Rather odd applicant looking for college suggestions

College Search & Selection
1

<p>So, I thought I had some ideas about college, but then I stumbled on this site, and realized I knew next to nothing. So I'm basically starting the college search over again.</p>

<p>I'm homeschooled, which means I'm in a very odd position. I'm looking for schools that will be "flexible" and not mind so much my lack of APs and such. (I'm a junior right now.)</p>

<p>We're considered "low income" by most colleges, and financial aid is definitely important.</p>

<p>I'm tentatively planning on studying psychology with an eye toward becoming a university professor. I love the University of Chicago because it's academically rigorous, not a big party school, and has a really fun/cool/quirky vibe to it, despite being "where the fun goes to die". I'm also interested in Oberlin (I just like the feel of it) and Vassar (They have a B.A. in film production. No one has a B.A. in film production. I would absolutely love to double major in film and psychology.)</p>

<p>Obviously, I seriously need some match and safety schools. I'm going to apply to a few state schools that give full rides to National Merit Finalists, but I'd like other suggestions. I'm also interested in other reaches I might not have thought about yet. </p>

<p>My rec's should be good, assuming I can find people who fit the criteria. I already have a completely brilliant rec from my ninth grade film teacher, but it's unfortunately heavily film-related.</p>

<p>I'm apparently really good at writing essays, and I plan to work hard on them.</p>

<p>So, here's my info:</p>

<p>Numbers:</p>

<p>SAT: 2300 (CR: 800, Math: 720, Writing: 780) (spring of my Soph. year)
PSAT: 228 (should be enough for National Merit Finalist)
ACT: 35 (This Feb.)
SAT IIs: Math 2: 740 (Taking US History and Lit in October. I'm aiming for an 800 in lit and a 750+ in US History. I may take chemistry or something so I can apply to Columbia and other schools which require 4 SAT IIs for homeschoolers.)</p>

<p>GPA: N/A. My Freshman year was at a tough private Christian school. I had a 97 (I think, could have been 96) average. My homeschool transcript gives me straight A's, but I don't think schools will put much stock in a transcript my Mom made.</p>

<p>Classes taken:</p>

<p>This is what's really going to kill me.</p>

<p>9th grade at Coram Deo Academy (from memory, so this might not be 100% accurate):</p>

<p>Biology
English
Algebra II
History
Latin I
Music Appreciation</p>

<p>10th grade, homeschool:</p>

<p>Classic British Literature
PreCalculus
European History to 1900
Political Theory
Speech and Debate
Health
Logic
Personal Fitness</p>

<p>1th grade, homeschool:</p>

<p>English Literature
Calculus
20th Century European History
Intro to Linguistics
Intro to Philosophy
Theology
Chemistry
Drivers Ed (at the local HS)
Mixed Chorus (at the local HS)
Personal fitness</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:</p>

<p>This could be a problem too.</p>

<p>9th grade:</p>

<p>Member Dallas Community Television (DCTV), completed TV studio equipment training
Home School Film Club—camera operator, took a class in After Effects
Bible Bowl member
Tae Kwon Do</p>

<p>10th grade:</p>

<p>Musical: Annie Get Your Gun (actor/singer/dancer, lighting, set construction)
Historic Interpretation at Lincoln Log Cabin, Lerna, IL
Nursing home visitation and entertainment
Voice lessons and church choir
Internship with Good Measure International (copy editor, booth representative, IT troubleshooter)
Bible Bowl captain/coach</p>

<p>11th grade:</p>

<p>Theater:
-St. George and the Dragon at Christmastide (actor, set construction)
-The Love of Three Oranges (lead actor, set construction)
Selected for IMEA All-State Chorus
Speech and Debate teacher and competitor
Voice lessons and church choir
Madrigal Singers with Charleston High School
Tutor for Geometry and Algebra II
Bible Bowl captain/coach</p>

<p>Summer programs:</p>

<p>2005: Summer Debate Institute (one week)
2006: Summer Debate Institute (one week)
2007: NHSI Film and Video Production program at Northwestern University (five weeks)</p>

