<p>Hey guys. Recently i was informed that stanford accepts 13% of the applicants but last year they accepted 27% of the homeschoolers. Upon talking with the admissions department at Princeton and Cornell, i was informed that a growing number of homeschoolers are admitted as they do quite well. Northwestern university remarked that many Ivy league and top-notch universities are seeking out homeschoolers as they have self-motivation and independance already. homeschoolers make up more than 2% of the ivy league schools while accounting for less than 2% of the nation and much less than 2% of the highschoolers giving homeschoolers a supposed advantage. </p>
<p>i just want to know what you guys think of this as i am a homeschooler who was alyways told that homeschooling would be a disadvantage. however, the more i study into it and the more i learn from the schools themselves it seems homeschoolers are not only not biased against but almost the favorite. </p>
<p>please let me know what you think of this. all of these statistics are accurate.</p>
<p>they'll like you if you can show that your homeschooling curriculum was more rigourous, outstanding or notable than a typical high school curriculum. Having stats/interests/activities the same as a run of teh mill high schooler will make you not look good. I think teh high amount of home school admits is due to the fact that a growing number of rich white people are homeschooled, and then they have the opportunity to do all sorts of interesting things that colleges love.</p>
<p>It would put you in a different pool of applicants but your scores would still have to be stellar.
Columbia recommends 5 SAT2's for home-schooled students. From what I have seen the ones that get in to the Ivies have great EC's and have taken AP courses. There is a great Yahoo group hs2coll where many parents have posted of their success in getting their students into selective schools.
Many of these kids have used their extra time to become proficient in the Arts or other activities that will make them stand out.</p>
<p>i heard its awesome to be homeschooled these days. My mom wanted to homeschool me sophmore year because my grades where bad (3.45 1st semester) to thier standards. not so much grades but because they said I had no motivation for school which was true at the time.</p>
<p>homeschooling is cool because like thecity said, you learn quicker, better, do well on the SAT's and plus most homeschooled kids are amazing at one thing or two....like and instrument, sport, EC, you name it.</p>
<p>The only thing is, all the homeschooling kids i've met are kind of....wierd. It was hard for them to adjust to 9th grade after being homeschooled elem. and middle school.</p>
<p>"homeschooling is cool because like thecity said, you learn quicker, better, do well on the SAT's and plus most homeschooled kids are amazing at one thing or two....like and instrument, sport, EC, you name it."</p>
<p>Crap. :( Why didn't this stuff happen when I was growing up?</p>
<p>... Homeschooling may sound really good, but think about your social life as a homeschooler. There is no significant advantage that cannot be obtained through regular HS (many more students who are talented in one area come from regular HS). Don't let the statistics fool you, homeschoolers will tend to be wealthier and at more of an advantage to start out with than will the normal pool. Reiterating my first statement, homeschoolers will also be at a social disadvantage.</p>
<p>hyp2010 - I homeschooled both of my children (oldest from 3rd - 9th, youngest 1st - 8th). Both of my boys are in high school now and the oldest will be graduating this year. It is a decision that none of us regret. If you ask their counselor & teachers at school they have told me that they are the most "socialized" students they have. Now I am not saying that there are not homeschoolers who take advantage of all the benefits of homeschooling like we did, but it works for a lot of families. For example, when my kids were in elementary school we had no social life. Why? Because they had to come home and do 2-3 hours of homework (they were in a private school). After we started homeschooling they finished their schoolwork in 3 hours and this allowed them to take art classes, do book discussions at the local libraries, piano lessons, and you name it. We went on many field trips which was really neat, and belonged to a homeschool group that allowed us to "socialize". The biggest thing that most people notice in my children as far as socialization goes is that they are able to relate to every age group not just their peers which is a huge advantage (both now & later on - i.e., college interviews). Since my boys are in a public school I can tell you that we were able to attain more things at home than the school offers. Once you are done with your schoolwork you can study anything & everything. My sons had private & group art sessions when we were homeschooling. Now they can only do that in the summer because of all the homework. By the way we were not wealthy (you have to remember that we were living on one income not two like most families). My oldest will be attending a top 50 university this fall and will be graduating with an honors diploma. My youngest is also an honors student and his favorite thing is acting in the school plays. Why did we send the kids to high school - we left it up to them. Obviously the fact that they would be living away at college and we wanted them to be able to handle all kinds of situations (different teaching styles) with all kinds of people while they still had our guidance at home. We also knew it would be easier to get scholarships with high school transcripts (homeschooling parents don't jump down my throat for that comment I know you can do it, but it was time to let my children fly). All in all, it was an experience that we all enjoyed and benifitted highly from. :)</p>
<p>"... Homeschooling may sound really good, but think about your social life as a homeschooler. There is no significant advantage that cannot be obtained through regular HS (many more students who are talented in one area come from regular HS). Don't let the statistics fool you, homeschoolers will tend to be wealthier and at more of an advantage to start out with than will the normal pool. Reiterating my first statement, homeschoolers will also be at a social disadvantage."</p>
