<p>I'm homeschooled, in 9th grade, 14 years old. Basically instead of focusing on getting all 26 highschool credits I'm focusing on preparing for the sat. So Im gearing up for college. I know that I need more on my college application than good sat scores. So I applied for a volunteer job at the hospital in town. They don't really take homeschoolers into consideration so if your under 18 you apparently can only volunteer in the summer... I'm also planning to do some work with a psychiatrist, at a summer program. So these are the the things I am doing now. What else do I need to do to build, and make a good college application? (I'm shooting for ivy league)</p>
<p>Look at the EC sticky thread on this forum for information on outside activities. Also check out the Home Schooling forum for more specific issues for home schooled applicants.</p>
<p>Please note, the Ivy League is an athletic conference, and the schools within it vary in many ways. Start now in learning about a range of schools that may fit your academic, social, etc. needs.</p>
<p>Also, while the SAT is an important component of a college application, they are also looking for more than just a filled out resume. Figure out what you really enjoy doing that, whether it’s ballet, music, science, sports or whatever, and take it to another level. If you’re in ballet, are you in the highest level? If you’re at the highest level, can you also teach young children ballet or help in their classes? The application should tell who you are, not just how smart you are, because at the Ivies and the very selective schools, most people applying will have high SAT and outstanding grades, but their ECs will be just as spectacular.</p>
<p>"Basically instead of focusing on getting all 26 highschool credits I’m focusing on preparing for the sat.</p>
<p>Selective schools will pore through your documents for indication that you really are a hungry learner. How will you demonstrate this? Just a decent SAT score won’t show that.</p>
<p>But I guess the real question is: are you indeed a hungry learner or not? That remains to be answered.</p>
<p>@ snowflakeVT because we travel it is hard to participate in extra carricular activities. This year I tried taking an acting class, and it didn’t work out well at all because of our traveling. I had been taking horse back riding lessons before our schedule got so busy, and unpredictable. Horse back riding is something I’m very good at, and I also have a strong passion for. I think if I tried i could definitely pick this up again but is this something that could be a positive for my application even though I wouldn’t compete? I could start barrel racing competitions, but again is it a good thing for my applications?</p>
<p>@ T26E4 I definitely am a hungry learner. I didn’t say this before, but I’m taking classes at the UT Austin Online High school. Im going to also take duel credit courses, so I will have a record of all the classes I’ve taken along with the grades I made in those classes…</p>
<p>Ps: entomom could you post the links to those threads please?? Thanks :)</p>
<p>Not sure why you travel so much, but can you make an EC out of your travel? Can studying the history of each location or its art tie to something else you like? Many kids travel and still get into great schools, so tie that in to what you do for an EC.</p>