Yale. Columbia. Princeton. Harvard. MIT. Stanford. The common bond between all six of these colleges is that they are top-ranked universities.
While there are many homeschoolers, including unschoolers, who are successful in gaining admission to top-notch colleges, including Ivy League colleges, the fact a student is homeschooled is not enough.
Homeschoolers who are admitted to highly selective colleges typically have worked exceptionally hard at developing their talents and have very strong academic and extracurricular profiles. If you child has a highly selective school in mind, here are a few things to keep in mind.
Admissions Competition is Fierce
Remember all the advice you were given when you were in high school about getting into a top college? Got it? Okay, now forget it. In today’s world, there is a whole new set of rules that apply to college admissions.
Homeschoolers interested in top colleges often begin their plan WAY before they enter high school. Yes, they start thinking about this in early middle school. No, seriously. This is not a joke. Competition is that stiff.
Successful homeschoolers not only have performed well in challenging courses and have very high-test scores; but they also have developed extracurricular talents. Notice I didn’t say “activities” – I said “talents.” This means they have focused on something for more than four years – bring this “talent” as far as they can. They have dedicated hundreds of hours to develop this.
Nonetheless, students with all three of these attributes are often rejected. Why? Simply put, there are just too few slots. To make matters worse, Admission officers often report that the majority of the rejected candidates would likely have been successful at said school.
The rate of acceptance continues to go down annually. According to US News & World Report, here are the overall acceptance rates for the 2017 – 2018 admission cycle (The Class of 2022).
- Princeton 5.4%
- Brown 7.2%
- Harvard 4.5%
- MIT 6.7%
- Duke 8.3%
- Stanford 4.3%
- Swarthmore 9.1%
- Columbia 5.5%
- Northwestern 8.3%
- Pomona 6.9%
- Vanderbilt 9.2%
- Williams 12%
- Bowdoin 10.3%
- USC 12%
- University of Pennsylvania 8.3%
- Washington University in St. Louis 15%
- Cornell 10.3%
- University of Chicago 7.3%
- Barnard, 13.7%
- NYU 20.9%
- Princeton 5.9%
APs and Dual Enrollment
Homeschoolers interested in highly selected colleges will want to take AP or dual enrollment college level courses in several subject areas during the four years prior (not earlier*) to applying to college.
Thank goodness today’s homeschoolers have many ways of taking AP courses. First and most importantly, you need to make sure the course is certified via college board. Although self-studying for an AP course is certainly one way to take the AP Test, most highly selective colleges want to see a College Board certified class.
Additionally, homeschoolers have the advantage of flexibility to depart from the traditional calendar, if needed, to allow for more in-depth studies in areas of interest.
Finally, most homeschoolers, who have been admitted to a top school, have been able to present clear documentation of their learning. Typically, colleges wish to see more than just a parent’s endorsement, and this is where “outside validation” comes into play. Outside validation can take many forms including grades from community colleges, SAT subject test scores, SAT scores, ACT scores, AP scores, recommendations from professors, winning national level contest or awards, participation in well-known summer programs, gap-year programs, and more!
Obviously, highly selective colleges have an astonishingly high sticker price. With that said, these colleges typically have huge endowments and offer generous financial aid. Additionally, many of the nation’s top college have pledged that if you gain admission you will not take out any student loans.
Homeschoolers may find if they work very hard in high school to build a strong academic profile and if they gain admission to the nation’s top universities it often costs them less than the price tag of their state university.
I always strongly encourage parents to be up front and honest with their student about the cost of college, the family’s contribution and what the student will be responsible for.
The Bottom Line
It is absolutely possible for homeschoolers to be competitive for top colleges. Every single year there are many homeschoolers who are accepted into the nation’s top colleges. If your homeschooler has these ambitions, it is best to plan early and help them prepare a competitive academic profile.