FACTS: 78% of peer reviewed studies show that homeschool students perform statistically better than their public school peers. However, while the Mean ACT Composite scores for homeschooled students are consistently higher than those for public school students, compared to students enrolled in private schools, homeschooled students have scored lower. Furthermore, homeschoolers are far less likely to major in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics-based disciplines. (Kunzman, 2020)
Austin College is a four-year liberal arts college in Texas with a larger-than-average homeschool population (5% of incoming freshmen were homeschooled in 2008). In 2010, the school’s Institutional Research department carried out a study of homeschool graduates attending the school. The study found that homeschool graduates took fewer total math and science courses (0.8 and 1.9) than their traditionally schooled counterparts (1.9 and 3.2), and that while they achieved a slightly higher average GPA overall they had lower GPAs in math and science courses (2.58 and 2.62) than their conventionally schooled peers (2.72 and 2.65).
The fact that homeschool graduates at Austin College took fewer math and science courses than traditionally schooled students clearly indicates that they were less likely to major in these fields than were other students.
Another study conducted at Grove City College, a four-year Christian college in Pennsylvania, which was published in Sociological Viewpoints in 2010, found that homeschool graduates majored in the natural sciences (7.7%) and math/engineering (5.1%) at far lower rates than either public school graduates (17.8% and 15.6%) or private school graduates (17.0% and 14.3%).
There is a preponderance of evidence pointing to a homeschool math gap. There is also preliminary data pointing to some of the ways this math gap may affect homeschooled students as they graduate and begin their adult lives. In an era when STEM fields have taken on increasing importance, the homeschool math and science gap should be taken seriously by homeschool parents.
It should be noted that individual homeschooled students may excel at math and/or science. The existence of a math and science gap does not mean every homeschooled student has these deficiencies.
In some ways, the college application process for homeschooled students may be slightly different than that for traditional students. If you are a homeschooled student, you may not be able to submit a traditional transcript of course grades. You may also not be able to meet the recommendation letter criteria laid out for traditional students.
Most colleges typically maintain the same eligibility criteria for both traditional and home-schooled students. However, you may find yourself having to adapt some of the requirements to fit your homeschooler's unique situation.
Recommendations, along with their transcripts, test scores, and application essay, give colleges an idea of what kind of personal and academic contributions a homeschooler will make to their institution. More specifically, what colleges are looking for from a recommendation letter is deeper understanding of a homeschooler's personality, ambitions, academic interests, successes, and challenges.
Sometimes homeschoolers and their families are unsure who to ask for recommendations since the parents serve as teachers. When faced with this conundrum, homeschool mom Pam Andrews, the author of The Scholarship Shark: Taking a Bite Out of College Debt, says it's best to plan ahead. "Preference is given to academic references, so families should plan in advance to have their child take classes outside the home, either in a co-op, through college dual enrollment, or by hiring a private tutor so the recommender can provide an accurate evaluation of the student's performance over time."
When considering non-academic recommendations, Andrews offers further advice. “Students should ask at least two non-relatives to write their letters; a few examples of whom to ask include someone who taught you in class, someone from a community service experience, or your employer.”
You can also ask employers from internships, a professional from a shadowing opportunity, or other adults who have a mentor-type relationship with your homeschooler. All of these people can speak to your homeschooler’s willingness to work hard and ability to work with other people, their time management and organization skills, their resourcefulness and talents — all information colleges look for in a recommendation later.
Admissions officers may assume public school students are good at functioning in large groups and in a classroom, and think homeschoolers don't have these skills. Finding people who can prove your homeschooler's ability as a leader and their ability to be part of a team can be really key for making their application stand out.
You can ask people who can speak to your homeschooler's skills outside of the classroom if they are a member of one or more student organizations, such as their online school's newspaper or newsletter, honor society, student body, or a STEM related club. Sponsors and leadership can write recommendation letters about how the homeschooler functions as a leader and as a member of a community.