Cyber School Junior...NEED HELP!

Pre-College Issues Home Schooling and College
1

<p>I am a junior at an accredited online private high school based out of California. During my four years of high school I will have traveled around the globe, met with foreign heads of state, worked until my bones were weary, and achieved an un-weighted 4.0. However, that is all I have done, and I am worried about how top colleges will look at my application without the national accolades that many top students have.</p>

<p>I did about six things passionately and consistently over three years. (There are other things, but this is just a generalization.) These things included working within my family’s international interior design business <strong><em>very important</em></strong>(Monday –Friday), doing community service with my local Red Cross chapter and church, playing tennis, editing my school’s online periodical/newspaper, being elected to several leadership roles in YMCA’s Youth and Government, and participating in several local groups regarding the areas of writing, reading, politics, philosophy, and the environment. Two of those groups I created myself due to the fact that there was no outlet of its kind in my area. They are the Odyssey Lounge, a group for cross-cultural experiences and teen travel, and Zion Relief, an outdoor adventure/wilderness survival and awareness club. During the past three years I have lived in the Middle East for two months, and visited (usually more than two week stays) India, Italy, France, England, Germany, the U.A.E., Kuwait, Oman, and Bahrain. I also was an NYLF delegate, but I am told that the program does not carry much clout in the application process.</p>

<p>I took the hardest courses at my school, and added on community college classes when I could.</p>

<p>SAT I: 2250
SAT II: Lit-800 U.S. History:800 Math II: 710</p>

<p>What are my chances at the following:</p>

<p>Princeton
Harvard
UPenn
Stanford
UCLA (in state)
Georgetown
Emory
Northwestern
Claremont Mckenna
Scripps</p>

<p>I think these are safety/matches...Rhodes,Kalamazoo, Agnest Scott, LMU, Cal Poly SLO</p>

<p>Thank you so much for your help! :)</p>

2

<p>hey sorry i cant be any help, but can you please tell me more about this cyber school? im very interested.</p>

3

<p>Sure, what would you like to know? </p>

<p>you can send me an email at <a href="mailto:Lady_leonella07@yahoo.com">Lady_leonella07@yahoo.com</a></p>

4

<p>I don't feel I can predict chances, especially to some of schools, with which I am not really familiar. I think you have a lot of great choices there. I know Stanford, in particular, really likes people with different backgrounds. My homeschooled son graduated from there last June. His SAT I would have been just a bit higher than yours (but on the old scale), and his SAT II's a bit lower. He did not have any national awards of any kind. What he did have was several cc classes with good grades. (just below a 4.0) and a strong interest in science and Japanese, evidenced by various activities, particularly taking in exchange students and going to Japan on an exchange himself.</p>

<p>You have some great EC's. You have shown initiative in starting up groups yourself. Your travel has exposed you to a variety of cultures. The kind of activities in which you participate do not have big awards, but they show your passion and leadership, and that is just as important as awards. If you can write great essays, highlighting your passions and what they have taught you, you have a good chance to get into at least one of those great colleges. (But do have some good safety schools, too. You just never can predict acceptances.)</p>

5

<p>Thank you Susantm! I appreciate your imput, and kind words. I have had a hard time with this so far, but I am really excited. I just picked my final 8 today. Stanford actually is my top choice, and I have heard that they tend to like homeschooled students. :) </p>

<p>I am now looking at one or two reaches and the rest are matches/safeties. All of them are in the top 60 schools in the country, so I am not worried that I will get an inferior education at any of them. </p>

<ol>
<li>Stanford</li>
<li>Claremont Mckenna</li>
<li>Rhodes</li>
<li>Whitman</li>
<li>Kalamazoo</li>
<li>Scripps</li>
<li>UCLA (Honors)</li>
<li>Agnes Scott</li>
</ol>

6

<p>lady leonella i sent you a pm. :) i prefer it over email when it comes to cc, so i hope you don't mind!</p>

7

<p>No, I don't mind at all, but I did not get a pm. I would be happy to answer any questions you may have, even on this thread. I absolutely LOVE distance learning, and have found it to work extremely well for my needs.</p>

8

<p>oh yes!</p>

<p>can you please give me perhaps the website address of the school? im sure it has a website, it being a 'cyber' school and all...:D</p>

9

<p>
[quote]
However, that is all I have done...

