A homeschooler's many questions about BU

Colleges & Universities Boston University
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<p>Hello!
I just finished my junior year and only started looking at colleges now. Probably a bad decision on my part, but I never thought of it before, and my mom, who did not go to school/college here, said just wait until we get there. But then I find out going to college is a long, hard, process. So now I am very worried.</p>

<p>I would like to go to BU. But the thing is, I hear junior year is the most important, and if that’s true, I may have already blown it. I’ve been homeschooled my whole high school life, so I never had a counselor to tell me to start preparing for college…</p>

<p>I have virtually no interesting extracurriculars (unless woodshop and piano lessons count…), no APs or Honors, and have taken no SAT IIs (yet). I’ve only taken the SAT and got a 1610 (500 CR, 540 M, 570 W), which I am not proud of. I take the SAT again in November, so I hope to improve my score. I also want to take the ACT somewhere soon, so a recommended BU-appropriate ACT score goal would be appreciated. As well as score goals for SAT IIs. I never planned to take them until I saw BU required them, so I am virtually unprepared… I’ll try for the subjects I like the most/am the best at/have the most motivation for, which would be Japanese with Listening and World History, but I’m still not the most genius at those. I guess that taking them and doing badly is better than not taking them and not qualifying?</p>

<p>My GPA is somewhere in the 3.7+ range, as my mom requires I get A’s and B’s. But I do not test well, not at all. On the practice SAT test online, I got a 1800ish and didn’t worry so much. Then I took the actual thing and got a 1600, and am now unhappy with myself. Sigh.</p>

<p>I would really love to go to BU. I want to take the East Asian Cultures major from the College of Arts and Sciences, as I find the courses look very interesting and much more extensive than other colleges I’ve looked at. This being, other colleges I actually have a chance at, I hear Ivy Leagues and such have good language/culture courses, but I really don’t think I have a chance of getting into those. </p>

<p>Also, on the collegeboard.org website, the BU admissions page states that homeschoolers should call the admissions office. Is admission different for homeschoolers than it is normal students?</p>

<p>In short, I’m a plain, average, homeschooled Asian female who has no interesting extracurriculars and no APs/Honors. Should I just start looking for another school or are there things I can do to put me into that 50% that are accepted?</p>

<p>Thanks for your time. (:</p>

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<p>As a homeschooler, your tests scores are going to be much more significant then your gpa. Colleges will be looking for outside validation of your coursework. I suggest you take as many SAT IIs as you can, study for and retake the SAT and study for and take the ACT. My daughter was homeschooled prior to high school and also does not test well, a combination of inexperience with standardized tests and a solid dose of test anxiety. She did much better with the ACT. </p>

<p>As far as score ranges and goals, I suggest you look at the Common Data Set or BU and any other schools you are interested in, just Google school name and Common Data Set. And for ECs, anything that you do that is not directly related to your schoolwork is an EC. Do yo have a hobby? What do you do in your spare time? Do you ave any volunteer work? Homes hookers don’t have the same access to some ECs that kids in school do, so you will have to think outside of the box for defining ECs. There is an excellent thread on this forum about less typical ECs. You can probably find it by searching the forums. </p>

<p>Good luck to. You!</p>

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<p>Thank you for your response!
So I’ll need to work very hard on those tests, got it. I guess I’ll have to study hard this time. And I guess I can stretch as far as taking Math I as well, just more studying. Looking at BU’s Common Data Set, I guess I should aim for a 1800+ on SAT, and a 26+ for ACT. My situation is about the same as your daughters… I panic, very badly. The first time I took the PSAT, I was shaking. But I hope to follow the same pattern and do well on the ACT.</p>

<p>As for ECs, I do… various things, but none are very social, which is probably expected. ^^; I draw, make/edit videos, edit photos and images, sing, play the piano, write. I’m sort of… well-rounded I guess you could say, as I am somewhat talented in most of those things, but nowhere near genius. As for volunteer work, I have volunteering at a private Christian school for about a year and a half. I brought my schoolwork there and did it, while tutoring grades 6-8 in Math and English if needed, as well as managing various music and art projects. I will look for that thread on ECs, thank you for the advice.</p>

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<p>Hey littleblossom! I’m applying this fall as well, so, good luck to both of us!</p>

<p>One thing you should be aware of is that this past year, the class of 2015 blew the regular stats out of the water. The average SAT score is between 1890-2010 (or so) now and the average GPA is around a 3.7 (here’s looking at you, kid). I wouldn’t be disappointed in the scores though, some of my most brilliant friends didn’t do so well. The test is basically evaluating your time management and logic skills, but a lot of the test should be crossed out immediately due to coursework and classes. I still think if you study you can improve greatly. I broke out a few practice tests and my score went up an incredible amount (almost 300 points). It’s about knowing the format and the little tips (ex: reword the questions before you try to answer them). I’ve taken the ACT now and I can tell you from my experience it is a much easier test, however it goes a lot faster! So really what you need to focus on is the tests and the timing, the rest I’m sure you have in you.</p>

<p>Homeschool seems to put kids at a disadvantage for extracurriculars but what you can do is send a supplement of you singing, playing piano, submit some art, something to show them your outside interests. </p>

<p>College apps seem to be a gamble, and I personally would not let CC stats discourage you. BU accepts (depending on the source) between 45-60% of their applicants. From my school, 60% of applicants get accepted, anyway. So it’s not EXTREMELY exclusive. Just bust out a great personal essay and a great “Why BU?” essay (super important!!!)</p>

<p>Good luck! <3</p>

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<p>Ah, okay. I didn’t study the hardest the first time, so now if I really put my head into it, I hope I can do better. I did like 2 practice tests total lol, both online. I realized only during while taking it that my online essay was obviously better because I can type faster than I can write oops.</p>

<p>I’ll see what I can pull together as far as sending them samples of things I like to do, it sounds interesting. Your school must be filled with a lot of smart people. :'D</p>

<p>Thank you for your input and good luck to you too! (:</p>

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<p>i never took an SAT II and I got into BU.</p>

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<p>As far as I am aware two SAT IIs are required for almost every school in BU, but an ACT can potentially replace that score.</p>