Common app- SSL

[workingmom]

I'm working in the SSL and have looked at two local district ines. They spend a lot of space talking about the demographics of the district. Was there specific categories you listed and would anyone be willing to PM and share. I'm finding that there is some repetition in the SSL in describing his academic courses (we opted for lots of dual enrollment) then seems to cross over into what I would explain in the counselor letter (or that dual enrollment allowed for more people interaction than an online AP course and we wanted to prove college readiness (he's a young senior (skipped 2 grades in Elem and middle)

[EKS]

I don't know what SSL means, but I think you are asking about what information should go in the school profile vs the counselor letter vs the transcript vs the course descriptions?  Is that right?

 

If so, I made a huge effort to give just about all new information in each document provided (and this extended to the documents, such as the essay, that my son provided) and repeat as little as possible.  Where I did repeat information, it was for the convenience of the reader, so that they would not have to flip back and forth between documents.

 

Here is how it generally broke down:

 

The school profile started with a community section, that gave basic demographic information for our (somewhat unique) geographic area, information about the schools here including that they are considered to be excellent, and generally why families  such a high performing district would choose to homeschool.  Next I discussed the origin of our homeschool--why we specifically chose to homeschool.  Next was a section on the philosophy of our homeschool.  Next, a section on our curriculum, including how resources were chosen and what outside institutions my son attended while in high school.  After that was a section on grades, where I explained that we taught to mastery (which explained why my son's homeschool grades were all As).  Then a section on how credits were assigned, how many hours were required, and how I converted my son's dual enrollment course credits to high school credits.  Then I had a section on graduation requirements where I listed our homeschool requirements alongside the graduation requirements for the local high school (showing that our homeschool's requirement met or exceeded them).  Then a section on compliance, where I listed the state statutes we were in compliance with.  Then a submitted by section, with my name, title (administrator and home-based instructor), and my college degree, major, and institution.

 

The counselor letter focused on helping the reader get to know my son on a more personal level.  I also had to explain some weirdness with switching in and out of homeschooling.  In general, the letter focused on my son rather than our homeschool.

 

The transcript listed *all* of the courses my son took, homeschool and at various schools.  It was organized by subject and listed course name, grade, credits, and had a column for codes (where it was taken, if it was taken in middle school, if it was a lab course, that sort of thing).  The transcript repeated the following information found in the school profile:  our homeschool graduation requirements and a compliance statement.

 

The course descriptions gave descriptions of home-based courses only (descriptions of courses taken at outside institutions were given in the section of the Common App that asked for them).  Here I gave a brief description and listed resources used and the amount of credit granted (credit granted was a repeat of what was in the transcript).

 

My son's essay talked about something that was complementary to what I had talked about in my counselor letter but it did not repeat any information that was found in the other documents.

 

I hope something in here helps!

[Sebastian (a lady)]

I'm working in the SSL and have looked at two local district ines. They spend a lot of space talking about the demographics of the district. Was there specific categories you listed and would anyone be willing to PM and share. I'm finding that there is some repetition in the SSL in describing his academic courses (we opted for lots of dual enrollment) then seems to cross over into what I would explain in the counselor letter (or that dual enrollment allowed for more people interaction than an online AP course and we wanted to prove college readiness (he's a young senior (skipped 2 grades in Elem and middle)

 

There are lots of approaches to what to put where.  In general, I used the school profile (what I think you are calling the SSL) to describe our education philosophy, approaches, opportunities and limitations, grading approach (mastery grading), and educational partners (DE and online providers for some courses).  I used the counselor letter to describe the student himself.  

 

The school profile was very similar for my older two kids, but their counselor letters were unique with examples from their lives to highlight their personalities and goals.  Or to put it another way, I used the school profile to describe the educational setting and the counselor letter to describe the person.

 

I opted not to include demographics in the school profile.  We lived in three different states during high school and it took up too much vital space to devote it to describing the economic and educational background of each location.  That just didn't communicate meaningful information about MY students.  Instead, I used that space to list all the places that we had lived during their school years.  I went back to kindergarten, in order to highlight that they had lived overseas twice, had every 2-3 years and had often spend several months in temporary or transient circumstances between new homes.  For the picture I was drawing of my kids' experience, it was meaningful to demonstrate their flexibility, independence and ability to adapt.  

 

That doesn't mean you can't or ought not include local demographics.  I have seen demographics of local areas included in ways that provided good insights.  For example, it might illuminate educational choices to know that an area is economically challenged, very rural or very urban, geographically restricted (ex. some board members' ability to travel is curtailed by winter conditions in their mountainous areas) or very expensive.  If you think demographics provide a useful context for your student, include it.  If you don't think it adds anything, leave it off.  

[Sebastian (a lady)]

I don't know what SSL means, but I think you are asking about what information should go in the school profile vs the counselor letter vs the transcript vs the course descriptions?  Is that right?

