Earning College Scholarships!

Your child is homeschooling high school and the college years are fast approaching! College tuition seems to be climbing exponentially and earning those college scholarships is even more important than ever! The first thing that you can do to put your children into position for merit based scholarships is to seek a rigorous curriculum for the high school years.

Most colleges want to see four years of English, three to four years of math, three to four years of social studies, three years of science, two to three years of the same foreign language, two years of P.E., one year of fine art, and electives to add up to 24 credits.

This course outline will get you into college. What about how to get big college scholarships to help you through college? The basic, 24 credits plan is NOT your plan for big scholarships. In order to get a big scholarship, you have to exceed this strategy.

Make sure that you meet the highest possible criteria in every single area, and exceed for some of them. In your student’s area of interest, you may exceed it by far. I have helped clients that have four credits of music per year because that’s their area of strength. Make sure that you meet the minimum in each of these areas, but also that you have penetrated those areas of strength to get more than the colleges are looking for and earn those college scholarships.

It’s not uncommon for students (whether public, private, or homeschooled) to have 35 or more credits. The 24 is your bare minimum if you need a big scholarship. Keep in mind that it’s a win-win situation; what could possibly go wrong if you do more than enough? Your children might come out better educated and better prepared for adulthood, but nothing bad is going to happen if they have more than enough credits. Be prepared and get those big scholarships! For more tips and tricks, check out my book, "The HomeScholar Guide to College Admission and Scholarships: Homeschool Secrets to Getting Ready, Getting In and Getting Paid".