Homeschooling and University: changing minds and attitudes

From Home-schooled college applicants rely on essays, interviews, in the Ventura County Star:

Like thousands of high school seniors across the country, Madeleine Ary is applying to college this fall.

But unlike most students, Ary is home-schooled, so when she fills out her applications, she won't have all the traditional transcripts or teacher recommendations that most universities require.

Instead, she will rely heavily on essays and interviews to show college admissions officers that she's a bright, highly motivated student who has a passion for music, sailing and animals.

The very fact that colleges are considering home-schooled students should be thought of as an accomplishment. However, stereotypes are difficult to shake. Matt Ward, dean of undergraduate enrollment at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, states,

We want to make sure they [home-schooled applicants] get to a certain level in science, math or English, so getting that description is critical [.] ...They might be No. 1 in their class, class president and captain of the chess team, but they're only playing (against) Dad. ...They might be able to test well and write well, but are they socialized, prepared to make a contribution as a leader, to socialize into a broader community?

Perhaps Ward should reference the Home School Legal Defense Association and a survey which they commissioned in 2003. I find the graph below particularly striking:

Maybe Mr. Ward should be concerned about whether or not the non-homeschooled applicants are "socialized, prepared to make a contribution as a leader, to socialize into a broader community"?

Comments

[Ray]

Homeschooling along with vouchers threatens the teachers unions. In the current US public education system the teacher's union can hide the most mediocre of their membership and still collect union dues for same. Rather than competition which benefits students, the teacher's unions desire a de facto monopoly on education to the benefit of the teacher's union primarily, the teacher's secondarily and the students lastly.