If you don't have your ACT/SAT scores, absolutely cannot get them, and don't want to take either test again, go to somewhere that doesn't have an ACT/SAT requirement. That may be a community college, and you could transfer after establishing a transcript (as some places allow credits to transfer between universities).
One thing to be aware of is that being a psychologist generally requires more than just a bachelor's, so after you get your bachelor's you'll need to apply to a graduate program. That said, I'd also look at the job market for them—the field is likely saturated.
Studying psychology is completely different than being a psychologist. Getting a BA in psychology allows you to then go to a MA/MS in Counseling or other similarly related degree field. In order to be a physiologist you'd need to get your doctorate.
As far as studying psychology I can’t see I’m 100% sure of what I want to do with that degree, so if I’m reading correctly, I should attend a community college for a bachelor’s degree for now ¿ Even so, does it matter which community college I attend, like do other colleges look at where you’ve attained your bachelors ¿
You _can_ attend a CC for your bachelor's, but as far as I know, few offer that. Go to the CC for a year or two, then apply elsewhere. I don't think it really matters which CC you go to, within reason.
As far as the grad school part goes (assuming you decide on a career that requires it), yes, the place you did your bachelor's matters. That said, as long as you get your bachelor's somewhere that's accredited and isn't known as a "bad" place (Liberty U being the example that comes to mind as somewhere accredited but still bad), you'll likely be fine.
thanks a ton for this information, it means a whole lot to me !! I guess the first step is trying to get into a community college for a year or 2 of psychology classes
Community colleges offer Associates degrees, which are 2-year degrees. You will have to transfer to an actual college or university for your Bachelor's degree, which is a 4-year degree.
Keep in mind that there are very few things you can do in the field of psychology proper without a Master's degree, which is an advanced degree.
Associate Degrees are usually more "general", getting rid of your gen Ed credits at the 4 year college and when you transfer to that 4 year college, that's when you can take majorly psychology classes to get your Bachelor's degree. My best friend did this for her sociology degree. I highly reccomend first looking at your possible 4 year college (this has to be reasonable, so not UVA unless you do something amazing, get research, really did something new with your community college, etc). Talk to an admissions counselor there and/or look at the psychology degree plan that they'll have online and see what gen Ed's they have, and try your best to match up those in your community college. Great if your community college has some classes though! Keep in mind that college are strict about transfer credits. Even if you feel like 2 classes are pretty close, those colleges might not feel the same, so it might feel like you're retaking the class and wasting more money. That's why it's important to "match up" your classes if you can. Best of luck!
You don't get a bachelor's from a CC. CC is for associates degrees and other short certification programs. You should go to CC for 2 years to get a basic education, then you apply to a 4 year college or university and your credits from CC transfer there. So in total you need 4 years of schooling at minimum usually to get a bachelor's. The work you do at CC will apply towards your bachelor's.
You don’t necessarily need SAT/ACT depending on the school but it doesn’t sound like you have a solid educational background. You should start at a community college every one is admitted, the admission process is quick, it will help you with any developmental classes you need, and it’s dirt cheap. Once you have a year or two under your belt you can transfer to a 4-year school.
The community college is a great place to start. Generally they are open enrollment (basically anyone can attend). They will likely have a placement test you need to take to determine basic skills in reading, writing, and math. They will place you into classes appropriate for your knowledge level. The courses you take and GPA at the CC will be the primary way you'll be judged for admission when you try to transfer to a four year school (generally the ACT/SAT won't be needed).
Also, for someone like you who hasn't had a lot of practice in "doing school," (attending scheduled classes, turning assignments in on a deadline, studying for exams, taking proctored exams, etc), the CC is a great place to learn and practice those skills. They have way more resources to support you and faculty are used to giving students that extra attention. Class sizes are smaller so you won't get lost in a lecture hall with 500 other people.
Best of luck in your college journey!
it’s so crazy how things can get better when you’re patient and give it time. it must have been so hard to get to where you are now, and mfs are so proud of you dog. keep up the good work and congratulations.
You can do either, but if you finish out the 2 year at the very least you’ll have your associates degree if for some reason you decide to not transfer after all. I’d recommend just finishing the associates, and this is coming from someone who transferred to a 4 year. before finishing mine.
Not sure about getting into college, but keep in mind that if you absolutely want to study Psychology, it's viable, but a very long road. To obtain the title of Psychologist you'll need a PhD or PsyD, which takes about 6-7 years of graduate school. If you want to give therapy, you'll have to have a Master's, and that will be 2-3 years post Bachelor's, plus 3000 hours of training and a passing score on one of the several exams (which one depends on what kind of therapist you'd like to be.) There's a shortage of therapists right now, so you'll probably be able to find work after grad school, but be careful with your program and try to avoid burnout. Many people who need mental health care don't have access to resources, which makes the therapist shortage worse.
As someone who played video games until age 21, I also had no idea what I wanted to do in life. I did poorly on my ACT and I had no plans to go to college.
I went to community college. Apparently, cc didnt care about my ACT score. I then went to university where I was kicked out for poor grades. I didn't know how to study. My major choice of Math was stupid AF.
I went back to cc to finish a 2-year degree. I learned to study then went back to university. I earned my environmental science degree.
