Most application portals have an opportunity for applicants to list up to ten activities, extracurriculars, or work experiences they participated in during high school. This is a fantastic opportunity to highlight an applicant's passions, grit, initiative, and leadership.
These sections typically provide applicants the opportunity to name the activity, list what years in high school they participated, how many hours a week they spent on the activity on average, and provide a brief description (The Common App, for example, has a 150 character limit for each activity’s description).
Activities, extracurriculars, and work experiences are an area where homeschooled students can really set themselves apart from their peers. Homeschooled students often have the time and motivation to pursue some of the most unique and interesting hobbies, and to dive more deeply into their areas of interest. These experiences also often require initiative and leadership from homeschoolers to make them happen, which college admissions officers especially love to see.
I highly recommend that students carefully consider compelling ways to describe the ways they have contributed to their communities, broadened their education, and maximized the flexibility homeschooling provides.
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This blog post is a part of YourEDU’s Homeschool to College Series, overviewing the different aspects of applying to college as a homeschooler. It’s important to note that YourEDU is not a college consulting company, rather, it’s a college application platform for homeschool students and parents. YourEDU has partnered with the Common, and is working with hundreds of individual colleges and universities, to help homeschoolers understand requirements, create admin materials, and apply to college. This series of blog posts comes out of conversations with college admissions professionals, reviewing hundreds of successful homeschool applications, and Henry’s (YourEDU co-founder) own experience applying to college as a homeschooler.