<p>Try telling that to someone who went to a crappy public school system. And the school day is too long in my opinion.</p>
<p>The magic is not on home schooling per se, but in what you make of the opportunities available to you. </p>
<p>Let's say student A attends a small rural high school which only offers 2 APs and 2 ECs, and they do all of them. Student B also does 2 APs and 2 ECs, but goes to a very large, well funded high school where they could have taken 20 APs and chosen from 20 ECs. Student A is obviously going to be more attractive to colleges than student B, right?</p>
<p>Homeschooling essentially removes the institutional constraints that are inherent in attending a school. What homeschoolers do with that varies, however. Homeschooler A might use that flexability to take a bunch of college courses, intern with professionals in their field of interest, actively participate in community activities, and excel in some sport or music or academic activity. They will have done much more than they could have done if they had attended a traditional school, and are going to look very attractive to selective colleges. Homeschooler B might be exactly on grade level following a Bible-based version of a standard school curriculum, have no ECs outside their family and church, and have no contact with people who do not share their family's religious and social beliefs. Colleges might conclude that they have had more narrow experiences than they would have had in a traditional public school. That will be attractive to some colleges, but distinctly unattractive to others.</p>
<p>On the socialization point, most homeschoolers are out and about and have much more contact than school kids do with people from a variety of age-groups and in a variety of contexts. Some of them also have contact with people from a variety of socioeconomic and religious backgrounds, and some of them don't, but that's true of school kids also. Generally, as judged by adults, their social skills are much better than school kids'. However, they may not care about the adolescent rituals, values, and social stratification that are such a prominant part of most US high schools. This may make them appear odd to their always-schooled peers, when in fact, they reflect the social norms of the adult community and their peers don't.</p>
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For example, when my kids were in elementary school we had no social life. Why? Because they had to come home and do 2-3 hours of homework (they were in a private school). After we started homeschooling they finished their schoolwork in 3 hours and this allowed them to take art classes, do book discussions at the local libraries, piano lessons, and you name it.
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<p>I think schools assign to much busy work that does nothing. As I have done before on CC, I will use the example that my final exam in an AP class (not the AP exam) was........<em>drum roll</em>
.......a crossword puzzle. Do you know how stupid that is? Sure it was easy, but that is stupid and a waste of time. I'd rather have not had an exam at all than one where I completely waste my time. The school day is too long in my opinion (if you are counting those long bus rides).</p>
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We went on many field trips which was really neat, and belonged to a homeschool group that allowed us to "socialize".
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<p>I don't even remember that many field trips. Another thing that I thought was stupid was that they only allowed the English honors students to hear a Holocaust survivor speak at the school. The rest of the school could not do this. Some crap about needing parental approval. @@</p>
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The biggest thing that most people notice in my children as far as socialization goes is that they are able to relate to every age group not just their peers which is a huge advantage (both now & later on - i.e., college interviews).
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<p>What about discipline problems today in schools? Do you think that teachers have to spend to much time dealing with the brats that do not get disciplined at home? Maybe this takes away from learning in some schools. </p>
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Since my boys are in a public school I can tell you that we were able to attain more things at home than the school offers. Once you are done with your schoolwork you can study anything & everything. My sons had private & group art sessions when we were homeschooling. Now they can only do that in the summer because of all the homework.
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<p>I agree (actually I agree with your whole post). Quanity does not equal quality.</p>
<p>It is if you're applying for the School of Lumberjacks at MIT.</p>
<p>mominsearch, I was talking about students homeschooled through highschool (obviously, this thread was to discuss advantages on college app, these would only apply to someone homeschooled in HS).</p>
<p>Clearly your boys would not be in a good social position if they had continued homeschooling through HS. Also, top 50 is good, at my public high school 96% go to 4year universities, 30% to top 10 schools.</p>
<p>Hi I just had to comment on "This may make them appear odd to their always-schooled peers, when in fact, they reflect the social norms of the adult community and their peers don't." Just so everyone know my kids fit in very well with their peers and had no trouble fitting in. Again though they were in youth group at church, had many friends their own ages through the homeschool group, etc. We did not "shelter" them. The kids they tend to hang out with though are academically motivated, and in general are just really nice kids (no drugs, alcohol, smoking, etc.).</p>
<p>"Clearly your boys would not be in a good social position if they had continued homeschooling through HS".</p>
<p>Hyp2010....I assume that is an opinion or can you substantiate it with facts or your personal experiences? I can provide numerous examples (some even documented online) of amazing stories of home-schooled students who have flourished at top Universities. While there are definitely short comings in this form of education so there are as well in the public format. Some do better than others in each setting.
