From WorldSchooling To Top-Tier University:
The Untraditional Educational Journey Of A World-Traveling Teen
In October of her junior year in high school, our daughter scored a 36 on the ACT university admission exam. A 36 is a perfect score. It is a score that only 5,579 out of over 1.6 million obtain each year — or about 0.33% of test-takers. That was a day that changed everything.
A New Educational Pathway
When we left the U.S. in 2014 for a world-traveling lifestyle, our daughter was 10. We threw caution to the wind and forged a new-to-us educational path. Up until then, our daughter and son had attended an International French school in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Although their educational experience with its very heavy French focus was considered a bit alternative, the children were still educated in a traditional setting. The school followed a U.S./French curriculum, administered standardized tests, and required the kids to endure long hours each day at their desks. Once we boarded our first airplane to Costa Rica, we were already excited to pursue a very different educational path. Our new philosophy could have been labeled homeschooling in the mildest sense, but the term WorldSchooling more accurately reflected our new direction.
WorldSchooling: The World as a Classroom
WorldSchooling is a style of education where academic goals and philosophies are centered in a global educational experience. In other words, the world is the classroom. We chose to embrace a whole-child approach and encouraged interest-driven learning within (and beyond) the traditional aspects of our children’s education. In addition, we abstained from government-mandated exams, instead opting to gauge our kids’ abilities and growth against their own personal milestones not their peers’. We turned our focus to the following questions:
· Are our kids enjoying learning?
· Are they studying what they are passionate about?
· Does their education expand their thinking to the world as a whole and not restrain their thinking as if in a bubble?
This path was fruitful, the kids flourished, their curiosity and empathy grew, and, as a result, we had no intention of changing our course or altering the WorldSchooling secret-sauce recipe we had discovered.
Until that 36.
Many parents would lose their minds and be full-steam ahead at the notion of a framed top-university graduation certificate on their wall, but not us. Will and I are both university graduates, Syracuse and Fordham. We absolutely value a university education, but we do not believe it is the only path in life nor do we believe that a top university defines the level of success one will achieve. As a result, we have never groomed either child for an Ivy League future — no Russian mathematics or summer academic programs, no feeder schools, no forced team sports, ballet or violin. On the contrary, we encouraged them to forge their own paths, create businesses and define themselves not by where they hung their hat for four years but by what they wanted in life. It was all going great, unchallenged, until that 36. Here we were at a crossroads, standing with an extremely intelligent teen who wanted to explore a different educational path. So, what did we do? We did just as we had done with all the other passions she wanted to explore over the past eight years of WorldSchooling. We trusted her and embraced it.
Our Next New Educational Pathway
Right about now, you might be wondering why an eight-year veteran of a global educational model would choose to go back to the U.S. for university and back into a system that promotes the type of group think her parents shunned. Both children have always loved the traveling life. They have never once wanted to stop or even return to the U.S. for an extended period of time. We are grateful for their love of our traveling lifestyle, but we were always willing to return to a stationary U.S. life if they desired it. Neither did, but they have both expressed interest in attending university in the U.S., and we have always said we would honor this. And, as our daughter said, “It’s a new adventure — one I have never explored before.”
This article breaks down what our WorldSchooling teen shared with admissions officers that led to her acceptance into a Top 25 U.S. university. I will include what exams she took, how she prepared, what she shared about her traveling life, plus what we would do differently and one must-do. Each teen is special in their own way, and, of course, there are no guarantees that if you follow the path we took, it will yield the same results. The best advice I could give before you read any of this is to encourage your teen to present themselves just as they are with all their uniqueness. And, reinforce that they don’t have to try to be who they think admissions wants them to be. Admissions will see right through this and your teen will ultimately be unhappy.
This is the first time I will publicly acknowledge our daughter’s academic success with specific scores. We have chosen not to share them until this point. These are her successes, not ours, and we want to honor her and them. However, with her approval, we are sharing now to help those going after her. We want to provide somewhat of a map to show how this all works. The university admissions process is still a bit unknown, but, we hope that what we have learned can help others in some small way.