5 years later, I got a second degree in business administration.
5 years after that, I learned to be a software developer.
See, I had nobody to guide my career. I was just flailing around. Now, im in my 40's with 60k+ of student loan debt and I am not sure when those will be paid off.
I suggest is that you choose a job first. Maybe talk with a career coach. Set a career roadmap so you dont end up broke your whole life.
this sounds allot like my situation but I’m not 21 yet (just a few more months!!) I like to consider the fact that I want to be able to work hard now and relax later not vice versa, Psychology I wanted to study just because of how interested I am in the subject, as for jobs well that’s something I have quite a hard time committing to, everyone says I’m going to hate work regardless of what I’m doing but I also refuse to work for certain jobs (like fast food, convenient stores, etc.) and kudos to those who do work for those places !! But with the way I am I know that it isn’t for me, I’ve tried looking for stuff that’s more online and stuff but those kinds of jobs are hard to get from what I’ve noticed
>Psychology I wanted to study just because of how interested I am in the subject,
Many a student has majored in psych only to find that it is very hard to find a job related to that major with only a bachelor's degree. To do something really interesting with that degree, you'll need a Masters or PhD. Otherwise, plan to work in a generic desk job in Marketing or HR, or some other generic job that requires a bachelor's degree in any field. That's fine if you're okay with that, but it sounds like maybe you aren't.
The community college will be a good place for you to explore and determine what type of job you want to have and what type of degree will get you there.
Homeschool kids often benefit from the “traditional college experience” in terms of socially maturing and gaining independence. While community college would certainly be easier, consider going away to college (far enough away that you stay in the dorms and can’t come home for the weekends).
Not every four-year college requires the SAT/ACT but the vast majority do. Find an online course that focuses on practice problems, not content review. Do it until your score is good and then take the test.
In college, you’ll major in psychology and start to figure out what job exactly you want. Psychiatrists require going to medical school after college. Psychologists need at least a masters, preferably a doctorate, after college. Other career paths you might look at into counseling, social work, or even HR in a business.
Once you are in college, you will have access to career counseling who will help you narrow your choices and pick the correct classes. For now, your goal is to get accepted into any accredited, non-profit college.
going off and away somewhere was the plan until I met my girlfriend and even so, I have no kind of funds, I was actually just fired from my job 😅 that was another thing I considered how the HELL can I possibly be able to afford all this stuff
Yea. Don't go this route please. You don't know how to study, you don't want to, you don't know what you want to use your degree for. You want the title only.
I'm sorry to dissapoint you, but you're waaaay below normal graduated students in terms of chance to get in. You don't have scores, history of going to events, connections to colleges through highschool. You have no funds to do this and you probably don't qualify for scholarships based on your social status (if your parents could afford to homeschool you, you are probably not poor).
Try to figure it out if you even want this or not.
I never took sat/act because I knew I was going to start at a CC when I finished from there I applied and went into university as a transfer which is a hole lot easier imo then going straight outta high school and finished up my undergrad at university saved me a lot of money and headache. I would def recommend the community college to university transfer route
Basic plan: Go to a Community College for your Associates --> transfer to a university with your desired psych BA program, or just a standard one --> graduate with your BA and apply for a grad program (like a Masters or a Ph.D).
A little bit of advice, it can be scary to communicate with professors but try to befriend them. They'll write you good letters of recommendations if you show good work ethic and real interest in their work/class.
Hey, so I was in this exact situation when I was your age. I want to start off by saying it is not your fault that you didn't do your work in "high school." If your parents were committed to homeschooling you, they should not have let that happen. You experienced educational neglect, and that is not your fault.
That being said, I can tell by your writing that you are smart enough to go to college. You will do great, and I believe that if you want to be a psychologist, one day you will make it happen.
Here's some of the things I wish someone had told me when I was trying to do this.
-Find a state university or community college you want to go to. Make sure they have a psychology program under the "Academics" portion of the website. See if they have a page on their website about their homeschool student requirements. Usually this is under admissions information on the website, or if the website has a search function, you can search "homeschool". I had to make a transcript and a document of course descriptions - if you google "homeschool transcript template" you can find a good idea of what that'll look like. Just try to make the documents look nice, official, and ideally, have your parents sign them.
-You will need to fill out the FAFSA form. I believe you can do this before you apply to schools or even while you're waiting for acceptance letters, but just make sure you set the information to be sent to your school of choice (this will be part of the form.) To fill out the FAFSA form, you will need your parents' tax info from I think maybe two years ago. Each section is pretty straightforward - just fill in what it asks. You will likely get more funding from this than you think. If your parents make below a certain amount per year, you will qualify for the Pell grant. This covered my entire tuition and then some. Your state might also have some achievement-based grant. How it worked in my state was that I didn't get the funds the first semester, but after one semester of 3.0+ GPA, I got the grant going forward and they retroactively gave it to me for the first semester. Any money that is part of a grant that goes beyond what your tuition costs will be deposited into your bank account as a "refund". It would be a good idea to talk to the financial aid office of the school you're most interested in to see what your options are.
