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Yes you can be a pediatrician. You'll need to do basically the same things that anyone else who wants to go to medical school would have to do. First, finish your home school studies. Talk to an admissions officer at the university you are thinking of attending as to what courses they might require. You may want to dual-enroll at a community college for your lab sciences when you are a Jr. or Sr. in high school. Schooled and home schooled students will all receive financial aid, scholarships and grants and be recruited at universities, though you would be at an advantage in applying to a university interested in recruiting home schooled students. Just like any student, home schooled or schooled, you will have to impress the admissions officers for your academic work..

The thing about applying to medical school is that it is incredibly competitive for all students. Once you are in a university you will need to be near the top of your class. You will need to be a leader and a standout among the other students; class president, student leader of a health association, volunteer experience with underprivileged people in the health field, or something like that. Medical schools are looking for leaders. You have to be up there with the best students and stand out for what you have accomplished at the university. When you are applying to medical school, they are very unlikely to ask you anything about your past as a home schooled student. They aren't going to be interested in what schooled students did in high school either. It will be about the university and on. You will have the advantage of the self discipline you've learned as a home schooled student. All applicants to medical school are driven people, schooled and home schooled.

I am not trying to discourage you. I have MD's in my family and it is a very competitive field. Good Luck! You will be a great pediatrician.

Your friends are misinformed. You can become a pediatrician if you are homeschooled. You can even qualify for scholarships!

Contact the college you are interested in attending and ask to speak to an admissions counselor. Ask what you should do as a homeschooler to help your chances of being accepted. You may even find what you need on their website as most colleges now have homeschool entrance information on their site.

Prepare yourself by studying the highest level math and science you can. Also make sure that you are prepared to do well on the ACT or SAT exam because that will most likely be the largest determining factor of getting into any college.

I've included a site that lists colleges known to accept homeschoolers just to help you feel better.

Good Luck!

The ONLY problems you have are your friends uninformed opinions......Yes, in today's world you can be anything, provided you have the intelligence, skill and determination. I wonder how many of your critics can SPELL pediatrician?

As far as the QUALITY of a homeschooled education, there is simply no way that the public school situation can compete...It doesn't matter how qualified the teacher is, there aren't enough hours in the day to give EACH STUDENT the attention that some need. I admit my bias, as I am the prould homeschool father of an honors student...My son tests among the top 5% in the NATION in math and science. Don't let anyone belittle homeschooling to you....We have NO FRIENDS in the media, and if homeschooling didn't WORK, you'd hear about it ad nauseum on TV until the laws were repealed.

The truth about homeschooling is that it works and works WELL, since students MUST learn independent study habits and develop initiative to complete projects. Here is documentation of my words:

Standardized test results for 16,000 home educated children, grades K-12, were analyzed in 1994 by researcher Dr. Brian Ray. He found the nationwide grand mean in reading for homeschoolers was at the 79th percentile; for language and math, the 73rd percentile. This ranking means home-educated students performed better than approximately 77% of the sample population on whom the test was normed. Nearly 80% of homeschooled children achieved individual scores above the national average and 54.7% of the 16,000 homeschoolers achieved individual scores in the top quarter of the population, more than double the number of conventional school students who score in the top quarter.

How do College admissions personnel feel about homeschoolers? Here:

In 1997, Dr. Irene Prue, Assistant Director of Admission of Georgia Southern University, released a nationwide survey of admissions personnel's knowledge, attitudes and experiences with home educated applicants. In general, a total of 210 (out of the 1,289 surveyed) respondents to the study reported:

Homeschoolers are academically, emotionally, and socially prepared to succeed at college.

Parental motivations and involvement are in the best interest of their children.

While documentation and evaluation of homeschooled applicants is problematic, it is not insurmountable.

There are SO MANY resoures available for you...ALL of the publishers of public school cirriculum sell the same materials to homeschoolers. In order to help you FIND resources, and document my claims, here is a link to where I got the above info: http://www.hslda.org/docs/nche/000000/00000017.asp

My wife and I are members of HSLDA (Home School Legal Defense Association) and have been for 11 years, since my son was in kindergarten.

You can still be a doctor if you're homeschooled. The most important thing is keeping your grades really high and getting into a good college.

College and University is what matters most... your High School Diploma means almost nothing in comparison. So, don't listen to your friends.

**However~! Be sure that you get lots of good work experience, volunteer in a hospital and get a part-time job that involves working with underprivlaged people. The med school boards want to see that you're more than just a book worm.

Good Luck :)

Yes, you can have any job you're willing to work for, no matter where you go to school. I teach high school classes at a homeschool co op and have former students who are currently pre-med. I also have former students who are pre-law, science majors, education majors, writers, and professional athletes. You can do anything you're willing to work for.

And as far as being prepared for college...many of my former students and their friends are among the top students at their current schools. One of them, recently questioned about her transition to college, remarked that the only difference from homeschooling is that she no longer lives at home. She still has approximately the same type of class schedule, course load, and responsibility for scheduling her own time. You can definitely be a pediatrician and will likely find that you have advantages that your fellow pre-med students don't, when the time comes.

Ya, u can i'm homeschooled to and i got alot of negative stuff like that to, just don't lition to them and follow where ur heart leads u

They are either making it up or are woefully misinformed. Unfortunately they are likely being fed lies by their parents. Many adults make assumptions about homeschooling that are completely untrue, and they feed these lies to their children.

You're not going to be able to be home schooled through university, but I'm sure you already know that. If your grades are good, and you're accepted into the college or university of your choice, then you can be whatever you want. To my knowledge, there isn't a rule that says home schooled kids can't go to university, so I wouldn't worry.

Sure, you'd have to go to college and med school, tho, of course. and I have heard ( don't know if it's true, so don't hate) that the education from home schooling isn't as good...I mean, think about it, your parent isn't a certified teacher, anyone can home school their kid, so really, you will get a better ed. in regular school, and that will affect your chances of getting into a good college/med school. p.s it's called pediatrician :)