<p>My S’s common app essay was about a common household object and how / why using it reflected the kind of person he was. Nothing deep or cathartic there, no grand life lesson learned.</p>
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<p>Well, that’s one way to proceed with kid #2. Another possibility: use the resources, experiences and knowledge of this board to help you identify schools that would be a good fit for your younger son. That could be schools near North Carolina that offer lots of stat-based merit aid and have very open-ended essay prompts and where homeschoolers have reported good admissions results. Ask if any of these schools especially like to see applicants with a strong classics background, or whatever other academic interests K2 holds. As a homeschooler, you’re your children’s guidance counselor, so all of this research is part of your job description. </p>
<p>Your beef seems to be with your home state’s public college system, or at least with how they award merit aid. You’ve learned that their system doesn’t align with your children’s strengths. There are plenty of schools out there that will value exactly what you value in your children. For all you know, Kid2 could end up being an attractive candidate to a small northeastern LAC, hunting for boys from the south who are interested in the humanities. Or he might do well applying to one of the large state schools that offer big merit to lure OOS students. Or he might follow his big brother to Alabama.</p>
<p>I’ve admitted before that both my kids’ essays were on topics that fall into the “top 4” subjects to avoid. They weren’t trying to buck the system; they each wanted to use those topics to truly express something about how a situation affected their self awareness and resolve. It wasn’t navel-gazing or catharsis in either case. Neither was, really, that well-written. But, they showed who they are, how they think.</p>
<p>Xiggi,</p>
<p>Amherst accepted fewer students this year, because the yield rate in 2010 was higher than anticipated. They expected ~465 but ended up with 490 students in the class of 2014. The overflow are being accommodated in the mobile housing units, The Plaza and The Waldorf. It adjusted the number of acceptances accordingly. </p>
<p>However, I would not be surprised if Amherst dips into the waitlist this year.</p>
<p>Stegner, it’s good to remember that Amherst dipped into its waiting list last year. It’s hard to reconcile being surprised by a higher yield and admitting students from the waiting list. </p>
<p>Perhaps Amherst is forecasting more students on campus and fewer students jetting away to exotic destinations for study abroad programs. However, it remains that the admission total of this year will probably change drastically between now and July.</p>
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The most selective colleges are looking for those students who show the greatest potential for long term success. “Stats” give them only a small piece of that puzzle, and certainly don’t tell the whole story about “smarts”. Terman’s work demonstrated that (much to his dismay) decades ago — intellectual precociousness is not the same as lifelong “smarts”. Two other elements – creativity and emotional maturity – are equally if not more important than the type of “smarts” that can be measured on a standardized tests, and intellectual late bloomers often outperform youngsters who showed very early promise. Recent surveys show that 40-60% of the most successful entrepreneurs report having difficulties as children in school or even diagnosed learning disabilities.</p>
<p>American culture values ingenuity and leadership, so it’s no surprise really that the most selective of our educational institutions will look for indicia of those qualities in their students. Standardized tests are meaningless beyond a certain threshold – anyone who can score 1900 on the SATs is fully capable intellectually of doing well at an Ivy League college – the kid who has a 2200 may be marginally more capable, but he may also simply have better prep for the test, and there is no way for the college to distinguish one from another. But they do know that a score of 600+ on any of the tests shows the capacity to do college work.</p>
<p>You want colleges to rely more on measures that have weaker qualitative value for the colleges, but are easier for parents and students to manipulate. If some kid who scores 2380 on the SAT wants to think that makes him better and smarter than a classmate who scored 2040 – that’s fine, but American colleges don’t have to buy it. If they wanted to program a computer to select their incoming classes – they could – but that’s not what they are looking for. So they let human beings make human value judgments based on human communication – the sort of stuff no computer could be programmed to assess. And so far they seem to be getting fairly good results with that approach.</p>
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<p>Very well said, calmom.<br>
And really, it’s not like real life rewards the 2380’s over the 2040’s in any way. Promotions at work, etc. are not based on book-smarts – they are based on a lot of intangibles, including ability to work with others, motivate others, lead a team, think creatively, etc. - not just find the "right’ answer.</p>
<p>I’ve been following this thread. Interesting </p>
