Salvete and question about college
Greetings from Long Island--I'm a Catholic mother of 5 homeschooled children ages 3 to 13, and my husband and I are considering adopting a Latin-centered curriculum. If we do follow a curriculum such as this for our children, how do we make sure they'll be accepted by colleges (when the time comes) without being enrolled in an accredited home study school such as Mother of Divine Grace? Thanks in advance for your help!
It's a multi-step process
Probably the most important thing is to sit down with each child as they approach high school, find out what their hopes are regarding college, and (if necessary) level with them about any budgetary restrictions. Are you looking at community college? State schools? Private schools? Religious schools? The admissions requirements are all different. Once you know what options are and are not on the table, contact the schools in question and ask what they are looking for in applicants.
Great Books colleges will probably be delighted by a classically homeschooled applicant, even if - perhaps because! - their curriculum is unusual. There are a number of wonderful Catholic Great Books programs out there, if that's of interest.
It's usually easy to find the requirements for state schools, and the public schools often set their high school curriculum to assure that graduates can attend college in the state. Check college web sites for details, or phone the admissions office.
In creating a transcript, what you'll need to do is find a way to describe what you're doing in your LCC homeschool in terms that the colleges will recognize. If you're using Churchill, Modern Studies is "European History" and "American History." Classical Studies is "World Literature." English Studies is "Composition" (Rhetoric) and "English Literature." And so on. Many schools look for two years of a foreign language, and with a very few exceptions, Latin and/or Greek will be acceptable. (There's at least one military school that requires two years of a modern language.)
Hope this helps some, and that others who may have already gone through this can help with more specifics.
Good luck, and happy homeschooling!
-Drew Campbell
***
"I wonder how far I shall carry any opinion with me when I plead for active effort to revive the general use of Latin?" - Hilaire Belloc
***