Degree Finished - Thank You

[TrailRunr]

I'd strongly encourage to go beyond the diploma/transcript (which is a very good idea) and get the GED anyway. No need to disclose the GED unless necessary. What happens if he runs into a rogue job background check company that won't accept the homeschool diploma or transcript? Background checks are as common as weeds nowadays because they are so cheap. So this is going to be a problem at some point. Every job I got in the last 12 years had a background check.

[passit1]

sanantone, no! we were sworn never to talk about this publicly!

Mwhahahah!......er, I mean.....Congrats!!!!!!!

[dfrecore]

I'd strongly encourage to go beyond the diploma/transcript (which is a very good idea) and get the GED anyway. No need to disclose the GED unless necessary. What happens if he runs into a rogue job background check company that won't accept the homeschool diploma or transcript? Background checks are as common as weeds nowadays because they are so cheap. So this is going to be a problem at some point. Every job I got in the last 12 years had a background check.

Homeschool diplomas are legal and valid in all 50 states. And, a GED negates this, and leaves a stigma for a lot of people. I never advise anyone to get a GED if they can get a HS diploma instead.

[alzee]

Homeschool diplomas are legal and valid in all 50 states. And, a GED negates this, and leaves a stigma for a lot of people. I never advise anyone to get a GED if they can get a HS diploma instead.

Bluntly, in my experience, there is a far larger stigma associated with being homeschooled.

[jsd]

Bluntly, in my experience, there is a far larger stigma associated with being homeschooled.

Deservedly or not, I'd have to agree.

[dfrecore]

Bluntly, in my experience, there is a far larger stigma associated with being homeschooled.

There MAY be, depending on what we're talking about. If you're trying to get into Stanford, then they accept homeschoolers at a rate of about 25% of homeschooled applicants - a rate far higher than the 5% of regular applicants. They wrote the book on homeschoolers going into ivy-league schools, which other ivy-league schools have copied. They actively recruit homeschoolers, and there's a special admission process for them (they used to do an in-person portfolio review for every one who applied). Homeschoolers also score much higher on SAT/ACT exams, to the point that SAT & ACT stopped reporting what the scores were broken down by public school/private school/homeschool. Yep, just totally stopped giving out that info, because it made public schools look bad.

They also go to college at higher rates than public school students. They may not all go on to a 4-yr degree, but they do recognize the need for advanced studies in their field, and actively go out to further their knowledge at a higher-than-average rate. Research Facts on Homeschooling | Research

Home-Schooled Applicant Guidelines : Stanford University
https://alumni.stanford.edu/get/page/mag...e_id=39384
https://admission.princeton.edu/applying...d-students
Home-schooled Applicants | Yale College Undergraduate Admissions
https://undergrad.admissions.columbia.ed...e-schooled
https://admissions.cornell.edu/sites/adm...019%20.pdf

So, if you mean that SOME people might think badly of homeschooling, then you're right. But if you think that EVERYONE looks down on homeschooling, then you're not.

I have no idea how this translates to other areas, but so far I have not heard that homeschoolers are not being hired for jobs BECAUSE of their homeschooling. Or getting turned down for other things.

And, if a homeschooled student went on to get a 2-yr or 4-yr degree, then you probably would not even know that they were homeschooled. So whatever bias YOU might have against them would probably be negated by their high education (unless you just really hated the fact that they were homeschooled for some reason).

[dhillbilly]

This has become an interesting conversation. I have lurked on this site since around 2008 and I have responded more in the last few days than I have in the last few years.

Home school legitimacy has come a long way in the last few years. Even the military legally holds it on par with a HS diploma. A GED on the other hand is treated differently. The restrictions for GED holders have varied over the years (depending on recruiting needs, of course) from not allowing them to enlist at all, to quotas, to requiring higher ASVAB scores. The military was very blunt about the reasoning. If you couldn't stick it through high school, why would we want you? I don't believe a home school kid will have much problem passing a military background check. They, by their very nature, have more involved parents to keep them out of trouble.

Many colleges accept home schooled kids without too much trouble. Their stats show they score higher on the ACT/SAT and have a higher success rate once enrolled. They have the ability to work independently. The FAFSA even has a category for home school applicants. GED applicants don't have this reputation.

As long as you follow your state law, the home school program is legal. I have never doubted this. A GED would make all of this mute. Here is the issue, if he completed a GED he is no longer home school educated. He would lose that status with the military, colleges, or any other entity that by law would be required to accept it.

"With no High School diploma a degree is even more important."

This is the comment I made that started this whole firestorm.
This comment was not meant to degrade the legal standing of a home school education. The one thing that IS clear, it is different (but legally equal) from a standard high school diploma. If you check HS diploma on a FAFSA or a military background check, there are going to be problems. Yes you have the same legal standing, but not openly disclosing could cause problems.

My comment was not concerned with the legal side of it. Correct or not home schooled children have different stereotypes. Some good, some bad. Some accurate, some not. My only concern would be an interviewer's biased or uniformed opinion of home school educated applicants. In this situation I doubt a GED would be better. Just checking HS diploma could appear deceptive to an interviewer. At the interview stage you may not know why you didn't get called back.

In reality, I have probably over hyped the concern to my son. Home schooling is somewhat common here and could just as likely be looked at favorably. My overriding goal is for him to finish a degree, so I may have hit that angle a little too hard. As we all have seen here, a degree truly opens the doors out there.

[alzee]

There MAY be, depending on what we're talking about.

I'm talking about exactly I quoted and responded to, namely:

Homeschool diplomas are legal and valid in all 50 states. And, a GED negates this, and leaves a stigma for a lot of people. I never advise anyone to get a GED if they can get a HS diploma instead.

It's true that GEDs have a stigma in the eyes of "a lot" of people.

It's also true that homeschooling has a bigger stigma in the eyes of more people.

Both are equally worthwhile when it comes to post-secondary education, so obviously that's not the issue being discussed.

[TrailRunr]

The private sector background check companies are going to be the problem, not the local school administrator or other government folks that have to accept the diploma. Don't disclose the GED unless absolutely necessary. I don't disclose my AA degree anymore. Unless your kid is going to be unemployed, he will have to deal with them many times to be gainfully employed.

[soliloquy]

When my son graduates from high school, I intend to issue a transcript and diploma. I create quarterly reports now but I'll be creating a transcript at the end of each semester. In fact, I'm using HSLDA's https://www.fasttranscripts.com/ program because if something happens to me as administrator, someone still needs to be able to issue the transcripts if and when he needs them.

My state, NC, has more homeschool students that private school students and more homeschool students than any other state. It's not at all unusual in my area. I'm thankful for that.

Here's a list of homeschool friendly colleges.

http://www.homeschoolfacts.com/homeschoo...leges.html