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<p>I’m in NC and would like to offer another perspective. In my area, we have all of the following - home-school, public school, private school (religious and independent). My neighborhood has families that reflect all of those choices. The home-schooling network seems very active and strong. It is common to home-school for religious reasons, but others home-school because they think they can provide a better and safer education than the public schools. Around here, I’ve seen groups of home-schoolers combine for sports, field trips, and course work. I am not in a rural area, so I do not assume these same options are available everywhere. I don’t know what percent of the population in NC is home-schooled, but it certainly seems common enough that adcoms should be used to it by now. I don’t home-school, so my perspective is just that…my perspective.</p>
<p>My son is a student at UNC-CH. He has a merit scholarship. This is part of what was included in the letter -
Another program (offered to 175 freshman) included this paragraph -
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<p>I see the words “academic achievement”, “scholar and leader” and also “curiosity and diversity”. I know there are many top students in NC who don’t get merit money. Knowing that, we were hopeful that S would get merit, but did not assume he would. From the quotes above, it seems UNC awards merit by first looking at academic achievement as a top priority, and then looking beyond academics. How else should they do it when there is only a limited amount of funds? These are still top academic students who are being awarded merit scholarships, just not all of them. Also, my S did not have “scads of ECs”, but what he had reflected his interests.</p>
<p>calmom - I like your post.</p>
<p>Xiggi,</p>
<p>It is true that Amherst did dip into its waitlist last year. I can’t say that I know all the reasons why. What we have surmised from talking with parents and the school is that once Amherst decided to house the freshmen in the temporary housing (the hope was to accommodate all in the freshman quad), they had space to accommodate additional students. We have been told by the school that the 2015 incoming students will be fewer in numbers. </p>
<p>After listening to the NPR story, we are once again amazed that we are parents of an Amherst student. It’s a privilege and an honor.</p>
<p>I’d add that I find it ironic that a homeschooler seems so resistant to the use of qualitative rather than quantitative measures, given that essays and interviews give homeschooled students one of the best avenues for conveying that they are well-educated, capable thinkers. A college has no way of knowing the quality of preparedness of a “homeschooled” student – on one extreme there are intellectually focused homeschooling parents of gifted youngsters who have used homeschooling to take their kids far beyond what a typical public school curriculum will offer – at the other extreme there are homeschooled kids who are left with huge gaps in knowledge and preparation, for a variety of reasons. </p>
<p>A high school transcript, coupled with school profile, gives the colleges a kind of roadmap about each kid. They can see what courses the kid completed, and how his grades compare with those of other students at the school, and roughly how that school compares with others in the community or the state. They also get the high school counselor’s report and LOR’s from teachers, often from teachers of specific subjects. (Many will ask specifically that one of the recs be from an English teacher, or a science teacher, etc.) So if making an admission decision is like assembling a jigsaw puzzle, with test scores and high school GPA being two cornerstone pieces --homeschoolers are applying with a big piece missing. Not to mention the fact that there is no high school counselor’s report or LOR’s from teachers.</p>
<p>If I was homeschooling, I’d think that the essay would be the very best opportunity my kid had to fill in that missing piece. I’d hope that the kid would somehow be able to demonstrate to the colleges how he benefited from being homeschooled – is he more inquisitive? Less subject to peer pressure? More of an independent learner? Is there some special experience or insight he can share that reflects the true value of his homeschooled experience?</p>
<p>I can understand why a parent whose kid has had a very structured education might feel resentful and skeptical of the “soft” part of college apps – after all, if a kid has excelled with a demanding curriculum (for example, IB) – and also scores well on tests – it seems like everything is already there to demonstrate the kid’s intellectual prowess and capacity for learning. But I don’t get why a homeschooler would be antagonistic to the very part of the application process that most benefits a person who comes from an unconventional educational background.</p>
<p>Often, the homeschooler’s “GC” rec comes from a parent. Sometimes, the parental note is the only rec. Other times, there is a tutor, comm coll teacher or civic or organization leader who can round out the picture. </p>
<p>Another issue is how to judge the grades. There are home kids who fall under a standard curriculum which offers trained educators to review their work, create tests, etc. Or, an online objective test with time limits, etc, to promote fairness. Other times, again, it is a parent. Yes, Bobby or Suzy may have gotten all the answers in that bio test, but who judges the development of their written work or the arguments they present?</p>
