Are homeschooled students favored during the application process?

Pre-College Issues Home Schooling and College
1

Homeschool student here. I’m going to be a junior in the fall, so I’m starting to read up very seriously on the college application process. I have friends who attend public school who are assuring me that, Affirmative Action-style, colleges favor homeschooled students during the application process. Is this true?

I’ve read instances of certain schools bragging about their homeschooled population, so I guess that claim holds merit. I personally feel as though being homeschooled makes the application process all the more competitive. It often feels to me like since I’m homeschooled, it’s expected that I’ve done more. For instance, if I went to a brick-and-mortar school, I feel like my ECs would be impressive (hundreds of volunteer hours over the last two years, tutoring related to my major, member of multiple academic clubs related to my major, two part-time jobs, one related to my major, can play a musical instrument) but as a homeschool student, they feel just average. Am I being stupid?

2

Homeschooling parent here . . . oldest has graduated, and got into a regular statue university but did not go (working instead).

Youngest is rising senior looking at safety, match, and reach schools.

Our most prestigious state university - University of Florida - asks that homeschoolers provide outside “validation” of their grades. It seems like they want to see some SAT subject tests, dual enrollment, accredited homeschool programs (i.e., FLVS), etc., along with standardized test scores in their range.

For years I had heard from homeschool parents that UF does not “like” homeschool students, and now I understand why that statement was a tad bit inaccurate (it’s actually that they are looking for something beyond a homeschool transcript).

I don’t have specific advice for you because my homeschool student looking at reach schools is just now entering application season. I tend to think that more elite universities would “like” homeschool students, so long as the student meets certain standards. I’m not sure how much of an “advantage” it is though. No matter how great your background, elite schools are tough. To me you sound like an interesting student with a good “story” to tell about yourself. I would make sure your transcript is tight, and that you have as good an SAT or ACT score as possible. Also think about letters of recommendation and where you would get those. Perhaps take a peek at essay questions from this year’s application process.

You are smart to start looking at the process now. Keep reading here. Wishing you luck!

3

Oh yeah, I wouldn’t consider that unreasonable. The only thing that I have seen that I personally feel is asking too much of a homeschool student is something I saw looking at Northeastern-- homeschoolers are expected to provide a full list of every textbook that they used during their high school career. I can’t even wrap my head around how I would prepare something like that.

4

If you are homeschooling on your own, and not with an accredited program, then you WILL need a more detailed transcript. Why would a college just accept that you took Chemistry and made an A ? Based on what criteria? Knowing the textbook name and edition, having the table of contents copied, and detailing how far into the book’s material you reached are important facts. Listing all the tests you took in that course, and how your family came up with your final grade is needed so the college can validate that you indeed have mastered the subject.

We are a homeschool family, and I know homeschoolers can have incredible educational experiences. But you can’t expect a college to just rubberstamp your transcript if you don’t have details to back it up. Taking ACT/SAT and SAT subject tests, AP Tests, or CLEP tests can help to validate your intelligence. And if you can take dual enrollment courses at a local college, that is even better. Getting written letters of recommendation from outside tutors or professors will bolster your credibility with a college.

Yes, it is overwhelming. Gathering writing samples from an english course, or art pieces you can photocopy to show your talent, or a video of you in a drama production or a ballet program, these are all things that take time and effort. But it is your choice of whether you want to attend college or not. This is the way the game is played, and so we homeschoolers do as asked and provide extra documentation.

Does it mean that John who went to public school learned any more than you did studying at home? Of course not. But the college has been conditioned not to question the level of proficiency or possible grade inflation at a public school.