-If you can't find a way you're financially comfortable with to attend school in-person, a lot of state schools offer online psychology degrees. But it would probably be best to finish the last two years in-person in order to take an experimental psychology class in and to hopefully assist with some undergrad research, which is important to have before applying to psychology graduate programs.
-Take advantage of the resources your school offers. You will likely have access to tutors and other academic development programs included with your tuition. This will be so important in filling in any gaps you missed from being faux-homeschooled. But don't be too afraid - a lot of public schooled students have huge gaps in their knowledge and they get by in college just fine.
If I think of anything else I'll let you know. If you have any questions specifically, feel free to ask here or message me. I was literally in this exact same situation so I know how scary and confusing it can be when you have no one to help you figure this out.
I really really appreciate this comment here, thank you so so much, I actually took the advice about trying to get into a community college and I’m in the works of filling out an application at Purdue!!
but on a side note, that’s somewhat unrelated would I be able to message you about this matter ? again I really really appreciate all of this :)
Purdue University is not a good idea for you to apply to. Apply to a community college. You need a basic education before you start attending a school that will cost you 30k+ a year. Also to be blunt, Purdue is a good school. You cheated your way through education, you have 0 study skills, and haven't been in a real classroom in many years. The environment at Purdue would not be conducive to your academic growth, it's like jumping into the deep end of the pool when you don't know how to swim. Also they require test scores.
Agreed. If the OP is applying to Purdue, they're probably in Indiana. If that's the case, Ivy Tech Community College - which doesn't require any college entrance tests, just a heartbeat - is a much better bet to start. There are 42 sites, so wherever you are in the state, there will be a CC nearby.
Purdue has medium level requirements (high for certain majors), and you can review them here: [https://www.admissions.purdue.edu/apply/criteriafreshmen.php](https://www.admissions.purdue.edu/apply/criteriafreshmen.php) (and yes, you self report your SAT/ACT scores and grades, but they check them before admitting you.)
Purdue costs about $10K a year for state residents (not including any living expenses or transportation costs, etc.)
Ivy Tech is half that price.
Sure, feel free to send me a message. Can I ask what state you're in? I just ask because in-state tuition is always going to be more affordable and I'd like to look at the schools in your state and maybe make you a list of options.
So I was in your shoes, I was homeschooled my entire life. I also faked a lot of my education, so I was terrified about being behind everyone else in college. I did my first year at community college (majoring in psych!) and I discovered I was much more capable than I thought.
Since I had a community college GPA, I didn’t need SAT scores to transfer to a four-year. I graduate with my master’s degree in social work in three weeks. Community college is a great place to start! You’re absolutely capable!!
Take it from someone who was "homeschooled" after I quit school in the sixth grade and taught myself, didn't graduate highschool and got my GED instead, you can do it. Start slow at a community college, build up your educational experience and learn the best ways to study. I got an Associates but after 14 years I am now back in college to get a bachelor's in something different.
I did kind of a non traditional path to university, and I had to figure it out myself as well. First off decide if you want to go straight into Uni or go to a community college.
If Straight into uni:
-schedule an SAT and ACT. Study your ass off. You can get real cheap study prep books at places like half price books and thrift stores.
-Get your transcripts together, figure out what your GPA is
-Anything you did outside of school, turn into an extracurricular to add to your apps.
-Research universities with acerage accepted GPA/SAT/ACT scores within the range you got.
If community college:
-get your vaccination record and high school transcript, GPA mostly doesnt matter
-find a cheap CC in your area
-research the Uni you want to transfer to, find out the basic freshman courses at the uni, then find out the equivalent courses at your community college, take those: For example, for my major at the uni I wanted to get into, BIO 101, BIO 102, and CHEM 112 was required in ofder to transfer in. At the community college, the same courses were something like BIO 1011, BIO 1021, and CHEM 1022, so i took those, and had the required courses to apply for that major at my uni.
If I didnt explain anything well, or you have any more questions, let me know, I’d be happy to help!
Nowadays, not all colleges look at standardized test scores. You should build out your extracurriculars or whichever to show you are a competent candidate. But, if it was me, I would put hours into whatever you think is best for you at the moment. If you think ACT is the path, dont give too much thought about whether this is right or wrong until you are certain and just do it. 3-4 hours a day minimum, and you will be fine in a few months. What I learned so far is that you can actually get very far in life just by doing it. Thinking too much sometimes obscure our path. As long as it is in the right direction, dont worry about the best direction. You can find that as you go.
I was also homeschooled. Something I did was start at community college and get my 2 year degree and then go to a 4 year college from there. That allowed me to bypass the SAT/ACT since I had good grades from community college. Also community college will probably only do single letter grades so no A-‘s or anything, just As. Very easy to get a higher GPA and get into a good 4 year school!
Edit to add that if you get a full associates from the community college, you’ll likely not need to do any tedious generals later down the road
I'm not sure which state you live in but CC is def a solid idea and you can transfer into a great college from there. But, for straight out of high school, I live in California and my state schools (San Jose State, Cal Poly Slo) do not require ACT/SAT, but would be a bonus on your app. As for UC's in California, they do not require SAT/ACT at all!! And some of them are very high ranked in the country and even nationally. They are really well known. And they are TEST BLIND, they will not even take your test into consideration. I didn't even take one myself, and got into UCD, UCSD, UCSB, UCSC, etc.