<p>Also, adcoms spend a good part of the year going out to their regions, learning as much as possible about communities, school reputations, programs and standards and meeting GCs- plus meetings where they can interact with students. This gives them a great idea of opportunities versus challenges and what an A means in one setting versus another.</p>
<p>I am not against homeschooling. Many of these kids are super. Including my dear friend, who got into Stanford, USC and others, with good finaid. </p>
<p>Calmom, you are so right here.</p>
<p>My kid goes to one of the top three LACs, and the admissions officer specifically remembered his essay when he went to the school. It was not “emotive-cathartic” at all–in fact, I think admissions officers get sick of that type of essay after a certain point, especially if it involves death of grandma; helping the little kid in Guatemala on the church trip; realizing that parents had their struggles, too; finally managed to make that pitch I’d been struggling to do, blah blah blah. My kid’s essay was very cerebral and kind of odd–about his ponderings about history (I believe Woodrow Wilson and Henry Clay had starring roles among others) and where it was going. It was like a trip through the way he thought (and he is indeed one for a long, rather erudite, at times rather exhausting, conversation), and although in a way it didn’t really reveal too much about his personal life, it really revealed the way he cogitated. And that particular style of thinking works very well for that institution, so it is understandable to me why they would find this kind of essay appealing. He was in love with his subject and it came through. And he also appeared to be someone who was going to be going the extra step to learn whatever he could (and so he is). And honestly, in a way, it told more about him and his way of being than an essay about some emotional experience would. So, I would disagree that “emotive-cathartic” essays are necessarily a good way to go.</p>
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<p>Calmom, grades can be very idiosyncratic or absent for homeschoolers, so test scores often become disproportionately important in homeschoolers’ applications. Those ACT, SAT, SAT Subject Test and AP scores take on additional weight in the absence of traditional grades.</p>
<p>Also, every homeschooler I’ve known (including my own and their many homeschooled friends) do take classes in different settings during their “high school” years, whether at a high school, college or online, so most do have some grades that support their transcripts.</p>
<p>And although many get recommendation letters from teachers, there are also opportunities to get them from mentors, employers, tutors, etc. which can, I think, actually be more distinctive than a traditional teacher letter.</p>
<p>I think the guidance counselor letter (the Common App wants these written by a parent or homeschool supervisor for homeschooled students), the essays and the Common App’s Homeschool Supplement all present a tremendous opportunity for homeschooled students to distinguish themselves in their applications.</p>
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Because the Harvards and Yales of this world want to boast about having had Kennedy, Bush (insert your favorite president here) as students. They don’t care that they were C students. </p>
<p>Luckily they also like to boast about their Nobel Prize winners too, so they’ll accept some academic superstars too.</p>
<p>I know that plenty of top-notch school will be fine with a really impersonal essay, because they accepted my oldest son, whose essay basically said I’d rather have a computer program write my essay. My older son had two similar in-school ECs (Science Olympiad, Academic Team) and one outside school activity (various things involving computer programming, but mostly he emphasized freelance work and some volunteer programming.)</p>
<p>“A college has no way of knowing the quality of preparedness of a “homeschooled” student”</p>
<p>There are always AP tests, SATs, and ACTs, not to mention work experience and activities outside the home.</p>
<p>It is very possible for someone to be taught toward the test, and nothing else. In theory, a homeschooled parent could purchase a variety of SAT review books, and essentially teach their kids from those books, working out the practice exams, until the child was very, very good at taking standardized tests. </p>
<p>But that hypothetical student would in no way be prepared for the demands of a rigorous college. They would know how to read study guides for information, not to critically read source texts – and they would know how to provide the “right” answers on a multiple choice format test or to write very short essays in an abbreviated time frame – but those are skills that would be virtually useless at college. </p>
<p>I find it somewhat disturbing that anyone would <em>think</em> that test scores could provide all that much insight into the preparedness of a student – it suggests to me that there are a lot of students or parents who mistakenly think that learning is mostly about memorizing facts. Given the format of many AP classes, I can see where that impression is formed – but the top colleges want students who can discuss and debate ideas, who can consider multiple viewpoints, who can generate new ideas. </p>
