Chance Me: Unschool edition!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hello, folks! College applications are around the corner, so I thought that I might try my hand at a Chance Me thread. I daresay that my stats are highly unusual so in particular, I am looking for the advice of those who have been accepted into college as a homeschooler/unschooler.

School: Homeschooled/unschooled/worldschooled over the course of my life.
Race: Mixed. (Indigenous Latinx/White)
State: Texas
Grade: High school senior
SAT scores: N/A. (I shall find out soon!) I expect a high English score and a very low math score based on practice tests.
ACT (N/A. I don’t intend to take one unless I am unsatisfied with my SAT.)

My courses:

Self Study (Non-AP)

-Honors Biology
-Chemistry
-English I (Literature)
-English II (writing and composition)
-US History I/II
-History of Mathematics and the Sciences
-Alg I
-Alg II
-Geometry (This is the only course in which I didn’t get an A or higher. (I got an 88)
-History of Scotland
-The Minimalist Musical Movement of the Late 20th Century
-Intro to Linguistics
-Mayan and Indigenous Mexican History
-Latinx Arts and Art History

-Some other misc. stuff that I did that, being unschoolers, we may choose to count as a course credit. (Ie, does reading a lot about North African musical traditions one summer count as a course credit??)

Self Study: APs

AP Human Geography (4)
AP Literature and Composition (5)
AP US Government and Politics (5)
AP Environmental Science (N/A)

Private Tutor:

Shakespeare in Film (with other homeschool students at home of University of Texas professor.)

Community College Courses:

Spanish I
Spanish II
Spanish III
Spanish IV
French I
French II
French III
Arabic I
Arabic II
Art History I
Art History II
Cultural Anthropology

Community College GPA: 4.0

Local High School Courses:

Japanese I

Extracirriculars:

Austin Community College French Club
Austin Community College Arabic Club (President)
Scottish Highland Dance
Long Distance Running (Half Marathons)
Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society

Awards:

NSLI-Y (National Security Language Initiative for Youth) State Department Scholarship 2018. (To study Arabic for a semester in Rabat, Morocco)
President’s Honor Roll Award (4X) at Austin Community College for 4.0 GPA
ACC Honors Society
Phi Theta Kappa invitation
Odyssey of the Mind Regionals Second Place Champions
AP Scholar Award

Volunteering:

I have yet to calculate my hours and do not have access to records right now, but:

Contemporary Museum ATX, art classes teaching assistant
Jourdan-Bachman Pioneer Farms: volunteer farmer
Casa Marianella Refugee Home: worked to help immigrant and refugee women/children
Mexic-Arte Museum: Regular volunteer

Other one-day volunteering gigs include cooking for an event at the Mexican American Cultural Center of Austin and working on the campaign team for Beto O’Rourke on the first day of elections

Jobs: Arts Education Intern, Museum Docent, Tour Guide at the Mexic-Arte Museum of Austin.

PROSPECTIVE MAJORS:

Linguistics, Near Eastern Studies, Arabic

PROSPECTIVE MINORS:

Museum Studies, Spanish

PROSPECTIVE SCHOOLS:

University of Chicago
University of Texas
Harvard
Carleton College
Earlham College
Hamilton College
University of Delaware

Thanks a bunch, folks! Until the next, and have a most lovely day!

2

Oh, it is to be noted that I’m homeschooled unter the John Holtian philosophy, the idea tht child-led learning leads children to explore their passions. I’ve also been Worldschooled for the past couple of years. (Ie, rather than owning a home, my family moves around the world, exploring cultures. This is a huge benefit, but makes it harder to consistently volunteer/work anywhere, so my activities are required to be flexible.)

My passions are language and linguistics, as well as the arts and art history. These passions excite me and fill my time, beyond the courses I am taking. For example, activities of this past weekend for me have included
-texting a Moroccan friend in Arabic
-writing an article about the lexicographical history of Yucatec Mayan and how, etymologically, many Arabic words have ended up in Itza Yucatec over the years
-Visiting a museum of Mayan history and writing informative pieces on Instagram to share with friends about the works there
-Reading the Popol Vuh in Spanish

Etc.

My educational schedule, for me, is much less important that the quality of the work that I do. As such, I choose not to list my transcript in terms of grade level/year, and will not be doing so on my final transcript. I hate categorizing education due to how I was raised, and actually intend to write my transcript in terms of themes rather than years. (Also because I have never done things in clear-cut semesters. I didn’t take any high school math until sophomore year, and even then, I finished Algebra I, Geometry, and Algebra II all in Senior year.)

3

It’s nearly impossible to chance you without any standardized test scores, especially as a homeschooler. Have you taken SAT II subject tests in addition to regular SAT? They are recommended for some of the schools on your list.

You also may get more responses in the homeschool sub forum.

4

@momofsenior1 I have not taken any SAT Subject Tests, but I’m most likely going to take the literature one in coming months.

5

OH Some essential notes about my education:

I was raised under the John Holtian education philosophy, or the idea that through child-lead learning, kids have a better shot of exploring their passions. I have also been worldschooled in recent years. As such, I haven’t been able to maintain a steady job or any long-term activities, but at the same time, my life has remained perpetually educational.

I believe in quality over quantity, and DO hope that the depth of my interests will give me a leg up in college apps. I devote nearly all my time to my interests in language in the arts. This past weekend, I spent time exploring a museum of Mayan history and writing informative Instagram post for my friends about Mayan culture, reading the Popul Wuj in Spanish, texting a Moroccan friend in Arabic, and writing an article about the etymological history of Yucatec and teh historical/lexicographical history of why Itza Yucatec has so many Arabic cognates.

