Hi I’m a homeschool student and I plan to take some CLEP exams. I heard that standardized test scores are important to homeschool students, so I planned to take the AP exams this year…Unfortunately, my area cancelled all the AP exams because of the serious COVID pandemic. So I will consider taking the CLEP exams instead of AP. But I want to know if I plan to apply to Top 20, such as MIT, Stanford, and Cornell, etc., as a homeschooler without AP, can I use CLEP exams to demonstrate my academic ability and validate my homeschool record? Can CLEP test scores benefit my college application to top schools since I’m not going to take them for credits? How many CLEP should I take? Should I take the CLEP exams according to the quantity standard of AP exams? I’m planning to take 6 CLEPs: College Algebra, Calculus, Biology, Chemistry, Principles of Macroeconomics, Principles of Microeconomics. Are these enough and is the choice of these subjects suitable if I intend to major in CS or Economics? Is 6 CLEP exams enough? And how should I submit my CLEP test scores in college application? Should I just include it in my homeschool transcript?
College algebra is rather redundant if you do well on the calculus one (or have taken an actual calculus course at a college, in which case there is no point to taking any math CLEPs).
If you do want to use CLEP scores to validate home school learning, you may want to consider selecting them to cover advanced (for high school) level material in the usual high school subject areas (other than those you have taken actual college or high school courses in). The subject areas not in your current list include English (composition and/or literature), history, and foreign language.
I hadn’t heard of AP exams having been cancelled anywhere this year, or even last year. They were done online in 2020, but I think they were administered everywhere in 2021 and 2022.
Do you plan to take an SAT or ACT?
I don’t think that CLEP exam scores would be very helpful to you, especially for T20 applications. Most colleges have you self-report AP scores, and then confirm with a college board report, if you want credit. A lot of top schools don’t offer much, if anything, for AP scores. I think that if you want to focus on a standardized test score to confirm a homeschooling transcript, you should focus on prep for the SAT or ACT.
CLEP could be helpful to you if you were planning on enrolling at a school that accepts CLEP for credit. At some schools, you could conceivably get a year’s worth of credit via CLEP. The problem is that every school is different in which exams they’ll accept. Community colleges and 4 yr state colleges seem more likely to accept CLEP than T20 schools.
High achievement in a couple of summer school classes at the best college near you, that you can afford, would be another way to confirm high achievement, since you’ll have the grades available to report in time for applications. It sends a message to the schools, saying that you are ready for high-level college work, since you did very well in summer classes at a highly respected school this summer.
Hi Thanks for your help! I plan to take SAT and I’m preparing it. I just want to take CLEPs in order to benefit my college application but not for credits…If I don’t have any AP, can CLEP test scores strengthen the college application of homeschool student to the Top schools? Or if CLEP is not that beneficial, how about British A-Level? Can this replace AP to demonstrate my academic ability? How about dual enrollment? Is online dual enrollment at a college more beneficial than taking CLEP? And how about edx? Can online credentials of edx (course that has credits after being verified) benefit the college application of homeschooler?
If what you’re looking for is proving to a college that your homeschooling prepared you to do well in challenging college classes, it seems to me that the best way for you to do that is to TAKE challenging college classes this summer, at the most prestigious college near you. I don’t think that CLEP will impress highly selective schools, or frankly, any schools that are very selective.
Where are you living that AP exams are cancelled, and that you’re considering A levels?
So this is an interesting question.
OP is applying in this year’s admission cycle to schools who will accept less than 10% of their applicants.
The student is in Asia, a region that has a relatively high number of students applying to the schools in which the OP is interested (eg, “Ivy”, MIT, Stanford, Cornell). About ~12% of applicants accepted to those schools will be international students. So, the competition is fierce, and standing out from the crowd is challenging.
The student was homeschooled for Grades 8-11, and currently (Grade 12) in a private online HS. We have no information, but given the level of their ambitions, will give them the benefit of the doubt and say that they have essentially perfect marks. They have not yet done any standardized testing at all, either in in their local system or any of the international system, but are prepping for the SAT.
So, how do colleges evaluate this student? Stanford is SAT optional, so all they would have is LORs, a homeschool + 1 year of an online HS transcript, ECs, and essays. MIT will have the SAT score at least.
So, what’s an AO to do?
OP, what do you do with your non-schoolwork time- Is there a good story there? I’m guessing that your tutor since Grade 8 will write a strong LOR- do you have somebody to write equally strong one?
And, seriously and bluntly (you don’t have to answer this here, but you should think about it seriously): what do you bring to the table? MIT admissions officers will read more than 33,000 applications, and they have only ~1,300 spaces. They need a reason to say ‘yes’- what will that reason be with you?
ps, A-levels are a 2 year cycle, so you can’t just cram and rock up on the day.