Applying home schooled while attending high school?

Applying to College
1

<p>Hello, </p>

<p>I am a 16 year old student currently in my junior year of high school. I have a 3.8 GPA (unweighted), however I have taken 10 AP classes, including Calc AB-BC, Physics BC, etc. I have also volunteered for approximately 100 hours of service, most notably including 2-weeks travel to Nicaragua to build infrastructure for the less-privileged (8 hours of work a day). My best SAT I is a 2230, with math (800) and CR(600).
My reason for posting is because I am interested in bypassing the last year of my high school education, with the intention of applying early to a less-prestigious university, effectively allowing me to jumpstart work towards a degree. </p>

<p>My reasoning here is somewhat more complex than some may assume. </p>

<p>Throughout my middle-high school education I was consistently bored. To assuage that boredom I placed myself on a rigorous course of self-study, racking up over $2000 in textbook fees, etc, teaching myself trig and basic calc. in the 7th grade, moving to multivar. calc in the 8th grade, and so on… </p>

<p>Currently, I have scheduled a 1-year equivalent to 4 semesters of grad school at MIT (8 classes per semester, obv. a bit more than a reg. semester), with a variety of courses ranging from String Theory (McGreevey) to Circuits and Electronics, Bioinformatics and Proteomics, etc. </p>

<p>By early December 2012, I should have completed this program. What I’m interested in doing is applying to a university (GA Tech, Case-Western are two that I like) as a home schooled student, for entrance in the spring semester of 2013. </p>

<p>My reasoning here is that listing my independent courseload as opposed to my regular courseload gives a university a much better understanding of my capabilities and of myself. Applying homeschooled also draws much more attention to my courseload, i.e. the significance and rigor of it, than simply basing an essay around it or mentioning it in an interview. </p>

<p>So, what I want to know is: </p>

<p>Is this something I could legally do, without repercussions? Case-Western allows home schooled students to just list coursework if a transcript is not available, and I’m guessing they heavily rely on standardized testing to determine admission in situations such as this. </p>

<p>Technically, I was home schooled- I just also attended a high school because my parents did not want to consider the home school option as a legitimate alternative. So, it’s not really a misrepresentation, but would it be perceived as one? Obviously I’m not intending to alert any people at my school of this. </p>

<p>In terms of a college education, I’m looking for a piece of paper. I’ve already learned most of this stuff, and my parents are interested in me following a normal progression of development. I’d greatly appreciate any input, I apologize for the length. Thanks!</p>

2

<p>If you will be officially enrolled in an accredited high school during the time of your application, you cannot apply as home schooled. If your parents decide to pull you out of school and home school you starting this year, than I believe you can apply for Spring 2013 admission, assuming you have completed all the required criteria for the school. Keep in mind, you still have to provide high school transcripts for the years you did attend.</p>

<p>The truth is, it wouldn’t really make much of a difference. There’s no reason to complicate things by applying as a home schooled applicant just to start 4-5 months earlier. Listing your “independent courseload” may not be as impressive as you think. If you apply as a regular applicant you can still list the courses you took at MIT and any other significant accomplishments. </p>

<p>Also, at a school like Case-Western, the 600 CR may hurt you, so it wouldn’t be a bad idea to re-try that.</p>

3

<p>You don’t have to be homeschooled to apply for early entry. Almost every college/university in the country admits students who will enroll without graduating from high school. Some early entry programs routinely admit students after 8th or 9th grade. </p>

<p>Check the websites of the places you are interested in, and find out if there are specific requirements for early entry. There also may be a special admissions officer in charge of this category of applications.</p>