<p>Just out of interest, any other homeschoolers on this board? We’ve been hsing for 17 years. The challenges of admissions to the academies have been interesting! I think I’ll go into business as a counselor by the time I’m done with my fifth child. ;-)</p>
<p>My god, I don't know how you can do it. It seems like it would be more difficult for homeschooled children to get an appointment and then to fit in at the academy.</p>
<p>Obviously I have absolutely no personal expierience or first had account with which to base this on, but the pressure of doing well on standardized tests and the inability to get heavily involved in leadership (again, no basis) makes it seem difficult. Also, fitting into a classroom setting.</p>
<p>If anyone has any info to shed on this I would really interested to know how homeschoolers stay heavily involved and how transcripts and things like that work. Also how do they get involved in leadership and sports? Localc clubs and things like boyscouts I would imagine? Totally different world than what I grew up in.</p>
<p>Well, there are as many different ways to homeschool as there are homeschoolers. Here in CO, we have full, equal access to all sports and ECA, so that is not a problem. The sort-of guru of homeschooling has a son that will graduate from the CGA either this spring or next (I think it's this year). A well-respected author of one of the first "how to get your hser into college" books (she's since written several others) has a son that is a graduate of the AFA. So, it can be done. On the average, homeschoolers test quite a bit HIGHER on standardized tests, so that helps. We've chosen early college classes to get around the lack of classroom experience. There are a number of quite lively homeschool to college loops and we glean a lot of knowledge there. At Academy Days (with MOC reps and academy reps) the speakers have been quite encouraging. We'll let you know how it went about a year from now... ;-) Another way to look at it--as a "college counselor" I only have one to worry about at a time!</p>
<p>Our homeschooled son has a nomination, and we are waiting to hear whether he received an appointment. He should be a fairly strong candidate, so we are optimistic.</p>
<p>Like Heartcross said, standardized test scores aren't usually a problem for homeschoolers. They learn stuff at home just like kids learn stuff at school. Many homeschoolers also put their kids either in some homeschool co-op classes or else in dual-credit community college classes. Our son has done both. In fact, he'll have about 50 hours of college credit at the end of this semester through taking dual-credit courses.</p>
<p>Most public schooled kids who are "Academy material" would be plenty capable of earning all this college credit, but they don't generally have the opportunity to do more than a few classes. Even though the college credits won't "count" at the Academy, they demonstrate that the student can perform in a classroom setting.</p>
<p>Learning at home probably provides something of an advantage when homeschoolers go to college. Other than the outside classes, homeschooled high school students learn to teach themselves. For instance, I gave our son textbooks, lab supplies, and assignments for biology and chemistry. He learned the subjects on his own. I graded his tests to make sure he was staying on track, and he did well.</p>
<p>Right now he's taking economics at the community college, and he has a professor whose English is terrible. He goes to class, but when he gets home, he just learns the material himself from the text.</p>
<p>His transcripts contain the courses he has done at home as well as the co-op classes and dual-credit classes. I have noted which courses were completed as dual-credit courses at the college.</p>
<p>For leadership, our son has been involved in Civil Air Patrol. This provided many different leadership opportunities. Additionally, CAP gave him the opportunity to go a summer flight academy and earn his solo wings. We thought that would be a good thing to have on his Academy application.</p>
<p>A group of homeschoolers in our area started a Toastmasters Gavel Club, and we have been involved in that for several years. Our son not only learned about public speaking, but he had the opportunity to serve in several club officer positions, which were good leadership opportunities.</p>
<p>Being homeschooled gave our son the time to start an exotic animal business. He researched animals, planned the layout of his pens, purchased materials, built the pens (with the help of his dad), went to auctions, purchased animals, handled them, bottle-fed their babies and found buyers for them. Right now he is researching tranquilizer darting, so that he can get some adult Axis deer to auction.</p>
<p>This likely gave him an advantage in his ALO interviews as he has many opportunities to interact with adults and is probably more comfortable doing that than most kids his age.</p>
<p>Sports was a bit more challenging for us, as we don't have access to public school sports in our state. We have a farm, and our son does tons of work for us on it and was in excellent physical condition. We knew that <em>might</em> squeeze him by in place of sports, but we didn't want to take that chance. Our son loves to swim, so he enrolled in a year-round USS swim program. That has been a great sport for him and also provided leadership experience as he is serving as team captain this year.</p>