The Necessary Pieces of the Puzzle
This is our experience, and the information explains how our 18-year-old WorldSchooled student and recent high school graduate was accepted at multiple Top 25 U.S. based universities for a four-year program. I cannot speak for other universities, programs outside the U.S./hybrids with the U.S., or colleges within universities that welcome older non-traditional students with unique world, work or life experiences. These opportunities do exist, of course, and are apparently fabulous, but our daughter’s path was specific to her circumstances. I’m only versed in our experience and not an authority on other options.
ACT/SATs Exams
We were told these two exams are equally valued at universities; however, they do have different scoring methods and styles which are worth exploring. Our daughter took a practice exam for both the SAT and the ACT. She felt the ACT better fit her testing style, so she decided she would proceed with that. To prepare, she bought a $100 Method Test Prep online and took as many previous exams she could find on Reddit. There are bundles of ACT/SAT prep classes and tutors available, but our daughter felt she could self-study better. Plus, tutors cost upwards of $300 USD per hour, which was not in our budget. She then took the ACT exam in Paris in August and received an excellent score. She felt she could do better. So, she studied more and took it again in October when she received the perfect 36 score.
We have been asked a lot about our thoughts on test-optional admission policies. As I stated, we are not fans of standardized tests, because we don’t believe a student’s full potential rides on an exam. However, if you have a student who does well on either the ACT or SATs, I would submit them. It can only help.
Advanced Placement Exams
Now it is not as easy as, “You got a perfect score on your ACT, great, you are in.” These top-tier universities have a list of “highly recommended” items that place students at a competitive advantage. At the top of that list is Advanced Placement (AP) exams. The very thing we had sworn off was also something the schools immensely valued. AP classes feature college-level curriculum taught at the high-school level. Upon successful completion of an exam, the student receives college credit for the course.
When our daughter graduated high school, she had 13 four-year university classes on her transcript. The goal was for her to take more university classes and never buy into the AP system — substituting simulated university classes for actual university classes. This was unrealistic in her new paradigm. Within several weeks of getting that 36, our daughter enrolled herself in four AP exams: French Language and Culture, Spanish Language and Culture, English Language and Composition and Calculus AB.
Two months before she took that ACT exam in Paris, we bought a sailboat in France. We had just returned from five months in Japan during the early days of COVID, and we decided that it was time to realize our dream of learning to sail and circumnavigating. We had already spent years slow traveling the globe in Central and South America and had RV’d Europe for almost three years with a goal to visit every country on the continent. Added to this was our business, which involved hosting group travel trips around the world. We were quite capable of navigating foreign lands and getting results, but booking AP exams? Well, that was no easy task as a full-time traveling family immersed in a WorldSchooling educational model.
For those unfamiliar with the process, AP exams work like this. In October/November you must decide which exams you will sit for in May. Unfortunately, when you do not reside in the U.S. (but are a citizen), this becomes complicated. After dozens of calls, emails and pleas, we were told repeatedly that since our daughter was not a student of the U.S. schools of interest, she could not sit for the exam. Because we were living in Europe and the AP website said there were schools that offered AP exams outside of the U.S., we explored this route. We thought this option might even work better for us, as a flight would not be involved. Again, we were continually met with no, no, no, no. If our daughter did not attend the American international school offering the exam, they did not allow it. Finally, after days and days of trying this option, we found a small school in a rural part of Spain that would allow her to take the exams with their students. To this day, I am still grateful for their kindness; otherwise, I don’t know what she would have done. We had exhausted all other options. The following year, we ran into the identical scenario. We went through the same process — rinse and repeat — in Spain. This time, however, the exams would involve a flight from the Caribbean, as that was where we were living on our boat at the time. We decided to save up for the flight. As we knew from experience this was our only option, we continued despite the financial costs.
Our daughter took the exams and received a score of 5 (the highest score possible) on each of her 11th grade APs. She took a prep class for the English and Calculus exams and self-studied for the language exams. In her 12th grade year, our daughter took two more AP exams: Computer Science A and Calculus. She graduated with credits from six AP exams. She received 5s on all of them.