<p>Thanks in advance!</p>

2

<p>Honestly, I don't think you'd have to worry about getting schools. You seem to be a very strong applicant. You'd have a good shot at UChicago. </p>

<p>Some other academic schools you might like: Reed, Marlboro, Sarah Lawrence, Swarthmore, Whitman, etc.</p>

3

<p>Thanks for both the encouragement and the advice. :)</p>

<p>Anyone else?</p>

<p>Oh, and I should probably say I'm a white male, non-athlete, with no legacies (well, one grandpa at Harvard...) or good hooks.</p>

4

<p>you're in at uchicago.</p>

5

<p>Are you very religious? I'm just asking this because many of the top schools have student bodies that are largely unreligious/anti-religious, and you may want to consider this when applying.</p>

6

<p>Here's a link to the list of undergraduate schools that produce future psych PhDs at the highest rates:</p>

<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?p=3508877&highlight=psychology+ipeds#post3508877%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?p=3508877&highlight=psychology+ipeds#post3508877&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

7

<p>Swarthmore might also be a good fit for you.</p>

8

<p>I'm going to NHSI at northwestern for film too this summer</p>

9

<p>I wouldn't go so far to say that the student bodies at some of the top LACs are mostly anti-religious. Sure, there are many students who attend who are atheists or who don't consider religion to be all that important in their lives, but I've never heard of any animousity existing (at Vassar, at least) towards religious students. Besides, most (if not all) of the LACs have a variety of religious groups at the school as well as a major in religious studies. As long as one is comfortable going to a school where the are those with different beliefs than oneself, the more "liberal" of the LACs are a fine fit.</p>

10

<p>I know several people at Oberlin who were homeschooled in high school... I don't think that part should be a terribly big concern there.</p>

11

<p>elsijfdl- you can't just say that they're 'in' at UChi. Chicago places a lot of importance on the applicants essays, and doens't place too much importance on standardized test scores.
I think that the OP will be very competative at any school, however, it's irresponsible to say they're 'in' somewhere, especially a school that has a self-selecting applicant pool. </p>

<p>OP- I think all of the colleges that you mentioned are very similiar in their 'quirkiness.' I think that if you can continue some of your ECs, especially your interest in film and technical stuff, then you should be accepted to some outstanding schools.
Write some killer essays, continue working hard, AND enjoy your teen-age years, and I think you'll be fine.</p>

12

<p>We homeschooled, no APs, no grades. Son will be attending Chicago in the fall.(Huge film fan as well:)) We did not homeschool for religious purposes but found that the question came up in some manner for every school but Chicago. The schools most open to our manner of homeschooling: St. John's, Harvard, Chicago, Brown and JHU. Least: Wes, Haverford and William&Mary.</p>

13

<p>Yeah, I've found Chicago to be very open to homeschoolers/ high school droupouts. If you can demonstrate that you've gotten a solid education, I don't think they care where it comes from, considering that two of my friends here were homeschooled and one dropped out of one of the nation's best high schools.</p>

<p>Also worth checking out for film geeks are Doc Films and Fire Escape Films:
<a href="http://docfilms.uchicago.edu/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://docfilms.uchicago.edu/&lt;/a>
<a href="http://fireescapefilms.com/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://fireescapefilms.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

14

<p>Thanks for the advice everyone, it's all helpful!</p>

<p>I'm not worried about the religious aspect. We're religious, but we didn't homeschool for religious reasons, and it shouldn't be a problem.</p>

15

<p>
[quote]
Chicago places a lot of importance on the applicants essays, and doens't place too much importance on standardized test scores.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>this is obviously not true, given chicagos acceptance rate (near 40%), and it's test score range (near schools with much lower acceptance rates, such as northwestern, wustl, cornell etc.). </p>

<p>This shows that chicago obviously cares very much about the test scores of its students, as it is obviously not getting enough applicants to choose both high test scores AND people with essays that it likes.</p>

<p>chicago is selective, but this applicant is well within their ranges.</p>

16

<p>Chicago's 'high' acceptance rate along with good SAT scores doesn't mean that they 'obviously' value SAT scores. In fact, it just goes to show how competative their applicant pool really is.
If you go on the UChicago thread here on collegeboard, Libby Pearson, a University of Chicago admissions councelor, talks about the importance of the essays.