<p>Homeschoolers do have to work a little harder to make sure they are jumping through all the hoops that will make them a strong candidate, but it is doable. One of my son's homeschooled friends also received a nomination to the AFA. My son, this same friend, and another homeschooled friend also have all received 4 year ROTC scholarships.</p>
<p>I think the media likes to portray homeschoolers as a bunch of misfits locked in their houses all day (where their parents likely lock them in closets and deny food and water), so it isn't surprising that a lot of people don't know what opportunities are available to homeschoolers.</p>
<p>Most college admissions depts. know that homeschoolers do well, as virtually every college in the country has had homeschoolers attend, so that has made it easier on those of us following in the footsteps of the "pioneers".</p>
<p>There are two ways to get in: you can pay your way, or get an appointment. Let me make it clear that it would be easier to get accepted to Yale than get an appointment. Here's why: Not only do you need good graes (GPA, transcript), but SAT scores are equally, if not more important. You need to be a good writer, too, if you want your state representative to give your letter a second glance. You must persuade this rep that you are the best and that you deserve his letter of recommendation more than any other person in your state. After all, he will only issue ONE appointment each year. Leadership? This is where you can get creative. Try becoming avolunteer fire fighter, becoming captain of a football or ice hockey team. What am I gonna do? Well, i'm a black belt in aikido and tae kwon do, and a green belt in kung fu. I am going to get a job teaching at the fighting academy down the road. This will not only show physical stamina and discipline, but a genuine interest in helping others and teaching others to be disciplined. Having a pilot's and instrument's license will show them you are serious about your career. I am also taking the SAT as many times as I can to get my score as high as possible. It is reccomended that one all ready has college under his belt before trying to get in to the USAFA. I am on my fourth semester at a community college. At this point, it clearly does not matter that I have been home schooled my entire life. I can't begin to imagine how screwed up I would be if I went to public school, and fell for the Trojan Horse in American Education. Don't get me wrong. Most home schooled students indeed end up naive, depraved, and socially incompetent. Home school has given me nothing but an advantage. I slacked off through out high school. I didn't care. But I had a burning desire to be a fighter pilot since I was ten. I began to recognize the need for what was important to my future, and I got ahead. When I first enrolled at college, I did not have a diploma, so i had to take the Compass test. My math scored off the charts! They had me skip College Pre-Algebra, College Algebra, Finite Math, and Trigonometry, and put me right into pre calculus. I skipped two years worth of college math! After one semester I had fulfilled the math requirements for any degree at the school. Having graduated at 16, not only was I the only 17 year old on campus, but the only person under 22 to take precal.</p>
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<blockquote> <p>Most home schooled students indeed end up naive, depraved, and socially incompetent. <<</p> </blockquote>
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<p>Hollowcloud,
I'm a homeschool mom and you sound just like my kids! Now that isn't true, and you know it. If you sit down and make a list right now of all the homeschooled kids you know, then put a check mark beside the names of those who are socially incompetent, I think you'll find that it's a small percentage.</p>
<p>If you take a representative group of public schooled kids, you'll likely find a similar percentage of socially incompetent kids. You <em>have</em> seen Napoleon Dynamite, haven't you?!</p>
<p>Also, it's important to realize that people aren't all the same. Some people are "Lord of the Rings" geeks and like to dress up to go to LOTR movies. Some are into rodeo and wear tight Wranglers. Some are bookworms and shy. Some are in Civil Air Patrol and wear short haircuts, though short hair is not in style.</p>
<p>Yes, I know some naive, depraved, and socially incompetent homeschoolers. Generally, the depraved ones are not naive and socially incompetent, but that's a whole 'nother message. I know public and private schooled kids who are that way too, though. Be careful about slinging around stereotypes like that, or you'll find yourself as victim of them when people think that you must be some kind of weirdo too, just because you were educated at home.</p>
<p>So I made a mistake when I made the claim that most home schooled students are socially incompetent. What you have pointed out is that there is a high percentage of home schooled students you know that are socially competent. What I have pointed out is that there is a high percentage of home schooled students I know that are socially incompetent.. So allow me to rephrase my claim: Most of the home schooled students I know are socially incompetent...</p>
