The following is a completely true and accurate accounting of all of the information I have amassed over the past 12 months in the process of preparing myself as a homeschooling mom trying to get her kid into college.
I invite you to investigate the veracity of any and everything I am about to tell you. ✌🏻
Everything in this blog post is alleged, and not necessarily true. The author assumes no liability for any or all of the statements made herein. By proceeding, the reader agrees that this article constitutes possibly mere entertainment and possibly helpful information. Nobody knows which to be the case.
First things first: you’d better make sure your gpa is competitive with conventionally schooled kids. They are going to garner more attention than your student if they have weighted gpas above 4.0. Make sure to take dual enrollment and advanced placement courses.
Dual enrollment students get last priority registration so it may take two years and multiple community college systems to get the classes you want or need.
Advanced placement classes cost around $400 per semester and $200-$300 per test if you can find a place that will let your student take the exam.
Once it’s time to apply to college, make sure to have a properly formatted transcript. Take your best guess as to what that means. Remember, though, you want to reveal some interesting courses without drawing skepticism about credits earned or courses taken.
Write a school profile. This should contain your homeschool’s philosophy, grading scale, outside providers, community colleges attended and other relevant information. This document should be 2-3 pages long.
Write a course description for every single course your student has ever taken during high school. Make sure to include every book or tech used and how learning was assessed such as what assignments were given.
Reed college wants a complete book list of every book ever read during high school, including non assigned reading.
Write a counselor letter of recommendation for your student. Make sure it’s objective but also personalized. Try not to be too obvious that you’re their mom, even though it’s literally a homeschool so how can this be objective????
Find 1-2 teachers to write letters of recommendation. Dual enrollment or AP teachers are preferable since their courses are the most rigorous. Try not to worry about the fact that they barely know your kid because most of their courses are asynchronous or impersonal.
For the common app, you can upload your school profile, complete transcript (make sure to include yours plus any outside providers), and course descriptions.
Your student may list up to 10 activities, by type and ranked. They must state how many hours and which years they were done.
The Personal essay is from one of 8 (?) prompts. Plus supplemental essays by college.
For the UCs, you cannot upload any of these documents. You have to mail them. To each individual campus. There is no counselor portal, only student portal. The student must list every single course, one at a time. You must meet A-G requirements even though you are applying by exception.
Early action and early decision apps are due by December 1. ED is binding and you have approximately 2 weeks to make a deposit.
UC apps are due December 1 but you don’t hear until March.
Regular action apps are due Jan 1ish. Private colleges require supplemental essays. How many varies. Yale wants 8. Princeton has 5. Most are not reusable because they are very specific.
Direct admissions offers are contingent upon sending an official transcript. Even though you already uploaded one to the common app. Some want them emailed from the counselor account. Some want them mailed. Some want them through parchment. HSLDA may or may not facilitate that.
FAFSA. Fill it out. Some schools also want CSS. CSS will ask about whether you’re secretly hiding sneaky assets, and also what year and model car you have and what your car payment is.
UCs require 4/8 personal insight questions. The prompts are very limiting and specific (IMO). The UCs say they are interview questions and not to joke or be creative in writing them.
The UCs are test blind. They do not look at the SAT or ACT. They do not accept letters of recommendation. Their decisions are based on the students transcript, 4 PIQs, and 20 activities which must be ranked. Possibly also based on courses taken. Don’t pick the wrong major or it’s much harder to get it. Which major is wrong? Try to figure it out on Facebook. Also there will be 100,000+ other students all with 4.0+ GPAs applying for the same spot. But you get 4 x 250 words to differentiate yourself! Also, each application is $80.
This amounts to approximately $8 million (and more) in application fees annually. Just saying. Per UC campus.
Stanford now requires every single test score you have ever received to be sent to them, this includes all APs, SAT, Act, etc. This is the first year they reinstated their test requirement and they just announced they are requiring everything.
Princeton and other schools require a graded paper. So screenshot the 20 comments in canvas that your dual enrollment professor made and upload them. Figure out how to zip multiple pages into one pdf file to do so.
Vanderbilt and others offer optional video interviews. 90 seconds. No editing allowed.
Vanderbilt and Princeton’s’ financial aid deadlines are December 1, even though their RD apps aren’t due until January. Haven’t figured out how to apply since the portal account is usually created after applying???
CSU apps are also $80 each.
Some schools track interest, how do we know which? Better research. Interest is opening emails attending webinars etc.
Ivy schools do not give merit awards they only meet need. Some SLACs give merit but no need. UCs do not give merit except for Davis. Allegedly there’s no additional app, they just know it when they see it. Same for several other private schools. Other schools require additional applications for merit scholarships. Many do not allow stacking. Also, you should apply to the honor colleges for those who have them. After you apply to their school. But they have to invite you to apply. Are you in yet when they invite you? Answers may vary.
