<p>^^Agree. Stanford does not admit computer science majors. They don’t admit by major at all. They admit overall outstanding applicants and it would be very rare if the applicant doesn’t have very strong skills across the board. </p>
<p>All this discussion about the OP’s math progress is just speculation. Saxon math books cover topics all over the place, and trigonometry is apparently included in algebra2 level books as well as precalc level books. It’s also speculation that the OP will complete BC calculus (or equivalent) next year and follow that with two college-level math classes as a senior. </p>
<p>If the OP isn’t studying history, the academic schedule sounds incomplete (3-4 years history is a graduation requirement in all schools I know of) and I’d at least expect a lot more accomplishment in the other subjects. Many of your peers in schools are taking AP World history this year, which is widely considered one of the most time-consuming sophomore year classes. My kids’ World history classes started with a pretty clear statement that the world is more than 6000 years old, so perhaps this is why the OP is being kept away from history?</p>
<p>What about foreign language? Don’t think that was mentioned. </p>
<p>I tend to agree with the posters who said that, as a homeschooler, along with the challenges, you have certain opportunities that kids in school all day don’t have, and that you need to show more initiative and take advantage of the strengths of your program if you want to be competitive for top schools. As well as get very high scores on a lot of tests. </p>
<p>“Stanford does not admit computer science majors. They don’t admit by major at all.” Schools may not admit by major but neither do they want to be 100% CS majors. I’m sure Stanford could fill their entire class with prospective CS majors if they wanted to. Apparently they don’t want to.</p>
<p>@mathyone
History for 3-4 years isn’t a requirement at all schools. My school only requires 2 years of history for graduation. Of course, other classes are required (US Government and Economics), but there is not a stringent 4 year requirement.</p>
<p>More commonly, it is 3 or 4 years of “history and social studies”, which can include government, economics, etc. as well as history.</p>
<p>This is what Stanford says about homeschool applicants (my emphasis);
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<p>I know how homeschooled kids can run with their educations. They do have very distinct advantages b/c they are not constrained to a limited course list with a controlled schedule. The question is what did THE STUDENT do to make the most of those advantages. Complaining that they couldn’t do more history or lit b/c parents did not register them for a class is not the sign of a student with initiative in controlling their learning process. </p>
<p>And students do not need have an exact list of 4 histories or 4 foreign languages. But they do have to be well-rounded and show passion for learning. I have had enough homeschool grads apply to college to know what universities are looking for and passion for learning and initiative are definitely factors. What has the student done that says " I am a grab the opportunities I have and made the most of them" person. </p>
<p>Avg pursuits are not going to stand out.</p>
<p>Sorry, I was inaccurate. Yes, a year of Gov is part of our history sequence; I just lumped them together. All juniors take US history and all seniors then take US Gov, so it’s a required sequence. My point though is that schools require history/government. Our school does not consider economics as part of this academic progression and it can’t be used to satisfy the requirement. </p>
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<p>I would go one step further. For a homeschooler, anything less than matching (or getting real close to matching) the top students from top high schools would be seen as a negative. Purely based on academics, what would be the point to homeschool if all you did was what the average student did?</p>
<p>Now, if you are homeschooling for religious reasons and a school such as Stanford were not on your list, then no big deal. But, for the top schools, a homeschooler needs to match the top students going in to have a shot. </p>
<p>And in my experience, all the homeschoolers who got in the top 5 schools in either category (University and LAC) had SATs north of 2250, 750+ subject tests and some serious, in-depth ECs to match. </p>
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<p>Agreed. Most schools do not, but that is not the point here.</p>
<p>If an applicant expresses preference for the CS field in the CA then he will be judged based on criteria for that field. Schools are not silly. They juxtapose the ECs, courses, and other activities in terms of an applicant’s interests. Then the school balances the class out between humanities and science students. If the OP says he is interested in computer science, he better have some serious science, math and CS stuff to support that interest in his application. </p>
<p>This is no different than an interested music major needing some serious music in his background and he will be judged by those activities, courses, band, orchestra etc. re being a music major.</p>
<p>^No disagreement from me. I agree with you. The only distinction I would make is that religious reasons and desiring rigorous academics are not diametrically opposed. One can hold both positions simultaneously. </p>
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<p>I agree there and I hope it did not come off otherwise in my post.</p>
<p>This is better said:</p>
<p>“But, for the top schools, both religious and non-religious homeschoolers need to match the top students going in to have a shot.”</p>
<p>In fact, all the homeschoolers I reference in my posts were all homeschooled for religious reasons and several wrote about the importance of religion in their CA essays. I do not personally know any homeschoolers who were homeschooled for non-religious reasons.</p>
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<p>Home school requirements differ from state to state. In NYS, the State Education Department determines what subjects are required to meet high school equivalency, not the local school district. Goverment and Economics are required courses in our progression.</p>
<p>I understand that homeschool requirements differ, just as other requirements differ. But I’m not aware of any school that doesn’t require any history/government at all. Economics is also required by our school. It just isn’t considered part of the history/gov sequence. Students take 3 years history, 1 year gov, and 1 year economics. It is possible to earn a diploma with only 2 years history rather than 3, but that isn’t usual for the college-bound students and it won’t be the same diploma.</p>
<p>Most states do not dictate what specific courses students need to take. Most give general guidelines comparable to college admission sites like this:
4 units of English
3 units of mathematics (including algebra I and either geometry or algebra II)
3 units of history, social studies or government
3 units of science (at least one laboratory)
3 units of one foreign language or 2 units of two foreign languages </p>
<p>My dd for example has taken Russian history and culture and is currently doing an indepth study on communism. We have the freedom to design/study courses that are atypical. This dd wants to major in Russian or linguistics (she hasn’t quite decided) hence the area of study.</p>
<p>Our approach to homeschooling is not school at home. We do not replicate ps courses/sequences outside of math and science, and even then they have vast amts of freedom in course selection/design. </p>
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<p>Of the homeschoolers I know, this is exactly what they did. </p>
<p>One kid wanted to major in Economics and thus had about 7 courses in econ through monetary theory. One was into military history and studied the roman military formations, the French Revolution, World War 1 and 2, and Vietnam in amazing depth. </p>
<p>The only modules that were even replicated were the math and science, but even then the sciences were were different. Two kids by the time they went to college had organic chemistry, biochemistry, genetics, and neuroscience and they did those with labs as well. </p>
<p>The amount of freedom is vast as Mom2 states. The russian history and culture module does sound great. It will look great on her application. </p>
<p>The only difference courses make, besides how many credits colleges require of each subject, is how each state determines whether home schooled students have met high school equivalency. The COURSES don’t have to be the same as the public school except in a couple very specific instances, but to get a Letter of Substantial Equivalency (instead of taking TASK or whatever the GED is called now) we have to meet those requirements. In order for a NYS college to award a NYS home schooled student a college diploma, the student must show that equivalency has been met. It’s important that OP understands the home school regulations of his/her state. We design a lot of our own courses too, but we make sure follow our state regs and OP should as well.</p>
<p>The OP lives in TX. The homeschool law in TX does not regulate like NY. Here is general info on homeschooling in TX:</p>
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<p>Thanks, M2APG. I’ve always heard that NYS home school regulations are stricter than a lot of other states. I wonder who determines what the “same general standards” are in TX. If the college sets the standard for admission as having completed 4 years of history, is that the standard home schooled students have to meet?</p>
<p>I would assume yes. We have always lived in low regulation states and I pay close attention to admission standards and make sure my students far exceed their requirements.</p>