<p>That IS the type of information that often can be drawn from good LOR’s. And, as I said, it is something that a homeschooler could convey about himself in a good essay. </p>
<p>I find it troubling that a homeschooling parent is so averse to the college application essay because it suggests that an important written communication skill has been missed. </p>
<p>Similarly, I’d also point out that there is a difference to an ad com between a comprehensive high school record and a cherry picked sampling. Yes, homeschoolers may “take classes in different settings” – and may have “some grades” – but that is not the same thing as being required to take a complete college-prep curriculum, and present the grades from all the classes, including the ones the student didn’t want to take in the subjects that were the most difficult, from teachers the student didn’t like. Similarly, there’s a difference between a letter coming from a school teacher and a letter coming from a “mentor, employer, tutor,” – because students in schools usually don’t get to choose their teachers (or if they do, it is a choice from a limited array of options). </p>
<p>College is nothing at all like a homeschool environment. So I think that ad coms have a right to want to see enough information about a homeschooled applicant to know that this is a person with the emotional maturity and breadth of experience to be able to function well in the college environment – which is generally run along a similar structure as other school environments in terms of the way the instructors relate to and communicate with their students, but puts greater responsibility on the student for keeping track of their schedule, deadlines, coursework, etc. </p>
<p>Test scores don’t give that information. If the homeschooled student has taken an array of formal classes, such as community college courses, there may be enough info – but if the formal courses tend to be concentrated into a narrow area, that could indicate an area of weakness. For example, if a homeschooled student has studied a foreign language at the community college but has not taken any math or english courses, the ad com has no way of knowing why that choice was made (is it because the kid is so good in math and english that he doesn’t feel the need for formal courses? or because the kid hates to write and do math, so doesn’t want to sign up for formal courses?) </p>
<p>Again, an essay is one place for that a kid can shed light on why various choices were made.</p>
<p>Calmom: there is every bit as much variation in homeschooling education as in public or private school education.</p>
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<p>The above could describe homeschooled or public/private schooled students and their parents. The homeschooled students I know, who are academically inclined, are very well prepared for the demands and challenges of a rigorous college because they understand their education is ultimately their own responsibility and they have been given the skills needed to take advantage of those educational opportunities. They have been more supported than directed in their schooling. In many ways, it seems to me college is easier for this type of homeschooled student than for the average high school student. I know many homeschooled students who have gone on to college and, without exception, they have done extremely well. Many (most?) of them are now in graduate school.</p>
<p>Creating a compelling homeschool college application can be challenging, but I believe there are many examples in books and on-line demonstrating how this has been successfully accomplished. And I agree with you the essays will be very important.</p>
<p>I don’t feel any of the homeschooled students I know have been particularly disadvantaged in the process. They all knew going into homeschooling that they were going to look “different” when college application time came around and had years to consider the best way to handle that fact.</p>
<p>Goodness. Not sure what Calmom is talking about, but it is far, far removed from our home-schooling experience. Our kids received a rigorous classical education, read everything from Plato and Cicero to Austen and Dickens (et alia), and learned to think critically, write persuasively, and articulate their thoughts clearly.</p>
<p>Frankly, I think their education was second to none. And it went way beyond memorization.</p>
<p>When will these stereotypes die?</p>
<p>For his Expository Writing class at local CC, older son wrote a well-researched term paper on popular perceptions of home-schooling versus the reality. I’ll have to dig up some quotes and stats from his paper. They are pretty eye-opening. :)</p>
<p>MmeZeeZee – thank you!! </p>
<p>Of course the college has ways of knowing the preparedness of home-schooled students. Again–when will these myths die?</p>
<p>Older son scored 800 on his Latin SAT, which is one of the hardest subject SATs.</p>
<p>Gee. Do ya think that may possibly indicate that he knows some Latin? 
;)</p>
<p>Calmom-- will provide stats later re home-schooled kids’ outstanding record of success in college. The myths are just that: myths.</p>
<p>And it’s past time that they die.</p>