Momto6inIN Posted July 12, 2019 Share Posted July 12, 2019 I must have spent a hundred zillion quadrillion hours 2 years ago on researching how to do oldest DS's counselor portion of the Common App. School profile, philosophy and motivation, evaluation methods, outside coursework, transcript, course descriptions, counselor letter, etc This year with 2nd DS I just have to tweak the stuff I used for 1st DS and write the counselor letter. Phew! Sooooo much less stress this time around! Many thanks to all on this board who gave advice and answered questions patiently! And to all of you in the thick of it for the first time this year, be assured that it won't always be this time consuming! 🙂 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerryAtHope Posted July 13, 2019 Share Posted July 13, 2019 Ha! Glad it was so much smoother for you the second time around :-). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2_girls_mommy Posted July 24, 2019 Share Posted July 24, 2019 I am just about to start this process. I am so not looking forward to it! High school counselor is the hardest part of homeschooling. Educating was just not that big of a deal compared to this. I never read this board before last night, but I've put it off long enough, and now I'll be the one with all of the questions for the next year. Be ready to share your expertise. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miguelsmom Posted July 24, 2019 Share Posted July 24, 2019 I have filled out my son's portion of the common app. Where's the school's portion? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momto6inIN Posted July 24, 2019 Author Share Posted July 24, 2019 5 hours ago, Miguelsmom said: I have filled out my son's portion of the common app. Where's the school's portion? Your son's application should have a place to give a Ferpa waiver to add a counselor that can contribute to his application. When that is done, the counselor (presumably you 😊) will get an email invite to create a counselor account in the Common App. You will then have a place to input a school profile, a counselor letter, and an official transcript (which all students have) and since your son will have indicated he was a homeschool student on his application there will also be a place for you to provide info re your philosophy of education and motivation for homeschooling, your grading and evaluation policies, and any outside class experience your student has had, and also to provide any additional "transcripts" (usually course descriptions). Your son's dashboard will keep track of whether his counselor's portion is finished or not as well as the status of his applications. Some of the aspects of the Counselor portion will repeat info on the student's portion of the application, but some of it is different. I could be wrong, but it is my understanding that no student's application is considered complete without a counselor. Can I ask why you are doing your son's application instead of him doing it himself? Most neurotypical kids who are college ready should be able to fill theirs out on their own, although with you available for questions and help, of course. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miguelsmom Posted July 24, 2019 Share Posted July 24, 2019 We fill out the applications together. He fills it out. I'm just there if he needs anything. We've been working on the common app for years. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daijobu Posted July 24, 2019 Share Posted July 24, 2019 10 hours ago, 2_girls_mommy said: I am just about to start this process. I am so not looking forward to it! High school counselor is the hardest part of homeschooling. Educating was just not that big of a deal compared to this. I never read this board before last night, but I've put it off long enough, and now I'll be the one with all of the questions for the next year. Be ready to share your expertise. It was kinda hard to wrap my head around the CA because there are so many parts and sub-parts. But I've found it is very forgiving of errors and redos. Just about anything you enter can be rescinded and re-entered later. Even after you upload a pdf, like a transcript or school profile, if you later change your mind, you can delete it and upload another copy. (This is all before you hit the final, final, final, submit button at the very end. No changes after that.) But when you are completing everything for the first time, it's all changeable. After August 1, you can start taking a look around. You'll need to have your student create an account first, and then name you as a counselor. Then you can register and log in and start familiarizing yourself and filling in basic information. I found the customer service reps at the CA were very responsive, too. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RanchGirl Posted September 1, 2019 Share Posted September 1, 2019 On 7/11/2019 at 8:30 PM, Momto6inIN said: I must have spent a hundred zillion quadrillion hours 2 years ago on researching how to do oldest DS's counselor portion of the Common App. School profile, philosophy and motivation, evaluation methods, outside coursework, transcript, course descriptions, counselor letter, etc This year with 2nd DS I just have to tweak the stuff I used for 1st DS and write the counselor letter. Phew! Sooooo much less stress this time around! Many thanks to all on this board who gave advice and answered questions patiently! And to all of you in the thick of it for the first time this year, be assured that it won't always be this time consuming! 