a little survey...

LaMai is sending letters to top universities across the United States. The questions I am asking include, "How many homeschooled students apply to your institution for undergraduate studies annually, and how many are accepted/how many matriculate? What studies/courses completed do you look for in a homeschooled student's transcript?"

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This (partial response) from Cornell University:

Dear LaMai,

Thank you for your interest in Cornell University. Students who are schooled at home usually have no independent high school transcript and often ask about what they should include on their application to Cornell. In order to understand and appreciate the depth and variety of your experience, the selection committees require the following for all four years prior to entering college:

1) English: list of books (including textbooks and other anthologies) you have read each year; how many papers and how long (indicate which are creative and which are expository writing); any research papers (list titles and length of each).

2) Social Studies: list of textbooks and books you have read each year; how many papers (topics listed) and how long; what independent research projects (titles and length).

3) Foreign Language: list of textbooks you have read each year; list projects and/or papers; descriptions and dates of visits to other countries.

4) Science: textbooks you have used each year (description of topics covered if you did not use a textbook or used only part of the book); list of experiments and/or field trips; any projects or research done (titles and time spent).

5) Mathematics: textbooks (covering which topics) you have used each year; any independent projects (titles and time spent).

In addition, you should submit scores from any standardized examinations (state, SATs, ACTs, APs,) you have taken or transcripts from any college courses.

We hope this list will help you prepare your application and feel confident that you have presented your academic accomplishments well.

Best wishes,
The Admissions Staff

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then later, this communication was sent to me:

Dear LaMai,

We do not maintain statistics for home-schooled students (beyond the number
of apps) since they represent a very tiny part of our applicant pool (For
2005, we received 39 applications from home-schooled students out of 24,444
total freshman applications).

Best,

Cornell Maiden at the Admissions Office