One of the scary questions parents always ask when considering homeschooling for high school students is whether or not they can get into a college. Homeschoolers are going to college all over the country, but it is important to plan your curriculum with eventual acceptance in mind.

Start by having your student select five colleges he or she might want to attend. Be sure one of them is the closest state college, even if he is sure he doesn't want to go there. No one can predict what circumstances might dictate the need to go to school close to home. Below are five colleges and their entrance requirements as of the date I am writing this (February 1999). Please note that these are summaries and I might have made errors. Check these out for yourself if you are interested in these colleges.

English: 4 years (3 years college prep literature or composition. 1 year may be public speaking, journalism and other types of English classes. May not include remedial, developmental or applied classes like acting. See the link for details.)
Math: 3 years (Must include algebra, geometry and second year algebra. Higher levels recommended. Algebra taken in eighth grade acceptable, but must take second year in high school.)
Social Studies: 3 years (Not all types of classes apply.)
Foreign Language: 2 years (consecutive and in same language. Includes Latin and American Sign Language. Only one may be taken in eighth grade.)
Science: 2 years (one full year in biology, chemistry or physics with lab, both semesters in same subject. Second year any course.)
Fine, visual or performing arts: ½ year (see the specifications for this.)
Academic Electives: ½ year

English: 4 years (grammar, composition, writing to learn)
Math: 3-4 years (2-3 years beyond algebra 1 including geometry, intermediate algebra, precalculus, trig, calculus)
Science: 2-3 years lab science
History or government: 2 years
Foreign Language: 2 years, prefer in same language
Literature or writing: 2 years (Shakespeare, mythology, creative writing, American lit
Additional: about 70 percent of classes should come from academic classes, especially English and math.

English: 4 years
Visual and performing arts: 1 year
Algebra 1 and 2: 2 years
Geometry or other advanced course with geometry as component: 1 year
Natural and physical sciences, at least one year with biology, chemistry or physics lab: 2 years
Social Studies: 1 year
United States History: 1 year
a single foreign language: 2 years
recommended: additional year in math, foreign language and arts

English: 4 years
Mathematics: algebra and geometry
Foreign Language: 2 years, same language
Lab science: 1 year in 10th-12th grade
Social Science: 2 years in 10th-12th grades
College Prep electives: total of 3 full-year courses (1 full year course in 3 areas. Choose from: advanced math, advanced foreign language, advanced lab science, computer science, advanced social science or fine arts

You'll notice that most colleges want four years of English. You should teach English every year, alternating literature and composition each semester, or combining them all year. Most also want four years of math, all at algebra or higher levels. Two years of a foreign language is standard and some colleges accept American sign language, which has it's own grammar. Most want two years of science and one must be a lab course. This one is tougher, because most want outside proof of the class. If you do it at home, document it well. Social sciences vary, but I wouldn't do less than two years and four is better. Be sure to include United States and World History, as well as government, geography and world problems. Most also want to see academic electives. My daughter has taken electives in journalism, Jane Austen, and Holocaust.

Choose care in titling your classes. You want classes that sound hard and academic. The standard titles used by the high school are good and try labeling them "Advanced" if the work really is hard. Look through college catalogues for title ideas.

Most of the colleges I talked to at my daughter's college fair wanted good documentation of classes: a syllabus, an explanation of how the class was chosen and who chose it (they like student-chosen courses), and what books were used. They want to know what activities you did and any outside activities that supplemented the work, such as a vacation to a Civil War battlefield the year you studied the Civil War, or helping to care for a disabled sibling the year you studied Special Needs Children. Try to find conferences, volunteer work, or experts who will talk to your student. All those look good. You might consider taking harder classes like lab science or foreign language at the local high school or junior college, to document them. Some colleges said an SAT II test in the subject would serve as proof they knew the subject. A few colleges wanted portfolios with samples of quality work, so assign lots of papers and keep them.

After your student has researched his five colleges, have him plan his entire four years. You can always make changes later, but have a plan. High schools have a list of graduation requirements. Yours should be based on college entrance requirements. As he finishes each class, check it off the list. Be sure to balance out the easy and hard classes so he doesn't wind up with calculus, chemistry, advanced French, senior literature and so on all at once. Add at least one fun class every semester.

My next article in this series will be on planning your English curriculum.