🙂 I'm in the thick of it!! I'm on my second student applying to college but he is the first to use the common app. Do you have any advice for the profile and counselor letter? Are there any examples of these for homeschools? My son did 2 years of traditional homeschool and 2 years of dual enrollment at a nearby University. Naturally, his U profs are no help as counselors (or even LORs). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momto6inIN Posted September 1, 2019 Author Share Posted September 1, 2019 3 hours ago, RanchGirl said: I'm in the thick of it!! I'm on my second student applying to college but he is the first to use the common app. Do you have any advice for the profile and counselor letter? Are there any examples of these for homeschools? My son did 2 years of traditional homeschool and 2 years of dual enrollment at a nearby University. Naturally, his U profs are no help as counselors (or even LORs). I'm surprised they won't write a LoR! Did they give any reason why not? Here's our school profile (along with contact info at the bottom): Mission X Homeschool was founded in 2013 in order to establish a strong family bond as well as to provide an individualized and rigorous program of academic excellence. Community and School Profile X Homeschool is located in X County, Indiana. According to 2010 U.S. Census data, the local community is X% white, X% Hispanic, and X% other. X percent of the local populace is college educated, and both parents in our homeschool earned a college degree. The median income in the community is $X. Population size of the nearest town is X. The local economy depends on agriculture and related businesses. Academic Program X Homeschool follows the Indiana state “Core 40” guidelines, encourages all of our students to maintain a grade point average of a “B” or higher, and encourages all of our students to pursue an academic honors diploma. A minimum of 50 credits are required to graduate. This includes 8 credits of English/Language Arts, 8 credits of Math, 8 credits of Science, 8 credits of Social Studies, 6 credits of Foreign Language, 2 credits of Fine Arts, 2 credits of Physical Education, 1 credit of Health, and 7 credits of Electives. One standard Carnegie Unit is the equivalent of 2 credits. Courses Available Courses at X Homeschool follow a college-prep program using a mixture of textbooks, videos, and online resources. Honors courses are made available in subjects of particular interest to each student. Grading Procedures All courses at X Homeschool are graded on a 4-point non-weighted scale according to the following chart, regardless of honors designation. A 90 – 100 4 points B 80 – 89 3 points C 70 – 79 2 points D 65 – 69 1 point F 64 & below 0 points Student Activities Students at X Homeschool are encouraged to seek out and join community clubs and organizations. Our students have been involved in 4-H, church youth group, Math Counts, Indiana Beekeepers Association, National Christian Forensics and Communications Association Speech and Debate Club, X Drama Troupe, X Food Pantry, church choir, Friends of the Library, Harvest Call mission/volunteer activities, and others. For the counselor letter we looked at the "whole package" of their application - what he was going to highlight in his essay, what we thought the other LoR writers would highight, etc. And then I tried to figure out what else needed attention drawn to it to make the application stand out. It was written from a personal perspective, because obviously I'm his mom and we didn't want the letter to seem as if I was trying to downplay the fact that we homeschool. I ended it with something along the lines of "X is ready for the challenge of a university environment and would be an outstanding addition to any university campus." 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RanchGirl Posted September 3, 2019 Share Posted September 3, 2019 thanks Mom26, that was super helpful. I used your post as a starting point and ideas started to flow. I am almost done with the profile now thanks to you! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momto6inIN Posted September 3, 2019 Author Share Posted September 3, 2019 16 hours ago, RanchGirl said: thanks Mom26, that was super helpful. I used your post as a starting point and ideas started to flow. I am almost done with the profile now thanks to you! Yay! Glad it was helpful 🙂 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted September 3, 2019 Share Posted September 3, 2019 (edited) Also, don't forget that there's a ton of "been there done that" advice and wisdom in the past threads linked in the giant thread "College Motherlode", pinned at the top of the College board. PAGE 2 is all past threads about college applications and loads of specific questions about Common App. PAGE 3 has all the money matters topics -- financial aid and scholarships. ETA: Also, there are some tutorials on filling out the Common App:"How To Guide" to the Common App (2019-2020)" -- youtube video tutorial"How to Apply to College" -- if using Common App; article/tips from Common App itself"Common App Blog" -- web article info from Common App itself Edited September 3, 2019 by Lori D. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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