[/quote]
It looks to me like you've done plenty. Much depends on how much effort you put into your applications, and how you present yourself. Will you be applying as a homeschooler? I would assume so, but I suppose much depends on how recognized your school is, and what sort of a transcript they provide. If you have accomplished things outside your cyber-school work that could be packaged as courses, you could create your own master or comprehensive transcript with all your work, including your cyber-school work, and submit it as your main transcript. Of course you'd also want to submit one from the school, but your homeschool transcript would give the complete picture.</p>

<p>My daughter was homeschooled, with a strong distance learning transcript and is now a student at Northwestern. I see you dropped NU from your list, but I think you would have an excellent chance of being admitted there. </p>

<p>What fields of study are you interested in?</p>

10

<p>nan- I am interested in a wide variety of things, but most specifically philosophy, journalism, international relations, and the Classics. I loved Northwestern's journalism department, and it is obviously one of the best in the country. How does your daughter like Northwestern? If you are familiar with Kalamazoo, which school do you think is better? I am very interested in the K-Plan. Traveling while in school is important to me, and I am unfamiliar with Northwesterns programs. I was deciding between the two, but maybe I should put on Northwestern and not think about adding UPenn or Princeton. I was thinking of adding one more to my 8, or two at the most. I would be interested in your opinions, and thank you for the time. </p>

<p>PrEpKiD- <a href="http://www.laurelsprings.com---%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.laurelsprings.com---&lt;/a> I am not sure what you are looking for exactly, but there are a couple of online high schools that are quite good. Another to look at is University of Miami Online High School. The LSS site has some links that are down right now, including the Teen Voice which is a VERRRY oudated copy from when we were first starting. The Teen Voice now has its own newsletter and will soon have its own website. The school also has some interesting things in the works. We will be having an NHS chapter starting soon, and some other clubs that students have started. LSS is not a perfect situation for most, but they are improving every year. I love it, but I think its not for everyone. UMOHS is much more expensive, but has more resources already set up for students including AP's. LSS is getting better at serving the students with a "real school" feeling, but it is still a homeschooling program at heart, and they encourage students to follow their own passions independently. Hope this helps! :)</p>

11

<p>From what I read on some of the other posts, I think you may be an advanced student like my sister and myself. Tommorrow I will post some information for you that I think would be beneficial.</p>

12

<p>Lady_Leonella-</p>

<p>I have to give a plug for the school I will be attending - the University of Chicago. Although it lacks the journalism department you want, I know from personal experience that its Classics department is one of the top in the country. I took beginning Greek (Attic Greek) there over the past summer, and this year I have been auditing Intermediate Greek (various dialects, including Attic, Doric, Ionic, and currently Homeric), which has proved to be difficult beyond belief yet satisfying and a good brain developer. I know many undergrads in Classics, and they all are bright students who study constantly and laud the department. The professors are tough and expect one to work hard - and they are excellent teachers who are concerned for their students and do everything they can to help them, including having office hours, ctaying late after class, and promptly answering e-mails about questions; the oprofessor who is teaching the class I am auditing is a winner of the University's Quantrell Award for best teacher of undergrads, and he has even sought me out at church (We attend the same one.) to greet me and ask how I am and how Greek is coming.</p>

<p>As a prospective Classics major myself (though math is also an option), one of the major factors for me in choosing a college was the presence of a Classics department - and classes in Greek at the advanced level. </p>

<p>I understand that the U. of C. is a school for a specific type of student: one who wants to study hard and doesn't mind being at the school "where fun comes to die." But I suggest that you look into UChicago since you are looking into Northwestern, as it is just a bit south. : )</p>

<p>By the way, my dad and step-dad are graduates of Stanford, making me a legacy, and I have heard that being a legacy and being homeschooled are to one's advantage when applying. I did not apply there myself, though I know many homeschoolers have been accepted. I have found that homechooling really sets one apart from the crowd and, in a way, gives one an advantage - despite all of the extra work that needs to go into the application process.</p>

<p>Sorry I have been blithering, but I hope that my experiences will help you a bit as you choose your college - despite my biased views! Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.</p>

<p>Best of luck to you.</p>

13

<p>Lady_Leonella07, comparing NU and Kalamazoo College might be like comparing apples and oranges. US News & World Report, lists Kalamazoo College under Top Liberal Arts Colleges as 55th nationwide. They rate NU twelfth under Top National Universities. NU, although small compared with some universities, will give you a different experience than attending a liberal arts college. Or, did you mean Western Michigan University located in Kalamazoo? I'm not familiar with either school, so don't know how people refer to them. Western Michigan University is a third tier university in the USN&WR rankings.</p>

<p>I don't know how much travel you'd be able to do at NU during the school year, but there are many programs available during breaks, over the summer, and for quarters or years abroad. It's a challenging school, and when classes are in session, there isn't much time to get away. </p>