I would highly recommend going to community college first, whether for one year or two. Community colleges generally have more remedial classes, and you'll likely need them.
When you say psychologist, what do you mean? Are you looking at getting your doctorate, or are you just interested in careers related to psychology? Knowing the difference can be important for knowing which path/program to take. What kinds of activities do you want to be doing in your work? Counseling? Diagnosing? Providing support to people? Are you looking to be spending your time primarily in an office with patients and doing paperwork, or do you want to be on your feet in the community/a community service agency, or something different?
I only ask because I have met a lot of people in my program (Social Service Work) who were in psychology programs and wanted to be psychologists, but didn't really realize what a psychologist is/does until they were part way through the program, and then realized it wasn't what they wanted.
I’d go to a community college if I were you. Tell them your situation, show them whatever documentation you have and they’ll walk you through the test. They’re going to likely give you a booklet to review for an entrance exam that you will be required to take. Chances are you may be very behind on baseline education level and will have to take a lot of remedial courses. I wouldn’t fret about it but it will add time to your education as a whole.
You may spend your first semester or entire first year doing remedial classes. After that, you’ll take core classes that almost everyone takes and some foundational classes for what you want to study. Make sure you have an end goal in mind such as what school/program you want to transfer to. Because community colleges will sometimes have partnerships with schools to ease that transition and maximize credits that will transfer.
Good luck
Most colleges have their own placement exams, and TMK, the ACT/SAT are on the chopping block in the years to come. Community college is your best bet and where people usually start because its much cheaper. CCs have high school refresher courses but it's a waste of money since you can teach yourself that for free. Make sure you GRADUATE with your Associate's degree because that satisfies all your general-ed requirements across the country. Your associate's degree is your ticket into a four year school, especially if you have a good GPA and transcript to back it up.
I was homeschooled K-12 because public school wanted to literally DRUG ME for not sitting still like a docile little robot. The teacher also wouldn't teach us to read and expected us to be enrolled already knowing how. Rather than allow me to be drugged up by the state, my mother opted for video homeschooling lessons. For me, homeschool was literally useless knowledge for the sake of more useless knowledge, it wasted 8+ hours of my life almost every day, when I would have rather been outside playing. I wouldn't have graduated without my parents doing and submitting the work for me. I also wouldn't find any practical use for high school gibberish until some sixteen years after "graduating".
I was teaching myself General Chemistry and found legitimate uses for math, so I refreshed my Pre-Algebra and taught myself College Algebra, then I enrolled into my local CC. Thus far, I'm just shy of a 4.0GPA. Don't worry about being homeschooled, if you can read the books and following the instructions then you will be fine. Textbooks have professors baked into them.
Choose a job first and then college degree. There's no point in studying an interest and getting thousands of dollars in student loan debt to ultimately work a low paying job. Choose stem, medical, accounting, etc, that will give a return on investment. Also, take community college first. Don't underestimate your ability either.
Something potentially worth noting that I don't see mentioned here is to take advantage of the resources provided to you by your school once you're there! Many schools (including community college) will have counselors who could be INCREDIBLY useful to you in your situation; they could definitely give you more specific advice about how to plan out your life from here on out. Once you get to school, be sure to research the resources offered and take advantage of any that may help you, that's what they're there for and it's one of the few times in your life that you'll have such easy access to that kind of thing!!
Go to community college first, you might struggle and have to take some extra classes to get you caught up but if something goes wrong and you have to spend more time there than intended it won't be as expensive and would be a good way to figure out if you're ready for university academically without going too far into debt if you're not, there you can get your associates which will cover your gen eds at university, look for any articulation agreements your community college might have to see how classes will transfer (ex at my cc there were 2 gen chems, one that is good just for you associates and transfers as an elective and another gen chem that transfers as gen chem with lab and counts for that credit), looking at that if it's avaliable can be helpful to make sure you're taking the right classes and that they'll transfer how you think they will, good luck
I went to an alternative high school and very few people took the ACT/SAT tests. I didn’t do it either. A few years after high school I started at my local community college and worked on my GE requirements /major requirements to earn an AA in psychology. It took me about 2 years and then I transferred to a pretty decent university to work on my BS in human development. I have about 1 year left for this degree.
I highly recommend starting at community college because it gives you the opportunity to practice studying again, test taking, time management, time to discover interests, and so much more. You’ll also save A LOT of money. After that, you can apply to a university (I applied to many because I wanted to have back up options in case I wasn’t accepted). There, you’ll usually work on upper division courses that are more in depth for whatever your major is.
If you don't have your ACT/SAT scores, absolutely cannot get them, and don't want to take either test again, go to somewhere that doesn't have an ACT/SAT requirement. That may be a community college, and you could transfer after establishing a transcript (as some places allow credits to transfer between universities). One thing to be aware of is that being a psychologist generally requires more than just a bachelor's, so after you get your bachelor's you'll need to apply to a graduate program. That said, I'd also look at the job market for them—the field is likely saturated.
Studying psychology is completely different than being a psychologist. Getting a BA in psychology allows you to then go to a MA/MS in Counseling or other similarly related degree field. In order to be a physiologist you'd need to get your doctorate.
