If you're entirely homeschooling on your own, a transcript that looks like you created it in Microsoft Word is not going to go very far.
OTOH, some places recognize homeschooling provides a unique perspective on education. For example, I was invited to interview at Yale's biology graduate program at least in part due to my homeschooling background.
My guess is that low end institutions looking for respectability are more sensitive to getting official transcripts, where the high end is looking for more diversity of background.
(Bonus points if you can make it past freshman year, which when I was tutoring was always a huge concern for the newly free homeschool kids, but tbh freshman tuition and room&board is enough)
https://www.bestcolleges.com/news/analysis/looming-enrollmen...
I assume ke88y had their oldest child born in 2008.
Not sure what "a recognized homeschool program" is; we used a mixture of materials.
When you start homeschooling, you will begin to meet other parents who are also homeschooling, but it's still your journey and not anyone else's; we've found that different tools work for different kids, even within the same family. Choose the tools that work best for your children and your style of teaching.
E.g. something like Khan Academy's homeschool curriculum, or CK-12, etc. that is a complete curriculum ostensibly developed by people who know what they are doing, not just some moms making it up as they go.
Also if a kid wants to be involved in sports, that is more complicated for homeschoolers.
Colleges have become increasingly comfortable with accepting homeschool high school transcripts both because of their increasing regularity but also because of the actions of the HSLDA. One of the reasons we’ve been members for well over a decade.
It worked, and the school backed off. Might be a good idea for anyone thinking of teaching their kids at home, especially if they're going to be pulled from public schools like I was. Busybodies and troubled administrators are a real mess and aren't always rational, which can be very bad and expensive for parents.