<p>I notice that there is a lot that can be done in this area for home schoolers, but this topic previously received limited play in the home schooling forum on CC. I thought I'd start by mentioning some things we do to prepare our homeschoolers for admission to the top colleges, and invite everyone else to share their suggestions.</p>
<ol>
<li>Heavy focus on AP courses and exams (taught at home or online). The exams provide scores which are nationally comparable, showing an admissions committee how the student performed compared to everyone else.</li>
<li>We are using APEX for the core of several AP courses this year (first time). I have to say that the jury is still out on APEX.</li>
<li>Online college credit courses. We like the EPGY from Stanford for advanced math, but others have suggested less costly schools.</li>
<li>We have used the local community college both for traditional classes and for online classes. Again, this helps to build a recogizable transcript at application time.</li>
<li>Each of our kids will participate in at least one summer college program at an elite college in order to get the experience of living in the dorm and taking classes every day. Some admins wonder whether homeschoolers can adjust to college life. We think it is better to crush this doubt early. Of course, this gives more credit for the transcript. Aid is available for most of these.</li>
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