Now that it is 2026 and all the letters of acceptance and scholarship offers have come in, I can give you a report. My son received over $250,000 in aggregate scholarship funds. One of the universities offered him a full ride – a merit scholarship. So that’s a wrap. This is my Ta-Da! moment as a homeschool mom.
My son working at the Front Desk of Zoder’s Inn and Suites
Here’s what we know for sure:
- High scores on the ACT or SAT matter most for merit scholarships, but it depends on the school, too.
- Ivy League universities do NOT offer merit scholarships, so don’t even try. We did not even apply to Dartmouth, even though they kept texting and sending brochures in the mail. But our main motive was that our son did not want to attend an Ivy League school or a school so far away from home. All their applicants are brilliant. They offer scholarships based on hardships and income level. So… if your child is brilliant and you are a middle class family, you will NOT see scholarships from the Ivy League realm. One must be low-income AND brilliant to receive a scholarship from the likes of Harvard and Brown.
- Elite universities (or near Ivies) will only admit very few White, Christian, male, homeschooled applicants. They are beyond woke and want the redistribute intellectual wealth. Sorry, not sorry. That is the truth. They do not call it DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) anymore, because of the Trump Administration’s policies, but they continue the practice under a different name. This way they get the federal funds AND they continue to drum their woke drums. Fine. You do you, academia. We are not interested.
- Private universities will offer you better scholarship packages than public universities.
- Many universities will allow your child to get a gap year. What does that mean? You notify them your child would like to defer his admission for one year. No problem. They will keep that seat open for your child AND the scholarship will be waiting for him, too.
Bottom line: if you child needs a degree for his chosen career path, by all means pursue college. Do it intentionally, with lots of scholarship money, and no loans.
Other Paths Are Just As Fine
If your child does NOT need a degree to work in his chosen field, apply to college anyway, choose the best offer, and then tell them you want to defer admission for one year. Your child will take a gap year. Let your child work at an entry level job in his chosen field. He will make money while learning if he truly enjoys this field or not. Then, next year, he can go to college with a completely different mindset. Or he will not. So many things can happen in one year.
If your child wants to start his own business while working somewhere part-time, that is a brilliant option, too. Your child will learn so much by being in the real world of the market place.
I have worked as a homeschool educator for 13 years and produced a child who can go to college for free. Financially, you should ask yourself this question: does it make sense for me to work, save for college, and put my child in public school, hoping he will produce a high score or get some other form of scholarship (sports, chess, debate etc)? Or should I homeschool and produce a high achiever through my own efforts? Only you know the answer to that question, because it depends on your education and background.
