Would having a prominent recommender help applications to US universities?

[aunt_bea]

Homeschooled-ish, no GPA…

hello! so i’m a junior (not from USA) and since about 11 years old i’ve been technically homeschooled, but in reality i’ve basically been “unschooled”—ie, doing whatever i want without keeping any record of studies. i got a 1550 on the SAT so at least there’s that. do colleges in the us all require a GPA/transcript? i do have reasonable extracurriculars. i read a lot and could cobble together a reading list, which is something i’ve heard about homeschoolers doing. …… help

Here is the link to the previous student. The thread was closed, but this situation sounds very similar to this post.