If you are planning on making APs part of your program and using prep courses, research options to make sure the teacher and material are compatible with your student’s learning style. From our daughter’s experience, not all prep services are alike; they can be hit or miss. Additionally, consider dispersing the courses over three or four high school years. It was very challenging for our daughter to maintain her course schedule, take ACTs, take APs, run her businesses, have time to herself, learn to sail, enjoy a social life, and travel. Make life easier on yourself and your teen. Spread the AP exams out.
It is relevant to mention that the travel expenses involved in taking exams in different parts of the world. The fees for the exams, and all other expenses associated with being a traveling WorldSchooler, was tough. We cut corners in other areas of our life, but, it must be shared that to go the nontraditional route and then want to play in the traditional world, not only cost us time, but also money. If you plan to go down this road, it is important to start saving early for potential expenses. In the beginning stages of our WorldSchooling/travel experience, I never envisioned that our daughter would need to fly somewhere to take an exam.
Rigorous Academic Program
One thing each university insists on is a rigorous academic program. We did not know what this meant. Since our daughter chose the traditional university path late in the game there was no changing the past, but I can share with you what she did once choosing this route.
Johns Hopkins CTY Program (recognized institution)
When we left the U.S. in 2014, our daughter took her final standardized tests, on which she did very well. The guidance counselor at her school suggested she test for the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth program. The counselor thought their online classes might be of value to us as we traveled. We followed the advice, which turned out to be a great decision. Our daughter tested into the program and has taken over a dozen classes through the renowned institution. These classes have proven to be some of the most thought-provoking and challenging courses of her curriculum.
APs (standardized exam)
Mentioned above and highly respected by universities, these exams are considered rigorous. They are standardized, which gives the university a consistent gauge by which to measure. Our daughter is currently in university with students who took as many as 20 AP exams averaging five per academic year.
Four-year university classes (recognized university institution)
Our daughter started taking online university classes at the following institutions as early as 9th grade: Oregon State University, Harvard Extension and Berklee School of Music. She studied French, Spanish, Japanese, English, music, government and history. When she graduated from high school, she had 13 four-year university classes on her transcript. I cannot be certain, but I believe the universities value the AP exams more than the university classes. The tough part is that you will never get a definitive answer as to which is better if you contact an admissions officer. If you do your research and look at current students, however, you will learn that the more APs a student has on their transcript, the better their chances are for top-tier universities. APs are standardized, and admissions counselors cannot begin to know the quality of a calculus class at XYZ online university compared to the AP Calculus exam. I am not saying that I agree with this process, but I can understand it considering all the applications university admissions staff receive each year.
Classes from smaller institutions
As WorldSchoolers, this was a challenging area for us. It is hard to prove the rigor associated with classes from smaller institutions. I know you may be thinking, “Wait — just because a school does not carry a prestigious institution name does not mean the coursework is not rigorous.” I know. The truth is, however, how does a university admissions counselor evaluate that? Our daughter took two classes through a community college in Los Angeles. We are residents, so it was free, which was great. In full transparency, however, she said they were the least rigorous classes she had taken thus far in her educational journey. Plus, after she completed these classes, we learned that top-tier schools do not value community college classes at the same level they do those of four-year institutions.
Classes taught by parents
This is the hardest to prove when it comes to rigor. I can tell you without a doubt that the entrepreneurship, European and world history classes Will and I taught our daughter were rigorous. She read over a dozen living books, visited sites, viewed documentaries, completed projects, performed interviews and wrote papers. Our daughter also started two businesses. The course description was on point, thorough and comprehensive, but it was still written by parents who also served as the counselors. It’s easy to see how difficult it would be for a third party to determine the rigor of the coursework.
An Arduous Academic Load
Our daughter has commented that the classes and exams she had to take in her 11th and 12th grade years were soul-sucking. She has expressed how glad she is that her entire educational experience did not look like these two years. She was learning and testing to university standard for rigor, and, after her previous endeavors, it felt empty. She was uninspired, but, luckily, she still had other parts of her life and educational history that could pull her though. Our daughter does not believe she would have gotten into the schools she did if she had not played the game a bit. In her words, she offers, “I would do it all over again. I learned so much about what I am capable of in short hyper-focused concentrations of time. That does not mean I liked it, but I got the goals I set out to accomplish. Well, most of the goals, but that is a story for another time.”
