Normal Homeschool Family - Big College Scholarships

Michele is a homeschool parent like you. Her life is busy and complicated, and her children are not perfect. She is a normal parent with normal children. She also has experienced a huge success. I'll bet you would like to know how Michele did it!

Here is Michelle's Story, and I'd like you to read her whole letter. She really wanted me to share it with you, and I can see why! It's filled with helpful hints and the voice of experience. While reading, celebrate with Michele, and glean nuggets of wisdom along the way. At the end, I'll give you my ideas on finding big scholarships for YOUR normal family!

Michele is a normal parent in a normal family, and so are you! Each family is unique in a different way, and that is why homeschooling is so effective. At the same time, there are certain themes that we can all apply to our homeschool. Let me share what I hear Michele saying.

As Michele clearly explained, getting into college may involve a "horrendous, overly-complicated process of applying to universities."  That's true. It's not a walk in the park. You can be prepared by keeping your homeschool transcripts and course descriptions up to date, so they are ready to go. Those records are remarkably difficult to whip up in a few minutes, and actually take some time and effort to create, so work on those in advance.

Start the application process early, and learn as much about the college admission process as possible, well before senior year. In fact, Michele wrote to me a year ago, with great advice about being prepared early.

Michelle said, "Lee, you may want to warn your readers about this--my son is a junior and is visiting colleges in the Southeast right now. THREE of these colleges have moved their opening registration to AUGUST 1 of the senior year!! And this is NOT early action or early decision! So it's very important to get your ducks in a row over the summer before the senior year and iron out the transcripts EARLY!!! August enrollees are getting first choice of dorm rooms, etc., even though it's a year in advance!"

Encourage your sweet, geeky kids! There are even more scholarships available if your child is interested in STEM degrees, like Michele's son. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. STEM careers are in high demand. Companies having difficulty finding enough qualified employees have resorted to hiring from overseas. These companies are giving large chunks of money to colleges, so they can provide scholarships for STEM students. If your child is interested in science, technology, engineering, or math careers, they may have an even greater chance of earning scholarships. Did you notice that Michele is technology-challenged? She may not choose a STEM path for herself, but she did recognize and encourage her child's interests. Go ahead and fuel those geeky interests.

College scholarships don't arrive all at once, the moment you receive admission. Michele heard about some scholarships early in the process, but other scholarships come later in the process. These waves of scholarships may take a few months to reach you, so don't panic with the first announcement. At the same time, scholarships often reward promptness. Turn in your applications early - not just on time, but early. After the first wave of scholarships that she shared above, Michelle later told me:

"We got back from our swim meet, and in Monday's mail, Gus received ANOTHER $12,000 scholarship from the College of Engineering at Mississippi State! That's their top departmental scholarship for entering freshmen within the college."

This is a great example of the way scholarships come in waves.

Michele went on to mention how important it is to be aware of potential departmental scholarships, too:

"I don't think a lot of parents know about departmental scholarships, or think they're only for upperclassmen (in some cases, I guess they are), but these sometimes go unclaimed. As you know, schools like MSU have recently made it that when you apply to the university, you fill out one application with several essays (and home school attachments!) and that submission is good for all of the university and departmental scholarships, but other schools have separate departmental applications. I know a lot of other parents don't always know this."

As Michelle and her family learned, some school scholarships may not be advertised, so make sure to investigate what each college offers.

A college's sticker price may be astronomically huge, but if you position your child for scholarships, it can be remarkably reasonable. Great colleges, and average colleges, almost never charge normal students a sticker price. Of course, if you turn in your application late, with minimum effort, they may reward you with a sticker price! But homeschoolers are used to investing their effort in their children. Like Michele, some students might be able to go for free, with great scholarships and incentives, particularly when students choose an in-demand field like science, technology, engineering, or math.

Comprehensive homeschool records can make a huge difference in college admission and scholarships. Colleges want to know the rigor of your child's homeschool education. They want to understand your homeschool's academics as well as they understand the local high school's, so give them the information they crave. Although your child might get in with a simple transcript, if you want scholarships, you may need to provide more. Describe your classes in an organized, clean, concise way that is easy for them to read and find the information they need.

Think about the return on your investment when you are homeschooling. What are you doing to prepare your child for college admission and scholarships? Is it working? Is it worth it? You know how we want our children to become engaged in learning, and absorb information? We don't want them to only listen to ideas, we want them to learn, right? In the same way, you need to become invested in learning how to homeschool high school.

There is a big return on your investment when you spend money learning to homeschool high school, and learning to create transcripts and course descriptions. For example, suppose Michele invested $200 in learning to homeschool high school, and her child earned $60,000 in scholarships. That, ladies and gentlemen, is a 3000 percent return on investment.

As a homeschool parent, you have two roles in your child's academic preparation. First, you are the teacher or mentor, helping the child learn. But what makes you different is that you are also the principal or school administrator, responsible for your child's academic records. Don't let that scare you! It's not so hard to do, once you figure it out. It's as simple as paying bills, and you do that every day.

It's not always fun, and it may be a chore, but it's not scary or terrifying. Find out how to create official homeschool transcripts, and thoroughly document your academics with comprehensive homeschool records. Learn the process of finding and applying to college, so you aren't caught off guard by the challenge.

Another homeschooler was kind enough to share her success on my Facebook page. Her story is more like two successes, combined into one magnificent story.

In the first half of the story, she tells us about her child, struggling to earn college scholarships based on her SAT score.

"My daughter was 10 points away from the number she needed for $2000 more in scholarships per year! I called the school and proclaimed that my daughter is NOT a number and that she was always just a poor test taker. It didn't matter. She took the SAT 3 times and the ACT, missing the number by 0.2 points in the conversion to SAT!!! She eventually got the number and the extra scholarship."

This young girl took the SAT again and it was worth $2,000 per year. Let's do the math ... that's $8,000 for taking a test! Because she took the test just one more time and because she studied, and tried to increase her score, it translated into big bucks.

How many hours did this teenager study in order to earn her portion, the $8,000? If she worked a LOT, perhaps she studied for 40 hours total. It is unusual to study that much, but it's possible. If she had studied that many hours, this young teenager would have been earning $200 per hour to study for the SAT! Is that worth it? Absolutely! In a heart beat! Do you know many teenagers that make $200 per hour? I don't!

In the second half of this story, this homeschool mom talks about how she was desperate and struggling to afford college for her children.

"I also just wrote the college (private college) and asked if there were anymore scholarships available because I had 2 kids in college. They awarded her $2000 more per year!!! A letter worth $8000! Always ask!!!"

This mom wrote a letter to ask for more scholarships. It was worth $2,000 per year. Quickly doing the math again, that's $8,000!

Again, because Mom took the time to express her concerns.

Let's do a quick review of the math:

One letter = $8000.
One morning = $8,000.
Total = $16,000

These are real dollars! How many hours would you be willing to work to earn $16,000?