Cohen - And What About College



	Newsletter Library \| Meet the Author "And What About College?" by Cafi Cohen Interview with Cafi \| Book Excerpt

	Cafi Cohen Interviews: "College" Interview \| "Teen Schooling" Interview \| College Admissions Handbook Interview 1 (College): Intro \| Transcripts vs. Portfolios Interview 2 (High School): Intro \| Transcripts & Diplomas \| Umbrella Schools \| Volunteerism \| College & Scholarships \| Ten Reasons to Homeschool Through High School \| Homeschooling Almost-for-free curriculum for teens \| College at Age 13 \| Afterschooling \| Granting a Diploma Interview 3 (College Admissions): Intro \| Scholarships \| College Success \| High School HSing \| Putting It All Together

	Can a homeschooler make it to college? Do you need a diploma? How to write a diploma Transcripts vs. Portfolios Financial Aid & Scholarships Joe: Welcome to our cyber-interview here on the Homeschool Zone. Cafi, you’re a pretty busy person. Could you just touch on a few of your projects and just tell us a bit about the fruits of your labor, your children, Jeffery and Tamara. Cafi: Currently, I write Older Kids column for Home Education Magazine and both the Senior High and Multi-Media Review columns for Homeschooling Today. I co-host two marvelous WEB site discussion boards: Kaleidoscapes and the Home Education Magazine discussion boards. I also teach recorder and handbells in a homeschool co-op and give private piano lessons. And What About College?" How Homeschooling Leads To Admissions to the Best Colleges and Universities is my first book. My children, Jeffrey and Tamara, now 23 and 21 respectively, graduated from Desert-Mountain Homeschool in the early 1990's and won admission to selective colleges. Jeff graduated from the United States Air Force Academy in 1997. He currently flies F-16's in the Air Force. Tamara attends Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, California, works at a health food store, throws pots, and bikes everywhere. Our homeschooling approach was eclectic, using a mixture of traditional materials, unit studies, projects, community resources, self-directed learning, and anything else that worked! Joe: Can you define the idea of an "eclectic" curriculum and why you found this an effective way to homeschool? Cafi: Traditionalists say that kids learn best with texts, grades, and schedules. Unit study proponents say that kids learn best with thematic units. Unschoolers say that kids learn best when their interests direct the learning. Eclectic home educators say that there is no one way that all kids learn best all the time. Eclectic curricula therefore: combine the best of traditional, unit study, and unschooling approaches, customizing for each family and each child; constantly change and evolve; and focus on the family and the kid rather than on a single educational philosophy. Joe: Do you think that homeschoolers are at a disadvantage when it comes to college admissions? How does this contrast with their performance once they get accepted into college and later on in the real world? Cafi: Homeschoolers are at a distinct advantage in the college admissions process at 90+% of colleges and universities nationwide for one reason: the word "diversity". Most college admissions officers are not necessarily looking for "the well-rounded student." Instead college admissions officers are trying to create a well-rounded student body. Big difference. How does a college admissions officer create a well-rounded student body? Easy -- he admits applicants with weird backgrounds. Homeschoolers fill this bill. First they are homeschoolers -- still less than 2% of the population, which automatically qualifies for "weird". Second, as homeschoolers, teenagers often have had the TIME and OPPORTUNITY to pursue a range of unusual and eye-catching activities -- everything from running a business to writing a book to volunteering for worthwhile causes in their communities. The evidence for "how do homeschoolers do in college and in the real world" is largely anecdotal at this point. In the case of our own two children, Jeff, now 23, graduated from the United States Air Force Academy two years ago with a degree in Aeronautical Engineering (despite the fact that I never taught him to diagram a sentence and he never mastered cursive handwriting). A first lieutenant, he is completing his training in F-16's at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona, and he will be patrolling the Korean no-fly zone in later in the year. Our daughter Tamara, now 22, has amassed about 3 years of college credits, but doesn't find college terribly interesting. She's working in newspaper advertising sales and attending college part-time. She got her current full-time, with-benefits job in a very tight job market (10,000+ college students in a beautiful resort area) over 10 other more qualified applicants, largely, I think, because she works hard and gets along with people well. Joe: Thank you so much for your time, Cafi. Coming up next we have a FREE excerpt from your book. "And What About College?" by Cafi Cohen Excerpt from Chap 5: Recordkeeping & Transcripts		Interview & FREE Excerpt College For Free Homeschool Your Child for FREE FREE Scholarship Information also see: Homeschool Zone Essay "Getting Ahead of the College Game" by Susan Stewart You need to begin college consideration about four years before your child expects to enter college. Find out more Get noticed! How to Apply for a Scholarship by Jennifer Lieberman Everyone makes mistakes when it comes to applying for scholarships. Read this informative article on how you can avoid making some fatal errors in getting your scholarship.

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	Reprinted by permission of the author from "And What About College" All rights reserved. This may not be reprinted without the express written permission of the author � 1999 Cafi Cohen