A Homeschooled Student's Resume: Any Advice?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hello CC Community,</p>

<p>I am currently a rising homeschooled Junior and I'm looking for advice as to how to best accomplish my goals. I know it's a bit early for me to be posting a "chance me" thread, but please hear me out, and I appreciate any advice you all have to give. At the moment, here are my current "stats:"</p>

<p>Objective:[ul]
[li] SAT I (breakdown): 2340 (800 M, 740 CR, 800 W: 12 E) (Will retake)[/li][li] ACT: Have not taken, however, I plan to.[/li][li] SAT II: 800 Math II, 730 Latin (Will Retake)[/li][li] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): N/A (Homeschooled)[/li][li] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A (Homeschooled)[/li][li] AP (place score in parenthesis): Calclulus BC (5), Biology (5), Chemistry (5), Computer Science A (5)[/li][li] IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A[/li][li] Junior Year Course Load:[/li]Linear Algebra
Number Theory
AP Physics C
AP US History
AP English Language
AP Statistics
AP Latin Vergil
[li] Senior Year Course Load: This is merely my expected courses, may be subject to change:[/li]Multi-variable Calculus
Organic Chemistry
Biochemistry
AP English Literature
AP European History
AP Macroeconomics
AP Microeconomics
[li] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):[/li]AIME Qualifier x 2
USAPhO Finalist
National Latin Exam (IV) Perfect Scorer
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[li] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Weight Training (Recreational), Swimming (Competitive, placed 1st in several local competitions, nothing major though. Not good enough to be a Division I athlete), ARML (B Team Qualifier), Research in Bioinformatics[/li][li] Job/Work Experience: Currently a Biological Science Aid at the USDA. (8-10 hrs/week)[/li][li] Volunteer/Community service: 300+ Hours[/li]Volunteering in a hospice, USDA work before I became an official employee.
[li] Summer Activities: Research with a bioinformatics professor.[/li][li] Recommendations: I don't know yet, obviously, but my employer at the USDA likes me enough to give me a recommendation. This is likely to be a weak point in my applications to colleges.[/li][/ul]Other[ul]
[li] State (if domestic applicant): FL[/li][li] Ethnicity: Caucasian[/li][li] Gender: Male[/li][li] Income Bracket: 100K - 200K[/li][li] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None[/li][/ul]</p>

<p>I do have many goals I'd like to accomplish in the following years. First and foremost, I'd like to ace my standardized tests. Namely, the SAT I, the SAT II Physics, and the SAT II Latin. I'm undecided on whether to take the ACT or not. Could someone give me any guidance as to whether scoring well on the ACT would be beneficial? I'd also like to do well on my APs, but from what I've heard their role in admissions is largely supplementary. </p>

<p>I'd also like to express myself as a homeschooler more. As of now, I've been acting like I'm in a formal school situation, but just at home. I'd really like to show that that's not the case, and be able to do some out-of-the-box things. I may just be an average kid from another suburban neighborhood, but I don't feel like that means I'm not an interesting person. Hopefully I'll be able to express that in essays. </p>

<p>As for competitions, I'd like to at least make USAMO. Ideally, I'd like to go to MOSP, but I just doubt that's going to happen. I've been practicing a lot, but the kids who do make it to MOSP are just unbelievable. I'd also like to participate in a variety of other competitions I'm interested in. I'm hoping to form a team in my community for Mandelbrot and HMMT. I'd also like to continue doing well in USAPhO and the NLE. My senior year, I hope to submit a project in bioinformatics to Siemens, and hopefully do well. </p>

<p>I'm somewhat worried that adcoms are seriously biased against homeschoolers, like they expect us to be spelling-bee geniuses or something. Could someone give me guidance about what to expect?</p>

<p>Lastly, I hope to apply to the following colleges: Harvard University, Yale University, Stanford Univeristy, Princeton University, MIT, Cal Tech, Dartmouth, and UC Berkely (legacy).</p>

<p>So, could anyone tell me if I'm on the right "track?" I'm just looking for some guidance as to how to accomplish my goals, how homeschooling affects me, et cetera.</p>

<p>Thank you for reading this outrageously long post. I appreciate any advice you have to give.</p>

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<p>This may be a small thing, but I wouldn’t necessarily consider recreational weight-lifting as an extracurricular activity. The admissions committees may think that’s a bit stupid. If anybody with more experience concerning admissions than me would like to correct me, please do.</p>

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<p>Alright, thanks, I guess I didn’t think of it that way… Hypothetically, though, at what point does weight lifting become a legitimate extra-curricular? I’m just curious. Would being captain of a weight-lifting team be “legitimate?” Or would that still be “stupid?” Thanks for the reply.</p>

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<p>I do know for MIT you need to take one of the math subject tests as well as a second science related subject test.</p>

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<p>That would be legitimate I think.
Assuming you get 700+ on all the SAT2s you need</p>

<p>You have a great shot at all the schools you mentioned</p>

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<p>Murituy: Thank you, I didn’t know that. I’ll plan to take a subject test in physics, then.
Barrk123: I’m glad to hear it. Any thoughts on how being homeschooled will affect my decisions? Thank you.</p>

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<p>I think it would be considered worthwhile to mention if you compete in bodybuilding or powerlifting competitions, or something similar. Anybody can say they lift weights, you need to show it</p>

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<p>Ah, I see. Thank you, that makes more sense now.</p>

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<p>retaking a 2340? not necessary at all, imho sends the wong impression to admissions.</p>

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<ol>
<li>Don’t retake the SAT. </li>
<li>Recreational weight lifting is a hobby not a club. You can start a club and make yourself the president of the club or write an essay about it.</li>
</ol>

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<p>I’d put some safeties on that college list. UC Berkeley might be pretty likely, but just in case you don’t get in. It’s a very top-heavy list.</p>