<p>Why do parents choose to homeschool their children? Is it to shelter them from the horrors of the outside world? I wouldn't trade my high school expierience for anything. Up to this point in my life, this experience is unmatched by any other and I cannot see ANY way that anything remotely similar to a high school expierience can be found if you are homeschooled.</p>
<p>10,000 fans coming out to regional semifinal for basketball. Representing the school in the Model General Assembly. taking part in NHS and field trips and homecoming and prom and football games and state cross country championships and all district honors and county science fair. It just doesn't seem that taking dual courses at community college and taking part in AAU basketball can resemble the friendships and memories that I have and will always cherish. But maybe I'm wrong.</p>
<p>Also, how does a diploma work for homeschoolers? Do they get a GED or something?</p>
<p>I also participated in the civil Air Patrol. I only started my junior year of high school just to learn the drill and stuff but have become somewhat inactive after basketball season started (late practices) But for the 14 months I was heavily into that, I noticed that ALOT of homeschooled kids do that. Some of them are REALLY hardcore. I will never fully understand the whole "homeschooling" thing. I don't care if I never got into any service academy, I wouldn't trade my high school years for ANYTHING.</p>
<p>"I wouldn't trade my high school expierience for anything. Up to this point in my life, this experience is unmatched by any other and I cannot see ANY way that anything remotely similar to a high school expierience can be found if you are homeschooled."</p>
<p>Thank you for pointing out that all human beings are limited by their experiences. I have said I can't imagine my life if I were not homesachooled. You have said you are blind to the advantages you may have acquired if your life was different. Round and round we go.</p>
<p>I'm glad to hear you had such a good high school experience. I think my older ones (the others aren't in high school yet) would tell you that they've had a good experience too. It's probably been different than yours, but I'm sure MY high school experience was different than yours, too!</p>
<p>Let's see--field trips--do two trips to Europe count? Wish I'd gotten to do those, but didn't...but my 16yo has. The reason she's been able to do these trips is because she has her own sheep business that's paid for it. She'd not be able to do that without being home. Prom, yeah, my dd did that. Yawn! Can't say it was the highlight of her high school experience, but it was fun. Civil Air Patrol--the closest one here is over 3 hours away, so not an opportunity for anyone--homeschooled, private schooled or public schooled--wish there was, but, we've traded for great skiing instead! ;-) </p>
<p>State cross-country championships?--yeah, done that too. Plus, state swimming finals...and All-State Orchestra, Chamber Singers, Western States Honor Orchestra, kayaking finals, musicals, national dressage finals, etc. Those have been great experiences and we're grateful that the girls have been able to do them. They've really had the best of both worlds--high school friends and activities PLUS their college buddies and activities. One of the experiences that my 16yo has most enjoyed is her time spent training with the fire department for swift water rescue. I'm grateful that she's able to juggle her classes, time at home, jobs, sheep, etc. to do these sorts of things. She'd not be able to do all she does if she was gone all day. So, don't assume that home schoolers are missing out--we're not! Why do we home school? Well, one main reason is to HAVE those experiences.</p>
<p>How do home schoolers get a diploma? Well, my oldest has a very nice hand-painted one that we commissioned from an artist friend. We gave it to her the day she did her senior recital at the college and then had a big whoop-de-do party at the ranch. And she even had Pomp and Circumstance--played on the violin by her orchestra director whilst he was grilling shrimp. Her violin smelled like bar-be-que for weeks. A grand time was had by all... My next one will actually have a diploma from an accredited school in Maine, as the CGA requires it. No big deal--they review her work, look at her college transcripts and award credit. </p>
<p>So, as you see, there are as many different ways to learn as there are learners. Probably some day, you'll end up serving with, or living next door to some home schoolers and you'll have a grand time exchanging stories of those long-ago high school days--and find that they are happy too.</p>
<p>Please take the home school argument to a different board. If you can't focus on USAFA-specific issues, I will delete this thread.</p>
<p>Dear Doc,
I have to apolgize--I didn't mean for this thread to go so far afield. Please accept my mea culpas. We do appreciate all you do on this forum.</p>
<p>No problem. Just trying to keep everyone on task. I think it would be fine to discuss the USAFA implications/problems/uniqueness of home schooling here since that's a growing issue. I have zero experience in that department, though, so I'll only moderate to keep on topic... I still travel a lot in my current position and am gone 2-4 days (seemingly) every week--without on-line contact sometimes--so sometimes things get a little out of hand.</p>
<p>Have a great AF day!</p>
