but there are also people who just need to check a "received transcript" box on some form.

[bufordtwain]

My kids were homeschooled and had no problems getting into good universities and community colleges with their homeschool transcript.

[xnyan]

Most institutions in the US will accept a homeschool transcript. How much they will value that transcript is another question.

[js2]

Home schooled two kids, both in college now. My wife did their transcripts in Word. Accepted to North Carolina colleges w/o trouble.

[assimpleaspossi]

Both of my sons were homeschooled from third grade on. One graduated from the University of Missouri. The other from Roosevelt in Chicago.