Activities
The top-tier universities are filled with previous sports team captains, piano players and ballerinas. You don’t usually find an RYA certified sailor who was an equal crew member while crossing the Atlantic Ocean for 22 days, or a teen who has hiked for 44 days across northern Spain. Most WorldSchoolers have very unconventional extra-curricular activities, yet, when it comes to universities, they are asked to hold space with more traditional activities. This is challenging. I wish I had more insight to share on this, unfortunately universities don’t share why you did not get in. I can share, however, what our daughter chose to include on her application. She embraced her unconventional activities and put great value on them. The hope was that, even if these were not seen as valuable in terms of criteria, that someone would see the value and say, “Our community could really use someone like this over another ________.”
The application features dropdown menus for areas you would like to share. Our daughter expanded on information in the following categories: athletics, work (paid), cultural, journalism/publications, community service and art. She shared about her businesses, her Dungeons and Dragons club, the website where she has critiqued over 150 books, her volunteer work across the globe, her translation work on our group trips, and other activities like sailing, hiking and much more.
So, where do experiences like sailing navigation, boat maintenance, DIY repairs in the middle of the ocean, free-diving, scuba, navigating foreign lands, international museums, cultural experiences/aptitude, global political awareness, humanitarian work, managing her health care in foreign lands — basically all her life experiences that have come from a traveling lifestyle — come in? There is no designated spot for this. These are items that are unfamiliar to almost all other applicants. There is a way to include it, however. It must be weaved into the activities lists, essays, course descriptions, interviews, and other areas. Is just as much — or more — weight given to these life experiences versus traditional experiences? I would hope so, but I don’t know.
Awards
Our daughter had very few awards. If she did receive an award, it was simply that she received it as a byproduct of what she was doing. We never specifically sought out awards. We are not a family that thrives on trophies. Did this fact harm her chances of getting into the universities of her choice? Again, there is no way to determine this. Given her acceptance record, however, we would venture to say it didn’t. But, all the other criteria had to be in place.
Reading List
Our family has been reading to our children since they were three months old. Books are a huge part of our family culture and learning style. It was suggested to me many years ago, when we started our alternative-education journey, to keep a reading list of books completed. I did, and it paid dividends –
ten-fold. One university admissions counselor suggested that, while it was not required but because she was homeschooled, our daughter present a high-school reading list. My record-keeping made it easy to provide the list. If you decide to do this, please note that it is much easier if you keep your list updated along the way, rather than trying to go back and remember what books your student has read.
Application
U.S. universities use the Common Application (Common App), which includes space for one required and one optional standard essay. In an ideal world, you would only write those two essays, but, in actuality, there are many more. On top of the initial two, each school can request additional essays. Our daughter submitted a total of 62 essays. I can’t speak for all schools or lower-tier schools, but, for our daughter’s selected universities, all but two required additional essays. The California public universities had their own separate application (they did not use the Common App), as did a tech school to which she also applied. This added even more work. I am not going to go into detail about what is on the Common App — you can view it on your own. Just know that the more schools to which your student applies, the more essays they will write, especially if shooting for a top-tier school.
Essay Writing
The 62 essays our daughter wrote varied. Some were as short as 100 words and others were as long as 900 words. For the two Common App essays, she chose to write about her Camino experience for one, and events/people who have impacted her through travel for the other. This was her main space to share her traveling lifestyle and how it has influenced who she has become.
Passion
Universities want to see that your student has a passion for something, and that they have found a way to pursue it relentlessly. Of course, this is all while still taking AP courses/exams and continuing on a rigorous class schedule that includes four years of science, four years of math, etc. This is not easy, nor is it always stated on the application “share your passion,” though it is implied on many. Our daughter’s passions are creating businesses and travel. She needed to show that she was taking classes to further her business knowledge, attending conferences, reading books and amassing other skills, while running her businesses and trying to scale them. But, these schools wanted to see more than a year of passion, which means your child would need to know their passion by 9th or 10th grade. That is so much pressure on a young person. I would love to see the universities make a shift to admit a bunch of kids who love learning, but don’t necessarily know what they want to do forever. A love of learning beats all.
