Homeschooled Sophomore Headed in the Right Direction?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hey all, yet another "chance me" post...oh well here we go:</p>

<p>First, about me, I'm 14 yr old sophomore (I skipped a grade), I'm black, female, my mom is Haitian, from an upper-middle class family. The main reason I'm doing this is because I'm homeschooled and so I'm not quite sure how well I'm doing. I definitely want to go to an Ivy...am I on the right track?</p>

<p>COURSES:
*note: I've been homeschooled for most of my life, but my school district is awesome and allows homeschoolers to take classes at the local public schools. So here's what my high school transcript shows: (I know it starts in 5th grade, that's when I started taking high school classes so it's on my transcript)</p>

<p>5th Grade:
--Adv. Geometry
6th Grade:
--Adv. Algebra II
--Adv. Chemistry I</p>

<p>7th Grade:
--Adv. Honors Precalc
--AP Physics B
--French II
--2 electives</p>

<p>8th Grade:
--AP Govt and Politics
--AP Calc BC
--AP Phyhsics C
--Adv. Honors World History I
--French III
--2 electives</p>

<p>9th Grade:
--AP English Language
--AP Music Theory
--Adv. French IV
--Adv. Topics Math (vector calc)
--Adv. Bio I
--2 electives</p>

<p>10th Grade:
--Adv. Molecular Biology/Genetics (essentially AP Bio)
--AP English Literature
--AP French
--AP Statistics
--2 electives</p>

<p>11th Grade (predicted):
--Spend a year abroad in France through Rotary Club</p>

<p>12th Grade (predicted):
--Work-Experience at Penn State research lab
--AP European History or AP US History
--AP Computer Science
--electives</p>

<p>Rank/GPA/School Awards not applicable because I'm officially homeschooled. I will be fully enrolled at my local public school for senior year though.</p>

<p>SAT/ACT/APs:
SAT: (taken in 6th grade for CTY) Math - 710, CR - 710, Writing - 740
ACT: (taken in 8th grade) 34/36
APs: currently an AP Scholar with Distinction, I plan to be a National AP Scholar
So far, I've gotten 3 5s, 2 4s, and 2 3s. Will be taking at least 4 (probs 6) more APs before I graduate.</p>

<p>ECs:
-Swimming (since I was 4, now I put in 18 hrs a week; as a freshman I won districts in my event and made varsity)
-Model UN
-Debate Club (9th grade)
-Youth and Government
-Piano (casually since I was 5)
-Violin (since I was 6, 9th grade orchestra, advanced strings and orchestra)
-Soccer (club team)
-4H Club
-Volunteer at Special Olympics each year, 2 days a year, 10 hrs each day</p>

<p>Other Accomplishments:
-Member of Mensa
-Summer camp at Phillips Exeter Academy
-Summer camp at Penn State Young Writers' Workshop (2 wks, 30 hrs of classes per week)
-Summer job teaching swim lessons at 14 (24 hrs per week)
-Part time job teaching swim lessons during the school year (4 hrs per week)
-Nominated for and commencement speaker at NYLC (National Young Leaders' Conference)
-Invited to first annual Math Prize for Girls contest at NYU (in November)</p>

<p>Possible Essay Topics/Passions
-swimming
-public speaking/leadership
-working with children with disabilities (one of my brothers has mild asperger's syndrome, another most likely has ADHD, and I've taught swim lessons to children with autism or ADHD)
-something about spending a year abroad</p>

<p>Any thoughts/comments/help/advice would be much appreciated!! </p>

<p>[Sorry this is such a long post!]</p>

2

<p>bumppp please and thank you?</p>

3

<p>bump. again. :/</p>

4

<p>I’d say yes</p>

5

<p>Your URM status will help a LOT. Your EC’s seem very focused (swimming, public speaking, writing, and music are the four that jump out), and your ACT score is pretty solid too. Also - Calc BC by 8th grade?! 2160 SAT in SIXTH GRADE?!?! Whoa. I think the reason people haven’t chanced you yet is because your stats are already making them feel inadequate, as they are for me right now lol! </p>

<p>Anyway, you should definitely consider applying to schools like HYP. You’re obviously very bright, have clearly defined interests, and I’m sure they’d love to have you as a student. </p>

<p>(PS - I skipped a grade too - I’m a 15 year old junior, piano and public speaking make up two of my major EC’s, and I’m in Mensa as well… in those three aspects, we’re eerily alike, except that you’re obviously a lot more qualified than I was last year! Good luck in the admissions process!)</p>

6

<p>On its face, this looks impressive and you seem very intelligent. And the fact that you are a URM will really help. I think you’ll get in, but a few issues-</p>

<p>First off, I’d drop Mensa as an EC, unless you actually do something at Mensa. </p>

<p>Your ACT is probably good enough for the Ivy League, especially since you are a URM. If you weren’t I’d say take it again.</p>

<p>But as far as your classes - do you get grades from the high school when you take the classes? Or do your parents give you grades at home? You need to caluclate a GPA somehow. There has to be something for them to look at here other than a list if classes you’ve taken.</p>

