I’m putting together my ED/EA applications now, and I was wondering how important you guys think it is for homeschooled applicants to “nail” their additional requirements.
For example, Northeastern University is one of many schools I’ve seen that requires subject tests from homeschooled applicants. I’m a little anxious about these tests, because I struggle a lot in SAT subject tests. If I were to receive “just okay” or “mediocre” scores on my subject tests (600-700, for example) how badly would you think that would impact my admissions chances? It’s an interesting thing for me, because although most traditional students look at my ACT score (34C) and say that I’d be a shoe-in for some of my target schools, these additional requirements have me nervous. My other homeschooled friend has told me that he thinks these requirements are just a way of showing that schools are conducting due diligence, and they can’t actually hurt you.
I figure that as a homeschooled applicant, you would be scrutinized to a greater degree than others. Wouldn’t that mean that these sorts of additional requirements (which most traditional applicants would throw in as a ‘why not’) would be scrutinized the most? I mean, if that is the gauge by which an admissions office will determine whether you’re a “real” or “mommy grades” homeschool student, right? I’m not sure what to make of a lot of these.