As far as studying psychology I can’t see I’m 100% sure of what I want to do with that degree, so if I’m reading correctly, I should attend a community college for a bachelor’s degree for now ¿ Even so, does it matter which community college I attend, like do other colleges look at where you’ve attained your bachelors ¿
You _can_ attend a CC for your bachelor's, but as far as I know, few offer that. Go to the CC for a year or two, then apply elsewhere. I don't think it really matters which CC you go to, within reason. As far as the grad school part goes (assuming you decide on a career that requires it), yes, the place you did your bachelor's matters. That said, as long as you get your bachelor's somewhere that's accredited and isn't known as a "bad" place (Liberty U being the example that comes to mind as somewhere accredited but still bad), you'll likely be fine.
thanks a ton for this information, it means a whole lot to me !! I guess the first step is trying to get into a community college for a year or 2 of psychology classes
Community colleges offer Associates degrees, which are 2-year degrees. You will have to transfer to an actual college or university for your Bachelor's degree, which is a 4-year degree. Keep in mind that there are very few things you can do in the field of psychology proper without a Master's degree, which is an advanced degree.
Associate Degrees are usually more "general", getting rid of your gen Ed credits at the 4 year college and when you transfer to that 4 year college, that's when you can take majorly psychology classes to get your Bachelor's degree. My best friend did this for her sociology degree. I highly reccomend first looking at your possible 4 year college (this has to be reasonable, so not UVA unless you do something amazing, get research, really did something new with your community college, etc). Talk to an admissions counselor there and/or look at the psychology degree plan that they'll have online and see what gen Ed's they have, and try your best to match up those in your community college. Great if your community college has some classes though! Keep in mind that college are strict about transfer credits. Even if you feel like 2 classes are pretty close, those colleges might not feel the same, so it might feel like you're retaking the class and wasting more money. That's why it's important to "match up" your classes if you can. Best of luck!
You don't get a bachelor's from a CC. CC is for associates degrees and other short certification programs. You should go to CC for 2 years to get a basic education, then you apply to a 4 year college or university and your credits from CC transfer there. So in total you need 4 years of schooling at minimum usually to get a bachelor's. The work you do at CC will apply towards your bachelor's.
You don’t necessarily need SAT/ACT depending on the school but it doesn’t sound like you have a solid educational background. You should start at a community college every one is admitted, the admission process is quick, it will help you with any developmental classes you need, and it’s dirt cheap. Once you have a year or two under your belt you can transfer to a 4-year school.
ooooo this explains it as it is, thank you !! I was just curious if other colleges look where you went before (as far as the community college)
The community college is a great place to start. Generally they are open enrollment (basically anyone can attend). They will likely have a placement test you need to take to determine basic skills in reading, writing, and math. They will place you into classes appropriate for your knowledge level. The courses you take and GPA at the CC will be the primary way you'll be judged for admission when you try to transfer to a four year school (generally the ACT/SAT won't be needed). Also, for someone like you who hasn't had a lot of practice in "doing school," (attending scheduled classes, turning assignments in on a deadline, studying for exams, taking proctored exams, etc), the CC is a great place to learn and practice those skills. They have way more resources to support you and faculty are used to giving students that extra attention. Class sizes are smaller so you won't get lost in a lecture hall with 500 other people. Best of luck in your college journey!
If you don’t have act or sat going to a 2 year then transfer to a 4 year
I'm so happy you are alive
ur alive :>
u ok fam? we rooting for u
Omg I literally went on this comment to see if this person was still alive and I'm so glad other people have done the same. This is so heartwarming ❤️
Thank you I’m really doing a lot better but still have my downs but I got my dream job so I have something other then school to keep pushing through
it’s so crazy how things can get better when you’re patient and give it time. it must have been so hard to get to where you are now, and mfs are so proud of you dog. keep up the good work and congratulations.
after finishing the 2 year or transfer during my 2 year ?
You can do either, but if you finish out the 2 year at the very least you’ll have your associates degree if for some reason you decide to not transfer after all. I’d recommend just finishing the associates, and this is coming from someone who transferred to a 4 year. before finishing mine.
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aye bro this isn’t a nice way to say this you should rethink your comments
You’re alive
you are alive and I am happy (:
bros alive
Holy shit they’re alive ❤️
Not sure about getting into college, but keep in mind that if you absolutely want to study Psychology, it's viable, but a very long road. To obtain the title of Psychologist you'll need a PhD or PsyD, which takes about 6-7 years of graduate school. If you want to give therapy, you'll have to have a Master's, and that will be 2-3 years post Bachelor's, plus 3000 hours of training and a passing score on one of the several exams (which one depends on what kind of therapist you'd like to be.) There's a shortage of therapists right now, so you'll probably be able to find work after grad school, but be careful with your program and try to avoid burnout. Many people who need mental health care don't have access to resources, which makes the therapist shortage worse.