I often get asked how we knew when to play up what made our daughter unique versus when to play by the university acceptance rules. We did not know. We had some guidance by those who have experience in this area, but, ultimately, there is no straight answer to this. I will say that is important to be realistic about where your student can get accepted. If they get a 25 on the ACT and the university says they have an average of 33–36 for admitted students (and the school is not test-optional), then it is unlikely your student will get in based solely on testing scores. If, however, your student also created and sold an app that is helping millions in poverty across the globe, would the university value this over the scores? No one can be certain. Ultimately, I would never downplay the uniqueness of your student. A university that values individual uniqueness will see this and want them.
Interviews
Our daughter had several interviews. For some, she felt great and for others, indifferent. Interviews are mostly conducted by alumni, and students are randomly selected for this step. Not all schools perform interviews. Interestingly, two interviews (with Top 5 universities) left our daughter feeling confident she would be accepted based on the interviewer’s response. Both interviewers expressed delight and fascination with her ability to accomplish what she had within the constraints of living on a boat and crossing an ocean. One even said, “This is the most interesting interview I have ever had.” She did not get into either of those schools, while other schools at which she did not interview, accepted or waitlisted her.
One question I am asked continually is whether WorldSchoolers have to do more than traditionally educated college applicants in terms of APs, university courses, higher ACT/SAT, etc. My answer? It depends on the institution to which they are applying and the level of competitiveness. I can only speculate, but since WorldSchooling is not mainstream and we don’t fit into the box, it still creates skepticism. If you are in this position, I would say, do more than is required if a top-tier is your goal.
This is my point of view. A long time ago, when Will was working remotely in our early travel days, he said, “I am one jealous person away from getting fired. I have to work harder and better than everyone else, so I don’t lose this great life we have.” If you want to experience this type of alternative educational style, you might have to work harder to prove yourself. But, look what you may get in return if your child has a goal of a top-tier university.
The Counselor (or Parent in Most Cases)
Getting Help
There are many companies that promise to be the key to all your college counseling needs. They can range from $100 for a 10-week class to $15,000 for personalized consultation through the entire process. I can personally tell you that the application process is not exactly straightforward from a homeschooling perspective. After all, it is not designed for us.
We hired a company to assist us, and the money was well spent. They did tell us a lot about the process that we did not want to hear and that we found disappointing. If this is your path, be prepared. Do not rest on your laurels or you might find your student missing out. We are an “all in” type of family. This served us well in some areas but not in others. We chose to think that our WorldSchooling methodologies and our daughter’s academic performance would supersede more traditional strategies that included years of top-university grooming/feeder schools and legacy acceptance. We were astonished after the fact to see the prominence of legacy acceptances. Still, knowing what we now know, we would not have done it any different.
High School Diploma
A high school diploma is not necessary to apply to a U.S. university. That may be surprising. Admissions criteria, however, require applicants to present the same materials as every other potential student: APs, rigorous academic program, X years of sports/activities/volunteer work, SAT/ACT scores and more. This is based on our experience with our daughter (an 18 year old traditional student) and her admissions/acceptance process to a top U.S. based university in a four year program. Other programs and countries may have different criteria.
Transcript
Every university requests student transcripts. This shouldn’t be a source of stress. As a homeschooling/WorldSchooling family, you can make one. Search online or ask other homeschoolers who have gone before you for help — and then put one together. There is no need to overthink it. It can be tedious, but it is not brain surgery. I created transcripts for my students in a spreadsheet, which makes it easy for me to calculate the GPA when I add in new classes and scores. There are a lot of items that should be on the transcript — frankly, too many to mention here. Our daughter’s GPA was 4.50 weighted/3.94 unweighted. A weighted GPA accounts for the curriculum’s degree of difficulty.
