<p>I was homeschooled for high school only and finished all of my work by age 15. However, I was battling severe health issues at the time and was also my grandmother's full-time caretaker, and I ended up not getting my GED (town doesn't offer a diploma for homeschoolers) until last November at 18. I quickly enrolled at my community college and started there in spring.</p>
<p>In preparation for transferring for fall 2007, I'm trying to put together an attractive package. My "transcript" should be easy -- I still have all my text books and can write up a list based off that, plus I have actual transcripts from credit-free community college courses and correspondence courses through the American School.</p>
<p>Still, I haven't taken the SATs/ACT yet, simply because I never had time to when Grandma was still living with us. I'm going to take the SAT I and several SAT IIs this year in order to beef up my package, but I'm wondering if I should also throw in some APs.</p>
<p>Do you think it's too late for me to take any? I know that since I'm already in college, it might look a little odd (same with the SATs), but I think because of my circumstances, colleges might be okay with it. I honestly had no way to get any of this done until now.</p>
<p>Can anyone with experience give me some info on how to go about doing this? Would it be a waste of my time altogether? Since the vast majority of my high school work was independent study and ungraded, I think I almost have no choice. Advice is really appreciated.</p>
<p>I am assuming you will be applying to colleges in the fall as a transfer student? In that case, you are a full-time student in a community college?</p>
<p>If that is the case, I don't think you could take AP classes, unless you did so on your own, online. The scores would not be available until July, well past the admission decision period. </p>
<p>Parents of homeschoolers will chime in, I hope, but what you need is a strong transcript from your community college and the SAT or ACT and 2 or 3 SAT-IIs, depending on which school you plan on applying to. For ED/EA, I believe you can still take an exam by early November. But I think the timeline for transfers may be different from that of freshman applicants. Check the websites of the colleges.</p>
<p>I already know about the college record being more important. :) However, I have almost no graded work from high school, so I'm wondering if it would make a difference for that. I don't know if the subject tests (I'm planning on taking about 5, if possible) will be enough.</p>
<p>beginning, I think you should get in touch with the admissions office at the school(s) where you intend to apply. This is a good time of year to do so, because they are not too busy yet. Let them know you're a homeschooler attending community college, and ask what they would like to see in your application. If you are interested in schools in your own area, you can even ask to meet with somebody. Be sure to ask for the person most knowledgable about homeschool applications. </p>
<p>Many schools track contact with students because it demonstrates genuine interest. The common ap, and other online applications, make it so easy to apply now days, it can help if you can set yourself apart from the hoards of casual applicants. If you have a particular school you would like to attend, it's never to early to let them know who you are.</p>
<p>My daughter was home schooled and will be starting college this fall. She was accepted to a competitive college with no AP scores at the time of admission (ED), although she was enrolled in one AP course at the local high school at that time. The admissions officer we spoke with a few years ago said outside grades are among the most important things they look for from homeschoolers. (He didn't even mention AP tests.) I think your community college work would satisfy that requirement just fine. And since you aren't planning to apply for 2006, although it looks like you certainly could, you'll have plenty of time to make sure those grades are fantastic.</p>
<p>SAT scores are also very important. Some homeschoolers get accepted to good schools without them, but the school where my daughter applied ED requires all homeschoolers to take three SAT II's. Unless you find out otherwise from specific schools, I think it would be a better idea to concentrate on those tests rather than spreading yourself too thin with AP test prep, especially since you will have real college level work to show.</p>
<p>It varies from school to school, but many colleges put a lot of weight on admissions essays. If you use those essays to demonstrate what you are passionate about, it will help. You've lived an interesting life so far, with unusual challenges. If you can show how you have used those challenges to hone your interests and grow stronger, it will also help. Many schools have their essay questions available online, so it might be a good idea to look at this year's essays and start getting some ideas. If you know what you want to talk about ahead of time, you can then adapt your material to the questions next year.</p>
<p>Your post really made me feel better, so thank you. Like (I think) I said, I'm flying blindly with all of this and don't have any counselors to guide me, so I'm just hoping for some good advice on here. Looks like I found it. :)</p>
<p>I'm thinking that since they're relatively inexpensive, I might just do as many SAT IIs as possible. I think I'll need to do the science ones in particular since I didn't do chem in high school and only did some physics (I love earth science and also did biology, but that's it).</p>
<p>Do you think doing the ACT in addition to the SAT I would be beneficial? I know a lot of people recommend doing as many tests as possible if you were homeschooled -- that's where the AP idea came from -- so I'm wondering if it would be worth it. I know very, very little about it since I'm from New England, but I tend to do well with tests, especially ones I care about.</p>
<p>I'm working on applications now -- I'm using all the paper ones that get sent to me as practice applications for next year -- and I plan on doing my essays next summer. My personal statements and short answers are being done now and during breaks this school year. Since I'll be interviewing and also (hopefully!) doing an internship next summer, I don't want to leave anything but the essays until then. Some schools are surprised that I'm doing this "early" (is it really early when I'm planning on applying next year?), but I just want it to be as stress-free as possible.</p>
<p>Thank you so, so much. You calmed me down a lot. :)</p>
<p>Oh, and I've been in touch with each of the schools I'm interested in, and I plan on interviewing at each school where it's allowed (I think Barnard's my only one where it's not offered). I doubt I'll apply anywhere I can't visit at least once.</p>
<p>If you're confident you'll do well on all those SAT IIs, go for it. However, since you don't get to pick which ones to send, you might want to be a little careful and check them out with practice tests first. Three would probably be enough, if it's a bother to do more.</p>
<p>Maybe we can get some other opinions on this, but I don't know of any certain advantage to taking the ACT as well as the SAT, as long as you do well on the SAT. If you bombed out and had something on your SAT record you really didn't want them to see, you could go for the ACT, but it doesn't sound like that's your problem. </p>
<p>On the other hand, if you're a good test taker, and it won't add a lot of stress to your life, I'm sure it wouldn't hurt to include the ACT. It's another oportunity to knock their socks off, and at the very least you'd show them you're not a homeschooler who is resistant to testing. Then, if you're not thrilled with your scores, you don't have so send them.</p>
<p>If you get a kick out of taking tests (and it sounds like you might), then you might as well take the ACTs. If it's an extra burden, you probably don't need to bother.</p>
<p>I think it's smart to get started this early on your applications. Good luck!</p>
<p>If you are applying for Fall 2007, you probably will not have to take SATs etc. You also (maybe) will not have to compose the high school transcript. Check with the colleges you are planning to transfer to. Pretty often, they do not care about the High School record and/or the tests if the transfer candidate has 2 years of college credits. It will not matter whether you were a homeschooler if the college will only care about your community college records.</p>
<p>If there is a particular subject you already studied, and you think you can pass the AP test easily, you might want to do it. It will be equivalent to one additional college class. But if you have to take a class in order to do it, I don't think you should do it. Better put your efforts into your college classes.</p>