It is not impossible to recreate the details of your high school studies. Good luck to you!

eta: We have found a variety of responses from colleges that we looked into for our D. Some were very familiar with homeschooling, had a large percentage of homeschoolers in their student body, and were very easy to work with in the admissions process. Others we spoke with at college fairs were not as familiar with the strength of a homeschooler’s education, and told us things like “it’s okay that you are homeschooled, we have remedial classes and can help you get up to speed your freshman year.” Of course, we chose not to apply to those colleges! I don’t think being homeschooled is an advantage, and at some colleges might be a slight disadvantage you have to overcome with great essay and personal interview.

We chose to homeschool our children, not because it made them look better to college admissions counselors, but because we felt it was the right choice for our children. And as you search for colleges, you will be looking for that right fit as well. A college that doesn’t value your homeschool education may not be the right place for you to attend.

5

Neither favored nor put at any set disadvantage. What will matter is what you did with the opportunity, how you challenged yourself academically, socially, and in your community. Not being in the public system doesn’t mean you can’t do solid, effective ECs.

6

No, homeschoolers are not favored. Your entire application will be scrutinized, especially if you are applying to very selective/elite schools, to see if you have attained a certain preferable level academically; colleges will ask more of you so they can clearly ascertain if you have attained that level. That means top notch SAT/ACT scores, stellar letters of rec from non-parents, strong scores in CLEP’s, AP’s or SATII’s, rigorous transcript with simple course names (Logic I, not The Art of Logic and Problem Solving), powerful essay/s, and a handful of EC’s you are very active in and passionate about.

7

OP,

Is your parent involved with homeschooling at all? Do you homeschool independently?

If you can’t meet a particular college’s demands of what they require from homeschoolers, you can always apply to other schools that aren’t so particular.

I don’t think homeschoolers have an advantage in admissions. However, I do think that a lot of homeschoolers have more flexibility to pursue what they love, be it academic or non-academic, thereby having some very impressive transcripts and ECs, and that is what impresses admissions offices, not the homeschooling in and of itself.

My middle son was admitted to Northeastern, and yes, my transcripts included detailed course descriptions including what books, textbooks, etc. were used (and Northeastern also requires two subject tests from homeschoolers). You’re right; it’s a lot of work for me, but I try to work on the transcripts along the way during high school so I don’t have to try to do it all at once in senior year.

I agree with the others: colleges don’t know your home school like they know familiar public and private schools, so the onus is on you (and/or your parents) to help them understand what you’ve done and why they should admit you.

PS. Why wouldn’t your ECs be considered good? If you love what you’re doing and love helping others in your service, that’s great! That will come through in your applications (essays) and schools will get to know and appreciate you.

8

@sbjdorlo

It’s kind of complicated. My parents have me take a lot of online classes, which I complete independently. It’s been mostly just regular (Honors) high school classes, but I am starting to take a lot more AP classes to challenge myself. My parents will have little assignments for me, usually on a monthly basis, like reading a certain book or looking more into certain subjects that I don’t really take interest in. For example, I just recently had to read through a ~200 page book on philosophy and write a few reports on it. My dad is a former high school teacher and college professor, so he really makes the most out of the time that he works with me.

The family’s current situation has made it to where I’ve been helping a lot with the family business, which is an online publication with subject matter related to my major. (That’s the second part-time job, though during the summer I’ve been putting in over 30 hours a week for it) We’re kind of living paycheck-to-paycheck, so I can’t really blame my parents for not being able to “traditionally” homeschool me, since they’re so busy all of the time.

And about the ECs, it’s like you said, you always either hear stories about homeschool students who take their flexible situations and just RUN with it! They’ll get work published, they’ll win all of these awards, they’ll travel, they’ll do all of this amazing stuff. I live in a pretty quiet area, where even at the local high schools, there aren’t many opportunities to do things like that. I’m definitely very passionate about what I have been able to do though, I just can’t help but feel like it looks lame on paper next to other ECs that I’ve seen, even just on here.

