How Do Colleges Consider Homeschoolers?

Answered

I can relate to a lot of this...it is harder to find activities, competitions, and other opportunities as a homeschooler. Here are some things I have done:

Independent studies. If you have a specific topic you are passionate about, dive in! For example, I am passionate about floral design and horticulture. I became very serious with my gardening (was able to earn extra science credits in agriculture and horticulture) and took professional floral design classes. A lot of my work was at home and independent, but it is essentially a larger-than-normal passion project.

Church activities. If you are part of a church, there may be opportunities there. I am commited to my youth group and women PM's, help with childcare a lot, make floral arrangements for certain events, etc. I have also found opportunities with connected churches in the same denomination. A church that many people at my church came from has a volleyball team that I joined. My siblings also taught at that church's summer camp and I will hopefully teach next summer.

Co-ops have never been a good option for me due to personal reasons. But if you do have a co-op, get involved in what you can. Maybe you can suggest a new activity and get something great rolling.

Find online options. I begin online dual enrollment with my local cc because I can't take AP, and now I am helping start a new club at the cc, assuming it all goes well and we attract attention. Another big online opportunity has actually been this website- I work as an unofficial volunteer peer advisor and essay editor for the peer review system. It has been so much and such a great leadership/volunteer experience. I also participated twice in an online academic competition for homeschoolers (which unfortunately dissolved this year). Other online awards I received and are worth checking out, both writing related: The National High School Poetry Contest and the National Council of Teachers of English Achievements in Writing Awards. The first one is open to all high school students and I was a topical winner, which means they published my poem! The second one is a writing competition (no prizes, but it is still a big deal-winners at a school would be presented with the award from the principal and a big fuss would be made over it) that your teacher can nominate top English students for...lucky me, I am the only student in my class and my mom qualified as my teacher, so there you go! I ended up receiving the highest possible award, the First Class award, so it's a great opportunity and very easy to qualify for as a homeschooler.

If you can't find anything start something yourself! Homeschoolers have the freedom to do so much. A fellow homeschooler started ballet classes in her basement and I was a student of Dance with Joy for all 7 years. Other homeschoolers start clubs open to people in their homeschool groups as well as their non-homeschool friends who came along. Like I said earlier, if you are passionate about something, dive in. Start a blog, a business, a club...just go for it! Venture out and you will learn so much.

As I commented, colleges will take it into account that you gotta work with what you have. As long as they can tell you are seizing the opportunities that do come, you should do great. That being said, colleges do want more proof from homeschoolers. I am applying to a "test-optional" school, but they want a test score from me. Otherwise, I have to have an interview unlike regular applicants. Christian/religious schools are more homeschool friendly because they know from experience that homeschoolers are not something to worry about; they get homeschool applications all the time.

Ways to provide solid proof for your excellence:

Visual evidence. I have a portfolio of pictures and a video of my horticulture/floral design work to provide as visual assurances of my commitment.

I choose to take the PSAT/NMSQT junior year. This is not at all necessary BUT I am so glad I did. Because I studied, Iscored high enough to receive recognition as a Commended Student. This will add some umph to my application.

I also took the SAT seriously and made sure I was above the school's average accepted score- this was partly because I need the university's highest merit scholarship. It's really important to be within the school's accepted GPA and test score ranges.

Writing a wonderful essay is also a application booster, showing academic excellence, character, and personality.

I hope some of my advice is helpful. Please let me know if you have any other questions!