Homeschooler's Preparation for College  Your homeschool high school program may be lacking some vital elements. Do you know what they might be?  If your homeschooled child is in the high school years you should already be starting to prepare for the college years ahead. As you very well know, these high school years are very important in the college prep process and nothing should be overlooked.  You may ask what exactly needs to be done to prepare for college. Well, preparation for college usually entails:               •  determining an area for study (a major)             •  investigating colleges             •  completing all high school requirements             •  participating in extracurricular activities             •  taking the SAT (or ACT)             •  applying for college Doing these is an absolute must. In fact most homeschooled children do well in all of these areas. However, there are some simple, basic areas that many students miss, or, take for granted. It is these ‘missed’ things that can make the student’s college freshman year much more difficult than it has to be. Michael Dinger, the author of this web site, was homeschooled since the sixth grade After his junior year he spent two years at two different technical schools before enrolling in a private college in his junior college year. By the time he was ready to graduate from homeschool, both he and his parents thought he was well prepared for the college years ahead. However, upon starting his freshman year he soon realized that he should have put more of an effort in and done a few things differently during his homeschool years. On this web site, Michael carefully evaluates a variety of issues regarding homeschooling and the effects on preparation for college. He describes things that he thought he was lacking in and explains what the prospective college student should do to better prepare himself for the freshman college year. Assuming he was a typical homeschool student, it is a pretty sure thing that many more students are probably lacking in these same things. Michael doesn’t stop there. Since he was accepted, and eventually enrolled, in three different colleges, he has plenty of experience in the enrollment process. As such, Michael goes on to explain, simply and practically, what he thinks is necessary to get accepted in college, what to do to prepare for college, and then what to expect once in college. In summary this is what you find in this series of articles entitled  "A Practical Guide to  College Preparation for Home Schoolers."       13 Things To Do While Still Being Home Schooled             Each of these sections will explain one thing that will help you get into that college of choice. Some of them you may have already heard about but others may be things you never really considered.           Some of the 13 topics are:                         •  Testing                         •  Essays                         •  Deadlines                         •  Extra curricular activities                         •  Standardized Testing                         •  Aptitude Tests                         •  Job hunting                         •  College Courses       8 Things to Expect While in College             Each of these sections will help prepare you for the college enrollment process and what to expect in your first year in college. A couple of points are also shared on how to deal with professors and maybe get a better grade. Lastly, this site is written for either the student or parent. The student will be made aware of things he/she may not have considered and perhaps thought were not important, while the parent can learn the same things and help get the student grounded in some of these basic fundamentals. If you want a really practical and helpful way to help students prepare for college and get more out of those high school years, read through this series of articles. You are free to print any or all of these pages.However, if you don't want to bother with all the extra verbiage, this information is also availble in an e-book form which you can purchase for $5. (Just to clarify this, the e-book only contains information about homeschooling the higher schooler. All the other articles about basic homeschooling are NOT included in this e-book.)  We wish you the best in your homeschooling years. It is our hope that you take what Michael has shared and  learned, and apply it so that your students can enter college learning from his mistakes. Bruce, Elizabeth and Michael Dinger   P.S.      As you might expect, the three things that Michael lists as most lacking in many homeschooled students are three things that most homeschooled students do not like to do (and maybe even hate). His explanations of the importance of these are well written and very convincing. (Now if you can only convince your child of the importance.) Remember, the better your child does in high school and preparation for college, the better the chances of getting more scholarships and the less money that has to come out of your pocket or be taken out in loans by your child. (The points discussed on this site are also very important in the scholarship application process.) P.P.S.  As a special bonus, if you purchase this e-book you will get a free copy of  the e-book: "How To Save Time and Money When Paying Bills" which normally sells for $14.80. To read more about this e-book please visit www.howtosavetimeandmoney.com