<p>Okey Dokey...I'm getting into that "flighty/nervous" mood again! I have a question:</p>
<p>I read in another homeschooling thread somewhere on here that one of the top colleges asked for an outside-reviewed research paper of some sort. </p>
<p>I'm wondering how I will be able to do this. How do other kids do it? Do they go to the local college and work with a proffesor or TA, or do the research by themselves? Who usually looks at the papers? How in depth are one of these "research papers required by the college?</p>
<p>Anyone with experience feel free to help me out!</p>
<p>A research paper can be done by using a library-public, university, other? and the Internet or in the sciences--an experiment or field observations. Formulate a thesis--look for supporting evidence and develop a pesuasive argument for your point of view or hypothesis--correctly citing all your sources. A 10-page paper should be enough for this purpose. Ask a professor, high school teacher or professional adult to write an evaluation --the point is, someone with credentials who is not your parent.</p>
<p>Where I ran across this requirement was Bryn Mawr, which requires a short (2 to 5 page) graded writing sample for everyone, not just homeschoolers. This is what the web site says today -- when we visited the school we received a sheet for homeschoolers saying something like "short research paper." At that time, the school said they wanted the paper to be "outside evaluated," so no momma grades.</p>
<p>I don't know if the school has the same homeschool policy today; I don't see this addressed on their web site.</p>
<p>So that is probably why your sons didn't run across the requirement, Susan -- I doubt they were trying for Bryn Mawr ;)</p>
<p>When my daughter applied, she included a short paper that had been part of a correspondence course. It hadn't been graded per se, but had written comments on it. (The school had not called for a grade at that point, but rather evaluation.)</p>
<p>I didn't run across this requirement anywhere else. But since my daughter's paper was pretty good and I didn't want to go to the bother of coming up with separate submissions for different colleges, everyone got it. It might have gone into the circular file; who knows? But it was more important for the nice comments written on it than its actual content. (We also included a Egyptian hieroglyph translation -- not because we figured anyone in admissions could tell a good one, but because the Egyptologist who reviewed it wrote it was the best translation of this passage she had ever seen.)</p>
<p>It turned out that my daughter got early admission to a preferred school shortly after the deadline for the Bryn Mawr application. So she withdrew it. Hence I don't know if what she had submitted would have sufficed for their purposes. They had also had a requirement on the sheet they gave us about the paper having been written within the last year. We didn't have that and submitted what we did have. The web site doesn't mention any "within the past year" restriction.</p>
<p>My recommendation is to check with potential schools. Chances are you won't have a place that requires a paper like this and you can just submit whatever you have that best supports the application -- grades, tests, recommendations, book lists, work samples, whatever.</p>
<p>Lily415, I agree with DianeR, it's a good idea to check with the schools where you will be applying and find out what requirements they have for homeschoolers. Some have the information on their websites, for others a quick call to the admissions office should get you the information.</p>
<p>If you don't yet have specific schools in mind, maybe it's time to start thinking about that. You can always add schools to your list later, or remove them. </p>
<p>A specific request for a paper like DianeR encountered is rare. Some things you will more commonly need to be concerned with are:</p>
<ol>
<li> More general requests for some grades or evaluations by reputable outside sources. Community colleges, local schools, and distance learning programs are all options here.</li>
<li> SAT/SATII test scores. Get an early start preparing.</li>
<li> A thorough transcript showing varying degrees of detail, or less commonly a portfolio. Keep track of what you do as you go along, and this job will be much easier</li>
<li> Extra curricular activities. This is a chance for a homeschooler to really stand out.</li>
<li> Recommendations (sometimes more than the number required of schooled applicants)<br></li>
<li> Schools sometimes don't mention it, but even one AP score in a core subject like math can help.<br></li>
</ol>
<p>Another thing to think about as you start to contact schools, is that many track their contact with students and give extra consideration to students who have shown interest over time. This might be a good time to start establishing a few such relationships.</p>
<p>I sent in much supplemental information: coursework, such as class notes for a class I audited, an anatomy lab, a sheet of calculus homework, etc. I didn't have to send in a paper of any kind, though I did write an additional paper on one of the University's essay topics.</p>
<p>And a word of wisdom from someone who made mistakes: Myake sure to keep records of all schoolwork and books completed. Don't loose that Calculus notebook and then have to dig through the dusty totes under your bed. Don't root through the halls of books to find the ones you read -- and the reports you wrote on them. I had to do that, and it was quite a pain to remember and find everything I have done for the past three years. </p>
<p>My parents are keeping a sharp eye on my siblings and their work for this reason.</p>
<p>Okay, thats all very helpful! I want to go to Cornell and major in Electrical and Computer Engineering (what a mouthful!) and then later on get an MBA. Business and engineering has been a goal of mine for some time! :)</p>
<p>My story:
I was the "smart girl" at the public schools I went to, until freshman year in high school. I was very ignorant about some things about college, I thought I would be able to get into Harvard no problem with my A's! haha. But then, in the summer between freshman and sophomore year we moved to japan. Before that, I had done a lot of research and learned about how competitive it is to get into top colleges and everything about homeschooling. So thats when the little light bulb turned on, and I realized i had to start working!</p>
