Home Schooling Success Story

<p>My homeschooler got accepted ED to Amherst this week. Like a lot of homeschoolers his age, not all that much of his education was happening strictly in the home anymore (although he'd been homeschooled since 1st grade.) He took some classes part-time at the public high school, and also took classes as a non-admitted student at the local state univ. In his "freshman" and "sophomore" years (we never really thought of it like that) he had a number homestudy courses, and those were on the transcript we put together, as well.</p>

<p>He only took one AP class and exam, although he's in his second AP class at the high school now.</p>

<p>But anyway, I guess I just wanted to say "it worked" even though I'm sure his transcript was ... well, non-standard. :)</p>

<p>Congratulations to you all.
Well done, well done!</p>

<p>Did your son take standardized tests? How were his essays? What else did you include in his application?</p>

<p>Fang Jr. is also looking at small LACs. It's hard to know how they will regard a homeschooler, though Fang Jr. will have a lot of community college classes by the time he applies next year.</p>

<p>"Fang Jr." LOL.</p>

<p>My son took the usual standardized tests; SAT and SAT Subject Tests (two of those.) I think his essays were quite good, at least in my opinion they were.</p>

<p>I agree that the homeschooling factor is hard to predict. It's a wild card really. I don't know, of course, whether it was a factor in my son's acceptance. In the classes he's taken at the high school and the college he's gotten very good grades, and his test scores were very good, although they were a bit uneven so it's not like every section was staggeringly great like some kids you see on College Confidential. (I don't like posting "stats" and such like. I think it just further fetishizes that aspect of college admissions.)</p>

<p>He had some really wonderful letters of recommendation and he did everything totally on his own -- no SAT tutors or prep classes or college counselors or anything like that. I think it's quite true what college admissions people say, especially at LACs, that they're looking at the whole person.</p>

<p>I bet the community college classes Fang Jr. is taking will have to be a big plus. In any case the work validates his homeschooled education in a way that will be perceived as more objective. Good luck with the app process, Cardinal Fang. There were parts of it that I found to be very fun to do with my son, especially the campus visits and looking over guidebooks and sharing impressions, etc.</p>

<p>Oh, I realize I didn't answer your question about what else he put in his application: I made up a "master transcript" that integrated all the work he'd done; homestudy, small group tutorials, classes at a district sponsored homeschooling center, high school classes and college classes. (I also had official transcripts sent from the high school and college.) I wrote up fairly detailed course descriptions of all the work done in non-traditional settings, including the books read/used, material covered, how it was assessed, etc. He wrote his own activities resume (ECs), including jobs, sports, volunteer stuff, etc. He got 3 letters of recommendation, 2 from high school teachers and one from a teacher he worked with in a small group privately. Amherst specifically asked for a writing sample from homeschooled students, so he sent a paper he'd written for a class he took at the local college with the professor's comments on it. I think that's about it other than the Common App, Secondary School Report (I had to write that up best I could as the "homeschool supervisor"), and the Common App's Homeschool Supplement.</p>

<p>The Homeschool Supplement is kind of nice because it gives you a space (a little space) to put your homeschooling in context of your intentions, philosophy, methods, etc. It's also quite amazing to me that there is even such a thing as a "homeschool supplement"! When we started homeschooling years and year ago, we were part of a marginalized minority. Now we're so mainstream. LOL.</p>

<p>Amherst lists its admissions record by type of school on its website every year.
For the class starting in 2007, 39 home schoolers applied, 2 were admitted (5%), and none enrolled.
In the years I have been following Amherst, the admissions rate for home schoolers has tended to be the same, or a bit higher than, the admissions rate for other applicants.</p>

<p>Congrats!</p>

<p>I'd like to contribute some good news too -- ds just into U. Chicago EA. We need to see how the financial aid goes, but we are VERY pleased! Homeschoolers can do so much!</p>

<p>Congratulations on those acceptances! That is wonderful. Yes, homeschoolers can do just fine. :)</p>

<p>Mom of two homeschool graduates</p>

<p>Yay for Cockatiel's son! </p>

<p>I heard today about another friend's homeschooled son accepted at Caltech. Yay for homeschoolers!</p>

<p>Very good news, cockatiel! I'm sending all good wishes your way on the financial aid front.</p>

<p>Congrats!</p>

<p>Did you apply for financial aid?</p>

<p>Yes, absolutely we applied for fin aid! But given how much the FAFSA says we will probably owe.....</p>

<p>My son applied to Amherst last year and was unfortunately one of the 37 rejected homeschoolers. It was not his first choice though, and he is content with the small LAC he is now attending. </p>

<p>FWIW, he had 50 college credits from community college and summer programs, Dean's list status, excellent verbal and writing scores, and decent but not great math. A major weakness though is that he is extremely introverted and I'm not sure that the profs who wrote letters for him really had any idea of how bright he is or what he is passionate about. I think the letters count for a lot for homeschooled students in particular, and I encourage other parents to do their best to see that the kids have adults teachers and mentors who know them well and can write more than a few lines about them.</p>