College admissions for homeschooled students: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 20:25, 18 February 2014

If you're considering home-schooling for high school, you're likely wondering how it will affect your college prospects.

Public colleges

It can be difficult or impossible to get into public colleges as a homeschooler, owing to bureaucratic requirements. For example, UC Davis writes:

The courses of homeschools and unapproved high schools are not accepted by the University of California and cannot be used to establish minimum UC admission requirements. If you are a homeschooled student or attended a California high school without a UC-approved course list, you must establish your academic record through test scores or as a community college transfer student.

While it may be possible to qualify for the UC system via test scores, it's unclear what one's prospects are for getting into a campus of your choice. See also See University of California and homeschoolers at The Well-Trained Mind.

Other public colleges are more receptive to admitting homeschoolers. For example, University of Illinois writes:

We encourage home schooled students to apply to the University...We are very interested in having talented, well-qualified applicants from a variety of settings. Home schoolers would provide a diversity of academic experiences to the campus.

If you're considering home schooling, be sure to check out what the situation is at the public colleges that you anticipate applying to, in particular, those in your home state.

Private colleges

Elite private colleges accept home schoolers. Some things to keep in mind:

Admission rates

The elite private college students who were home schooled appears to be smaller than the fraction of high schoolers in the general population who are home schooled. About ~3% of students are home schooled nationwide. By way of contrast:

Only 0.5% of Princeton students were homeschooled
A University of Chicago student on College Confidential reported that 13 students in his or her grade were homeschooled. University of Chicago's class size is about 1,400, so about 1% of the students were home schooled.
MIT reports that less than 1% of MIT students were homeschooled.

The discrepancy could reflect any of:

It being more difficult to be admitted as a homeschooler.
Some fraction of home schoolers not taking the special measures needed to be admitted.
Homeschoolers being less capable on average.
Homeschoolers applying to elite private schools less often than average.

There's some evidence in favor of (4): MIT reports that less than 1% of the applicant pool consists of homeschoolers.

Reading over the webpages of elite colleges about applying as a homeschooler, some points stand out:

Standardized test scores are weighted more heavily for homeschoolers. Some colleges encourage homeschoolers to take more than the minimum requirement of 2 SAT subject tests, and some refer to AP scores as a way for students to demonstrate their achievement. If you're unusually capable of getting high standardized test scores, the case for homeschooling is strengthened.
Taking college courses at local colleges or summer programs seems to help establish a homeschooler's academic record. It also gives a homeschooler the chance to solicit recommendations from professors who can vouch for his or her performance.
If you homeschool, it's important to document your academic program.
Colleges expect that homeschoolers study the standard academic subjects (math, English, social studies, science and languages): if you homeschool, you shouldn't design an overly idiosyncratic program that doesn't include these things.
Some colleges want evidence that homeschoolers can integrate well with other students, presumably in the form of extracurricular activities that have a social component.
If you homeschool, you'll have more flexibility in regards to how you arrange your coursework (for example, you can pick which textbooks to use), and if used well, this could increase your chances of excelling.
If you homeschool and can give a compelling reason for why you've done so in your college applications, this will strengthen your case for admissions.

We looked at pages published by:

University of Chicago

Caltech

New York University

Highly Selective College Admissions for Homeschoolers

College Confidential has a forum with relevant threads. See in particular Homeschool students' admission rate to Harvard/Princeton/Yale and How do homeschooled students attend Ivy leagues?

