Preparing for Elite College Admissions

[reasonabledad]

<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>

<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>
</ol>

[Kilimanjaro]

<p>Will you please say what you don't like about APEX? I don't personally know anyone who uses those classes, but we're investigating them.</p>

[reasonabledad]

<p>The APEX teaching tools for AP Chemistry did not work for our student...too much general overview, and far too little emphasis (and assistance) on problem solving. We ended up teaching the subject matter ourselves in order to keep up with the AP curriculum. On the other hand, some other APEX courses have been good, so far.</p>

<p>I strongly urge you to look at a sample lecture before enrolling in an APEX class, and to have a really good textbook (choose one yourself if they don't recommend one). Also, think carefully about your shild's learning style.</p>

[texas137]

<p>2 million students homeschool in the US (all grades). The vast majority eventually go to college.</p>

[tokenadult]

<p>"how many ppl homeschool?
how many of those ppl go to college?"</p>

<p>There is a FAQ file to suggest some answers to your last question at </p>

<p><a href="http://learninfreedom.org/colleges_4_hmsc.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://learninfreedom.org/colleges_4_hmsc.html&lt;/a> </p>

<p>and there seem to be a fair number of people here on CC who post indicating that they are homeschooling their children and finding that their kids get into the colleges of their choice.</p>

[Kilimanjaro]

<p>gvtennis55, the number is growing all the time. Homeschooled children are sweeping awards in spelling bees and other competitions. Perhaps if you were homeschooled, you might learn better mechanics of the English language.</p>

<p>My eleven-year-old took the ACT last spring and had a composite of 28. By the time he's sixteen or seventeen, I expect that number to rise. Thus, I don't think he'll have problems attending any major university that he chooses.</p>

[Kilimanjaro]

<p>reasonabledad, thank you for the insight. Oddly enough, the AP Chemistry course is the one we are considering! I need to take a look at several different options. We wouldn't be interested in purchasing one for about two years, anyway.</p>

[gvtennis55]

<p>sry to offend everybody
i was ignorant i guess..
"and there seem to be a fair number of people here on CC who post indicating that they are homeschooling their children and finding that their kids get into the colleges of their choice."
ya there are only 8 posts on this whole subject i dunno if u homechoolers can count</p>

<p>btw- ap chem is hard, i'm in it right now
there is NO WAY a homeschooled kid could do it
n e way sry to offend ppl wit my earlier post and hope that we can all be friends</p>

[over30]

<p>My son basically had to homeschool himself for AP chem because his teacher was out most of the year and they had a succession of subs who were not chemistry teachers. Even when the teacher was there they didn't do labs. He did just fine on the AP test, and all but 2 of the kids in the class got 5's or 4's. They all had to self-study. So it is possible.</p>

[Kilimanjaro]

<p>there is NO WAY a homeschooled kid could do it</p>

<p>Now there's an ignorant statement! You obviously haven't mastered English, yet you denounce others' abilities in AP Chem. Your statement is illogical.</p>

<p>I don't know if you're envious of homeschooled kids or what your problem is, but it's very clear that you have little to no experience with them.</p>

[Kilimanjaro]

<p>ya there are only 8 posts on this whole subject i dunno if u homechoolers can count</p>

<p>You could use some remedial reading comprehension skills. No one said that the two million homeschoolers were all posting on this forum! </p>

<p>I do greatly appreciate your delicious posts. You're making an excellent case for homeschooling. Of course, many public and private schools are good, but it's quite obvious that many do slip through the cracks, as you have so clearly demonstrated.</p>

[mgls]

<p>Sometimes you can embarrass ignorant people, and other times they save you the trouble.</p>

[gvtennis55]

<p>lol, wuts wit u ppl?
i'm just jokin around here
y would i have something against homeschooled ppl?
don't hate the playa hate the game</p>

[gvtennis55]

<p>btw- kilimanjaro- chill out</p>

[Kilimanjaro]

<p>Sometimes you can embarrass ignorant people, and other times they save you the trouble.</p>

<p>Hannah, you possess a wisdom that belies your age.</p>

[mgls]

<p><em>grin</em> Thank you ;)</p>

[yz16]

<p>Man, i've been seeing gvtennis and his abusive bs everywhere...that piece of **** needs to get a life.</p>

[ardiu]

<p>er... i self study AP chem and get a 5 gvtennis..im sorry</p>

[nattiebee]

<p>my parents prepared me for college excellently. I've had 4 years of english, 4 years of math, 4 years of science w/ lab, 4 years of social studies, and 4 years of five different languages (latin, greek, japanese, french and russian). I've taken AP chem, bio, english language, and english lit, and I've recieved 5's on all four. It is MORE than possible to prepare for the AP tests as a homeschooled student. You just have to be prepared to do alot more work, b/c you're not neccesarily going to have a teacher at your disposal who knows the material well. I also had the opportunity to study abroad for one year. Being homeschooled was the best gift my parents could ever have given me, and I still thank them every day.</p>

[meliora16]

<p>I was in a private school for nine years, a public school for a year and a half, and last year (sophomore year) I started homeschooling after midterms. It's the best thing I've ever done for myself. I got a 4 on my AP European History exam last year, having self-studied through half of it (I wish I'd gotten a 5, but the switch to homeschooling was kinda rough--it was kind of a spur of the moment thing). If all goes well I will have between 21 and 24 college credit hours by the end of my senior year. I teach myself all the subjects, my parents check on my work every once in a while. I can speak for the issues in the public school system and don't ever want to go back. I think homeschooling is a great alternative, as long as you're motivated. The positives far outweigh the negatives, in my oppinion.
I have no doubt I'll get into the college of my choice. A lot of people doubt homeschoolers, but you just have to look at the facts, and the potential to do well. Not all are great examples, of course, and I've got my problems, too :) But I don't think people should write off homeschoolers so quickly.
~Emily</p>