<p>My friend was going to a treatment center/school for her weight problems, but then her mom lost her job, and she is now home schooled as she has problems with her public school. Will this negatively affect her chances with admissions to 'competitive' schools?</p>
<p>That’s hard to say. I’ve heard of alumni of “therapeutic” high schools doing just fine, with better college admission results than some students from “prep” high schools. There are lots of patterns of homeschooling, and no particular pattern of college results for homeschoolers. Some homeschoolers have got into very fine colleges.</p>
<p>My sister was home schooled from kindergarten until 10th grade, and after her transition into public school for 11th and 12th, was accepted into every school she applied to, including Colgate University, which is probably up there with the “competitive schools” your friend would be thinking about. The reason Colgate loved my sister so much was the smooth transition between her homeschooling and the public school life, so if your friend can show through curriculum choices and standardized testing that it was a positive move to go into homeschooling, I think that it will actually be an advantage rather than not. Schools love non-traditional students, as long as they can prove that the student will be able to learn in a traditional setting :)</p>
<p>Your friend might benefit from taking a look at the Homeschooler’s forum here at CC. Click on “Discussion Home” in the upper-left of this screen, and scroll down to find it. The parents there should be able to give her useful advice.</p>
<p>Two of my homeschooled friends had some of the most insane list of acceptances ever. Both of them got into Stanford and MIT, and more that I cannot remember, although certainly at least one got into Caltech, UChicago, Princeton… </p>
<p>So, if you do a lot if cool stuff, homeschooling doesn’t seem to prevent you from succeeding. (and it’s almost certainly better than a school that she has issues with). Homeschooling does vary a lot though…</p>
<p>^ It does vary a lot, but if done right, it can actually be an advantage (in my opinion). I was homeschooled and was accepted/waitlisted at many very top schools, including Ivy League schools.</p>
<p>my hs valedictoria was homeschooled. got into HYPSM</p>
<p>Homeschooling offers you a lot of freedom to make up for any disadvantages. But not having a transcript from an actual high school will hurt you, regardless of what some people are convinced of.</p>