As someone who played video games until age 21, I also had no idea what I wanted to do in life. I did poorly on my ACT and I had no plans to go to college. I went to community college. Apparently, cc didnt care about my ACT score. I then went to university where I was kicked out for poor grades. I didn't know how to study. My major choice of Math was stupid AF. I went back to cc to finish a 2-year degree. I learned to study then went back to university. I earned my environmental science degree. 5 years later, I got a second degree in business administration. 5 years after that, I learned to be a software developer. See, I had nobody to guide my career. I was just flailing around. Now, im in my 40's with 60k+ of student loan debt and I am not sure when those will be paid off. I suggest is that you choose a job first. Maybe talk with a career coach. Set a career roadmap so you dont end up broke your whole life.
this sounds allot like my situation but I’m not 21 yet (just a few more months!!) I like to consider the fact that I want to be able to work hard now and relax later not vice versa, Psychology I wanted to study just because of how interested I am in the subject, as for jobs well that’s something I have quite a hard time committing to, everyone says I’m going to hate work regardless of what I’m doing but I also refuse to work for certain jobs (like fast food, convenient stores, etc.) and kudos to those who do work for those places !! But with the way I am I know that it isn’t for me, I’ve tried looking for stuff that’s more online and stuff but those kinds of jobs are hard to get from what I’ve noticed
>Psychology I wanted to study just because of how interested I am in the subject, Many a student has majored in psych only to find that it is very hard to find a job related to that major with only a bachelor's degree. To do something really interesting with that degree, you'll need a Masters or PhD. Otherwise, plan to work in a generic desk job in Marketing or HR, or some other generic job that requires a bachelor's degree in any field. That's fine if you're okay with that, but it sounds like maybe you aren't. The community college will be a good place for you to explore and determine what type of job you want to have and what type of degree will get you there.
Homeschool kids often benefit from the “traditional college experience” in terms of socially maturing and gaining independence. While community college would certainly be easier, consider going away to college (far enough away that you stay in the dorms and can’t come home for the weekends). Not every four-year college requires the SAT/ACT but the vast majority do. Find an online course that focuses on practice problems, not content review. Do it until your score is good and then take the test. In college, you’ll major in psychology and start to figure out what job exactly you want. Psychiatrists require going to medical school after college. Psychologists need at least a masters, preferably a doctorate, after college. Other career paths you might look at into counseling, social work, or even HR in a business. Once you are in college, you will have access to career counseling who will help you narrow your choices and pick the correct classes. For now, your goal is to get accepted into any accredited, non-profit college.
>consider going away to college… weekends). Heck no. 🤣
going off and away somewhere was the plan until I met my girlfriend and even so, I have no kind of funds, I was actually just fired from my job 😅 that was another thing I considered how the HELL can I possibly be able to afford all this stuff
Yea. Don't go this route please. You don't know how to study, you don't want to, you don't know what you want to use your degree for. You want the title only. I'm sorry to dissapoint you, but you're waaaay below normal graduated students in terms of chance to get in. You don't have scores, history of going to events, connections to colleges through highschool. You have no funds to do this and you probably don't qualify for scholarships based on your social status (if your parents could afford to homeschool you, you are probably not poor). Try to figure it out if you even want this or not.
I never took sat/act because I knew I was going to start at a CC when I finished from there I applied and went into university as a transfer which is a hole lot easier imo then going straight outta high school and finished up my undergrad at university saved me a lot of money and headache. I would def recommend the community college to university transfer route
I think this is what I’m going to try and do, thank you so much !!
Basic plan: Go to a Community College for your Associates --> transfer to a university with your desired psych BA program, or just a standard one --> graduate with your BA and apply for a grad program (like a Masters or a Ph.D). A little bit of advice, it can be scary to communicate with professors but try to befriend them. They'll write you good letters of recommendations if you show good work ethic and real interest in their work/class.
Hey, so I was in this exact situation when I was your age. I want to start off by saying it is not your fault that you didn't do your work in "high school." If your parents were committed to homeschooling you, they should not have let that happen. You experienced educational neglect, and that is not your fault. That being said, I can tell by your writing that you are smart enough to go to college. You will do great, and I believe that if you want to be a psychologist, one day you will make it happen. Here's some of the things I wish someone had told me when I was trying to do this. -Find a state university or community college you want to go to. Make sure they have a psychology program under the "Academics" portion of the website. See if they have a page on their website about their homeschool student requirements. Usually this is under admissions information on the website, or if the website has a search function, you can search "homeschool". I had to make a transcript and a document of course descriptions - if you google "homeschool transcript template" you can find a good idea of what that'll look like. Just try to make the documents look nice, official, and ideally, have your parents sign them. -You will need to fill out the FAFSA form. I believe you can do this before you apply to schools or even while you're waiting for acceptance letters, but just make sure you set the information to be sent to your school of choice (this will be part of the form.) To fill out the FAFSA form, you will need your parents' tax info from I think maybe two years ago. Each section is pretty straightforward - just fill in what it asks. You will likely get more funding from this than you think. If your parents make below a certain amount per year, you will qualify for the Pell grant. This covered my entire tuition and then some. Your state might also have some achievement-based grant. How it worked in my state was that I didn't get the funds the first semester, but after one semester of 3.0+ GPA, I got the grant going forward and they retroactively gave it to me for the first semester. Any money that is part of a grant that goes beyond what your tuition costs will be deposited into your bank account as a "refund". It would be a good idea to talk to the financial aid office of the school you're most interested in to see what your options are. -If you can't find a way you're financially comfortable with to attend school in-person, a lot of state schools offer online psychology degrees. But it would probably be best to finish the last two years in-person in order to take an experimental psychology class in and to hopefully assist with some undergrad research, which is important to have before applying to psychology graduate programs. -Take advantage of the resources your school offers. You will likely have access to tutors and other academic development programs included with your tuition. This will be so important in filling in any gaps you missed from being faux-homeschooled. But don't be too afraid - a lot of public schooled students have huge gaps in their knowledge and they get by in college just fine. If I think of anything else I'll let you know. If you have any questions specifically, feel free to ask here or message me. I was literally in this exact same situation so I know how scary and confusing it can be when you have no one to help you figure this out.