 

If so, I made a huge effort to give just about all new information in each document provided (and this extended to the documents, such as the essay, that my son provided) and repeat as little as possible.  Where I did repeat information, it was for the convenience of the reader, so that they would not have to flip back and forth between documents.

 

Here is how it generally broke down:

 

The school profile started with a community section, that gave basic demographic information for our (somewhat unique) geographic area, information about the schools here including that they are considered to be excellent, and generally why families  such a high performing district would choose to homeschool.  Next I discussed the origin of our homeschool--why we specifically chose to homeschool.  Next was a section on the philosophy of our homeschool.  Next, a section on our curriculum, including how resources were chosen and what outside institutions my son attended while in high school.  After that was a section on grades, where I explained that we taught to mastery (which explained why my son's homeschool grades were all As).  Then a section on how credits were assigned, how many hours were required, and how I converted my son's dual enrollment course credits to high school credits.  Then I had a section on graduation requirements where I listed our homeschool requirements alongside the graduation requirements for the local high school (showing that our homeschool's requirement met or exceeded them).  Then a section on compliance, where I listed the state statutes we were in compliance with.  Then a submitted by section, with my name, title (administrator and home-based instructor), and my college degree, major, and institution.

 

The counselor letter focused on helping the reader get to know my son on a more personal level.  I also had to explain some weirdness with switching in and out of homeschooling.  In general, the letter focused on my son rather than our homeschool.

 

The transcript listed *all* of the courses my son took, homeschool and at various schools.  It was organized by subject and listed course name, grade, credits, and had a column for codes (where it was taken, if it was taken in middle school, if it was a lab course, that sort of thing).  The transcript repeated the following information found in the school profile:  our homeschool graduation requirements and a compliance statement.

 

The course descriptions gave descriptions of home-based courses only (descriptions of courses taken at outside institutions were given in the section of the Common App that asked for them).  Here I gave a brief description and listed resources used and the amount of credit granted (credit granted was a repeat of what was in the transcript).

 

My son's essay talked about something that was complementary to what I had talked about in my counselor letter but it did not repeat any information that was found in the other documents.

 

I hope something in here helps!

 

This is an outstanding explanation of the purposes of the different documents.  

 

One thing I did differently was to include course descriptions of all courses in the course description document.  For the section in the common app that asked for explanations of outside coursework, I sometimes cut and pasted information from the various documents that included those answers, or I wrote very short answers that amplified the course description, or I wrote "See Course Description" or "See School Profile." How I handled this shifted a bit between the two kids.

 

On my transcript, instead of a column showing codes for courses, I used a superscript with an abbreviation for outside providers (not including coops, since our coop didn't issue grades).  For example Latin 1 ^LP  with LP noted in the page footer as meaning The Lukeion Project.  

[workingmom]

Yes school profile. Ok wow great detailed answer. How long then was your school profile?

 

Was it important to list your credentials if in high school most of coursework was outside providers (he takes two classes at local high school) and couple dual enrollment each year so after 10 th I physically only taught 1- 1.5 classes a year.

 

I like the superscript option. I was doing asterisks and it was getting confusing 1,2, 3 asterisks to indicate at local public school, cc 1, cc2. Online venfors I put in course descriptions

[Julie of KY]

My information was organized as above.

 

My school profile was 1 1/2 pages.

 

I would list your credentials if they are helpful. I though listing my degrees would give me more credibility as a teacher. I would not list my credentials if I did not think it would be supportive to the document.

[EKS]

Yes school profile. Ok wow great detailed answer. How long then was your school profile?

 

Was it important to list your credentials if in high school most of coursework was outside providers (he takes two classes at local high school) and couple dual enrollment each year so after 10 th I physically only taught 1- 1.5 classes a year.

 

I'm not sure if you were addressing me but...if you were, here's my answer:

 

My school profile was two single spaced pages (with an additional space between each section).

 

I have no idea how important it is to list the home educator's credentials.  I figured that since I claimed to have taught my son high school level math and science courses that by biochemistry degree was relevant.  I would not have listed my degree if I didn't feel it strengthened my son's story.

[rbk mama]

On my transcript, instead of a column showing codes for courses, I used a superscript with an abbreviation for outside providers (not including coops, since our coop didn't issue grades). 

 

 

How did you list coop classes on your transcript if you didn't include grades with them?  We have a few coop classes that don't issue grades, and I was just assuming that I should assign my own grade for that class.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

How did you list coop classes on your transcript if you didn't include grades with them? We have a few coop classes that don't issue grades, and I was just assuming that I should assign my own grade for that class.

All I was trying to say is that I didn't differentiate between classes that were totally taught by me and courses that also included a once a week co-op portion. For example the listing and description for biology with lab and chem with lab are very similar even though the chem lab was done at co-op and bio lab was done at home.

I did assign a grade for all classes. I adopted grades from online providers and colleges.