International (home schooled) student - Chance me

Chance Me / Match Me
1

<p>As I’ve mentioned in the title of this thread, I’m an international (not from the U.S.) home schooled student, looking to apply to liberal arts colleges in America. I’m very skeptic about applying because I feel that admission to colleges in general are difficult for home schooled students like me seeing as our case, compared to regular schooled students, is quite unusual. (Side-note: I’ve only been home schooled for my junior and senior year, so I don’t feel completely alienated.)</p>

<p>I’ve spent numerous hours researching about admissions to Ivy Leagues and I found many success stories for home schooled students. I’m very hopeful (not expecting though) that I could make it too. </p>

<p>With that being said, I would like different perspectives on whether my track record is good enough for me to be admitted to colleges like NYU, Colgate University, Boston University and let’s also throw in my reach schools - Harvard, Yale, Princeton, UPenn and Cornell. Please do let me know what you think!</p>

<p>GPA: 4.00. (Unweighted)</p>

<p>My extra curricular and personal activities include:</p>

<p>Model United Nations</p>

<p>IS Locals Conference - Delegate of Ecuador
Model United Nations Assembly - Delegate of China (Member of the P5)
Model United Nations Assembly - Delegate of UK (Member of the P5)
Veritas Model United Nations - Delegate of Iran
Veritas Model United Nations - Chair/Rapporteur of Online Simulations
PH Int’l Model United Nations - Undersecretary General of Public Affairs</p>

<p>Forensics </p>

<p>Participant at the CMLI Balboa Cup 2011
Participant at the Interscholastic Debate Association Lite Tournament
Participant at Asian Schools Debate Championship
Participant at Fast Forward 2012
Assistant Organizer at the CMLI Balboa Cup 2012
Public Speaker at IDeA 2
Swing Team Debater at the College of St. Benilde Intervarsity
Participant of Fast Forward 2013
Participant at the Philippine Schools Debate Championship</p>

<p>Congressional Debate/Conferences</p>

<p>Philippine Model Congress at the Philippine Senate - Selected as the Delegate of Surigao Del Norte out of 1,000+ applicants
Philippine Model Congress at the Philippine Senate - Selected as the Delegate of Metro Manila out 1,000+ applicants
Invited to the Jr NYLC at Washington, DC</p>

<p>Journalism </p>

<p>News Writer for The Blue Flame
Managing Editor for the Asian Schools Debate Championship Magazine</p>

<p>Theatre, Communication Arts and Multimedia Arts</p>

<p>“Kikay” (Lead Role) at New Yorker in Tondo Play
Speech Choir Director of 1898 Freedom
“Lady Sei” (Lead Role) at Gallery Walk
Runway Model at the World Record Breaking Fashion Show - Move to the vibe of the new Glorietta
Finalist at the Junior (Radio) Jock Search
Inducted as a member of Project Redux Manila (Union of Philippine Disc Jockeys)
Hired as a Student Radio DJ at a local FM radio station </p>

<p>Swimming</p>

<p>Freshman year Intramurals Swim Team Member
2nd Place Overall in Intramurals</p>

<p>Sophomore year Intramurals Team Captain
(10) Overall Intramurals Champion</p>

<p>For charity work/community service, I’ve volunteered in 3 different relief operations for the survivors of Typhoon Haiyan. I’m working on helping out in more charities as I can.</p>

<p>I also didn’t include that I’m currently applying for an internship at Rappler, a renown social news network here in my country. Of course, I can’t count my eggs before they’ve even hatched, hehe.</p>

<p>Anyway, I’m sorry for the very long post! Thank you and again, please do let me know.</p>

2

<p>We cannot chance you because we don’t have elements that are CRUCIAL for homeschooled students:

  • SAT/ACT score
  • AP or A Level scores
  • SAT 2 scores</p>

<p>As an homeschooled student, you MUST take those before you can apply anywhere. (In addition, you"ll have to take the TOEFL if English isn’t your native language).</p>

<p>Finally, you can certainly apply to Ivy League universities, but remember that as an international your odds are roughly 1:20.</p>

<p>Another essential element that’s missing but which would make chances meaningless for an international student: finances.
will you need financial aid? Are you full pay? How much can your parents pay?</p>

3

<p>Yep. Test scores, test scores, test scores. You’re a cipher without some verifiable standardized data.</p>

4

<p>NYU - Out Of Reach
Colgate University - Out Of Reach
Boston University - Out Of Reach
Harvard - Out Of Reach
Yale - Out Of Reach
Princeton - Out Of Reach
UPenn - Out Of Reach
Cornell - Out Of Reach</p>

<p>W/o SAT/ACT score ofc.</p>

5

<p>Spirral and marvin100 - Sorry for the confusion. I didn’t post an SAT score yet because I’m taking it on May 3. That’s the soonest testing date for international students. </p>

<p>MYOS1630 - English is my native language, and I apologize for not including my SAT score. I haven’t taken the test yet but I’m set to take it on May. As for A Levels, it’s not part of my curriculum. I believe that’s for British education? And AP classes, I don’t take them either because like I said, I’m home schooled and it is barely offered in my country. And lastly, aren’t colleges need blind?</p>

6

<p>No,there are very few need blind colleges for international like Amherst, MIT, etc. Admission to these are as I hope u know extremely hard.</p>

