[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.