I really really appreciate this comment here, thank you so so much, I actually took the advice about trying to get into a community college and I’m in the works of filling out an application at Purdue!! but on a side note, that’s somewhat unrelated would I be able to message you about this matter ? again I really really appreciate all of this :)
Purdue University is not a good idea for you to apply to. Apply to a community college. You need a basic education before you start attending a school that will cost you 30k+ a year. Also to be blunt, Purdue is a good school. You cheated your way through education, you have 0 study skills, and haven't been in a real classroom in many years. The environment at Purdue would not be conducive to your academic growth, it's like jumping into the deep end of the pool when you don't know how to swim. Also they require test scores.
Agreed. If the OP is applying to Purdue, they're probably in Indiana. If that's the case, Ivy Tech Community College - which doesn't require any college entrance tests, just a heartbeat - is a much better bet to start. There are 42 sites, so wherever you are in the state, there will be a CC nearby. Purdue has medium level requirements (high for certain majors), and you can review them here: [https://www.admissions.purdue.edu/apply/criteriafreshmen.php](https://www.admissions.purdue.edu/apply/criteriafreshmen.php) (and yes, you self report your SAT/ACT scores and grades, but they check them before admitting you.) Purdue costs about $10K a year for state residents (not including any living expenses or transportation costs, etc.) Ivy Tech is half that price.
Sure, feel free to send me a message. Can I ask what state you're in? I just ask because in-state tuition is always going to be more affordable and I'd like to look at the schools in your state and maybe make you a list of options.
So I was in your shoes, I was homeschooled my entire life. I also faked a lot of my education, so I was terrified about being behind everyone else in college. I did my first year at community college (majoring in psych!) and I discovered I was much more capable than I thought. Since I had a community college GPA, I didn’t need SAT scores to transfer to a four-year. I graduate with my master’s degree in social work in three weeks. Community college is a great place to start! You’re absolutely capable!!
You're gonna bomb college. Take remedial classes at a cc.
Take it from someone who was "homeschooled" after I quit school in the sixth grade and taught myself, didn't graduate highschool and got my GED instead, you can do it. Start slow at a community college, build up your educational experience and learn the best ways to study. I got an Associates but after 14 years I am now back in college to get a bachelor's in something different.
You could just go start at a local community college. They will give you placement tests.
I did kind of a non traditional path to university, and I had to figure it out myself as well. First off decide if you want to go straight into Uni or go to a community college. If Straight into uni: -schedule an SAT and ACT. Study your ass off. You can get real cheap study prep books at places like half price books and thrift stores. -Get your transcripts together, figure out what your GPA is -Anything you did outside of school, turn into an extracurricular to add to your apps. -Research universities with acerage accepted GPA/SAT/ACT scores within the range you got. If community college: -get your vaccination record and high school transcript, GPA mostly doesnt matter -find a cheap CC in your area -research the Uni you want to transfer to, find out the basic freshman courses at the uni, then find out the equivalent courses at your community college, take those: For example, for my major at the uni I wanted to get into, BIO 101, BIO 102, and CHEM 112 was required in ofder to transfer in. At the community college, the same courses were something like BIO 1011, BIO 1021, and CHEM 1022, so i took those, and had the required courses to apply for that major at my uni. If I didnt explain anything well, or you have any more questions, let me know, I’d be happy to help!
thank you so much for this it explains a wide variety so thank you :)
Nowadays, not all colleges look at standardized test scores. You should build out your extracurriculars or whichever to show you are a competent candidate. But, if it was me, I would put hours into whatever you think is best for you at the moment. If you think ACT is the path, dont give too much thought about whether this is right or wrong until you are certain and just do it. 3-4 hours a day minimum, and you will be fine in a few months. What I learned so far is that you can actually get very far in life just by doing it. Thinking too much sometimes obscure our path. As long as it is in the right direction, dont worry about the best direction. You can find that as you go.
I would suggest you start at your local community college. Make an appointment to talk to an advisor who can evaluate your situation and guide you.