9

No, you don’t have to travel, publish, win awards. Otoh, you can be sure to socialize, pursue some interests and take on responsibilities, maybe challenge yourself with a sport or music/art, plus do something in your community. The work will be a plus. But the colleges want to see you can stretch in a few ways. Just as we tell kids to climb out of the same old hs box, it applies to homeschool kids, too. As a rising junior, you have time to do what may be missing.

If the income situation is so tight, I know this sounds like a challenge. But you have to realize most hs kids are not doing their “big” ECs every day/every week. They may do a particular vol activity once a month, but make it consistent every month, for the next year and a half.

You sound down. Take a moment and look at what you are doing, not just what you think is so glitzy. Little things can count, can show your range and rounding.

10

Thank you for your kind words! I understand that I’m probably overreacting, since I still have a lot of high school to get through. I just have to keep moving forward. Nothing in life that means anything comes easy, right?

11

Your homeschool situation sounds like many that I know. I didn’t teach my kids past elementary or middle school. I outsourced everything or else they just did self-study. No way do I have the skills or knowledge to teach high level subjects other than ASL or dance! LOL

Agree with lookingfoward. You’re doing fine. But now is the time to begin to organize your work into a transcript of some sort.

BTW, we are very budget minded. I tried to find as many free activities for my kids as we could. We found free symphony (but it’s not free anymore), free math circle, and so on. We could only do what we could do, you know? No school counted that against us. (We’re Pell Grant recipients, at this this past year, if that helps you understand our situiation).

12

I just finished making my son’s secularly homeschooled high school transcripts. It took a lot of “special coffee,” stacks of books pulled from our home library, online research to see how publishers describe their textbooks, and putting everything into “educationese.” My son will be applying to 4 ivy leagues and 1 state school with 2 other state schools as backups if the first 5 reject him. Due to finances and not finding a co-op we liked, he only outside academic resources we used were a public high school (4 months of hell) and a friend who is tutoring him this summer in math. (He’s returning the favor and tutoring him in another subject.) He’ll likely be taking a community college class this fall in his major. Also this fall he’ll be taking the ACT w/Writing, the SATs, and 5 SAT subject tests and the Ivies stressed that they weigh the test scores of homeschoolers more in order to prove that they’ve done the work. He has one shot at those tests and we can’t afford for him to do AP testing. The college application fees alone are staggering and we don’t qualify for waivers. In any interviews he may get, he will shine. He’s known what he’s wanted to do since he was 6 years old and that in order to meet those goals, an ivy league would be best. (He has his favorites.) We have to let him try.

We feel that what makes him unique is the sheer volume of subjects he’s studied (100 more credits than the local high school requires for graduation,) the majority of which were in the same field as his future college major, minor, and career goals. He’s done a huge amount of volunteer work and activism, started his own clubs (both activism and fun,) and participated in a competitive active for over 5 years. In other words, he’s demonstrated his ability to lead as well as give back to the community, same as he would (and is expected according to the literature,) the colleges he’s applying to.

His best friend goes to a small science & technology high school where the kids all the take the same exact courses with very little choice as to electives in extracurricular sports and the arts. All of the senior year classes are AP. Below that, everything is Honors and college prep. Any of these kids could do college-level work and on paper, they look great. They also look the same.

If the college websites and tours we’ve been on are speaking the truth and they actually want a diverse student population, then my son will stand out as one of those to be considered. He’s different than the majority of the public and privately schooled teenagers.

In other words, Bozusaki, try not to worry. You sound very accomplished to me and a college is going to see that. :slight_smile:

13

I don’t know that homeschoolers are favored, but at most schools I don’t think they are discriminated against either. Two of mine homeschooled through high school and did just fine with college apps.

Oldest went to a Christian college (his choice), so homeschoolers definitely weren’t discriminated against there. He graduated with a degree he liked (business) and got a job using his degree straight from college, so it worked well.

Middle wanted pre-med or research - not sure which - so wanted a research U. He had a top notch ACT score, 2 AP test scores (both 5s) and 3 DE classes (all As) and that was it for outside substantiation of his grades. Of course he also had stellar recs from his profs in DE and some decent ECs (but he hadn’t cured cancer).

