"Chance Me"- Homeschool Edition

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

My top choice school is Brown, but the rest of the schools I’m applying to are match/safety schools. Would anyone be so kind as to chance me for Brown?

I’m a Caucasian female, currently 16 (I skipped a grade in middle school.) I have been homeschooled for the past few years. My transcript is as follows:

Ninth grade:
AP Biology
English Lit I
Algebra I (tutored)
French I (Rosetta Stone program, tutoring)
Psychology (taken at the college level)

Tenth Grade:
Anatomy and Physiology, tutored by an Amherst College prof.
IEW Writing (tutored)
Geometry I (tutored)
French II (Rosetta Stone program, tutoring)
US govt.
Ancient Civilizations

Eleventh Grade:
Physics (tutored)
Research Writing I (tutored)
Algebra II (tutored)
Intro to Statistics (Audited, Amherst College)
Criminal Law (tutored)
French III (Rosetta Stone program, tutoring)
the Basics of Neuroscience
Art

Summer:
Neuroscience in Health and Disease (3 weeks at Brown University, taught by Brown Grads)

Twelfth Grade:
Case Studies in Global Health: Bio-social Perspectives (Harvard Extension School- receiving college credit)
Chemistry III (Auditing, Smith College)
Cells, Physiology, and Development (Auditing, Smith College)
Health Psychology (Auditing, Smith College)
Pre-Calculus (tutoring)
Introduction to African American Literature (tutoring)
French IV (Rosetta Stone Program, tutoring)

ECs:
Young Shakespeare Players East- Performed and directed ( the latter as volunteer work) uncut Shakespeare for 6 years
Author- 1 published poetry anthology, 1 unpublished book on the neuroscience of anorexia
Music- Piano and Voice lessons for 4 years
Sports- karate and track for 3 years
Volunteering- soup kitchen for 3 years
Career- Lifeguard for 1 year

My SAT is 1360/1600, but I can’t retake it sadly. My GPA is 3.98 UW. I’m hoping to be a Neuroscience major and have plenty of experience in the Mental Health field (my mom’s a psych nurse, and my dad’s a psych).

Chance me please?
Thank you!

2

Your SAT is low for Brown, your highest level of math is lacking for a STEM major, and I dont see any ECs related to your major… It’s going to be a very long reach.

3

Not having American History is going to hurt you.

4

Oh, the US Govt. was in conjunction with a US History Unit. Thanks!

5

I don’t think that’s going to help much, most high schools require 2 semesters of American History (even if it is taken DE) and one full semester of Am Gov, 2 semesters of world history or world Geo and one semester of Economics. You are going to have document your curriculum very carefully. I’m also surprised you don’t SAT subject tests and only one AP exam.

6

State homeschool requirements differ. Your state may not require a set number of courses in any subject to get a high school equivalency diploma. Colleges are different. When my homeschooled son applied to college we found that most colleges wanted a minimum of 3 years of English, math, lab science, US/world history and geography, and foreign language. We made sure he exceeded the minimum.

If your sciences were lab sciences, you need to note them that way in your transcript. Not all homeschoolers take AP courses or SAT subject tests, but not all of them apply to places like Brown either. Read their requirements carefully. If it’s not a requirement then it may not matter.

Your history does seem light. I understand that you’re interested in a science career, but that shouldn’t mean that you ignore other subjects. A US history “unit” isn’t a year of US history. If I were you, I’d add US history and geography to your schedule this year. Take a course at your local cc if you have to (one semester at cc = 1 year of high school credit).

I don’t know your mom being a psych nurse and your dad a psych translates into you having a lot of experience in the mental health field. I don’t see mention of it in your ECs at all. If you make that claim on your app, you’re going to need concrete examples of those experiences.

7

Asking this out of ignorance: how does an audited class get treated? My only experience of auditing classes was at university level, and the key things there were that you could attend the lectures but did not have to do the homework or take the exams. Is it the same for HS? Do the relevant profs agree to grade the work and give unofficial marks?

Also. OP did you take the AP exam for Bio? If so that would give a benchmark at least.

With an SAT in the bottom 20% of admitted students, no other form of external evaluation (CC classes, APs/Subject tests), and ECs that (from the description provided) look thin, especially for a home-schooled candidate, it’s doesn’t look as though you are giving Brown a lot to go on as to why you should be one of the 1560 ( 8%) of women they accept, vs the 18,000 (92)% they deny.