Speaking of the SAT, if you want a shot at a super competitive school you’d better score at least a 1550. 1400 is the 10th percentile at Stanford. Never mind that’s because they’ve been test optional for several years. This is totally normal.
If you want to take the PSAT, good luck! Schools don’t have to let you sit and many that claim they will do not respond. Oh well! You have to score in the top 5% to qualify for scholarships anyway, which are minimal. And according to some meaningless for larger merit awards. Ok??
Make sure your student publishes a paper in a journal or conducts original research. Yes in high school. Or they have an amazing senior capstone project. Whichever they do make sure it’s completely unique and has not been done before. Taking samples of the local creek, comparing temperatures of urban versus suburban neighborhoods and growing plants for NASA have all been done before and will not stand out.
Also, everyone can/does make an app. Instead your student should start a non profit with preferably international impact. Make sure they get that 501(c)(3) status!
If you are homeschooling with a charter, on paper your student will be a public school student, so they’d better have a 4.5 GPA :at least: especially if they want to have a chance at a UC. See choosing the right major comment. The bonus to a charter is you will not have to do the school profile, transcripts or course descriptions. Someone else is their paid counselor.
But they actually will probably misunderstand everything else I have said and you’ll have to make sure your kid doesn’t follow their incorrect advice.
APs best DE for highly selective colleges but remember you have to submit AP scores so make sure your student only tests if they can do well. Also they may not get credit, also AP classes cannot count for the med school pre reqs.
DE beats AP for UCs. But you have to make sure you have the right classes, and don’t take too many or the private colleges that are less competitive won’t allow your student to matriculate as a freshman.
DEs can also be used to show rigor for more selective colleges, but they are not seen as favorably. So.
Also, good luck getting the DE classes you actually want/need.
If your student is taking DE classes during the spring of senior year, but you have to submit transcripts in the fall, you’d better guess correctly which class they’ll get. You can have an error on the transcript. Also you need to upload mid year grades in January.
Don’t forget to meet any of the A-G requirements:
The 15 courses are:
a. History
2 years
b. English
4 years
c. Mathematics
3 years (4 years recommended)
d. Science
2 years (3 years recommended)
e. Language other than English
*or equivalent to the 2nd level of high school instruction
2 years* (3 years recommended)
f. Visual and performing arts
1 year
g. College-preparatory elective
(chosen from the subjects listed above or another course approved by the university)
1 year
If your student is an athlete, you’d better make sure they meet NCAA academic eligibility. Also, their transcript needs different information. There’s a guide which is updated annually. Join the homeschool NCAA group.
If you want your athlete to be recruited, don’t wait around for a coach or scout to show up. You have to create social media accounts and have professional quality film of them doing everything. GameChanger is not good enough. Your student has to contact 40+ colleges of all levels and be the main contact person, make sure they don’t use slang or emojis and are always an upstanding citizen. Being invited to a camp doesn’t mean anything. Join Educating Parents of HS Athletes On The College Recruiting Process this is the best group. She has a book and shares everything.
If your student is interested in a service academy (Westpoint etc.) they need to have every single thing already listed PLUS be on a TEAM sport all 4 years of high school. 20-30% of their points. They also need to be an Eagle Scout. They also need to be an amazing athlete and be able to pass the physical test including a 5:20 mile which is also the Boston marathon qualifying time.
Make sure they have all of their activities all 4 years of high school.
Most cadet programs in California won’t let them join until 16. Rural ones will let them join at 14. USNCC sea cadets have a 10+ program.
You will also need to get a recommendation from your senator and congressman. Join the parents of service academy hopefuls group. They know everything.
If you’re in a charter, they tell you how many dual enrollment classes you can take and when. After your student completes the form, you sign, then the counselor. Then you can register usually the week before classes start and most classes are full. If the classes on your form are full you can fill out a new form and rinse and repeat.
Community colleges will automatically consider your homeschooler a non resident and will charge out of state tuition. It takes at least 2 weeks to get this fixed and requires sending multiple forms of federal ID and other documents. It doesn’t matter that your PSA and transcript and home address are in California, this is automatic and at ALL of them.
Make sure your students have plenty of opportunities to be in leadership roles. If you can’t find any, make them. If you’re lucky some other parents will help. Figure everything out on your own but also make it so the kids can lead and do things. And do it for all 4 years of high school.
Have a coherent narrative for your application. Colleges don’t want well rounded they want “pointy,” make sure all 4 years fit the narrative arc. There is no one set of activities to follow but there are definitely the right activities. Figure those out. Figure out what arc your kid wants before they even know if they want to go to college and for what. All essays and activities and letters of recommendation should support this narrative.
Don’t write your personal essay on the wrong topic. Wrong topics include a sports injury and a mission trip. Everyone writes about that.
You can discuss the limitations of homeschooling but also don’t complain about not having opportunities because you chose to do this. Why did your family choose? Colleges don’t provide a separate space to answer this but they expect this to be answered. And how.