<p>You seem like a math prodigy. To really clinch acceptance, why not enter some sort of National Math competition? I’m not sure you need it, but it would clinch it for you.</p>

7

<p>You’re amazing.
Basically.
I don’t see why any college wouldn’t want you–but that’s just my opinion.</p>

8

<p>I think you have to retake SATs and ACTs, because middle school stuff gets wiped off your record. I’m not sure though, you should look into that.</p>

<p>Otherwise, you’re looking good. You probably shouldn’t mention Mensa, because it (at least to me) comes off as kinda snobbish to be in a “smart people club”.</p>

<p>I don’t know if you want to study in France, it will definitely be very expensive, and I doubt the quality of education there is as good as it is here. Unless you are VERY serious about French (e.g. aspiring diplomat/translator/something like that) I would just keep doing what you’re doing.</p>

<p>Also, if you are interested in math, you should enter in some contests. The biggest one is AMC12, but you can probably also take local ones with your high school math team.</p>

9

<p>Awesome! Thanks so much guys!</p>

<p>Bovertine: I’m planning to enroll full time in hs for my senior year so I’ll have a GPA then…I’ll definitely retake SATs, maybe ACT, idk yet. Yeah, the hs gives me grades. My only Bs have been in weighted courses, and those were all before I was actually in hs. So far, 9th and 10th grades are straight As.</p>

<p>MeSsIaH: okay, thanks, I was wondering about those. Also, with the France thing, don’t colleges usually like a gap year or something to show maturity? I mainly want to do it because a) I’m running out of classes to take, b) I’ve been taking French for years and my mom’s entire family speaks French, and c) since it’s through the Rotary Club it’s a lot cheaper than it would be if I went on my own or through study abroad in college. And yeah, I’ve taken AMC12. Last year I was 1 pt away from qualifying for AIME…ugh…so close…But then again I’ve looked at AIME problems and I probably would have failed miserably…lol.</p>

10

<p>Yeah…you’re pretty awesome. I’d focus less on academics now though and get some national awards to really clinch things up. Do something strange and different!</p>

11

<p>with a 4.0 GPA you’d make it anywhere if you keep it up</p>

12

<p>You are amazing. :smiley: And I’d go for it with France if you’re running out of classes. May as well have a bit of fun in between being a genius. xD But won’t you have the same lack-of-classes problem since you’ll be advancing in french (obviously) but math you’d still be way ahead? Good luck! =)</p>

13

<p>Doesn’t Rotary place you in a French public high school? I think you would be bored out of your mind … unless you can wangle a placement at a French university</p>

<p>You would come back fluent in French – but the coursework would just be so much review that I wouldn’t recommend this. </p>

<p>I am coming from the perspective of my bright 16 year old spending a year in French public high school. The academics were simple for him once he mastered the language – and he’s a typical high achieving high schooler, but not an over-achiever.</p>

14

<p>

</p>

<p>If you have straight As in high school courses, then you already have a GPA. It’s 4.0 plus whatever the weighting factor is. You don’t need the high school to compute it for you.</p>

<p>Given that fact, and if they accept your standardized test scores, or you score close to what you already scored (as a URM you could score less actually), then you’re in basically wherever you want to go. If anybody coul be called a match for Harvard I think it would be you.</p>

<p>Now for a question, and forgive me, but this question just screams out to me. Your stats are so far and above almost anything on here, and you are a URM, why are you even asking the question? You’re not even borderline really. Hasn’t anybody official ever even mentioned that to you? </p>

<p>Yes, you didn’t get into AIME at 13 with the AMC 12 exam, but you probably would have done extremely well on the AMC 10. And once again, forget completely about Mensa unless you are the president of Mensa. I qualify for Mensa, and probably 90% of the kids who post on CC could qualify for Mensa.</p>

15

<p>looking for ass-pats obviously</p>

16

<p>Alright, I’ll take the Mensa off.</p>

<p>“Now for a question, and forgive me, but this question just screams out to me. Your stats are so far and above almost anything on here, and you are a URM, why are you even asking the question? You’re not even borderline really. Hasn’t anybody official ever even mentioned that to you?”</p>

<p>well, I don’t really have an official counselor or anything so the only one who’s really said that to me is my mom…lol. I didn’t think being a URM was that much of a big deal anymore…at the public school there are a lot of smart kids who do AIME and go to nationals for Ocean Bowl and who are amazing at Knowledge Masters and stuff, and I don’t do any of that…most of my stuff is all from before hs, so idk how that would work out…Plus then I looked at Ivy League application stuff and other people’s chance me’s and I really had no idea where I fit in because my stuff is so different. But thanks. :)</p>

17

<p>^^^ Are you kidding? Despite your accomplishments, being a URM is probably the most important thing you have going for you. Ivy League schools regularly reject Asian applicants with perfect test scores, grades and national honors. Not likely for a URM. Granted, you are more precocious than most applicants, but that won’t get you a 40% acceptance rate.</p>