Do I need course descriptions for community college courses?

[goldberry]

Do I need course descriptions for community college courses?  If not, should I still show the classes on the course description page, but just note they were CC?  or not show them at all?

 

Thanks!

[regentrude]

If you do course descriptions at all, I would copy the short course description from the CC course catalog and note that the class was taken there. I prefer my course descriptions to be comprehensive and have included all descriptions for DE classes DD took at the university.

[EKS]

The Common App *only* requires descriptions of outside courses--and just for homeschoolers.  At least it did the year we used it.  I would think they would be more interested in descriptions of the home grown coursework, but no.  And, remarkably, all of the traditional students, who only took outside courses, didn't have to provide a single description.  Very logical.

 

So, in answer to your question, you will need to provide descriptions of outside coursework, so be sure to have a copy of those descriptions available.  I did not put them with my own course descriptions, but instead used the field on the Common App to do so.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

Do I need course descriptions for community college courses?  If not, should I still show the classes on the course description page, but just note they were CC?  or not show them at all?

 

Thanks!

 

I included descriptions of the CC courses with all of my other courses (both home designed and online).  I borrowed the course aims and content from the college, but included information about how often the class met and how credit was granted.  Below is an example of one that I created for College Algebra.  One reason I went beyond the college's general blurb was to include information about how the College Algebra titled course filled part of the Pre-Calculus requirement.  It took me a long time to dig out that information and I didn't want to assume that the universities ds was applying to would apply that diligence.

 

College Algebra (S College Math 101, 3 credits):  One semester college course that emphasized functions (algebraic and transcendental), relations, theory of equations and inequalities, matrices, binomial theorem, sequences and series, and curve fitting using a graphing calculator. This course taken on campus at S College (City, State) under High School Special status (dual enrollment).  Student earned three college credits and one high school credit.  [At S College, Pre-Calculus can be completed by successfully completing MATH 244 (Pre-Calculus) or both 101 (College Algebra) and 104 (Trigonometry) for a total of six credits.]

Textbook:

Hornsby, John. A Graphical Approach to Algebra and Trigonometry, 6e, Addison Wesley, 2014.

 

This is another example.  In this case, I wanted to explain that there were two course listings on the CC transcript, but only one on the high school transcript.   I also listed the CC specific term for students who were still high school students, since it was different for different colleges.  I was trying to emphasize the fact that this college credit was earned while the student was still in high school.

 

General Chemistry I (H Community College Chem 161 3 Credits) and General Chemistry I Laboratory (H Community College Chem 161L 1 Credit):  Chem 161 is one semester college course that covers basic principles of chemistry including stoichiometry; introduction to solution phase chemistry; gas phase chemistry; introduction to thermodynamics, including enthalpies of formation and reaction; introduction to atomic structure, periodic trends, chemical bonding, and molecular structure.  Chem 161L is a 3 hr lab session that provides laboratory experiments illustrating concepts of chemistry discussed in CHEM 161.  This course is being taken on campus at H Community College as an Early Admission student (dual enrollment) in Fall 2015.  By taking both lecture and lab together the student will earn 4 college credits and 1 high school credit. 

Textbook:

Burns, Ralph. Fundamentals of Chemistry in the Laboratory, 4e, Prentice Hall 2002.

Tro, Nivaldo. Chemistry: A Molecular Approach, 3e, Prentice Hall, 2013.

[goldberry]

The Common App *only* requires descriptions of outside courses--and just for homeschoolers.  

 

Okay, that's really weird.  Also, just checked the CC descriptions and they are very vague.  Here is the one for her ASL class.  

 

ASL 121 American Sign Language I

 

5 Credit Hours • 75 Contact Hours (Lecture)

Exposes the student to American Sign Language. Readiness activities are conducted focusing on visual/receptive skills and basic communication. Utilizes the direct experience method. Students must complete this course with a grade of B or higher or pass the ASL proficiency test with a score of at least 80% or better prior to registering for ASL 122 if planning to enroll in the Interpreter Preparation Program.

 

ETA, her College Algebra description doesn't even include the textbook.

Edited July 5, 2016 by goldberry

[quark]

 

ETA, her College Algebra description doesn't even include the textbook.

 

DS's CC's course snippets in the catalog also do not include textbooks. So I save every single syllabus (and have him print the online ones where instructors don't provide a hard copy syllabus) and note down the textbook title(s) and ISBN from the syllabus.

Edited July 5, 2016 by quark

[Sebastian (a lady)]

 

 

ETA, her College Algebra description doesn't even include the textbook.