Volunteering, make it happen as much as possible. But your volunteering should be unique and not what any body else is doing. Everyone volunteers at the hospital. See if you can shadow a doctor like an actual medical student! Never mind nobody allows this.
The food bank requires volunteers to be 16 to volunteer alone. The family food bank sort requires all participants to be at least 8 years old.
Most places require volunteers to be at least 18. Few respond to email, show up and hope you can find the right person to talk to?
Also make sure you do this for all 4 years so it doesn’t look like a last minute only for the apps thing.
Why do all of this? Because freshman year scholarships are the most generous and almost non existent for transfers. Buyer schools give the most money. Learn what a buyer school is and go there.
UCs are just as competitive as the Ivy leagues and Ivy adjacent so don’t expect to get in. Everyone will have a 4.3.
Also, if your child wants to go to medical school, better start showing that now. With the most competitive stem courses and all the “right” extracurriculars, also they’d better earn a 4.0 at a competitive college or they have no chance, they also need to continue all of the right activities.
Calculus– try your hardest to get your kid through it. Even if they are not a STEM major. More impressive, get them through the entire AP Calculus series. Never mind if they don’t actually need calculus for their career path or that only 15% of high school students take it. The other 85% are clearly losers that will never amount to anything and definitely will not be getting into Cal of UCLA. Unless they have mostly Bs and pick the right major.
There are no exceptions.
Even if it’s your other children who don’t make it to Calc.
Harvard saying they don’t care about calculus is them being lying liars and trying to make kids who go to bad high schools not feel bad for not having it as an option.
Mr. D math offers calculus I and so does BYU independent for $1000 or you can take it as DE in one quarter or semester. Business psyc and STEM majors require calc I-II during college.
AP test prep is not the same thing as an AP class, don’t expect your kid to actually be prepared for the test after taking the class. That’s also your job.
Make sure every supplemental essay about “why here” is the result of hundreds of hours of research and is super specific and even mentions professors, classes, and programs. Make sure it is not contrived. Every school needs this.
You can watch virtual information sessions during junior and senior year. Timing depends on time zone. Make sure it doesn’t impact your grades or ECs.
1 or 2 Bs are ok to show your grades aren’t fake. No homeschooler can truly have straight As, even if earned, because obviously their parents are just giving them full credit for doing nothing comparable to what public school students are doing.
There are over 34,000 high schools in the U.S. all with a valedictorian. Harvard admits ~1500 kids(?) so 32,500 valedictorians can’t even get into Harvard. Maybe even 34,000. And they’re definitely not getting into Cal or UCLA.
If you know you definitely want to major in computer science, apply undecided instead and then switch after you get in. This is a totally foolproof plan. At UCs it requires departmental approval to switch to impacted majors and you can’t register for the classes you need unless you’re already in them program.
You’re definitely not getting into SJSU’s CS program as it’s the most impacted in the state.
Also, you’re not even getting into the UCs because you are unremarkable in every way except for the ways that would clearly be demonstrated by a full length personal essay or letters of recommendation, for example.
Stanford and Harvard want homeschoolers because they are civically engaged, can socialize with all different segments of society, are intellectually curious and driven to achieve their goals. Their attrition rate is significantly lower than conventionally schooled kids.
Except Elizabeth Bartholet of Harvard says 90% of homeschoolers are definitely evil Christians who only homeschool because they don’t trust the government (who does an amazing job), and they are definitely bad at math, and do not care about their children. She cites to magazine articles as her only citations to prove this fact.
Make sure your kids know how to do both MLA and Chicago citations before they go to college, especially if they want to major in art history. Art History professors are deeply offended by any improperly cited source, even if all of the necessary information is included. They will dock points aggressively for citation errors.
Don’t have kids who turn 18 in December because everything will combine into a snowball of existential crisis relating to adulthood. Or November or October or September or August or January.
Ivy day is also in March.
Make sure that you don’t let any other commitments go and you maintain the exact same level of effort and commitment, no exceptions. Nothing is less important than this process. Also don’t let your kids or anyone else down ever for any reason. No exceptions.
Just because colleges send your kid emails or mailers actually is meaningless. They send these things to everyone so they get more applications.
ED gives your student a better chance at certain schools but is binding.
Also, just because you have 2 kids applying to college doesn’t mean you’ll have economies of scale, especially if they have almost no classes in common.
Also: figure all of this out completely on your own. There is no one place that will have all of this info. And many if not most people in homeschool groups will be wrong. And if you point it out you will be told you are definitely wrong. They know best. Their kid transferred to a UC. The process is not any different.
One more thing I forgot: labs.
Do them. Wet labs. And keep them.
ASU and UCSD will require copies of :all: lab reports. No, I’m not joking.
Some public schools don’t even do labs other than on the computer, but you’d better make sure your homeschooler does actual labs.
A good online option for non STEM students is Biological Anthropology. It will take approximately 2 years to get into the class plus lab because everyone else wants to take this too. It’s a good class though.
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