BC Graduation Plus

Many home learning parents have questions about how to approach high school and how to ensure that their child can access post-secondary if they want to. Here are the links for the relevant articles posted on this site and elsewhere.

How Will Your Child Get Into University? by Kathryn Harcourt

Kathryn Harcourt, a home learning parent, is a counsellor and works for a local school district's Continuing Education department. In this helpful article, she explains some less-known alternate routes to getting a Dogwood, without ever having to attend high school.

University of Victoria Acceptance Story by Kelly Green

Kelly Green is the home learning mom of four boys. Her two oldest children attend the University of Victoria (UVic) and are currently in the theatre department. Her oldest son began attending UVic in the fall of 2006. This is the story of how he got there without a high school diploma.

Learning at Home: Homeschooling, Rhodes Scholarships and the love of learning by Daphne Gray-Grant

Daphne Gray-Grant is a Vancouver writer who also has homeschooled her children. She wrote this article in 2003, highlighting the stories of two homeschoolers who were admitted to UBC.

Rethinking Post-Secondary

This article looks at some societal fallacies about higher education and asks us to examine alternate paths to life-long learning.

Portfolio University Entrance

Some American universities are moving toward reviewing portfolios submitted by homeschoolers rather than expecting traditional transcripts. Also included in this article are tips on how to create a portfolio for this purpose.

Seven Reasons to Not Send your Kids to College

This is a review of an article by James Altucher posted on Daily Finance. James feels that the college industry is a scam and that they are better things to do with that money (and better ways to educate yourself).

The Myth of Post-Secondary Education

This insightful post by a home learning momma (with a PhD in her pocket) lays out the realities of post-secondary education today and where it actually gets you.

Five Years from Now: Bill Gates

Bill Gates recently spoke at the Techonomy Conference in San Francisco and during a Q & A time, provided some interesting predictions into how post-secondary education will be delivered in the near future.

Earl Gary Stevens on Post Secondary: "The Door is Open" and "Starting College"

Earl Gary Stevens wrote a couple of articles for Home Education Magazine about post-secondary admission requirements and his own son's experience of taking college courses at age 14.


Off-Site

From Homeschool to UBC by John Klippenstein

John Klippenstein tells the story of how he helped his daughter Rachel gain admission to UBC without attending school.

Tammy Camp: 10 Places to Get a Free Education

"Can’t get an MBA from MIT or Stanford? Don’t worry — you don’t really need one of those anyway. Now you can study the same great content from big-time biz schools on your own schedule, and stay focused on building the world’s next great tech company."

Dear Students: Don't Let College Unplug Your Future  from Academic Revolution

"I'm about to say something a college professor shouldn't say to his students, but I care about you a lot so I'm prepared to break the code and say what needs to be said: Your college experience is likely to set back your education, your career, and your creative potential. Ironically, this will be done in the name of education. You deserve to know about this! You have what it takes to reclaim, reform, and remix your education. Don't let college unplug your future!"

7 Ways to Get into University Without a High School Diploma from Sarah Rainsburger's blog

Although Sarah's recommendations are for Ontario homeschoolers, much of the information applies for BC homeschoolers as well.

12 Dozen Places To Educate Yourself Online For Free from Marc and Angel Hack Life

"All education is self-education. Period. It doesn’t matter if you’re sitting in a college classroom or a coffee shop. We don’t learn anything we don’t want to learn...

"If you’re interested in learning something new, this article is for you. Broken down by subject and/or category, here are several top-notch self-education resources I have bookmarked online over the past few years."


300 Free Online Course from Top Universities from Open Culture

"Get free online courses from the world’s leading universities. This collection includes over 250 free courses in the liberal arts and sciences. Download these audio & video courses straight to your computer or mp3 player."

Blake Boles' College Without High School: A teenager's guide to skipping high school and going to college

"What would you do if you could go to college without high school?

"Would you travel abroad, spend late nights writing a novel, volunteer in an emergency room, or build your own company? What dreams would you be pursuing, right now?

"College Without High School is a book for teens who want to pursue their dreams outside of high school, while keeping the option of attending a 4-year college or university."



Canadian Media

CBC: Can home-schoolers get into university by Beatrice Ekwa Ekoko

Macleans: University without high school by Julia McKinnell


BC Links of Interest

Adult Dogwood Graduation Program

"The B.C. Adult Graduation Diploma (Adult Dogwood) student must be 19 years or older to gain entry to the Adult Graduation Program; 18-year-olds may qualify if they have been out of school for at least one continuous year prior to enrolling and they have permission from the school administrator. Credit for at least three of the courses needed to meet Adult Graduation Program requirements must be acquired as an adult."

BCIT - part-time studies without prerequisites

"Many courses offered through Part-time Studies have prerequisites which are listed in the description for the course. If no prerequisite is listed in the course description, then none exists. It is up to you to ensure you have completed courses, or have the skills and knowledge equivalent to the listed prerequisite(s). All Part-time Studies courses and programs are taught assuming participants have a Grade 12 level of education, including English at the Grade 12 level.

"While there are some exceptions, you do not need to meet any particular entrance requirement(s) to start or complete most programs offered through Part-time Studies."


Camosun College Admissions Policy

Douglas College Admissions Policy for 17 years and older

"Applicant will be at least 17 years of age on the first day of the first semester of attendance and has not been enrolled at a school for at least one year;"

Kwantlen University College Admissions Policy

"Home Schooled applicants will be evaluated as equivalent to BC Grade 12 graduates, provided they have written and passed the BC Provincial English examination. Students under 19 who have not written the BC Provincial English examination will be required to write Kwantlen's English Placement Test (or equivalent) prior to admission as a Special Admission student. Home Schooled students who require Mathematics for entrance to their programs may also be required to write Kwantlen's Math Placement Test."

Thompson River University Admissions Policy - Open University

UBC Access Studies

NEW - Ministry of Education Policy Document: Distributed Learning - Policy for homeschoolers.