How to get credits for homeschooling?

I'm Home schooled. How to get ready for college?

• I've been homeschooled all my life and am currently in 10th grade. So I really need some help with getting ready for college. I've haven't taken my ACT/SAT or whatever...I've taken some bench mark tests, but since I hit 10th grade I was no longer able to, What tests am I still going to have to take? My mom, my teacher has been keeping records of my grades and stuff....hopefully :P So who would we give that to? Any websites to help get me into the terminology? My Mom, has done things differently and therefore I have no idea what credits are, or how long I need to take a class to get them. I have a basic understanding of electives and majors, but not much. Things I'd really like to know are: How many Majors can I have? How many Classes in general? Is it worth breaking a record of 15 years of homeschooling to take two years of high school?

• Answer:

  You'll need transcripts. You won't really need grades, unless you got some from an institution (online school, dual enrollment, etc) If your mom assigns them herself then, frankly, they'll know she can give any work she wants a A or a B regardless of what it was like, so grade that your mom assigned herself are probably not going to cut any ice. Credits are only a system of "points" that accredited institutions offer; helps keep track of what kinds of classes you took and ensures you took enough hours-- again, irrelevant to homeschoolers. Colleges don't need them. What you ***really*** want more want to show a diversity of studies and educational experiences. You want to do some exciting things you can put down there, like start a business and keep track of it for a year, or raise goats, or work on a 6-month long science project or something. You would type them up and send them in with the application. Also, a great SAT/ACT score and essay will make a huge impact, because it will show you are capable of college level work. As for majors-- classes you take in college will fall into 3 categories: electives (free choice), core curriculum (required for everyone-- writing, math, science, etc.) and major classes (the classes for the degree you are going for). most people have one major; some have two; some change majors, though doing this too often can set you back because you have to start taking required courses for a different career path. Credits again are like "points"that you have to accumulate... like one 3 hour per week class can be 3 credits. If you have to take 6 credits in math, and you take a 3 credit course, you take one more 3 credit course. But you get to choose if you want geometry or statistics or trig, as long as it fulfills the credit requirements. High school isn't going to really help you with college... high schoolers have to learn a lot when they get there, too. Is there a book "College for Dummies?" No offense but I love the "Dummies" and "Idiot" books, they really help me when I don't get something.