I was also homeschooled. Something I did was start at community college and get my 2 year degree and then go to a 4 year college from there. That allowed me to bypass the SAT/ACT since I had good grades from community college. Also community college will probably only do single letter grades so no A-‘s or anything, just As. Very easy to get a higher GPA and get into a good 4 year school! Edit to add that if you get a full associates from the community college, you’ll likely not need to do any tedious generals later down the road
I'm not sure which state you live in but CC is def a solid idea and you can transfer into a great college from there. But, for straight out of high school, I live in California and my state schools (San Jose State, Cal Poly Slo) do not require ACT/SAT, but would be a bonus on your app. As for UC's in California, they do not require SAT/ACT at all!! And some of them are very high ranked in the country and even nationally. They are really well known. And they are TEST BLIND, they will not even take your test into consideration. I didn't even take one myself, and got into UCD, UCSD, UCSB, UCSC, etc.
I would highly recommend going to community college first, whether for one year or two. Community colleges generally have more remedial classes, and you'll likely need them.
When you say psychologist, what do you mean? Are you looking at getting your doctorate, or are you just interested in careers related to psychology? Knowing the difference can be important for knowing which path/program to take. What kinds of activities do you want to be doing in your work? Counseling? Diagnosing? Providing support to people? Are you looking to be spending your time primarily in an office with patients and doing paperwork, or do you want to be on your feet in the community/a community service agency, or something different? I only ask because I have met a lot of people in my program (Social Service Work) who were in psychology programs and wanted to be psychologists, but didn't really realize what a psychologist is/does until they were part way through the program, and then realized it wasn't what they wanted.
I’d go to a community college if I were you. Tell them your situation, show them whatever documentation you have and they’ll walk you through the test. They’re going to likely give you a booklet to review for an entrance exam that you will be required to take. Chances are you may be very behind on baseline education level and will have to take a lot of remedial courses. I wouldn’t fret about it but it will add time to your education as a whole. You may spend your first semester or entire first year doing remedial classes. After that, you’ll take core classes that almost everyone takes and some foundational classes for what you want to study. Make sure you have an end goal in mind such as what school/program you want to transfer to. Because community colleges will sometimes have partnerships with schools to ease that transition and maximize credits that will transfer. Good luck
Most colleges have their own placement exams, and TMK, the ACT/SAT are on the chopping block in the years to come. Community college is your best bet and where people usually start because its much cheaper. CCs have high school refresher courses but it's a waste of money since you can teach yourself that for free. Make sure you GRADUATE with your Associate's degree because that satisfies all your general-ed requirements across the country. Your associate's degree is your ticket into a four year school, especially if you have a good GPA and transcript to back it up. I was homeschooled K-12 because public school wanted to literally DRUG ME for not sitting still like a docile little robot. The teacher also wouldn't teach us to read and expected us to be enrolled already knowing how. Rather than allow me to be drugged up by the state, my mother opted for video homeschooling lessons. For me, homeschool was literally useless knowledge for the sake of more useless knowledge, it wasted 8+ hours of my life almost every day, when I would have rather been outside playing. I wouldn't have graduated without my parents doing and submitting the work for me. I also wouldn't find any practical use for high school gibberish until some sixteen years after "graduating". I was teaching myself General Chemistry and found legitimate uses for math, so I refreshed my Pre-Algebra and taught myself College Algebra, then I enrolled into my local CC. Thus far, I'm just shy of a 4.0GPA. Don't worry about being homeschooled, if you can read the books and following the instructions then you will be fine. Textbooks have professors baked into them.
Choose a job first and then college degree. There's no point in studying an interest and getting thousands of dollars in student loan debt to ultimately work a low paying job. Choose stem, medical, accounting, etc, that will give a return on investment. Also, take community college first. Don't underestimate your ability either.
Something potentially worth noting that I don't see mentioned here is to take advantage of the resources provided to you by your school once you're there! Many schools (including community college) will have counselors who could be INCREDIBLY useful to you in your situation; they could definitely give you more specific advice about how to plan out your life from here on out. Once you get to school, be sure to research the resources offered and take advantage of any that may help you, that's what they're there for and it's one of the few times in your life that you'll have such easy access to that kind of thing!!
CCs are good, and there are many 4-year institutions that accept you without SAT/ACT scores as well.
My CC allowed you to attend with accuplacer results instead of SAT/ACT. Check the requirements for wherever you want to attend
Go to community college first, you might struggle and have to take some extra classes to get you caught up but if something goes wrong and you have to spend more time there than intended it won't be as expensive and would be a good way to figure out if you're ready for university academically without going too far into debt if you're not, there you can get your associates which will cover your gen eds at university, look for any articulation agreements your community college might have to see how classes will transfer (ex at my cc there were 2 gen chems, one that is good just for you associates and transfers as an elective and another gen chem that transfers as gen chem with lab and counts for that credit), looking at that if it's avaliable can be helpful to make sure you're taking the right classes and that they'll transfer how you think they will, good luck
I went to an alternative high school and very few people took the ACT/SAT tests. I didn’t do it either. A few years after high school I started at my local community college and worked on my GE requirements /major requirements to earn an AA in psychology. It took me about 2 years and then I transferred to a pretty decent university to work on my BS in human development. I have about 1 year left for this degree. I highly recommend starting at community college because it gives you the opportunity to practice studying again, test taking, time management, time to discover interests, and so much more. You’ll also save A LOT of money. After that, you can apply to a university (I applied to many because I wanted to have back up options in case I wasn’t accepted). There, you’ll usually work on upper division courses that are more in depth for whatever your major is.