Common App Question

[littlemommy]

I am in the middle of completing the Common App and here is the question for the counselor:

 

If the student has taken courses from a distance learning program, traditional secondary school, or institution of higher education, please list the course title and content, sponsoring institution, instruction setting and schedule, and frequency of interactions with instructors and fellow students (once per day, week, etc.). In addition, if the student has taken any standardized testing other than those listed on page 2 of the Common Application, please also describe below.

 

My question is, should I tell them about other standardized tests if we don't plan on sending the test scores to the colleges?  Also, when I am referring to my student, should I use his first name, or should I just refer the student as the "student" and not mention his first name?

 

Thanks for your help!

[Kareni]

I don't recall how I referred to my daughter.  I'd suggest you use the term that feels most comfortable to you.

 

My daughter took the National Latin Exam and the National Greek Exam both of which are standardized tests.  In neither of those cases did I have scores sent directly to the colleges.  I did however share those scores in her application materials.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[regentrude]

If you don't send the scores, I would not mention the tests because that would raise the question why you are hiding the scores.

 

I refer to my kids by first name in the counselor's letter and as "the student" in course descriptions.

My daughter took the National Latin Exam and the National Greek Exam both of which are standardized tests.  In neither of those cases did I have scores sent directly to the colleges.  I did however share those scores in her application materials.

 

 

I think that neither the NLE nor the NGE has the option to directly send scores to colleges.  As I recall, the scores just come back to the teacher/school on one piece of paper.

 

I think both the NLE and the NGE would count as a "standardized test", but now that I think about it, I'm not quite sure what, precisely, defines any given test as "standardized".

[EKS]

Here is what I said:

 

[son's first name] took a standardized test each year he was homeschooled as specified by Washington State law. In high school, he took the ITED in his freshman year, the PLAN in his sophomore year, the PSAT in his junior year, and the ACT in his senior year.

 

They never saw the scores for any of the tests other than the ACT. They must not have cared because he got into four of the five schools he applied to and was waitlisted at the fifth.

[angela in ohio]

My students took the PLAN and the PSAT, but I don't list them because the ACT and SAT scores make them unnecessary.

 

My dd took the NLE, but we listed her award under her achievements only. I didn't consider it a standardized test, I guess.

 

I think if a student didn't have a lot of outside documentation, maybe it would be important to have other test scores? I made sure they had outside course grades, so I didn't use any additional test scores.