I’m getting ready to apply to colleges, but I have kind of an atypical application (will explain in a minute) and I’m having trouble figuring out how selective a school I should be looking at. I can look at a school and see how well I think I would fit in there, but when I look at their selection process/selectivity I can’t figure out how I stack up. So here we go:
New SAT 1480
780 CRW
700 M
(First attempt, without too much preparation, probably can improve)
Subject tests- 730Literature, planning to take a few more, will probably score similarly or slightly higher on them.
Homeschooled for all of high school. I don’t know if this will hurt my chances- we do a pretty flexible, experience-based kind of homeschooling, so while I work hard and take lots of heavy classes, we haven’t put much focus on developing a resume of typical “academic honors” like math club awards and national merit scholar- I actually didn’t even know I should have taken the NMSQT until it was too late. My parents are kind of hippies, and just don’t put a lot of value on those things.
Most of my classes have been done online through various providers- all accredited, and several AP-certified. I have pretty much taken the standard high school course load, definitely doing the more rigorous options. I am a straight-A student, although I know to some that doesn’t mean as much coming from a homeschooler.
As far as ECs go, I play non-competitive club volleyball, have some significant volunteer hours, mostly through church, a program that works on school-readiness for underprivileged families, and a local community garden. I have done Destination Imagination all the way through school. Last summer I did a pretty rigorous online STEM college summer program.
The thing that takes most of my time, aside from school, is that I run my own small business. We design and produce environmentally-minded gifts, activity kits, and decor for kids, that encourage learning and creativity. We sell internationally online, and a few small boutique shops carry our products too. We have been featured on a few blogs, created window displays for businesses, and recently I was commissioned to design an art installation for a large hospital system. I have started a scholarship fund, and a portion of our profits go to funding that, as well as a few other charitable organizations.
I have a pretty significant visual art background, and am adept at many art forms, including sketching, oil and watercolor painting, needle felting, calligraphy, and pottery. I have entered a few art contests, and won several.
One other question I have is, I feel that my business and art background (which kind of go hand-in-hand) are important parts of my life, and should be somewhere in my application, but I’m not sure the most effective way to do that. It seems like some schools like an art supplement, and some don’t, and I don’t even know where to start as far as the business goes. I definitely want to make it clear that this is a real company, not a kid working out of their bedroom, and that I am 100% at the helm of everything; it’s not my parents or someone else running it behind the scenes.
So ultimately I’m looking for some advice as to what kinds of schools I should be aiming for- not specific colleges (though I’m open to suggestions) but in terms of a tier of selectivity. I know my SATs are pretty strong, but on the other hand, I don’t have some of the things most traditionally-schooled kids have. Also any advice as to how to present my experience in the most effective way possible? Basically any advice would help.