Making blanket statements without direct experiences is foolish.</p>
<p>i have known a number of homeschooling clusters, and though some of the kids do well in college admissions, my experience has been that many do not. I do not intend to start trouble in the home schooling circles, am just reporting my experience in this matter. One major reason for what I have seen, is that many, many families homeschool their kids because those children have issues or problems in the regular schools. For any number of reasons, these kids do better when academics are addressed individually, rather than a group setting, and many of these kids do much better home schooled than in an institution, but they are still not necessarily going to soar when it comes to college admissions. It is difficult to track home schooling results as many families are not registered as homeschoolers.--they just do it. So my feeling is that homeschool is as good as the kids being homeschooled, the parents doing the homeschooling, the curriculum used, and the use of the time opened up. Another big handle are test scores. If a kid tests well, homeschooling could be a boone. My boys are examples. They test extremey high, and their grades were always the Achilles heel of their applications. With homeschooling ,we are rid of that issue. And they were so active in outside activities where they could have gotten any number of outstanding recs. Because they were rowdies with not the best grades, teacher and counselor recs were always iffy as well, or you just did not know, because there is plenty to critisize. On the opposite tack, someone who tests very poorly, like my girls, would not have the outstanding transcript they had to compensate for those low test scores. Also, the teachers and counselor at a good school was able to vouch for them in an objective way, that is not as easily to find for homeschoolers. The kids I knew who were homeschooled were awesome until about 8th grade, and then it seemed at the highschool level, my kids and other kids going to regular schools surpassed them both in ECs and in learning levels. Perhaps , they were not using a rigid enough highschool curriculum. Not all kids fit that mold, of course. My neighbors in Pittsburgh who homeschooled, have a Harvard grad and one kid at the Honors College at Pitt with a*full ride. </p>
<p>I homeschooled one year out of necessity. It did help get S into a good private school. No way in the world any good highschool would have taken him with his record. Removing him from school really hellped. Not something I would do lightly, however, as it is a big</p>
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One major reason for what I have seen, is that many, many families homeschool their kids because those children have issues or problems in the regular schools.
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<p>this is a good point, and might also be the root of some of the stereotype about homeschoolers having social problems. Homeschooling would be a particularly attractive option for a kid who is "different" to begin with, and unlikley to fit in well in a regular school. But, of course, homeschooling would be the result, not the cause, of those kids having trouble socially.</p>
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I just had to comment on "This may make them appear odd to their always-schooled peers, when in fact, they reflect the social norms of the adult community and their peers don't." Just so everyone know my kids fit in very well with their peers and had no trouble fitting in.
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<p>Mominsearch - I'm sure your kids DO get along fine with their peers. Most of the homeschoolers I know get along fine with their peers in settings such as you describe. But if you take a kid who has never attended a traditional school and suddenly plunk them into the middle of a typical large American high school, a significant number of them are going to resist going along with the more inane things adolscents have to do to fit into the high school culture. My son, homeschooled for 12 years, reached a point in about 7th grade where it became obvious that we couldn't send him to school even if we wanted to, because there was no way that he would ever go along with the institutional and "Lord of the Flies" aspects of it. It would be like an adult being transported back to high school with their adult values and sensibilities intact. Nonetheless, his social skills are excellent. He gets along well with both adults and peers. Although he frequently thinks that the things which motivate his peers are idiotic, he would never say that to one of them directly. (although it would not take much enforced togetherness in a school setting for a group of typical teenagers to figure out what he thought of both them and the environment).</p>
<p>There is an excellent essay (totally unrelated to homeshcooling) on the theme of fitting into high school culture entitled "Why Nerds Are Not Popular". It explains what I am talking about better than I am doing. It's available here:
<a href="http://www.paulgraham.com/nerds.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.paulgraham.com/nerds.html</a></p>
<p>"Clearly your boys would not be in a good social position if they had continued homeschooling through HS. "</p>
<p>I went to HS and I'm not social, so what is your point exactly?</p>
<p>While jamimom makes some excellent observations about clusters of students that have come out of traditional school settings due to various problems. These students may not be successfull in college applications. As was mentioned in a previous post there are many parents some even education professionals who have home-schooled their kids to top schools. My son is a bit unusual in that he was in public schools til 7th, private til 9th and then was home-schooled for the 3 HS years. I can tell you that it was not what we had planned and certainly not a perfect situation, but he has been successfull in his testing, EC's and socialization. Speaking of the later my S certainly has no problem sin that department as he has worked on political campaigns and is a published artist. The bottom line is that there is no recipe that works for everyone but rather different meals that please the many different pallets that our experiences have developed in us. I am not one to recommend this form of education as the only path but rather a road that may be traveled by a few who choose to do so. I know a professor from UPenn that can certainly afford private schools but has decided a home curricullum is best. She has a daughter at Swarthmore who was accepted to some Ivies as well.</p>
<p>Social? Doesnt Mattttttter. College Just Want Good Test Takers.</p>
<p>as a self-teaching homeschooler for 9 years now i can assure you homeschooling does not lack social interaction.
these are my ECs (please let me know if they're enough).
1) guitar lessons 7 years
2) flying lessons 1.5 years (will have license in one year when old enough) post-solo
3) writing a book on Quantum Physics
4) gifted science program (test required for acceptance)
5) participation in local homeschooling group (soon i'll form/captain a debate team which i hope to get into the national league)
6) mail-room manager at Glitter Creek Inc. (local book company)
7) thinking about attending Harvard Summer School SSP (i just applied i'm waiting for the decision letter)</p>
<p>please advise!</p>