Do You Really Need an “Accreditation Counselor?”

Hey Lee,
As you may remember we are moving into the High School years and I just saw your email on the new Transcripts. Scott and I are looking into purchasing it. One quick question…We live in Georgia and at our Homeschool Group many students in High School use an “accreditation counselor.” Quite frankly, I’m not impressed with what I’ve seen but I’m a little confused. Do we have to have someone put these together for us or can we do it ourselves? We’re looking at a few homeschool high school options for Madison, such as online classes as well as traditional courses…She has done some online virtual classes this year and LOVED it and is enthusiastic about doing it for high school.

Please don’t feel like you need to respond, but I thought I’d ask the EXPERT!:)
Thanks for your time Lee! You are certainly a resource that we’ll be using. In fact we hope to finalize our plans for her for 9th grade over Christmas when my husband is off and we can spend some really good time researching our options.

Peace!
Lori
Oh…and Congratulations on your Homeschool Blog AWARD!! Well deserved!

Dear Lori,
Thank you for your question – and for your sweet comments and encouragement!  I’m really pleased with my response to the e-book on Transcripts.  I wasn’t sure how it would work with the economy being so rough right now, but I’m getting a LOT of responses, so it’s very encouraging.  I think parents, ourselves included, are willing to spend money on their children’s education, and cut back in other places.  Although, I guess that really isn’t a change, is it?  LOL!  It’s always been that way!  I do have a long section in my book about accreditation, by the way.  I talk about strategies that will help you bypass accreditation as well.

Anyway, to answer your question about “accreditation counselors” – it depends.  SO much depends on your state law, that I really can’t tell you one “right” answer.  I can tell you my perspective, from a nation-wide view.  Colleges across the nation get applicants from everywhere – schools they don’t know.  Some public schools are not accredited, neither are some private schools.  Colleges don’t always know which public or private school applicants are from accredited schools and which aren’t.  Usually, they see homeschoolers as one of those applicants that comes from a high school they are not familiar with.  That’s one of the reasons why they look at SAT and other scores, course titles, and essays.

In my experience, it’s almost always a high school teacher who is concerned about accreditation.  I almost NEVER hear about colleges talk about accreditation.  Colleges see kids every day, who have good grades from accredited schools, yet come to college without being able to read and write well.  Did you know that 30 percent of children admitted to college are considered “remedial?”  Colleges know that accreditation isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Meanwhile, accreditation has become quite a racket among homeschoolers.  There are organizations that make money by accrediting homeschoolers when homeschoolers don’t need to be accredited.  Some parents get pressured into it.

Each parent knows their student.  Each parent can make the decision about accreditation for themselves.  Some people choose to go that route, and that’s fine.  I just don’t want people to seek accreditation because they fear they “have to.”   I was NOT accredited.  My children were admitted to every college they applied to, got good scholarships, and both won full-tuition scholarships to their first choice university.  You do NOT have to have accredited transcript in order to go to college or get scholarships.

You may need to pursue these counselors if your state law requires it.  If your state law does NOT require it, then it’s completely optional, and the right answer will depend on you and your family situation.  My job is to make you feel confident that you can do it yourself.  Then no matter what you choose to do, you didn’t make the choice based on fear.

If you ever need more confidence, that’s one of the things I do in my consulting on the phone.  I have a group of parents that call me regularly to discuss their high school plans and courses – and other parents that call me help to them with college applications.  I’m here if you need me!

I hope that helps!

There is a lot of excitement building over our Saturday e-book launch, for “The Easy Truth About Homeschool Transcripts.”  Stay tuned for more information on Friday!

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