<p>I'm homeschooled, so that makes it kind of hard for me....
My homeschooled GPA is 3.93....
SAT: 2210 (680 CR, 800 Math, 730 Writing, 11 Essay)
ACT: 35 (No writing), 33 w/writing (36 reading), new scores supposed to be out
SAT Subjects: Math2 - 800, Chem-800, Chinese w/list - 790, Physics - 780, USH - 710</p>
<p>Recommendations not from real teachers, but all very strong.
Essay is strong... Explains an ultra-conservative background, and then rebel teenager years, and then high school years in China...
ECs: Not the typical ECs, since I didn't do regular high school. Swam daily for three years, volunteered and taught elementary school kids and junior high kids English in China - total of 100 hours, taught kids basic basketball in china (30 hours), internship at a medical clinic in Taiwan for three months, had Go/Chinese Calligraphy/Web Design...</p>
<p>Can someone give me chances? I'm applying to:
Williams (Neuro/Chinese)
Amherst
Pomona
Claremont
Middlebury (Chinese)
HYPS <em>rolleyes</em>
MIT (Neuro)
Cornell
UChicago
Northwestern
Carnegie Mellon
Vanderbilt
UCs....</p>
<p>How do you have an actual gpa when you're home schooled? Do teachers grade homework/tests? I mean can't a parent just give you any grade they want? Just curious...</p>
<p>YM---it seems like you have a very lengthy list of schools you are applying to. You might be well served to narrow your choices down more, so that you can give time to developing strong essays. Now...you know in your gut which schools are more of a match, which are safety, and which are reaches. Your interests in Nueroscience, and Chinese would most likely whittle down your best options. Give yourself permission to eliminate some of the schools on your list. Then you will be happier with the schools that actually accept you, and make clearer your choice of where to matriculate.G'Luck!</p>
<p>Damn that's a lot of schools. Don't fret, I'm sure you'll get into at least half of them. I suggest nailing the list down it 5 or 6 because it seems several of the colleges listed do not share specific quality departments. (i.e, x school revolves around science while y school revolves around political science).</p>
<p>Williams (Neuro/Chinese) - Slight reach
Amherst - Slight Reach
Pomona - Low Match
Claremont - Low Match
Middlebury (Chinese) - Match
HYPS <em>rolleyes</em> - Harvard - Very high reach, - Yale - very very high reach - P - high reach - Stanford - Reach
MIT (Neuro) - Reach
Cornell - Low Reach/Match
UChicago - Match
Northwestern - Match
Carnegie Mellon - Match
Vanderbilt - Match
UCs....
UCLA - Low match
UCSD - MATCH!
UCI - MATCH!
UB - low reach
UCD - Match</p>
<p>Remember: Some of those colleges listed LOVE homeschool students. They have a much higher retention rate than public schoolers and are proven to be much more independent compared to the ordinary student.</p>
<p>It is generally accepted that the smaller the school the better chance of a homeschooling gaining acceptance. </p>
<p>Some UC departments (specifically science) love homeschoolers, but UC schools as a whole don't favor them over regular students.</p>
<p>Pomona, Claremont, and Amherst definitely consider your homeschooling education as a plus. High schools are more likely to give undeserved grades than parents/homeschool teachers. </p>
<p>Your high SAT proves you know at least some of the material taught, and your educational background proves you're independence from crowd controlling state-sponsored schools. </p>
<p>They don't want 4.0 drones, they want enthusiastic students who genuinely like their school and have a track record of independence. </p>
<p>Plenty of kids with 3.0s get into Amherst, and plenty of kids with 4.0s get rejected. </p>
<p>Last year 150 kids with perfect SAT scores were REJECTED from Harvard.</p>
<p>It's funny that everyone is saying you should whittle down your list. I'm going to level with you, so many of the applications are going to be so similar that you can apply to twice the amount of schools you are now without having to do significant work as far as essays go. In theory it's nice to be able to say that one school is a special snowflake and you love them and blah blah, but a home schooler can be assessed in so many different ways by schools that seem so similar outwardly that it's worth spreading a net much wider than a normal high school graduate.</p>
<p>I'm applying to 20 schools and everyone thinks I'm psychotic (even I admit it's a little much), but between my weird background (somewhat like yours) and the ability to see multiple aid packages and pit similar schools against each other to improve aid offers I figure it's worth it financially in the long run. Most supplements have the exact same questions/prompts with minor variations, and if you're a good writer you should do fine.</p>
<p>The biggest problem you'll find in my experience isn't even applying to a multitude of schools, it's mailing 20x2 recommendations and getting transcripts sent to each.</p>
<p>I'm sorry, but 20 schools is absolutely ridiculous and kind of disgusting. You're just taking up spots for kids who REALLY want to go [x] school.</p>
<p>It's like the kid who applies every single top school solely for their prestige. I knew someone who applied to the entire Ivy and little Ivy league. He got into about half the schools, but ended up going to a state school because of a scholarship.</p>
<p>You can feel it's whatever you want, you have no idea what my situation is like and the reality is that depending on the way the wind blows I could get into 17 or I could get into 1. I've always heard the "you're taking up spots" argument, but the reality is that a large portion of the applicants to the top 15 are "why the hell not" applicants already, and if you absolutely love a school and they have a low yield you'll get in off the wait list. Or, like Chicago, they could over enroll every year to compensate for people who like me are "disgusting."</p>