SDD doesn't even talk about college anymore. I don't think she's interested in making a choice. If we do bring up the topic, it ends up with her crying that she should be going to top-tier schools (stats and money aren't there). Sigh. She has AWESOME choices. Many with great merit and financial aid. The past year has been exhausting.

Agreeing with the rest. Interviews are NEVER optional in my book. DS was accepted to UR last year. I don't recall him "needing" a peer recommender, but he did have a letter from a 25-year-old author and friend who interviewed ds for his new book. Hmmm... I think UR, like many schools, likes to feel the love. :)

Wonderful news! Congrats to your son! And, yes, stay with us! We need you!

Just like every year, I have chills down my spine! I always love this thread. Congrats to all of your wonderful kids and best of luck if decisions will be difficult.

Whether course descriptions are required or not is really school dependent. As Janet said, look at the website or call each school. Some schools really want to see them. Do they read every word? I highly doubt it. But it is a wonderful opportunity to show that you took your student's education seriously. I sent them to each school. I'd rather them have more info than less. Maybe I missed it, but did you include somewhere the methods of evaluation? If not, course descriptions are a great place to put them.

This! There is a lot of math to be covered! Check out Art of Problem Solving, MITx, various online providers, and local university courses. Hang out here and you'll be a pro in no time!

Regarding the Mid Year Report: If this is for a school where your dc hasn't yet been admitted, submitting (great) semester grades may be beneficial to a borderline applicant. It may also help with merit aid. Just a thought if you're considering leaving most classes as "In Progress"...

Agree with all of the above. Tests and writing samples wouldn't be part of a transcript service (actually, I don't even know what that is; I have made plenty of transcripts for families, but as part of a larger service). A transcript is a single page document with grades, credits, and grading key. Maybe test scores if desired. As mentioned, course descriptions can be a lot of work, especially if you leave it to the last minute. They can be anywhere from 5-30 pages. Definitely hold on to a few writing samples and lab reports, though. Some colleges want to see a sample or two from homeschoolers. As the others suggested, record your documents, write your course descriptions, including books and materials used. You'll be glad you did.

Social Entrepreneurship, Linguistics, Women's Studies with an emphasis on Feminism, History of Science, Tolkien Study. Not sure if any of that qualifies as out-of-the-box!

We got an Earlham acceptance here with $21,000 merit aid. Congrats to everyone!

I would call admissions and ask how they would like you to approach this. How many schools are on your list? If there are too many, I suggest the same as JanetC. Fit it all in the optional report; you should have no problem with file size. If so, change the font or compress the file. Grantmom, which questions are tripping you up? I wrote a blog post recently about that. Not sure if it will help. Here it is.

Sarah Small is teaching that class, I believe. DD14 just finished Kidswrite Intermediate with her. She is phenomenal.

Adding some good news tonight! Acceptances from Agnes Scott ($25,000) and Lawrence (will find out @ merit in two hours). So happy for my lovely dd. She has so many great choices. Just waiting for Earlham.

Tears welled up in my eyes, Ruth. Congrats! And Janet, I remember being where you are. Congratulations to all of you. So, so proud of what you all have done!

DD is signed up for WTMA's Creative Writing. I do wish Bravewriter had a Creative non-fiction course, though. She loves BW and will continue with their essay series.

I've tried googling and looking at the help page. Yes, Elizabeth, when I have used the retweet square on bottom, no picture is included. Thanks all.

I am so dang new at social media! I am trying my hand at Twitter. My retweets never include the photo in the original tweet. Am I doing something wrong? Is there a way to include it?

Signed dd up for the creative writing class - she is willing after I received a great email from Tom Hummel. Also signed her up for Latin. Not sure how that will go, as it is a mid-year start.

Oh, thank you so much for taking the time to let me know!

DD14 wants to take WTMA's Creative Writing as an elective. The description says that is a semester class, worth 1 credit. How much work is it per week? She already has essay writing classes with Bravewriter over the spring semester. Does anyone have experience?

Congrats to everyone! Another acceptance - Wooster. $27,000 in merit. She is excited about this one. :) I am impatiently waiting for financial aid packages.

It took dd weeks to get guts to speak up in the Socratic class. She says that there is no way she will read her own work in the creative writing class. Grrr. I think she would like that class if her anxiety didn't get the best of her.

Waaah. Socratic is not being offered anymore.

Definitely not a user-friendly site!

Good news, but it would be nice to know which classes are being offered and when!