6

So you haven’t applied to schools this cycle?

7

AS SUCH my transcript shall be written in terms of themes, NOT semesters. I didn’t begin high school math until Sophomore year, and did Geomerty and Algebra II both in Senior Year. Nonetheless, I believe that most of my learning occurs outside the classroom. This is the basis of my application strategy.

8

@momofsenior1 , I have not yet applied to schools. I did want to include some of my AP tests on my trqanscript and wait until I felt confident to take the SAT. I shall be taking a gap year for the 2019-20 school year, during which I shall hopefully be in Morocco through the NSLI-Y scholarship again, (if not, I’ll be doing service projects and research projects.)

I’ll be applying early action this June.

9

I don’t know anything about how schools would judge your record. If you are unsure, I would suggest visiting some of these schools and maybe some safeties and actually talk to the admissions counselors. They can give you a read of how your transcript will be received and if you have any glaring deficiencies - better to know now so could address them.

10

Look at the testing requirements for the schools on your list. You may need more than one SAT subject test. If they say SAT tests are recommended or considered, you should read that as “required” to make you competitive.

While you are obviously extremely strong with foreign languages, most of the competitive schools still expect some course rigor in other areas. Usually you would want to have math through pre-calc and some level of physics. Some schools might also want to see econ and government. I’d suggest you research the schools on your list and be sure you are meeting all of their academic requirements. The good news is that you potentially have time if you are missing something.

I’m not a homeschool parent so hopefully you’ll get some input from people with real world experience.

PS. The Common App doesn’t open until August 1st and some of the schools don’t have Early Action.

11

Thank you all so much!

Are both Econ AND Govt required for most schools, generally? I did take the AP Government and Politics (US) exam last May and recieve a 5. I have absolutely no economics experience whatsoever and would have to start from scratch.

I also still have time to add in some physics and pre-calc and shall likely be adding those to my course list.

Again, these are topics that I have worked with but not enough to feel comfortable using as a course credit. (Ie, I have researched a lot of physics topics using wikipedia/documentaries and could happily explain concepts from Brownian motion to the refraction of light to relativity of simultaneity, but I have no lab experience or textbook experience at all, so I don’t feel it would be totally honest to make a course credit. Does anyone have any advice on what resources to use to get some more substantial experience quickly?

12

“Does anyone have any advice on what resources to use to get some more substantial experience quickly?”

You should really look at homeschool specific forums. Have you looked at Derek Owens courses for example? You are right that without the math or lab work you cannot claim to have a course credit.

13

I have been through the application process three times now with my homeschooled kids. As the guidance counselor, I created three documents:
A homeschool profile: which stated our homeschooling philosophy (2 pages)
A one-page transcript: which listed courses (most of which were home-brewed and self-studied)
A course description document: which provided detailed information for each course listed on the transcript, including textbooks and other resources used in the course.

My kids also had quite a bit of outside validation: SAT scores, 3 Subject Tests, numerous AP scores, etc. in addition to their ECs. They applied to highly selective schools. I don’t think they would have needed as many test scores had they not been applying to T10 schools.

Good luck!

14

What an interesting background! We did not homeschool through high school, but I do know that outside validation is often critical. Your community college classes and/or AP classes could use some “rounding out” - English, Math, and Science are conspicuously missing.

I think your SAT score is even more critical than for brick-and-mortar schools, so I would suggest getting a great test prep book and working through it to get your math score higher, assuming your real scores are similar to practice.

In terms of resources, are you familiar with Modern States? They have AP prep classes for Bio, Science, etc. - the Physics AP course is from Rice: https://modernstates.org/course/ap-physics-1-part-1-linear-motion/

Good luck!

15

Thanks a whole bunch! I shall absolutely look into Modern States! For my SAT, I’ve mainly been working through skills on Khan Academy. As of today, I’m about halfway through mastering the math skills but do hope to be finished by mid March.

I’m actually feeling pretty solid about my English validation (the 5 on the AP lit and comp should help, as should my Shakespeare course, but I do intend to add the lit SAT this year.)

I’ll also have a science SAT/AP validation by the end of May.

Math is DEFINITELY missinng, as it is absolutely not my interest/strong suit, but I’ll be looking into getting more validation.

Thanks again!

16

OH I did forget to mention that in order to attend community college in Texas, I had to take a TSI exam, (a college readiness requirement in my state) which I took in Freshman year. I got a perfect reading and writing score, a high essay score, and (literally!) the minimum passing score on math. Can this be used as any kind of validation?

17

You have a wonderfully different and interesting background and I wouldn’t worry about fitting into any boxes. Schools that are welcoming to homeschoolers generally do not expect them to appear as traditional school clones. Your education and experiences make it crystal clear where your passions and interest lie, and as long as your test score is passable I think you’ll have great results. Though I’m just a homeschooling mom, my first child has just gone through the application process. I would definitely recommend reaching out to the schools and getting a feel for the schools themselves, as well as the admissions departments.

18

Another forgetten list, my NSLI-Y Scholarship Summer included the following courses:

Arabic III
Arabic IV
Darija Dialect I
Global Citizenship
Arabic Music and Dance Club (American Students’ President)
Arabic Culture Lecture Series

19

Aww thank you a bunch, @milgymfam ! I really highly appreciate it!

20

Aww thank you so much @milgymfam! I really appreciate it!