susgeek

I home educated my eldest, who is now 23, through the 9th grade.

For her sophomore and junior year she attended public school half time, and as a senior full time. So her high school transcript reflected both home education and public education equally.

On her Colgate admissions letter, the officer had wrote in the margin that they were impressed with how well she moved from home education to public education through high school.

She was on the Deans list for most of her semesters at Colgate, so we must have done something right

fauve

Did she apply to an Ivies?

danas

The OP is long gone from this thread. I hope things worked out well re: college admissions, and I'm guessing they worked out fine.
I'm posting in response to the original topic. My first two homeschoolers (1) attended and graduated from Dartmouth, and (2) currently attends Princeton, respectively.
For them the "formula" was simple. Knock standardized tests out of the ballpark, and do interesting things made possible because you don't have to go to school. That is it.
In my kids case, they didn't take any courses at home, online or a physical schools, or have any grades, but this is not necessary. It may help not to do such things, in that doing such stuff makes you look like everybody else. But I can't say that doing the conventional is a deal breaker, either. I just will not risk it with my third kid.

theriddles

Danas... in the case of your two children, what was the "something special" that they were able to do because they were homeschooled that you feel helped them get into top schools

danas

They both are extremely well read. This could not have happened given a typical school schedule. On the one hand, a school English class will assign the 4th or 5th best work of an acclaimed author simply because it is less than 400 pages long. At home, you roll out of bed, get a glass of orange juice, and go back to bed with a good read. I doubt that more than a dozen or two American teenagers have read John Dos Passos "USA Trilogy" or James T. Farrell's "Studs Lonigan Trilogy", among the best American fiction of the 20th Century. And "Studs Lonigan" is set within a mile or two from where we happen to live- and never assigned by local schools. My daughter read all of Dickens as page turners, which of course they were written to be. If none of these books were pleasurable, they would not have been read. If admissions officers questioned their reading lists, they had 800 SAT Reading scores and 800 and 790 Literature scores to back it up.
My son did a lot of writing, some fast, some slow. I think this would have been confined to summers if he had a school schedule. Provided school hadn't poisoned the idea of reading and writing for pleasure. My daughter worked 3 days a week in the Mammal Department of the local natural history museum for a year and a half. The first day she took apart a Siberian Tiger, to be followed by bats, wombats, bobcats, a giraffe and many, many others. The rest of the time she spent going through the collections re-tagging specimens according to a new scientific classification system. She also devoted 6 days a week to dancing ballet, and attended the School of American Ballet in New York, sharing the same dorm building at Lincoln Center with Julliard students. The selection process for SAB is about as rigorous as Julliard. There is physical ability here that has nothing to do with home schooling. But either her dancing or education, or both, would have suffered if she attempted a standard school schedule at the same time.
Another home schooler from my neighborhood is starting Princeton this fall. In this case, she is a recruited fencer. Again, I'm sure physical ability played a role. But I know she traveled around the country for tournaments, and again I'm guessing her academics and/or her training would have suffered were her family not home schoolers.
Most colleges are not elite, and for these, the primary question for admissions people is whether the student can do the work or not. Online AP courses and tests and community college courses fill the bill magnificently.
Now picture Suzy Homeschooler with three very nice AP test results. I'm picturing an elite college admissions officer thinking "hmmm....many of our applicants have 6 or 7 APs". I just think there is a danger in placing yourself in competition with the herd in the attempting to establish your school bona fides. And losing in the meanwhile. To me, stepping back from the AP arms race is one of the attractions of home schooling- along with avoiding getting up early, 30 pound backpacks and homework.
Of course there are many ways of living a happy home school life and doing fine in college admissions. These are just my opinions.

bookreader

I enjoyed reading your answer Danas. And l loved "stepping back from the AP arms race..."
I did something similar with my kids in high school (I've graduated 2, have one in hs and one who will soon be in hs). I did not want their high school experience to be full of standardized testing. That would take the joy out of anyone! And I focused on letting them persue their passions - something that would be very hard to do while attending a traditional school. As a result, they loved being homeschooled.

Senior's Dad

My daughter was a successful IE speaker in NCFCA, but I think the determining factor in her admissions to a top flight public liberal arts college (and to the honors program at a USNWR top-50 national research university, which she rejected of which her mother is an alumnus) was her perfect and near perfect SAT scores.

If you make in the 700-800 range on individual tests on the SAT, homeschoolers shouldn't have trouble getting in schools anywhere. That is the case even if the student is an avowed evangelical Christian who listens to Rush Limbaugh (Glenn Beck may be a different story!).

There are several services available to homeschool families that will assist students' in attaining excellent SAT scores. Oxford Tutorial Services with Dr. Normand Lund is one of them.

hoveringmom

This site has been REALLY helpful. I've just decided to homeschool my fourth child, after what I call the tyranny of grades--the very low level drudge do-exactly-as-I-say school of thought - has sort of beaten down my other children. I work full time and am a single mom, so I don't have the luxury of staying home, which has been an impediment. But my 19 year old is home this year and my son is almost 15, so we'll try it. You've given me a lot of confidence.