<p>They make it easy to double major across schools, change majors, and create your own major, so it's a good school for people with varied interests, who need to explore before narrowing things down. </p>

<p>It's an excellent school for just about any major, but is exceptional in several fields. As you mentioned, they do have one of the best journalism schools in the country. They also has top programs for engineering, theater, music, and some other fields.</p>

<p>My daughter is very happy at NU. She loves the beautiful campus on Lake Michigan, and enjoys going into Chicago by train when she gets the time. Most of her teachers have been inspiring, and she finds the students smart but not snobbish. She's working hard, but manages to have a great social life as well. She's just finishing her freshman year, and I know it's going to be hard for her to be away for the whole summer.</p>

<p>Let me know if you have any more questions! There are a lot of great schools to choose from, and you'll find the one that's just right for you.</p>

14

<p>Thank you both so much for your inside look. I am interested in both schools, and will research more. As of right now I would love to apply to both, but my biggest concern is that I will not adapt to the weather well. Exactly how windy and cold does it get? </p>

<p>nan- I too am looking for a school where people work hard, but still enjoy life too. My first list included many of the ivies, but I am trying to look beyond the rankings and find ther right fit. I want to go to a school where the students are intelligent, but not snobbish. This is why I am leaning more towards NU instead of UofC. People tell me that UofC is very elitist, but I am still going to look into both. Any other informaton you can give on the admissions process, or the process for double majoring would be great! Again, thank you for your time. </p>

<p>Katharos- I have fallen in LOVE with the courses at UofC, but I am worried that I am not "weird" enough. Or smart enough.. :) Could explain a little bit about the people who go there? I am quirky I will admit, but I tend to run more preppy/eccentric than anything else. I hear that UofC is like St. John's College when it comes to the their student population, and after a recent experience with St. John's I hope that reputation is not true. There was NO diversity in the type of person who went to St. John's, and I need a good mix.
I would love to hear more about your experience. Thanks!</p>

15

<p>Lady_Leonella-</p>

<p>UChicago actually has a very diverse student body, as do the other top schools in the country. I know it is actively recruiting minority students (though I don't think that is fair to the rest of us. . .), and I believe about 10% of undergrads are from foreign countries. So, there are racial differences. And, based on what I have seen, there are also differences in terms of people with different academic interests, extracurricular interests, religious, social, and political. I visited the two other colleges to which I applied, and I basically crossed them off my list as soon as I stepped foot on the campuses; everything and everyone was the same, though that could have been because they are small-ish colleges in the Midwest.</p>

<p>Funny thing you mentioned St. John's. I almost applied there, as it seemed a place much like Chicago, at least from what I had read and had heard. I didn't like the fact there there is only one major, though, and I decided that Chicago fit me well, and I hoped for the best when I applied.</p>

<p>Don't worry about "weirdness." I don't consider myself overly weird - though I might fit the stereotypical Chicago student as being engrossed in my studies, a serious learner, and one without much of a social life. But I positioned myself as a prospective Classics major, which I am sure helped, given that I highly doubt they have an overabundance of those! Chicago claims it is homeschool-friendly, and I have run into many students here who were homeschooled at some point in their lives, though not necessarily high school. </p>

<p>People here run the gamut personality-wise, though they do tend to be very study-focused. There are all types, and, living on the campus, I know many current and former students and have found my niche. You should come for a visit to see if you like the place - but I suggest that you don't come of a prospective student day and instead make a visit on your own just to tour campus, talk to students, and sit in on a class or two (the profs really don't care if one does that, and I have a friend here who was "unofficially auditing" one last quarter).</p>

<p>I realize that Nan's daughter is attending NU, which is kind of funny, as the U. of C. and NU are spoken of as rival instititions, despite their vast differences. So she is pulling you toward NU while I am pulling you in the other way! They are both excellent schools, though, so you will get a good education either way. :) </p>

<p>Hope that helped. Anything specific you would like to know?</p>

16

<p>Chicago or bust! One way or another. It's a wonderful city. </p>

<p>Katharos, we know a girl who is at University of Chicago, and it's the perfect place for her. </p>

<p>I don't mean to pull, just give info. There are so many good schools out there.</p>

17

<p>Nan, you are right; you are just giving information. I suppose I was just teasing a bit, as we are posting about the good things of both schools on the same thread. :) </p>

<p>Actually, Northwestern is a great school, and many music teachers I know went there for college and grad school. I think that taking advantage of their music department in one way or another is something one can't pass up if one attends Northwestern - and Chicago can't compete in that department, as they have no performance major.</p>

<p>Either way you go, Northwestern or Chicago, you can't loose. That is the beauty of it.</p>