Course Descriptions
As my daughter’s counselor and record-keeper, I was most challenged by course descriptions. It was difficult to determine how much detail to include, what was relevant and what format to use. In the end, I used the course descriptions from the classes she took through institutions. I then added other classes and world experience that related to the subject. For example, the two Japanese language classes she was taking online at a university while we were in Japan for five months. I added to the course descriptions her art classes, in-person tutoring, tofu-cooking instruction and historical visits, as they brought value to her learning of the language. I kept meticulous lists of everything she experienced out in the world and included them on applicable course descriptions. If she read a book about the samurai while in Japan, it was added. If she participated in a local festival, it was added, and so forth. For the classes we taught, I wrote our own course description, and added in the activities and books at the end.
Curriculum Choices
We often get asked how we chose a curriculum for our daughter. We followed a U.S. university path curriculum starting in high school. This included four years of math, four years of science, language, electives and more. We found the most rigorous courses for her level of learning, and we relentlessly searched for new classes, institutions, and formats as she changed, and her needs changed. We never settled into any one institution (for four years and for all classes). Class selection was dependent on several factors, including the teacher, subject matter and teaching method, assignments and level of engagement. We were always willing to go back to the research board if our daughter was outgrowing any of the above.
School Description
This is the space where you, as the counselor, can include your WorldSchooling history and mission, educational philosophy and objectives, instructional setting, community, an overview of your curriculum, your grading system and the impact this lifestyle and education has had on your student.
Over the course of the last several years there are certain questions that continually come up. I would like to take the last third of this piece to share my thoughts and experiences on some of these more common questions.
Commonly Asked Questions
How many universities should one apply to?
It depends on who you ask. Our daughter applied to 16 universities. Some students she has met at university applied to as many as 30. Remember, each school has an application fee which ranges from free (if you qualify for aid) up to $100 per application. Our daughter was instructed to pick some “reach” schools, some target and some safety. It was predicted to be the most competitive year, which did prove true. If our daughter was to do this process again, she said she would do fewer safety schools. Her thought process was, “Why do you need so many? But also, be realistic of what is a safety.” She is a “shoot for the stars” type of gal, so she would have applied to far more reach and a handful at target schools. Surprisingly, she did not get into some lower-tier target schools. We were told this was probably due to practice known as yield protection, wherein the admissions board allegedly rejects or delays acceptance of an overqualified applicant on the grounds that they will likely be accepted and enroll in a more prestigious institution. The school she ultimately ended up attending was considered a target school on her list.
As far as reach schools go, our daughter was competitive in her scores and fulfilled the requirements for Ivy league schools. These were still considered a reach, because they are very competitive and almost every applicant also has perfect scores. So, even though she met and exceeded requirements, she still had to put them in the reach category.
Does the school acceptance rate make a difference?
Don’t be impressed by university acceptance rates; they are easy to manipulate. For example, University X only requires the Common App and a resume, while University Y requires the Common App and three supplemental essays. It is not unlikely that more students will apply to University X, because very little extra work is required. As a result, University X has a greater gap between applicants and accepted students, hence lowering its acceptance rate. This lower acceptance rate is no indication of the quality of the educational experience; it simply denotes its popularity among applicants. To get a true indication of a university, check its ranking on U.S. News Best Universities, and compare how it stacks up to the other schools your student is considering. Take note if it has changed positions on the list from previous years. The school our daughter now attends jumped three spots higher in the ranking, according to the 2022–2023 review released this month.
How can we afford a U.S. university?
U.S. universities are expensive for sure. We had an amount that we could contribute to our daughter’s college costs. If our daughter was unable to secure financial aid and scholarships to make up the remainder of the costs, she would have had to contribute/take out loans or choose a school outside the U.S. Luckily, she came in under that number (with some institutions), and we are grateful for that. Also, many top-tier schools have a need-blind admission policy, meaning they do not base acceptance decisions on the applicant’s financial status. Many have huge endowments. Recently, Princeton University posted an offering for free tuition to anyone making under $100,000. The message is not to let finances stop you from applying to a school. We consulted a financial aid specialist, and it was the best investment. She created projections for us as to our yearly out-of-pocket expenses. Take a deep dive into this. Learn the options. Some schools consider equity in your primary residence as money you can use for university (for example, a popular New York City school); others don’t expect you to mortgage your home. Each school handles these financial considerations differently. It is not as cut and dry as one might think, so it is worth exploring.