 

The description of a course is probably set by the department and may stay the same for several semesters or years.  The texts used in a particular course may vary by semester and even by section.

[8filltheheart]

The Common App *only* requires descriptions of outside courses--and just for homeschoolers. At least it did the year we used it. I would think they would be more interested in descriptions of the home grown coursework, but no. And, remarkably, all of the traditional students, who only took outside courses, didn't have to provide a single description. Very logical.

 

So, in answer to your question, you will need to provide descriptions of outside coursework, so be sure to have a copy of those descriptions available. I did not put them with my own course descriptions, but instead used the field on the Common App to do so.

I incorporate outsourced classes in my course descriptions and simply state where the course was taken. Only 1 course description document which matches the transcript exactly. I list outside classes on the transcript in the place (grade/subject) they were taken (also with a notation where taken.) Edited July 5, 2016 by 8FillTheHeart

[regentrude]

Okay, that's really weird.  Also, just checked the CC descriptions and they are very vague.  Here is the one for her ASL class.  

 

ASL 121 American Sign Language I

 

5 Credit Hours • 75 Contact Hours (Lecture)

Exposes the student to American Sign Language. Readiness activities are conducted focusing on visual/receptive skills and basic communication. Utilizes the direct experience method. Students must complete this course with a grade of B or higher or pass the ASL proficiency test with a score of at least 80% or better prior to registering for ASL 122 if planning to enroll in the Interpreter Preparation Program.

 

ETA, her College Algebra description doesn't even include the textbook.

 

This is the typical level of detail ina  college course description. This is NOT a syllabus!

 

College course descriptions never include the textbook information. Textbooks are chosen by the professor/department a few months before the semester; catalogs contain the basic description of the approved and developed course that remains unaltered over longer periods of time.

Edited July 5, 2016 by regentrude

[8filltheheart]

In terms of DE classes where you don't know the txt book to be used, I simply insert "to be determined." It has never been an issue.

[EKS]

I did not put any information other than what was published by the school--which means no textbooks and very short descriptions.

 

Also I only listed courses taken at accredited institutions in that section on the Common App--meaning courses that schools normally would accept at face value.  Outside courses from unaccredited/non-school sources that I was giving credit for through our homeschool were included in my own course descriptions.  Derek Owens math is an example of that.

[goldberry]

This is the typical level of detail ina  college course description. This is NOT a syllabus!

 

College course descriptions never include the textbook information. Textbooks are chosen by the professor/department a few months before the semester; catalogs contain the basic description of the approved and developed course that remains unaltered over longer periods of time.

 

Is it okay that my homeschool course descriptions are longer then?  The idea being that they "trust" the college or accredited school, but homeschool needs to show more I guess....

 

I've read that not all schools require course descriptions.  Is it best to ask individually, or are most of you just sending them to all?

 

Anyone NOT do course descriptions?

[8filltheheart]

Is it okay that my homeschool course descriptions are longer then? The idea being that they "trust" the college or accredited school, but homeschool needs to show more I guess....

 

I've read that not all schools require course descriptions. Is it best to ask individually, or are most of you just sending them to all?

 

Anyone NOT do course descriptions?

For uploads, I merge them as a single document labeled transcript. For mail, I mail them. I figure more info is a good thing especially when I know my kids are functioning way beyond a typical high school classroom.

 

Fwiw, some of my course descriptions are fairly long, especially things like French and literature (Dd) or astronomy and philosophy (Ds) where their courses are absolutely nothing like an ordinary course.

[regentrude]

Is it okay that my homeschool course descriptions are longer then?  The idea being that they "trust" the college or accredited school, but homeschool needs to show more I guess....

 

I've read that not all schools require course descriptions.  Is it best to ask individually, or are most of you just sending them to all?

 

Anyone NOT do course descriptions?

 

My course descriptions for home designed courses that were not standard were longer, because I wanted to explain our approach.

My course descriptions for very standard home taught courses like math were very short and simply listed textbook and main topics covered. Nobody is going to read what "algebra 1" entailed in detail, but they might read what we did for "Ancient history and literature" or "Culinary science".

 

I used the Common Application for all of DD's colleges and uploaded the course descriptions as a second transcript. Even if a school does not require course descriptions, they may appreciate additional information that helps them evaluate a nontraditional homeschool education better.

 

I may not do course descriptions of DS applies to our local state university that is non selective.

Edited July 5, 2016 by regentrude