Going from homeschooling to college?

Question

I am 16 a 10th grader in HS and I have been homeschooled all my life. Soon I will be aplying to colleges (though there is only one I want to go to) and I want to make sure I have everything done that needs to be. Here is my class list and expected classes I plan to take in the next two years:

9th grade -

Physical Science

9th grade English

Spanish 1

Algebra 1

Piano

PE

10th Grade -

Geometry

Biology (at a local comunity college and doubles as college credit)

10th English

Spanish 2

Typing (keyboarding)

11th Grade -

chemestry (at local CC)

Algebra 2

11th Grade english

Gen. psychology (at local CC as an elective)

12th Grade -

Pre - Caculus

Earth/Enviromental Science

12th English

Microeconomics (at local CC as a college transfer)

Macroeconomics (at local CC as a college transfer)

Is there anything I'm missing?

Any homeschoolers have any advice on getting into college from a homeschooling position?

Thanks!

Answer 1

I counted up your credits and it appears to be 20 - that would not be enough...

According to the information at the link below...

Not college bound: 20 - 22 credits

General college bound: 24 - 28

Highly selective college: 26 - 30

The dual credit courses are great!  Most colleges anymore expect to see some college credits already under a student's belt.

Colleges also like to see consistent participation in a couple of extracurriculars - solid and meaningful participation in two or three is more important than being in a bunch of clubs.

I also did not see any community service activities.

Also... what are your test taking plans?  Did you take the practice PSAT this year?  Next year, you should plan on taking the PSAT (practice SAT) as this will put you in the running for National Merit Scholarships.

I'm going to send you an email with a link to my 9th grade son's online academic portfolio that might be helpful for you to look at.  Watch for my email.

***UPDATE:

I'd also suggest that you add some additional computer courses beyond just typing.  Most colleges will be expecting some proficiency.

I've added another link below that talks about admissions (college board site)...

It might be a good idea for you to really research your first choice college and try to figure out what a typically accepted student "looks like."

Answer 2

Hello im currently an 11th grade homeschooler and your classes look perfect. you are taking or took the same classes that i did and i am recieving loads of mail from colleges.  The classes you are taking are the same level as a public and private schools.  One thing though that is missing which is EXTREMELY important for getting into college is extra curricular activities.  Many colleges wont accept students just because they dont do anything besides school.  I did notice that you are taking piano but that probably wont be enough, especially because you are taking only one year.  You should find a sport or volunteer work that you are intrested in a keep up with it until college.  Colleges dont want a lazy person so you need to get out and do stuff!  Right now i play tennis, and take piano, but i still need to figure out something else that will look good on my resume.  So go find something you love to do and good luck getting into college!!

JEEZ you have loads of extra curricular activities.  That will look great for colleges.  But paid jobs dont count.

Answer 3

Wow. Impressive collection of courses.

One tiny thing I can think of is to include an extra year of Spanish...however, your month in Mexico probably has improved your language skills enough so that your Spanish classes are more advanced than normal, so I wouldn't worry.

The only thing that looks like it might be missing is History/Social Studies. The closest you come to that is the Psych and the Econ, but you may want to demonstrate it more concretely. If you have a solid background in history from your pre-high school days, then maybe you don't have to do it...but I would check with the colleges you are interested in before you decide not to do it at this level.

And just FYI...everything I've read about colleges and the admissions process strongly suggests that they like homeschooled kids and many even have a separate process to accommodate the needs of homeschooled students.

Edit: Do you need another history class? It depends.

Basically, most students have their history spread out over several years, particularly World History. World History gets broken into time frames (Ancient and Modern) or into regions (Asia, India*, Africa, etc.). Depending on how thorough your 10th grade class is, you may or may not want to do more.

One way to do more is to take the APs in both American and European history (at least, that was what was common in my high school). They are hard tests, but you could do the work on your own without taking a formalized class. In fact, one kid in my grade who was not permitted by the school officials to take the AP class took the test anyway after doing the work on his own. He got a 5 (max. score).

*Yes, I am aware that India is in Asia, but because of extreme enough culture differences and different historical stories, they are often separated.

Answer 4

Your classes look great, pretty stereotypical though. I would add some additional classes to help your transcript stick out.  Depending on where you want to go to college, find some really original classes...maybe some science at a local zoo or museum if it's a science focused program you're looking at. Or social services, any type of volunteer work will look great. For a classics focus, add some sort of original language and culture (world cultures, additional foreign languages and/or traveling) I love that you're taking economics, can you get some experience in an actual office? That would look great and definitely make you stand out.

Good luck....and HAVE FUN! Colleges like that too!