What is one “must-do” that you tell people?
You must visit the universities for more than a tour and one-hour admissions speech. I passionately believe every student should physically visit the schools they are considering. When they narrow it down to their top three choices, find a way to get on campus for several days. Meet with professors in the program, chat with students, look at the recent class social media pages, and dig deep into programs that might be of interest to your student. Although universities are doing well with virtual online tours, it is not the same. I cannot stress this enough. When our daughter was making her final decision between two almost-equally ranked schools, we spent several days at each campus. It was clear that one surpassed the other in accessibility to professors and dedication of students. We could see that one put a lot of money into “the show,” whereas the other remained understated. The latter let the strength of their programs shine. Our daughter also spoke with someone in the financial aid office at both schools. That revealed which university was more interested in the financial resources of the student than the quality of the student. My advice is always to get on the campus for more than three hours. And, beware of love at first sight. I experienced that at one institution, and once we pulled the curtain back, it was a tremendous disappointment.
What would we do differently?
We are still pondering this one. Even though our daughter met her goal, the overall experience was not pleasant for her or for us, as her parents. Many issues that surfaced were the same issues that caused us to leave traditional education initially. Our son wants to be a pilot, so he is already working toward that goal by participating in a dual-enrollment program online with a four-year university. He will graduate from high school with an associate of science in aviation, as well as his private pilot’s license. We are not sure if it will be necessary for him to take the ACT/SATs, having completed two years of university classes. We will decide once the time gets closer. My hope is that the two-year degree will be more than enough to prove rigor, without him having to take any AP courses. I have very strong feelings about these exams, and would like to spare another child the toll of added instructions and exams that leave them feeling uninspired and empty. The aviation programs he is interested in are not offered at top-tier universities, so his direction will differ from his sister’s. Each child is different in their goals, so it is important to be flexible and keep an open mind.
Is it harder or easier to get admitted to college as a WorldSchooler?
There has been a lot of chatter over the years about how WorldSchooling high school grads might have an advantage over traditionally educated applicants when applying to top-tier universities. One would think that institutions producing the world’s top leaders would value a global education, but this was not our experience. Clearly, there are exceptions, because our daughter is currently attending a Top 25 U.S. university and was accepted to others. WorldSchooling is a newer educational approach, and universities don’t yet know how to categorize it or what our students can offer. Some top-tier universities have a less than 1% acceptance rate for homeschoolers. (Most don’t share this information.) From what I remember only one university to which our daughter applied had a dedicated admissions person for homeschoolers. This person also managed international students — so dedicated is a loose term. In almost all cases, WorldSchoolers are judged against their traditionally educated peers and not considered for the unique skills they bring to the table.
If you are considering a WorldSchooling curriculum, I will tell you it was, hands down, a great educational path for our daughter. She is creative, kind and empathetic — plus, she is an independent learner with a level of passion and curiosity that astounds me. There will be naysayers when you choose an alternative path, and you may be criticized. Remember, however, if your child is thriving, others’ opinions of the matter is not your concern, especially (and I emphasize this) if they have not walked this road less traveled. Ignore them, stay steadfast and proceed on. No one but you and your child gets a vote on how you live your life or how you educate your children. I wrote this for all of you who are or will be met with the naysayers. It can be done.
And, I wrote this for our daughter. It is not the school that makes you fabulous, it is your unique being and all the obstacles you have overcome to get to where you are today.
Ultimately, your child will land where they are valued most and where they are meant to be. Whether it is top-tier school or other institution, their level of success and happiness in life remains within them — not in other’s opinions nor in a university.
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For privacy reasons, we are omitting the name of our daughter’s university, listed in the Top 25 U.S. News Best Colleges.