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PLEASE HELP! Common App... School Profile, Course Descriptions Questions


butterfly113
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We are on the late side of things with life circumstances, as I am battling cancer and I am trying to finish this up for DS quickly. He has completed the Common App and we do have a transcript! YAY! 

 

I am working on the Counselor/Teacher aspects. 

For the School Profile I have answered their questions and have created our own document. I have included the following: 

School Name, Location, a description stating we are a college preparatory school through high school, how many credits each year, average class time, block schedule and that this has worked well allowing in-depth study to explore further interests. 

 

Then I have created a Philosophy Section:

 

Joshua Tree Academy implements a Christian, Classical and Traditional Educational Approach utilizing various curriculum to achieve a mastery based education with standardized scope and sequence requirements. Traditional methods of textbooks, assignments, projects and tests are used across the core subjects of Mathematics, Sciences, English, and Social Studies. They are also used for Christian Studies, Health and P.E., Foreign Language and Electives. Numerous other resources for additional materials, hands-on materials, internet reading, field trips and museums, lab activities, source documents, literature books, living books, and video lectures are folded in to enhance learning opportunities and outcomes. This optimizes an individual learning style and encourages creative thinking, critical thinking and development, and personal interest exploration.

 

Next is a Curriculum Section: I  listed all major publishers we have used, and also a statement regarding numerous other resources for additional materials, hands-on, source docs, lit. etc.....

 

I've included a Courses Section: 

Listing courses throughout high school 

 

Grading Policies and Standardized Tests with a grading scale and SAT info. Also stated each credit earned was based on Carnegie Unit of 120 hrs plus....  And explained GPA calculation, number of total credits earned to earn Advanced Studies Diploma. 

 

WHERE I AM STUMPED and CONFUSED....

In the Philosophy Section, do I need to include more about why we homeschool? Our philosophy? 

I have read on different sites and get differing views. 

I have also written the following, but is it necessary? 

 

The homeschool experience and environment provides the student a framework of freedom, flexibility, specialization, depth, time efficiency, and the development of maturity and personal responsibility. The student is allowed to delve deeply into areas of interest, becoming highly skilled in specialized subjects and personal passions. Specialization offers numerous benefits, including channeling energy into a beneficial direction, developing positive driven goals, maturity and responsibility. In depth topic exploration and the development of talents provides the student a head start on career planning. This approach develops a happy, emotionally stable student better positioned for college admissions and success. ...... and I have more....

 

IS THIS REQUIRED? 

 

I've read they only want the facts of location, grades, courses etc as above.... and Ive read this is where you flesh out why you homeschool .....

 

HELP ME PLEASE!!!! 

 

ALSO.... I see NOWHERE in the Common App that it asks for Course Descriptions.

Where is this? Is it per school? Is it required?

Edited by butterfly113
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Course descriptions, when provided, are uploaded as a transcript in the counselor's report. The Common app asks, "how many transcripts do you have?" which you are free to interpret as "how many PDFs do you need to properly document your homeschool education?"

 

It sounds like you have a very long school profile that goes into your curriculum, so you may not need a bunch of course descriptions?

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Course descriptions, when provided, are uploaded as a transcript in the counselor's report. The Common app asks, "how many transcripts do you have?" which you are free to interpret as "how many PDFs do you need to properly document your homeschool education?"

 

It sounds like you have a very long school profile that goes into your curriculum, so you may not need a bunch of course descriptions?

 

And that is part of my point... are the course descriptions required? 

 

Also, is it necessary to include the additional description of homeschool philosophy in the profile?

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And that is part of my point... are the course descriptions required? 

 

 

Course descriptions aren't required but they do help colleges get a full picture of what your student has done. If you feel you have covered it already then you don't need to do it again. However if you haven't, you may want to consider writing something up. 

 

Also, is it necessary to include the additional description of homeschool philosophy in the profile?

 
I would either copy your homeschool philosophy from the document you created or add more detail about your philosophy and put it there. Remember that any additional info you give the colleges about your homeschool approach can only help them get a better picture of your student and the educational environment of their homeschool. 
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Read the information for homeschooled applicants on each college website to find out if course descriptions are required. Often, the instructions are along the lines of, "whatever you can send to help us understand your home education is welcome," which leaves it up to you. The question to ask yourself is "do these records clearly reflect my child's academic achievements and make the case that my student is ready to do well at the colleges he or she is applying to?"

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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.

Edited by lisabees
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