School Profile - Common App questions

[PinkyandtheBrains.]

Alrighty, I am feeling totally incompetent as I add information to the common app.

 

For the school profile, did you up load a document, or just input the specific information into various sections?

 

If you loaded a full document, where did you do that? I only see spots to upload a transcript, and a counselor letter?

 

 

Thank you!

[Corraleno]

There is a place to upload it in the School Profile subsection of the Counselor Profile. It's not specific to the student, so it's not in the student report. That said, I did not do a formal school profile, I just did a homeschool profile (in the student report), which I copied and pasted into the box (no upload option). Everything about DS's education was unique and specific to him, and since we moved to a different state halfway through high school, demographic info was kind of irrelevant. It didn't make sense to me to put the same info in a school profile and a homeschool report, so I just did the latter.  I included sections on History & Philosophy, Educational Partners, and Honors Courses (explaining the criteria used in designating honors courses).  Grading Scale and Outside Evaluation (DE courses) were in separate CA sections.

 

ETA: I did fill in the boxes in the School Profile section of the Counselor Profile if they were relevant. Obviously the questions about how many students were 1st gen college students, or Hispanic, or on free lunch, etc. I left blank. That's really the kind of info they're looking for in a school profile, which I why I did the homeschool report instead.

Edited October 27, 2017 by Corraleno

[PinkyandtheBrains.]

I'm curious if anyone else skipped the school profile upload? It feels redundant since I have filled in the student specific home school sections. The education between my two kids is going to be wholly different, because they are on different paths.

[Corraleno]

Here is an example of a standard (B&M) school profile. It provides data about the student body, what the class schedule is, which specific AP classes the school offers, how many take AP classes/tests and the average AP test scores, average GPA and ACT/SAT scores, what percentage go on to college, which colleges they attend, etc. With a "graduating class of 1," not much of that is relevant.

 

ETA: This is what is asked for in the Home School section of the School Report:

"Please provide any information about the applicant's homeschool experience and environment that you believe would be helpful to the reader (e.g. educational philosophy, motivation for homeschooling, instruction setting, etc.)."

 

 

 

Edited October 27, 2017 by Corraleno

[8filltheheart]

My school profile has morphed over time. Last yr I completely changed how I approached it. I decided to use the school profile to discuss my philosophy toward education, my educational background and how that impacted our approach, what my older kids did during school as well as what my younger kids were currently doing. I emphasized how my kids are partners with me in designing their educations and that they have to take ownership over their long-term goals. I used that to demonstrate the types of courses and ECs they had pursued/were pursuing. I included my school's graduates' careers and current educational pursuits. I ended it with a description of the rating and outcomes of our zoned ps (which only rated 11% out a total possible 100 pts.)

 

So basically the school profile became my statement on our homeschool philosophy and outcomes. My counselor letter focused 100% on my Dd and her pursuits. She was only a partial focus in my school profile. I made the 2 socuments work together to give a clearer picture of how our homeschool functioned since it is philosophically different from a B&M school classroom approach.

[OnMyOwn]

The homeschool section does cover some of the same information I have in my school profile and counselor letter, but I do have information in my profile that goes beyond what is in that homeschool section. I actually wrote "See school Profile" or "See counselor letter" in a lot of that homeschool section. The one area I wound up completing was the question about how time in outside classes was structured and if there was any additional testing done other than the ACT or SAT. Honestly, I had already addressed the outside classes thing in my school profile, but decided to address it again in case one of the schools didn't read my profile. The way it was worded made me feel that they wanted to hear my kid got out of the house and I wanted to be very clear that he did. Though, if that isn't obvious from the rest of the application, I don't know if anything could make it clear.

[lisabees]

My school profile has morphed over time. Last yr I completely changed how I approached it. I decided to use the school profile to discuss my philosophy toward education, my educational background and how that impacted our approach, what my older kids did during school as well as what my younger kids were currently doing. I emphasized how my kids are partners with me in designing their educations and that they have to take ownership over their long-term goals. I used that to demonstrate the types of courses and ECs they had pursued/were pursuing. I included my school's graduates' careers and current educational pursuits. I ended it with a description of the rating and outcomes of our zoned ps (which only rated 11% out a total possible 100 pts.)

 

So basically the school profile became my statement on our homeschool philosophy and outcomes. My counselor letter focused 100% on my Dd and her pursuits. She was only a partial focus in my school profile. I made the 2 socuments work together to give a clearer picture of how our homeschool functioned since it is philosophically different from a B&M school classroom approach.

 

The highlighted is how I approach the School Profile. In the homeschool section, I write, "See School Profile."

 

As an interesting side note, a school I recently called (small LAC) for a family I am helping said that they don't want to hear about the student's merits from the parent in the Guidance Counselor Letter. They want to hear about the homeschool - why student started, how it is run, how evaluations are made, etc. And he said he wanted as much information as possible via course descriptions, books lists, and writing samples. 

 

He will be getting all of this, but it will be in the other documents. He will also be getting a Guidance Counselor Letter written by a parent. :)