[quote]
Most important: transcript. What classes have you chosen to take (the most rigorous ones?) and how well have you done in them?</p>

<p>Second most important: essays. We work very hard on our essay questions and are looking for creative thinkers and strong writers.

[/quote]

I'm still searching for the rest of the quote (as this is actually the quote of a quote, and that's all the writer used...), but it still shows that ESSAYS are ABOVE standardized test scores (and if my memory serves correclty, SATs are third).</p>

17

<p>
[quote]

from Libby Pearson:
We actually "forgive" SAT scores from anyone -- no one is ever denied based on their low scores.</p>

<p>The way that we try to increase diversity in our school is mainly by trying to get more diverse students to apply, hence the Students of Color Open House.

[/quote]

This just further illustrates the 'great importance' that UChicago has on SATs.</p>

18

<p>and as we all know, university of chicago has no history of hypocrisy and false statements when it comes to policy positions:</p>

<p>chicago doesn't care for rankings? that's funny considering they sent representatives to usnews to discuss how to improve theirs:
<a href="http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/1096600551.html?dids=1096600551:1096600551&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Aug+18%2C+2006&author=Jodi+S+Cohen%2C+Tribune+higher+education+reporter&pub=Chicago+Tribune&edition=&startpage=8&desc=U.+of+C.+jumps+to+9th+place+in+ranking+of+universities+%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/1096600551.html?dids=1096600551:1096600551&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Aug+18%2C+2006&author=Jodi+S+Cohen%2C+Tribune+higher+education+reporter&pub=Chicago+Tribune&edition=&startpage=8&desc=U.+of+C.+jumps+to+9th+place+in+ranking+of+universities+&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>the common app is "generic" and "utterly boring" according to the dean of admissions? they will always keep their uncommon app?
(<a href="http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2005/11/02/online%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2005/11/02/online&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p>

<p>that's funny considering:
<a href="http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2006/12/01/chicago%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2006/12/01/chicago&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>you can't rely on anything that comes out of the mouths of U of C officials, they will say anything to appear to be the way they want to appear, but actions speak louder than words.</p>

19

<p>I have been the person to read homeschooled applications at a couple of schools. Here is the scoop ... the decision will be made on your SAT scores (which are excellent), your activities (which are interesting), your presentation as an intellectual (essays), and (here is where you could strengthen your application) demonstrated ability to do college-level work. Your high school transcript is nearly meaningless, since it is not perceived to be an objective evalution.</p>

<p>To be honest, there is a perception that fundamentalist education (of any kind) does not encourage or reward open-minded intellectual inquiry. In your application materials, especially your essays, it is important that you establish yourself as a person with an open mind and a passion to learn. </p>

<p>Beyond that, although there are no honors or AP courses in homeschooling, we frequently see homeschooled students who take college courses in their junior or senior years. This demonstrates (1) academic challenge, (2) the interest in and ability to be successful in college-level work, and (3) the ability to function in the social environment of an academic setting. If you take college courses, that could strengthen your application.</p>

<p>I think you would be a very interesting candidate to the schools in which you have an interest, as long as everything in your application indicates intellectual ability linked with a passion to learn.</p>

20

<p>you're absolutely right. I would take the word of somebody that's on collegeboard, and for all I know could be a bum, over somebody that WORKS for the school anyday.
If you're not going to weigh what somebody says as having some truth in it, then why would you get on a discussion board?</p>

<p>The fact is, you practically guarenteed somebody admission to the school that they said they were highly interested in, which is also a very difficult school to gain admission into. I don't care if they have a great application, the simple fact that the college admissions process is a crapshoot (especially for the top-tier colleges) makes it irresponsible to help get somebody's hopes up in the way you did.</p>