<p>I was home schooled all my life, and just recieved my appointment. Timley, I'm sorry (and very surprised) to hear that your son hasn't made it in. I can agree with almost everything timely has said, so I won't repeat it all...besides, looks like we need to keep this on topic...</p>
<p>So yeah, it's hard for homeschoolers to get into the Academy. I, like many homeschoolers, had great scores on all my standardized test, but almost non-existent records and (in my case) no athletic background. So I had little chance back then...</p>
<p>Since then, I've joined the guard, gone to intelliegence school for six months (where I was involved in leadership programs) and spent a year at a good university (including the current semester). My grades in college have been decent, but it is the military experience and a stellar ALO that have really made the difference. </p>
<p>If anyone is interested, ask me about the guard. I'm convinced it's the best way to pursue a commission: better school benefits than ROTC, less time commitment than ROTC, and valuble job training. Note it may slow you down a semester (or two, if you go to a long school like mine) and you do have the possibility of being deployed in the middle of school...but I'm getting off topic.</p>
<p>Zach</p>
<p>Dear Fellow Homeschoolers</p>
<p>I am new to this forum and in need of some advice. My 15 year old (freshman) son Chris is working to earn an appointment to the AFA. He has been homeschooled all his life and has taken on Boy Scouts, Civil Air Patrol, and Kenpo Karate all in the last few months. He hopes to earn his Eagle Scout, Cadet Officer, and Black belt within the next 3 years. I have been told by a friend I work with, whose son is a freshman at the academy this year, that my son needs to have a few years experience in a competative sport (football, basketball, baseball, soccer, etc.) if he wants to be competative for an appointment. Chris intends to compete in martial arts tournements and run 5K-10K races, but I'm not confident that will be enough. He can try out for American Legion Baseball soon, but I'm afraid that might overload his already weighted schedule.</p>
<p>Any advice from homeschoolers experienced in this area would be of great value. Thank you.</p>
<p>John</p>
<p>Have you read Cafi Cohen's book ...And What about College? She relates their road to the AFA with a hsed son. </p>
<p>I just checked HSLDA's legal analysis of hsing in WI and can't find any mention of access to sports at the ps. Is it an option? It is here in CO. Would going the charter school route open those up for you? Philosophically, I'm opposed to public school charter schools done at home, but if this is your son's goal, you gotta do whatcha gotta do... </p>
<p>One thing to think about--taking the PSAT early--in 10th for practice and then taking the SAT fairly early in the junior year--by Dec. My dd has been accepted to the summer sessions for both AFA and USNA and I suspicion that those acceptances were based partly on the fact of having SAT scores already. She saw quite a jump from the PSAT to the SAT.</p>
<p>John,
Homeschooled applicants probably do tend to be bit weak on the competitive sports. Our son did year-round swimming on a USA team, and it was a huge time commitment (5 nights a week of 1 1/2 hour practices). He was nominated but did not receive an appointment, but his ALO didn't seem to think his athletics were a problem.</p>
<p>I think I'd stick with the things you have planned and be sure to document how many of those runs he does. Also, if he is able to compete in Karate and win some competitions, that would look good.</p>
<p>Your son is already doing a lot, and it might be overload to put him on a competitive team.</p>
<p>To offset that a bit, it would be good for him to get a really high SAT score. Our son took an SAT prep course which was not cheap, but which raised his score almost 200 points.</p>
<p>"I am also taking the SAT as many times as I can to get my score as high as possible".</p>
<p>"Having graduated at 16, not only was I the only 17 year old on campus, but the only person under 22 to take precal."</p>
<p>Actually, hollowcloud, it is recommended that you only take it three times. Also, I took AP Pre-Cal as a 16 year old junior in high school. I'm taking AP Calculus 2 right now as a 17 year old senior. And even though I am taking Calculus 2, I don't expect to have much or any advantage over most people at the Academy. It seems very strange to me that there is no one else your age at who is taking Calculus at your college, or that the next youngest are 22.</p>
<p>I know of 4 homeschooled young men from just the Houston Area that have received an appointment so far for the class of 09.</p>
<p>Aggies4Him</p>
<p>Is there any way that I could correspond with the families of the four homeschoolers at the AFA? I know that its terribly forward of me to ask you this, especially since you have know earthly idea who I am. But, I have been unable to connect with anyone who has direct experience with this. </p>
<p>My son is working very hard, and I'm probably over-analyzing the situation, but I'm afraid that we'll miss something that will render all his extra effort in vain. I guess I'm just so used to people pooh-poohing homeschoolers that I've grown paranoid.</p>
<p>If there is any contact information you could give me, I'd really appreciate it. If you can't, of course, I'll understand. Thank you for your time and consideration. </p>
<p>John</p>