Exploring College Options with your Homeschooler

For many high schoolers, college is a major topic of thought and conversation. The question of where your student plans to go to school is one they will hear quite frequently if they don’t already. So, with all that in mind, you and your student might be wondering how to start looking into colleges. With hundreds of options, there is a lot for you and your child to consider on this topic. To help you out, we’ve compiled some tips on exploring college options with your homeschooler!

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This post is part of a 10-day “Tips for Homeschool Moms Series” we are doing in conjunction with several other homeschool bloggers. Our theme is “Preparing Your Homeschooled Teen for College”. To see links to all of our posts and the other blogs, you can view this post. Now, our info on how homeschoolers can earn college credit in high school!

First Steps

Before your student begins researching colleges, it helps to have some idea of what they are looking for. Any sort of beginning question to jump into searching with is great. The search could be a name of a college they think they like, or it could be something like “Best university engineering programs,” or even simply “colleges in (state you live in).” Getting started is the important part, and your student can expand their research from there. 

There are a number of online resources to help your child dig deeper in their college exploration. In this podcast episode, we discuss a number of free ones that your child can utilize. It’s a good idea to have your student look into many schools in the beginning. Any school that they have a passing interest in is worth researching a bit. They might find something amazing at a university they never expected to apply to. There’s no harm in collecting as much info as possible, and it will help your student feel confident they are making the right choice when the time comes.

If your student needs some more help getting started, consider enrolling them in the High School Challenge. We offer this contest here at FundaFunda each summer to motivate kids to enjoy college prep. This challenge guides students through a number of tasks that aid in their college research. Additionally, students earn points for each challenge they complete, and the top students win prizes!

Factors to Consider

When you are exploring college options with your homeschooler, there are several factors to keep in mind. It might be helpful to make a list or spreadsheet with different categories and type information about each college as you learn about it. Then, you can organize this info into pros and cons for each school. This will aid in the decision-making process and help ensure your student makes an informed choice.

First, your student should consider the financial aspect of college. They need to think about what money they have, what family might contribute, if they are willing to take out loans, etc. This likely needs to be a family discussion. As they are looking at colleges, see what the tuition and estimated total cost is. Also, have your child see what academic scholarships they might qualify for. Then, you can see if these numbers line up with the funds available, or if your child will need to find other options. 

They should also consider how far they want to move for college. Do they want something close to home, or are they prepared to travel to a different state? If moving states, out-of-state tuition is of course a factor to consider. Your student should also consider travel expenses and plans for transportation. Aside from distance from home, your child should also make sure the college is in a location they are comfortable living in for several years. 

Additionally, you should look at the college itself to ensure they offer a program your student is interested in. Other factors to consider at the college itself include student body, size, housing options, sports, and academic strength. While this might seem like a lot, your child can pick the areas most important to them and focus on those. 

How to Explore

In this day and age, technology has created a variety of options for touring colleges from the comfort of your home. Many universities have options on their website to take a virtual tour of the campus and buildings. However, even if they don’t, your student can walk around the outside of campus using Google Streetview or a similar service. These virtual tour options are something your student should definitely take advantage of for any college they are considering. 

However, even with the invention of virtual tours, there are still aspects of an in-person tour that can’t be replicated digitally. I recommend having your student tour the schools they plan to apply to if possible. If it’s not possible to tour all of them, definitely at least tour their top choices. Face-to-face tours allow students to get a firsthand feel of the campus, talk to students, and see if the atmosphere is a good fit for them. They are also a great time for your student to ask questions. For information on what questions to ask, you can view this blog post.

And, of course, word of mouth is always a powerful tool for gaining information about colleges. If your students have friends, coworkers, relatives, etc. who went to a college they are interested in, have your child sit down to discuss the experience with them. Current students and alumni often have the type of raw information you can’t get on a university-led tour. This can help your students see the university from a student perspective to see if it is still a good fit for them.

Blog Series Info

We hope you enjoyed these suggestions on exploring college options with your homeschooler! This post is part of a 10-day “Tips for Homeschool Moms” series we are doing in conjunction with other homeschool blogs. Our theme is “Preparing Your Homeschooled Teen for College”. You can find all of our posts, as well as the other blogs and series topics linked in this post. Our partners have some excellent experiences and insight to share in their series, so please do check out their blogs!

As always, if you have any questions, comments, or other suggestions, please leave them in the comments below! 
Thanks for reading!