We did not list ANY textbooks used nor did I do ANY course descriptions. I know plenty of parents do, but… I seriously doubt admissions looks at them much to be honest. I did outline our philosophy on the CA and I wrote the GC part, but that’s all the extra.

The only school he cut from his application list due to their wanting more than he had was Emory. Actually, when he found out they wanted SAT II tests and NONE of his other schools did (since he had AP 5s + a high ACT), he cut them from our visit list too - even though we were still driving right by Atlanta on our tour.

My guy got in to 5 of the 6 schools he applied to - all with merit aid - and was waitlisted at the 6th. Two of the six were safeties (Pitt & U Alabama). The others were competitive.

He currently has something like a 3.96 GPA entering his senior year, got accepted to a paid internship at Stanford this past summer (13/240 accepted) and is loving his time at U Rochester majoring in Brain & Cognitive Studies + Biology and getting minor in American Sign Language + Psych. He’s enjoying doing research and still has plans for med school later on. He’s added a year to his undergrad via UR’s Take 5 program (free tuition for a 5th year if you get accepted to study something completely different than your degree). For that he’s doing something to the effect of African Global Development - what’s successful and what isn’t.

I think he’s doing ok. I don’t regret what we didn’t do. Neither does he. There are plenty of homeschooling friendly colleges out there - enough to skip those that aren’t. But yes, you should still have SOME outside confirmation of grades - just I don’t think you need as much as some folks say - even for top secular research universities.

14

Colleges WANT to hear about family responsibilities and employment. In fact, from what I’ve heard, I’d say it is rather refreshing compared to so much obvious resume building going on out there. (Africa trips?) Make a list of all your responsibilities you’ve had in your families business. Then make a list of 3-4 things you’ve learned–lessons and skills. Build your extra curriculars, maybe even essay, around this.

15

Parent of a 2015 homeschool grad here. Agreeing with others that homeschoolers aren’t favored, but being homeschooled gives you a chance to present yourself and your story in a way that you wouldn’t be able to if you were graduating from a bricks-and-mortar school. Your parents write the guidance counselor letter, and they know you better than any school counselor could :slight_smile:

My daughter did mostly third-party classes for high school - CC, 4-year-college, various distance high school courses, homeschool co-op classes - and took a bunch of AP tests and several SAT subject exams. We did a one-page transcript, two-page school profile, and 12 pages of course descriptions. We didn’t do ‘mommy grades’, though plenty of people do; the only grades we included on the transcript were from third parties.

16

hs2015mom, you say you don’t do mommy grades, only third party grades…were any of the high school courses taught by you? I guess I’m asking if you listed/gave credit for some things that you didn’t grade, then used third party grades for the rest?

This thread is great, found this site as I’m looking at some overwhelming (to me) requests for homeschoolers for their college applications. Will be graduating my daughter this December (her community college dual enrollment program will not allow her to take more math and science after this semester, so she’ll graduate, then continue as a regular CC student until fall when she will go away to college).

17

@fixingrocks Yes, self-studies and at-home courses were listed and given credit, but not grades.

18

@fixingrocks, so your daughter will be a transfer student then? If you graduate her in December and she keeps on taking CC classes, most colleges will consider her a transfer.

19

Most we’ve looked at will only consider her a transfer if she takes 12 or more credits, she plans to take 11, calculus, biology and french. We considered the transfer option, but most still want the darn accreddited diploma which we won’t have, and she wants a full freshman experience.

20

@fixingrocks - What state are you in, and are the schools in? My homeschooled D applied to and was accepted by a variety of schools, public and private, in the midwest, northeast and south, and the accredited diploma issue never arose as a question, much less a barrier. Or did you find it an issue with transfer admission? Also, what’s the benefit of having her graduate in December vs waiting until June?