Penguin Posted August 14, 2015 Share Posted August 14, 2015 We are using a cover school for high school. Its Honors designation really only seems to be available if one uses AP level texts. Fair enough. However, the school profile merely states that the Honors designation is available for courses. My concern is that a college admissions official will see that school profile and think that there were "standard" Honors courses available that my student did not take - courses like Honors Chemistry or Honors English 10. I tend to think of such courses as Pre-AP, but the cover school really does not give Honors unless the course is AP level. My perception of Honors comes from my older boys' experience in the B&M schools and googling countless high school honors syllabi. Truly, my one and only concern is that college admissions perceptions will match mine. I am content with the courses I have designed. It would be reasonable to consider them Pre-AP. But perhaps I should not fret so much. Honors is not exactly standardized across brick and mortar schools. It is a nebulous distinction anyway. Would you worry about this? I predict that DS will apply to selective but not elite colleges. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted August 14, 2015 Share Posted August 14, 2015 I agree with D. And maybe calling/writing a letter explaining your concerns to the school might genuinely net something from that end. I don't know enough about the behind the scenes of the college admissions process to know if this is something to be deeply concerned about or not but since you ARE concerned I hope D's suggestions and hopefully other suggestions people will make on this thread can help you. Good luck and best wishes. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joules Posted August 14, 2015 Share Posted August 14, 2015 Maybe an asterix on the transcript explaining that "Honors" officially means "AP-level without AP approved syllabus"? Or if you are not able to edit the transcript, something in the counselor letter (or whatever you have access to) that explains that higher standards of the school? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jen in NY Posted August 14, 2015 Share Posted August 14, 2015 If you are concerned about how things will look to an admissions counselor, perhaps your ds could prepare for and take a couple of SAT Subject tests related to the courses he plans to take? Otherwise, you might consider keeping detailed course descriptions along the way. We submitted a course description document with the transcript... I have no idea if any admissions officers actually read the whole thing, but we included it in the applications in case there were any questions about what the girls had done. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhudson Posted August 14, 2015 Share Posted August 14, 2015 I designated Honors for courses that were to prep for AP tests but didn't have College Board approval. My ds then took the AP tests which showed that they were that level. I found that my ds' test scores were far more important and that the transcript merely backed up the scores instead of the other way around. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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