I’m going to be completely honest here - I was home-schooled, which basically means I learned nothing. I don’t attend school so I won’t have the top 10% auto admit.
~ I made an abysmal ACT score of a 28 (with a 35 English, 33 reading, 21 math, 23 science.)
~Extracurriculars- I have 10, all on the national level but I know those mean nothing without good scores.
~I have 29 hours of dual credit college courses with a 4.0 gpa in those.
~female who wants to be in the Corps of Cadets
~in state
I’m sitting here trying to write my own high school transcripts (and crying a little tbh) and wondering if I even have a chance at A&M - my dream school. I’m having to do everything on my own without a counselor or teacher, and I could really use some advice. Thank you so much. Any info helps, especially success stories!
Do you have a budget to hire help? PM me for a name of someone who works with homeschoolers and would be very supportive.
Your dual credit courses will be a big asset to your application. Did you take academic core classss?
If there is time to retake the test before your deadline, I would also suggest getting an ACT math prep book or class and trying the ACT again. Your reading and English components are fine.
Here is an online tool that will generate a transcript for you in PDF form.
http://www.howtohomeschooltoday.com/transcript_creator
Explain your special situation in your application essays. Make an appointment and visit a regional Prospective Student center near you.
http://admissions.tamu.edu/advisors
You can show them whatever documentation you have and ask them what more they are looking for. Be sure to have a detailed list of your extracurriculars, etc. They might be able to give you an idea of your chances. They might even read through your application essays to give you advice.
I homeschooled two children who were admitted to A&M. Don’t give up.
boost
Thank you so much! It is good to hear you know people who got in. 
You can retake the ACT or SAT to try to improve your scores. Have you looked at one of the A&M satellite schools such as A&M Galveston or Blinn and then transfer into A&M College Station?
In the past, homeschoolers were ranked by TAMU as top 25%. Retake the ACT - if it is lower it won’t hurt you they only consider the highest one sitting score & ignore others submitted. Concentrate on math - there are free online courses through Khan Academy, math skills will help with science questions too if you only have time for one subject. Science is detail oriented, read carefully but quickly. You can still be admitted with a 28, but everything else will need to be great - also submit a recommendation & resume (if needed). Good luck
Would you mind offering more homeschool specific advice on how the two children you homeschooled got in? Were they auto admit? thank you for all your help.
Both my children scored high enough on the SAT to be Academic Admits. As AGmomx2 said homeschoolers were treated as top quarter of their graduating class. Since my two children scored over 1300 (old SAT) they were automatically admitted.
http://admissions.tamu.edu/freshman/admitted
This may have changed. You should contact admissions to find out or your regional Prospective Student Center.
For documentation I created transcripts with all their coursework and grades. Here is a link describing what homeschoolers need. See #3.
http://admissions.tamu.edu/freshman/apply#req
You should definitely put your dual-credit courses on your transcript. And send offical transcripts from whatever college you earned your dual credit.
My children both completed the Required Coursework for Admission.
http://admissions.tamu.edu/freshman/coursework
If you can’t meet the required coursework you can try for an exemption since homeschool is treated as a private school. Your dual credit courses should really help here.
http://admissions.tamu.edu/freshman/TexasUAP
With both children, I made sure to visit our nearest Prospective Student Center so they knew about us.
http://admissions.tamu.edu/advisors
And both children did A&M visits. One of them did a spend the night with the Corps, but opted not to be in the Corps.
It really helps if you have visited because this shows high interest. If you really cannot visit then do do do try to get to your Regional Prospective Student Center because that can count as a visit.
For us, we bet everything on SAT scores and since my kids did well it worked.
Try to raise that ACT score. You have time to take it again. Get as close to the automatic scores as you can.
And really nail the essays.
Hope this helps.
One more thing, you might want to look up the average ACT scores for the College within A&M you are shooting for. (Liberal Arts, Education, Engineering, etc.) to get an idea how much you need to improve to have a 50-50 shot.
http://dars.tamu.edu/Data-and-Reports/Student/files/Fall-2015-Norm-Book.aspx
For freshman admits, you are admitted to the university then may choose any open major ( with the exception of engineering which must be applied for separately), so all you need to do is get accepted into the university. The DARS info is a little skewed, it includes the scores of top 10% admits who sometimes don’t even try on the exams since they don’t count for their admission - also some don’t re-submit their highest scores (since it costs money to do so) for all automatic admits. Interest is considered as a part of the application review ( albeit a small part) check the appropriate boxes, sign in for visits to the campus or your local office, express your interest in the essays or in a recommendation - when my kids needed recs, they gave their recommender a profile sheet to help highlight traits/accomplishments/desires for the person to know what aspects to write about. It’s okay to lead them down the path you would like expressed in their letter to the school. Items can be added to your file as needed along the process however, essays can’t be changed once submitted. Getting your application in earlier rather than later is also a good idea, it is rolling admissions so once they begin the reviews it is best to be at the top of the pile to have the most slots available to you for choice of major.
True, the visit part is a small part of the package, but our main motivation for visiting the Prospective Student Center. was to have someone at A&M admissions look at our documentation and answer our questioins before we submitted.
If you are a homeschooler who is as confused about the process as we were, it helps a great deal.
Thank you to everyone for all your help! I was shocked when Baylor offered me a scholarship, now I’m trying to decide which between the two. I appreciate all of your advice and invaluable words of wisdom! It is very confusing to apply as a homeschooler, and I am so glad it is all behind me now I am retaking the ACT in October solely for the fast track premed programs both schools offer and then I just have to decide on a school!
Congratulations! I so glad things worked out well for you.
Have you already been accepted to baylor for fall 2017?
Yes, retook the ACT and got a 31!