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+If you're considering home-schooling for high school, you're likely wondering how it will affect your college prospects.
-[http://admissions.yale.edu/home-schooled-applicants Yale University]
+==Public colleges==
+It can be difficult or impossible to get into public colleges as a homeschooler, owing to bureaucratic requirements. For example, UC Davis [http://admissions.ucdavis.edu/admission/freshmen/fr_special_situations.cfm writes]:
-* "Standardized test scores hold relatively more weight for home-schooled applicants. If you are a home-schooler and you feel confident about your ability to do well on the exams, we advise you to demonstrate your abilities in various areas by taking more than the required two SAT Subject Tests." (Yale)
+''The courses of homeschools and unapproved high schools are not accepted by the University of California and cannot be used to establish minimum UC admission requirements. If you are a homeschooled student or attended a California high school without a UC-approved course list, you must establish your academic record through test scores or as a community college transfer student.''
-* "We find that in most cases, homeschooled applicants are no more difficult to evaluate than any other applicants to Caltech, and there are no additional requirements for homeschooled applicants." (Caltech) "Evaluation is usually difficult, however. It helps if the applicant has taken some college level courses, and we can get evaluations from those teachers." Yale. Some claim that Yale is unusually
-* AP scores may help.
-* There should be evidence that you can integrate well with other students
-* Taking courses at a local college can facilitate getting credible letters of recommendation.
-* Study all of the standard subjects.
-* Documentation can be important – reading lists.
-* Home-schooled students constitute a very small minority of students at elite schools, e.g. [http://www.princeton.edu/admission/applyingforadmission/admission_statistics/0.5% of Princeton students] even though [https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=91 ~3% of students are home schooled nationwide]. Possible selection effects:
-* More / Fewer homeschoolers applying / attending than usual. MIT says that fewer than 1% of applicants homeschooled.
+While it may be possible to qualify for the UC system via test scores, it's unclear what one's prospects are for getting into ''a campus of your choice.'' See also See [http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/237630-university-of-california-and-homeschoolers/ University of California and homeschoolers] at The Well-Trained Mind.
-* Homeschoolers being better / worse than average.
-* Some homeschoolers not properly documenting their coursework, etc. or taking extra SAT subject tests.
-"While not an ivy league, I know UChicago has 13 freshman who listed themselves as homeschooled on a survey we had to fill out at the beginning of the year." (Total class size of 1,426, so 1%) http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/home-schooling-college/874682-homeschool-students-admission-rate-to-harvard-princeton-yale-p3.html
+Other public colleges are more receptive to admitting homeschoolers. For example, University of Illinois [http://admissions.illinois.edu/faq/home_school.html writes]:
-It's [http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/237630-university-of-california-and-homeschoolers/ said] that getting into University of California schools is difficult as a homeschooler (perhaps moreso than Ivy League schools). See [http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/237630-university-of-california-and-homeschoolers/ University of California and homeschoolers] for more information.
+''We encourage home schooled students to apply to the University...We are very interested in having talented, well-qualified applicants from a variety of settings. Home schoolers would provide a diversity of academic experiences to the campus.''
+If you're considering home schooling, be sure to check out what the situation is at the public colleges that you anticipate applying to, in particular, those in your home state.
+==Private colleges==
+Elite private colleges accept home schoolers. Some things to keep in mind:
+===Admission rates===
+The elite private college students who were home schooled appears to be smaller than the fraction of high schoolers in the general population who are home schooled. About [https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=91 ~3% of students are home schooled nationwide]. By way of contrast:
+* [http://www.princeton.edu/admission/applyingforadmission/admission_statistics/ Only 0.5% of Princeton students were homeschooled]
+* A University of Chicago student on College Confidential [http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/home-schooling-college/874682-homeschool-students-admission-rate-to-harvard-princeton-yale-p3.html reported] that 13 students in his or her grade were homeschooled. University of Chicago's class size is about 1,400, so about 1% of the students were home schooled.
+* MIT [http://mitadmissions.org/apply/prepare/homeschool reports] that less than 1% of MIT students were homeschooled.
+The discrepancy could reflect any of:
+# It being more difficult to be admitted as a homeschooler.
+# Some fraction of home schoolers not taking the special measures needed to be admitted.
+# Homeschoolers being less capable on average.
+# Homeschoolers applying to elite private schools less often than average.
+There's some evidence in favor of (4): MIT reports that less than 1% of the applicant pool consists of homeschoolers.
+Reading over the webpages of elite colleges about applying as a homeschooler, some points stand out:
+* Standardized test scores are weighted more heavily for homeschoolers. Some colleges encourage homeschoolers to take more than the minimum requirement of 2 SAT subject tests, and some refer to AP scores as a way for students to demonstrate their achievement. If you're unusually capable of getting high standardized test scores, the case for homeschooling is strengthened.
+* Taking college courses at local colleges or summer programs seems to help establish a homeschooler's academic record. It also gives a homeschooler the chance to solicit recommendations from professors who can vouch for his or her performance.
+* If you homeschool, it's important to document your academic program.
+* Colleges expect that homeschoolers study the standard academic subjects (math, English, social studies, science and languages): if you homeschool, you shouldn't design an overly idiosyncratic program that doesn't include these things.
+* Some colleges want evidence that homeschoolers can integrate well with other students, presumably in the form of extracurricular activities that have a social component.
+* If you homeschool, you'll have more flexibility in regards to how you arrange your coursework (for example, you can pick which textbooks to use), and if used well, this could increase your chances of excelling.
+* If you homeschool and can give a compelling reason for why you've done so in your college applications, this will strengthen your case for admissions.
+We looked at pages published by:
+[http://admissions.yale.edu/home-schooled-applicants Yale]
+[http://mitadmissions.org/apply/prepare/homeschool MIT]
+[https://www.princeton.edu/admission/applyingforadmission/tips_for_home_schooled/  Princeton]
+[https://undergrad.admissions.columbia.edu/apply/first-year/home-schooled Columbia]
-Greater flexibility in how one arranges one's coursework, schedule could mean more ability to optimize activities so that you do well in them (e.g. can pick your own textbooks, etc.)
-Having a good reason for homeschooling might help.
-[http://www.nyu.edu/admissions/undergraduate-admissions/apply/homeschool-applicants.html New York University]
-[https://www.princeton.edu/admission/applyingforadmission/tips_for_home_schooled/ Princeton university]
-[https://undergrad.admissions.columbia.edu/apply/first-year/home-schooled Columbia University]
 [https://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/apply/applicants/homeschoolers.shtml University of Chicago]
 [http://admissions.caltech.edu/applying/homeschooled Caltech]
+[http://www.nyu.edu/admissions/undergraduate-admissions/apply/homeschool-applicants.html New York University]
 [http://homeschoolsuccess.com/highly-selective-college-admissions-for-homeschoolers/ Highly Selective College Admissions for Homeschoolers]
-[http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/home-schooling-college/ Home Schooling and College] at College Confidential
+College Confidential has a [http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/home-schooling-college/ forum] with relevant threads. See in particular [http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/home-schooling-college/874682-homeschool-students-admission-rate-to-harvard-princeton-yale-p3.html Homeschool students' admission rate to Harvard/Princeton/Yale] and
-[http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/home-schooling-college/874682-homeschool-students-admission-rate-to-harvard-princeton-yale-p3.html Homeschool students' admission rate to Harvard/Princeton/Yale]
 [http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/home-schooling-college/541334-how-do-homeschooled-students-attend-ivy-leagues.html How do homeschooled students attend Ivy leagues?]
-[http://mitadmissions.org/apply/prepare/homeschool MIT]