I tutor SATs - several quite prestigious clients - and I can tell you the formula is pretty simple:

1. Read a lot. I'm not talking about dutiful reading for high school. I'm talking immersing yourself in books for the joy of it. Read challenging books that stretch you, just above your level but not too far. Books from the 1700 & 1800s are the best for vocab, syntax and complex ideas, but of course you don't have to confine yourself to that. You should be reading actively for at least a year before the SAT, if not much more.
2. Practice the SATs. The math is not nearly as difficult as the ENglish, comparitively (I speak as an English geek). Target your weaknesses and keep going. You may need some help with some English or Math core concepts, but you can usually tutor yourself. There are some fine math books out there for Algebra, Geometry and Trig. Practice a lot. Keep practicing 6 months to a year.
3. The test tests analytical intelligence above all. It treats reading like algebra. It is very logical and literal and there is no room for nuance. It's designed to be like that. Once you see the reading is like algebra, you'll 'get it' much more.
4. Vocab cards are a complete waste of time for most people. INstead, figure out how to analyze the questions. You can usually logically deduce a word even when you don't know many of the words.

I wish I could sit down and help all of you; my friend once taught me how to make home made bread by just SHOWING me how once--I didn't get it until I was actually with her. But trust me, it's not above your reach to get high scores if you're reasonably intelligent (if you're not, you can boost your scores too). You don't need a very expensive tutor or class.

But the wealthy people I client have children who are NOT that smart, trust me, and yet they end up earning in the 700s on both (and usually 600s if they are classified with a learning disability such as Aspergers). Good luck. But prepare long in advance (at least a year), like my clients do.

'rentof2

My kids were homeschooled and studied at home for the SATs with just prep books. But like you said, hoveringmom, they "prepared" for those test over a long period of time, and they had been reading high level literature for years... motivated by nothing by pure pleasure. They are both happily in college now. I miss them.

hoveringmom

I forgot to ask you all another question!
My son wants to supplement his homeschooling education with college math; he's a math geek. He doesn't need credits, necessarily, but just wants to learn and probably get a grade as a way of measuring his performance. Say he starts at Calc. How do you work this? Has anyone done this?
We live very close to Philadelphia, so are fortunate in having many fine colleges to choose from. Here are my questions specifically:
1. Is there an inexpensive way to do this? We're not well off. It usually costs a great deal per credit around here in four year colleges, in the $1000 range. We certainly don't have $2-3000 to throw at a class. Are there reputable but cheaper options? Or are there ways of perhaps sitting in on a class and then getting some documentation that you did the whole course? But I'm sure the professor doesn't want to do extra work for a non-paying student. Help!
2. Do you have to be a certain age to do this, and are there any other pre-reqs?
3. If any of you or your kids took a college course to supplement their homeschool education, what is your story? How did you go about it?
4. Has anyone had successful online experiences?

Thanks!

danas

A home school family in our neighborhood here in Chicago has arranged "classes" at their home for home schoolers taught by University of Chicago PhD students in a variety of areas. The cost is about $15 an hour one-on-one, and less per student for larger groups of maybe 3 to 5. Usually once, maybe twice, a week. This is one model. Most of the home schoolers here on the South Side of Chicago are sensitive to cost. Much depends on the availability of smart PhD students in your area, and how easy it is to access them. But in my experience, PhD students are always interested in picking up some money on a flexible schedule. And tutoring a home school student in higher math is good, clean work.

hoveringmom

Thanks for the advice but I should clarify--I myself have an advanced degree and am a certified teacher, both of high school & college; I"m certified to teach both English and Math (as well as Special Ed). My ex is a college professor in Biology. So we wouldn't need to hire atutor. What I was wanting was an objective measurement for my child--if he goes to college classes and advances in math, that would be a good way for him to show he knows the math, above SAT math (which is a pretty low level).

Does anyone have any experience in enrolling their child in college classes to supplement their learning? THanks again

2g1bmom

There are many online classes that could serve your son's needs, Stanford EPGY is one, CTY online another. Beyond AP Calc, Multivariable Calc & Linear Alg are offered. Not sure about how pricey but grades are given.

'rentof2

My son took Calculus at the state u. in our town. He took 10 classes there over the last 2 years that he was home (last 2 years of homeschool/high school). They have a reduced rate for something they call the Early Entry program. It's specifically for high school students in their junior and senior years (including homeschoolers). They are in the same classes at the univ. with the regularly enrolled students, get grades, credits, it's on the college's official transcript. The cost was about $200 to $250 per class per quarter. (And books, of course.) You might check with your local colleges and ask if they have such a program.

danas

I understand what you are looking for, hoveringmom.
But I have a philosophical difference. Does your son want to learn higher level math, including an area of math that interests him in some individual way, or to demonstrate that he has learned higher level math?
In my experience, the second reason is not necessary. I've had two kids go through the college application process happily with no courses of any kind at all, and with no academic recommendations either, except in the broadest sense. From a practical admissions point of view, getting into the bowels of some arcane area of math with an elite college graduate student is much more interesting than taking some college course. And likely to be way more personally fulfilling.
But I'm a minority even on home schooling threads, as I have learned. I think the belief in school has become a secular religion, and I'm an atheist on that one.
I also think that teaching and teaching credentials are not just unimportant to learning, but counterproductive to it. I would never have agreed to become a home school parent (at my kids insistence) if agreeing to teach were part of the bargain.