<p>I'm a homeschool, high school sophomore.
I have a 4.0 GPA.
I have a 2010 on my sat.
I am an eagle scout.
I am a regional champion debater.
I am part of my church's choir.
I am part of the home school honor society.
I go on a lot of mission trips.
I plan on taking some community college courses all the way to my senior year.
I'll probably be an intern for my congressman next summer.
I'll also be taking a lot of ap tests next semester.
I play tennis casually
I help out it my church's Sunday school.
I am the chief of my church's av.
I take Arabic.
I work for my church.
I participate in the Harvard model un and congress.<br>
I founded and am the editor of a home school yearbook.<br>
I take yearly trips to Egypt with my church, and my knowledge of Arabic really helps out there.
I volunteer at a homeless shelter monthly
i attend eagle projects (community service projects) monthly.<br>
I initiated a service project where we built a playground for a school.<br>
Each summer, I am the assistant adviser for our church's vbs.
I do a random service project each month with the home school honor society.<br>
I teach debate to beginner debaters.<br>
I travel a lot
I work art AMC movie theater during the summer.<br>
I also take an SAT/PSAT/ACT prep class during the summer.
I know 2 harvard alum who know me very well who could write recommendations.
I am Caucasian and my family's annual income is under $100,00
Keep in mind, homeschooled applications are a little different. just like you guys are compared to students from your high school, so am I. I think I have a boost their since I do a lot more stuff than most of my home schooled friends.</p>
<p>that's alot of I's.. </p>
<p>i think you have a shot like everyone else. better standardized scores may be helpful..</p>
<p>Yeah, shoot for a 2200 to be considered competitive for the Ivys.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Keep in mind, homeschooled applications are a little different. just like you guys are compared to students from your high school, so am I. I think I have a boost their since I do a lot more stuff than most of my home schooled friends.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Actually, this is false. </p>
<p>I liked the way the CMC Admissions Officer said it at a presentation I went to last night: For the most part, You are not compared to your peers, those from your school or nationwide, instead you are mostly compared to your "system." For high school students, this would be their high school. </p>
<p>For homeschooled students, not much of a system exists. Therefore, admissions officers have a VERY high threshold when they look at your application. If you went to a bad HS, and did every AP class available and was rank 1, that looks far better than doing higher level work in a homeschool setting but not giving the impression you are "pushing yourself" academically. And since that's so hard to define, it can work against you. </p>
<p>Because of this, you MUST do everything you can to make it look like you've taken every opportunity you can, and NOT rely on being compared to the performance of other homeschooled students who might take a few classes with you. </p>
<p>In a nutshell, you can't expect to be compared to your homeschool peers (unless it's a highly organized program, which I think sort of defeats the idea of homeschooling, but that's a different matter). If it's highly organized, then the admissions officer will wonder why you didn't go to HS. To address that, you will need to provide some sort of "homeschool philosophy" statement (you should have your parents do this regardless). </p>
<hr>
<p>Ok, now that I've put that essay aside, here's what I can tell you about your profile: Right now, nothing stands out. I find it hard to find a recurring theme in your application, something I believe especially important for homeschooled students. Try to think about how you want to present yourself on paper, and organize your profile in a fashion that best demonstrates it. Think about it in terms of nicknames...you want the adcom to give you a nickname, like "the linguistics genius," or "that kid who's amazing at math and chess." Think of what sort of nickname you think you fit under best, because if you can focus your app in that manner you will be far more memorable an applicant in the highly competitive pool.</p>
<p>Right now, you don't stand out, but it's usually not hard to rectify. </p>
<p>I also recommend getting your SATI to 2200+. Unfortunately, homeschooled students are expected to score fairly high on standardized tests, and generally a 2200 or higher is considered competitive for ivy league schools.</p>
<p>I hope this advice helps! I'm a homeschool student as well, in case you were wondering.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>well i'll try to work on that nick name. i will be taking a large amount of community college courses in following years, but i know what you mean. It is sort of hard to show myself academically. </p>
<p>"Unfortunately, homeschooled students are expected to score fairly high on standardized tests, and generally a 2200 or higher is considered competitive for ivy league schools."</p>
<p>do you mean "fortunately?" how is that unfortunate?</p>
<p>How would it be fortunate that more is expected?</p>
<p>because according to his assumption, I will have higher SAT scores on my second testing, bringing me up to a 2200...which is competitive.</p>
<p>oh and could you guys list it as reject/wait list/accept</p>
<p>Yeah when I said unfortunately, it's because it means you have to retake the test again.</p>
<p>Nothing stands out. Best chance you got is at lower Ivies. I won't name those, for then we'll get bitter students at these schools countering back.</p>
<p>what would be a good extracurricular for a hopeful poly sci student that would make me stand out?</p>
<p>bump_<strong><em>^</em></strong>___</p>
<p>do the bump</p>
<p>bumpedeebumpbump...bumpbump</p>