During the college admissions madness, some of the most helpful and encouraging CC posts I read were the admissions stories I read in this forum. This is my way of giving back, especially for my fellow homeschoolers out there!
I have been homeschooled my whole life, and was accepted to 10/14 colleges I applied to, including UVA, UNC-CH, Notre Dame, and Brown University. I stumbled through the college admissions process completely blind, and it was only by the careful backstage work by my parents through high school that I got into college at all! (Thanks for forcing me to take those AP exams, Mom, even if I kicked and screamed through it). Now that it’s over, I can tell you that it is literally the most irrevalent process to my life, and all I can think about is how happy I am with the college I am going to. Nevertheless, for you people who still have to get through this process, here are a few lessons that I learned.
My tips to homeschoolers looking at elite colleges:
Test scores are REALLY important
Admission officers need some outside confirmation that you deserve the grades on your transcript. I actually wrote my transcript myself, my mom downloaded a template from the HSLDA and I filled it in with my courses and grades. Admissions officers, rightly, can’t completely rely on your transcript. Public school students go through the same scrutiny in terms of comparing what an “A” at one schools means at another school, but for homeschoolers this is even more important. Knock your SATs/ACTs out of the park, and that is a MAJOR step in convincing colleges that your grades accurately represent what you have achieved. I really highly suggest getting the SAT/ACT out of the way BEFORE senior year, I went through so much stress retaking the SAT in November, just as I was sending off my early action applications and writing my regular decision essays. Take it in March junior year, and again June if needed, please don’t put it off!
2.) Dream big in your extracurriculars
Homeschoolers have so much more freedom and choice when it comes to what extracurriculars we can pursue. We can take advantage of jobs and clubs that only meet during school hours, go on that two-week long hiking trip in October without tripping up truancy officers, abandon school for a month to start a small business selling home-bred alpacas, TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS. I didn’t do anything spectacular in my extracurriculars, but the activities that I did do, I did to the absolute extent of my abilities, and used the extra time and flexibility I had to train horses, teach horseback riding lessons, and help rehabilitate rescue horses.
I have friends who dance ballet in a professional theater, run their own professional art business, rock climb, organize period-themed dances, start their own clubs to do volunteer work, even fly airplanes, all before they turn 18. Your freedom is your most precious gift as a homeschooler. Use it to do above and beyond what your peers could do.
(And don’t feel frustrated if you realize that your dreams are bigger than your resources. It just means you have to be more creative, and maybe modify your goal a little. I wanted to ride horses, but my parents couldn’t afford lessons. I walked into a local barn and put up a flyer saying I would clean stalls in exchange for riding. I ended up with three horses to ride nearly whenever I wanted. If you really want to do something, there is usually some way you can, you just need to seek it out. As the old saying goes: where there’s a will there’s a way.)
3.) AP Exams, SAT Subject Tests, and Dual Enrollment courses are your best friends
I took a total of four SAT subject tests, eight AP exams, and four dual enrollment courses. I don’t think everyone has to necessarily take as many as I did, but if you REALLY want to get into an elite school, then do as much as you can handle. I really think my community college grades combined with my AP exam scores convinced admission officers that I was a viable candidate academically. I took AP Bio, Chem, European history, US History, World History, US Gov, and both English exams. Of those, I would say that all but the science exams are very easily self-studied. I just memorized the Crash Course, next to nothing else, for US History, and got a 5. Heck, for AP World History, I read through the whole Crash Course 3-4 times the week before the test and got a 5. No other prep. I’m not making this up.
Granted, for APUSH, I was taking a non-AP level US history course at the same time, but there was very little overlap between my class and the AP exam. For AP European History, I, again, was taking a Modern History course at the same time, but just studied the Barrons and Crash Course study guides and got a 5. If you are self-motivated enough, I highly recommend just studying to the test and taking these suckers if you happen to be covering the same subject in normal homeschool. I took the SAT Subject Tests at the same time as I was taking an AP exam in the same subject, and passed them easily. Dual Enrollment courses really helped me learn how to be disciplined and function in a normal class setting, and the AP Chem exam was a piece of cake after the actual two semesters of college chemistry. Again, these are FANTASTIC ways to validate your transcript in the eyes of admission officers, in addition to picking up college credit if you end up going to your state school (Ivies and elite schools don’t usually take AP or Dual Enrollment credit).
4.) And finally, the most important thing: FOLLOW YOUR PASSION. Do what you love! This goes for public school students too. Because, no matter how hard you work, there’s only so many seats at elite schools. And if you spend all of high school doing activities just to impress colleges, what do you do when, despite all of that, you still get rejected? Too many people come to CC to cry about how they “worked so hard in high school” for “nothing.” Don’t be that person. I don’t care if your passion is playing piano or skateboarding or sitting on the street corner and asking people their favorite ice cream flavor, FOLLOW YOUR PASSION. Regardless of how college admissions shake out, you will have pursued what you loved, and probably discovered what direction you want to steer your future career/life in.
For instance, I love biology, and by a combination of teaching myself AP Bio, reading a lot of library books on disease, and convincing my parents to let me get a menagerie of pets, I discovered that I want to do scientific research/become an equine veterinarian. Because I knew exactly, specifically, what I was passionate about doing for the rest of my life, picking which colleges to apply to became very easy.
And guess what? Doing what you are passionate and truly good at is what will make you stand out to admissions officers. In a sea of students with your exact same test scores and grades, your job at an aquarium giving tours and caring for the fish and conducting original research will shine far above your similarly science-minded peers who just joined the Biology Club. As long as you do it to the best of your abilities, admission officers will (hopefully?) not judge if you compete in nation-wide skateboarding competitions or debate tournaments. Different people have different skills. Pursue yours.
And that’s my four tips for homeschoolers. Remember to keep this process in perspective. I am at college now, and I can tell you that no one cares what you did in high school, what your test scores were, or ANYTHING that seems like the most important things to you right now. Everyone is just here, all taking the same classes, eating in the same dining hall, and it’s GREAT. You will be here too, very, very soon, just hold on!