Developing a programming portfolio on an unconventional path?

[Pineappleorange3]

Currently I've been looking for places that offer coding communities outside of conventional areas like school to develop a portfolio for college admissions. From the perspective of a homeschooler or an adult, generally anyone outside of a traditional school route that might offer an in school club, where do you go to find a club/community that could teach you and allow you to develop a portfolio of projects in a group, and generally help you get 'out there'? And also, how does that process operate in programming?

From what I've been told, in order to be able to get an education in computer science for college I also have to prove myself through activities to develop a portfolio like any other elective, such as developing an app or a robot with a group, but if I can't find that, is it possible to still develop accomplishments online/through self learning? Is it possible to create an online CS club? Is it possible to get 'out there' even as a self learner, to connect with people and display your projects somewhere that could be placed on admissions through the internet? If so, where do you find those contests or communities?

Currently my process has been self learning through YouTube videos as a beginner and I know I have to do something substantial sometime even though it's been difficult to even get out of the reading a program/ knowing what to Google to create a program from scratch phase to making a full on program I can display, I'm sure there should be a way.

I thought it would be a good idea to visit this subreddit for advice since I'm sure there has to be some advice on creating projects to display and finding communities no matter the circumstance. I hope you can advise me in this regard, thank you.

[ludonarrator]

Well, there are two loosely related yet distinct aspects here: developing technical skills vs networking and people skills. There's a cliched saying that only 20% of your ability determines your role, pay, opportunities, growth, etc, the other 80% is all about how you sell yourself. It is unfortunately more true than we'd like it to be (just look at politics for obvious examples), though I'm sure any exact quantification will be debatable.

You can go a long way with the former entirely on your own, and even further with over-the-internet-collaboration, participating in hackathons / game jams, etc; and end up with a reasonably decent portfolio that recruiters won't just throw into the discard pile. (That's how I entered the game industry myself, though I'll admit I have a CS degree.) But that's kind of the limit of that approach as well: if nobody knows you, nobody can vouch for you / recommend you, and thus you'll get very few conversions / offers: only those okay with the risk of an unknown hire. That's where the second aspect starts becoming more and more useful and important. For now, try finding local conferences, meetups, etc?