Homeschooled Students Entering College, Article Review Example

Homeschooling is a growing trend in America, as is evident by the fact that millions of students are homeschooled in the United States each year, according to reports from the U.S. Department of Education. Additionally, homeschooling is popular at the secondary level, which means more homeschooled students will apply to enter universities, and this presents a challenge to admissions officials (Sorey and Duggan). After graduating from homeschool, these students often must deal with challenges when applying for admission to college. One of the reasons for this, according to Duggan and Sorey, is because official transcripts are required for admission, and homeschooled students do not have these. However, “The National Center for Home Education suggests that while homeschoolers should produce a transcript demonstrating completion of high school, colleges should have flexible guidelines for these records” (p. 27).

Homeschooled students may be as academically ready for college as traditionally schooled students; however, homeschooled students have more challenges with the traditional institutional approach in the college environment, which includes having more difficulty navigating the process of applying to colleges (Sorey & Duggan, 2008). This is no doubt due to homeschooled students’ lack of social interaction skills, after being homeschooled for many years. Homeschooled students often required help with the college application process and many colleges do not provide special programs to these students, nor are any workshops or services for them available.

Another issue that may be faced by homeschooled students is having difficulty grasping college-level subjects. This could occur because homeschooled students are accustomed to more personal attention from being schooled at home, and college classes are large and largely impersonal. For example, college classes can have more than a hundred students in each one, and this means that students may find it difficult to receive one-on-one tutoring. Instructional knowledge is important for students to get them ready to attend public colleges and universities, as well as getting them accustomed to the ideologies of colleges and universities and what they can expect from their instructors. Additionally, tutors at the college level are expensive, which may be difficult for most students to afford. Therefore, homeschooled students may need to put forth more effort to keep up in college classes. In addition, it may be questionable if they have acquired the social skills necessary to effectively function in the broader society (Kunzman and Gaither).

If homeschooled students entering college have poor social skills, it may cause other students not to associate with them as easily, which may lead to isolation for the homeschooled students, which could then lead to depression. This type of scenario may lead homeschooled students to feel secluded at college because they may feel out of place. Another problem that could form for these students is the issue of low self-esteem, which makes it questionable whether they will be able to develop healthy relationships and work with other students effectively (Kunzman and Gaither).

Although homeschooling students has it challenges, it is steadily increasing in popularity, which has resulted in homeschool families advocating for political and legal action to ease the burden of homeschooling their children. The “homeschooling movement”, as it is called, is definitely a significant reality in today’s education system in America.

References

Kunzman, R. and M. Gaither. “Homeschooling: A Comprehensive Survey of the Research.” The Journal of Educational Alternatives 2.1 (2013): 4-59. Print.

Sorey, K. and M. H. Duggan. “Homeschoolers Entering Community Colleges: Perceptions of Admission Officers.” Journal of College Admission (2008): 22-28. Print.