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Not surprisingly, colleges have taken notice that many interesting teens choose not to attend traditional school. Yes, there are young people who have self-studied and taken community college classes in a broad selection of traditional academics, who apply and go to college.

But there are also many young people who have used the freedom and flexibility of homeschooling to allow them the time and energy to do what they love to do, who then move on to study related areas in college. Consider a young woman who enjoys taking things apart, spends her time building puzzle boxes and other interesting contraptions, participates on multiple robotics teams, and then goes on to study computer and electrical engineering at a technical college.

NBC News recently offered a report on some of the nuance and detail about how homeschoolers apply to college. Colleges vary on what they require of homeschoolers. Some schools treat college applications from homeschoolers no differently than applications from traditionally-schooled students. Others ask homeschoolers to provide additional materials, most often more detailed information about what they have studied and extra recommendations, and more rarely, additional testing. Occasionally a school has a written requirement for something that a homeschooler cannot fulfill (typically a level of certification that is not offered in their state, as homeschooling requirements vary substantially from state to state); our experience suggests that a follow up discussion with admissions staff resolves the issue.

At PLC, we say that anyone who wants to attend college can…and does