7

<p>Colleges aren’t need blind for internationals.
The more money you need, the more qualified you need to be in relation to all other qualified applicants applying for aid.
Odds for international applicants are 1:20 so you must have back up plans.
What curriculum are you following? Even if you are homeschooled, you MUST present external validations. If your country does not offer a national curriculum with national exams, you will need to take and score high on as many SAT2’s as you can, and have your classes evaluated.</p>

8

<p>shadowgunkiller - Thanks for your reply. I am very much aware of how immensely difficult the admissions process could be. This is why I posted this thread to begin with. I’m asking for the opinion of others so I can be far more aware of what I can do to get in. :)</p>

<p>MYOS1634 - I have friends (from my country) that are now in Boston University and NYU respectively. They applied for financial aid and now, they seem to be doing well there. I also have friends (from my country again) who are in Harvard and Yale and are receiving financial aid there. I simply hope to follow in their footsteps in terms of application. :slight_smile: Also, the home schooling program I’m doing is online based. It’s called James Madison High School. [College</a> Prep High School - Online Diploma - JMHS](<a href=“http://www.jmhs.com/academics/high-school-diploma/college-prep-track]College”>College Prep High School Diploma - James Madison High School) I plan on taking SAT 2s, of course and if the US colleges plan doesn’t work out for me, I plan on just staying here, then.</p>

9

<p>Prosecutor, you have an amazing profile! You sound interesting and different – these will be crucial to admissions officials. </p>

<p>As long as you have great SAT scores, I think you stand a chance at top US schools. And if you need to ask for financial aid, well you will. It’s not like it’s a choice. Yes, that will be taken into consideration, but then what can you do? </p>

<p>So here’s my advice: do well in the SAT’s, be genuine in your essays, and have a good list of colleges to apply to. You’re right to apply to the Ivies, you deserve to be in one as much as anyone else. But they are reaches for practically everyone. So don’t forget to include a back-up plan (either a safety school or two in the US or something at home).</p>

<p>And best of luck!</p>

10

<p>So, you’re in the college prep program - right? Because top schools will want to see Honors and AP classes. Are you a junior? Can you self study for AP’s? The exams are in May so you probably can’t take more than 2 or 3, max.
What subjects are your strongest subjects? Can you register and take AP tests in your country (you may have to request special accomodations and you will need to travel.)
Your extracurriculars are amazing but right now we really can’t chance you. Most selective American universities will not be impressed by a college prep curriculum since they expect all honors classes (or as many honors classes as possible.) Obviously since your school doesn’t offer Honors it’s not supposed to “hurt” you but I can’t think that compared to a student with Honors classes you won’t be penalized… Typically the assumption is Honors classes and if you school has few AP classes and you took them all it’s equal to taking 6-8 AP classes, but I don’t think “college prep/no honors” is seen as “equal” to Honors classes - rigor just isn’t there.
Did your friends follow the same curriculum? Are they involved in local schools? Are they taking Ap’s?
So the SAT2 scores are going to be even more important and your parents or homeschool tutor will need to provide documentation re: readings, depth of curriculum, etc.</p>

11

<p>perseverance - I really appreciate the response! I totally agree with you. There’s nothing I can do about the fact that I need financial aid. It’s not an uncommon case, so I guess I’ll just leave it at that. I’ll definitely work on writing a genuine essay and I’ll do my best in SATs. Also, I have back up colleges other than the Ivy Leagues of course, but I choose to truly strive so that I can get accepted to the school of my dreams. If that doesn’t work out, I have fallbacks that I know I’ll still be happy with. But again, thank you for your kind words and advice! :)</p>

<p>MYOS1634 - I looked into self-studying for AP. It certainly seems challenging but I’m willing to go as far as I can to attain higher education. I’ll take your advice and try to self study for 2-3 AP courses (still researching about what I can do about it) and eventually take the tests on May. My friends who got accepted to the schools I’ve mentioned in the previous post attended schools with IB, so it’s a little different for me since I still have to take AP, etc. But that’s alright because nothing worth having comes easy. Anyway, thank you for your help! I don’t know what I’d do without your advice. :)</p>

12

<p>Try to see which AP’s you can self study for and take in your country.
Look at the syllabi here and choose the 2-3 subjects that are closest to what you studied already.
<a href=“Supporting Students from Day One to Exam Day – AP Central | College Board”>Supporting Students from Day One to Exam Day – AP Central | College Board;
IB is widely respected so it’s a different curriculum from yours.
Were you homeschooled for a specific reason (ie, your parents’ faith, a non accomodated disability, an illness, living far from a secondary school)? If so, the person acting as your counselor should mention it.
If you want to go to a top college, you must realize that with the US being so big, there are 3,700 colleges. So just the top 5% colleges would be slightly under 200.
You could probably take the top 50 national universities, the top 85 LACs, the top 5-8 regional universities and top 2-3 regional colleges from each region and still be within the top 5%.</p>

<p>If you want really elite, type “USNWR National Liberal Arts Colleges” and “USNWR National Universities”. Look at the schools ranked 1-25 on each list. You’ll have America’s elite universities. Then, fill out the “join the mailing list” questionnaire, explore the school’s characteristics, read their boards here on CC, see which ones you like, ask questions.</p>

<p>Draw a list of about 25 colleges that offer financial aid to internationals, either merit or need-based.
Read the sticky threads about automatic and competitive scholarships in the “financial aid” forum. Once you have your SAT results, see how your score compares to the stats listed there. If you can retake in June or October, retake.
See if you can enroll in AP classes online through a virtual high school (see if your credits from JMHS transfer to another virtual high school - an online high school with “honors” sections would be better for you.)</p>