<p>So, I'm nearing the end of my first year of homeschooling now, not too bad! I teach myself, and have a curriculum figured out that works for me, and hopefully Cornell! But I ran across that thread mentioning that research paper and I almost freaked out, thinking I had totally missed something crucial! Living in Japan, underage, away from an American base, and unable to speak Japanese, it's hard for me to find extracurriculars, so I have to make them myself. Thats why I was wondering about this research. I don't know any professors, or teachers here (or any that speak English for that matter). Nor do I know any in the US :( And my old teachers in high school were very impersonal (big classes). Soooooooo I guess thats something I have to work on!</p>
<p>I really appreciate your help though! Really, I would have never been able to do this homeschooling without reading all these posts on this forum!</p>
<p>I wouldn't worry about the paper. It seems to be a rare requirement, and I seriously doubt it is imposed by any engineering schools! My son is currently a junior in electrical engineering and looked at a lot of colleges. None required anything like this.</p>
<p>You might look around and see if you can find a correspondence or online program that has any interesting courses (e.g., PAHomeschoolers has some AP courses; the Stanford EPGY program has a number of courses that may be of interest, particularly advanced math -- my son did a number of these). This would give you some external evaluation. Will you be able to take AP exams?</p>
<p>Yes, I'm taking some this year (Biology, Psychology, US History, and Macro/Micro Econ), and next year I plan to take AP Phsyics B, Statistics, and Computer Science. "Senior" year, I plan to take AP English Language, Calc BC, Physics C, and Japanese. I would like to take chemistry, but apparently, you need a lab environment to learn the majority of the material, so I'm a bit apprehensive about studying that one. Unless someone has an inspirational story to tell about lab-less Chemistry? :p</p>
<p>DianeR-to what level of Phsyics and Math did your son take? Once again, I read that many of the applicants to engineering have taken math beyond Calc BC level :eek:, and I'm worried that may put me at a disadvantage. </p>
<p>I'll look into some correspondence programs. i've already looked at EPGY, and I really like the way its structured, so I may decide to take a few courses! They have scholarships and financial aid, I heard too, which is also good!</p>
<p>If you aren't interested in AP level, there are different ways to proceed. Some buy the Castle Heights lab kits from Home Training Tools (I don't know about shipping to Japan, though.) We used a text (Dickson, Introduction to Chemistry) which had experiments using common household items.</p>
<p>My son took two years of physics in high school. He took BC Calculus in 9th grade, then did three years of EPGY math beyond that. I don't think his background is that common, however. When he first got to college he took some classes where he was the only freshman, presumably because the others hadn't reached the level of math he had. In terms of competitiveness for admission to really difficult programs, going beyond BC a bit might be useful. The things about EPGY is that you can go your own speed. You might skip the Statistics and do the BC in junior year. My son didn't take statistics until college. Since you are interested in business, you may want to take a statistics course specifically for it once in college.</p>
<p>A good safety to bear in mind for EE is U of Illinois - Urbana/Champaign. Very highly rated but much easier to get into!</p>
<p>My son was interested in Cornell until he visited the campus. It was spring (theoretically) but we were freezing. The students were walking around in short sleeves -- it was balmy to them. When he found out the flags on top of the fire hydrants were so that they could be found under the snow, that was it. Just thought I'd let you know! On the other hand, it is in the top five of best food.</p>
<p>Ahh thats a life saver! I just checked out PA homeschooler. That will help me with the chem requirement. Thanks!</p>
<p>Your son took Calc BC as a freshman!?!?!? I'm envious. haha. Right now, as a sophomore, I'm finishing up on Algebra 2. If I had known I could have taken Algebra 2 with Geometry freshman year, I would have been able to take Calc BC as a junior, and Multivariable Differential Calculus as a senior. But now, it seems like I'm in a time crunch. Unless I can skip pre-calculus altogether and jump from Algebra 2 to Calculus BC? I dont even know if thats possible and still be able to see the light of day! </p>
<p>And yes, UofI is on my list too, as is RPI, but still, Cornell is my first choice! :) I may change in two years however, who knows? I guess you guys live in a relatively warm place? I heard Ithaca gets cold, but I didn't know the snow would pile up tha high! Brrr.</p>
<p>If you self-study, you can compress the math somewhat (depending on your dedication and aptitude, of course). </p>
<p>I've heard of people skipping precalculus before, too. You might want to start calculus over the summer if you do this so you would have the time to go over concepts usually covered in precalculus if that proves necessary. In other words, go with a calculus text and if you can't get something from its explanation, check it out in a precalculus text.</p>
<p>An alternative would be to study precalculus this summer. Get your calculus text also. If something is in the precalculus text but not in the calculus text, study it. If a topic is in both, wait until calculus. I've heard of people studying precalculus for only one semester so it is doable.</p>
<p>Don't get too worried if you can't get beyond BC. Most high schools in the US don't offer anything beyond this and some don't even go that far.</p>
<p>Ithaca gets a lot of snow because of the lake, I think. The Cornell campus is rather hilly as well, so the thought of dealing with the ice and snow and the hills was too much for ds.</p>
<p>But a friend of my daughter's is in her first year at Cornell and loves it!</p>
<p>We live in the DC area. Not toasty at all times, but it doesn't get bitterly cold for long periods or have much snowfall. My son ended up at WUSTL. Worse winter weather than DC but nothing like Ithaca. He wanted a place that was strong in everything, not just engineering, in case he decided he wanted to switch out. My brother spent a year at RPI studying EE, but decided he wanted to go in a different direction. He then had to transfer.</p>