Course descriptions and work samples (Do you ever have to show actual work samples for college admissions?)

[EKT]

Hello!

I'm reading through the Motherlode posts and working on my daughter's ninth grade course descriptions. (My goal is to draft course descriptions annually every spring; this is my first go!) Some example course descriptions I'm looking at say things like "completed 18 labs" or "completed research paper" or whatever. This makes sense, and I plan to include the relevant info in my various descriptions, but still...I'm curious: Have you ever been asked to produce said lab reports or research papers for college admissions? 

I'm Type A by nature, so one thing I have going for me is that I keep excellent homeschool records. (The truth is I genuinely enjoy it; I love looking back on what we accomplished each year!) But I can't help wondering: Will anyone ever ask to see any of this stuff? Are work samples required anywhere in college admissions? (I'm not referring here to things like a portfolio for a prospective art major; I just mean...is anyone ever going to want to see my daughter's 2-page ninth grade essay on To Kill a Mockingbird for general admissions purposes?) 

To put it another way: Do colleges generally take your course descriptions at face value, or do you have to somehow "prove" you did the things you claim you did? (Did you save everything at the end of each school year, or just the major math tests/bio lab reports/capstone papers?) 

[Jann in TX]

The universities my dds applied to did not require course descriptions or samples.  For my middle dd (low SAT scores due to dyslexia) we sent in an optional writing sample (first chapter of a novel she was writing).  That sample made a difference and she was accepted within 2 weeks!

 

[Lori D.]

re: lab reports
ASU is the only university I've heard of that requires lab reports (although other schools may also require it, but they have not shown up on these boards). And they want you to fill out THEIR lab report. It is very possible they might also accept copies of your lab reports.

re: course description
Yes, quite a few colleges want to see this document. Also, this is an extremely useful document to have if the college your student wants to apply to uses the Common App. No, very rarely have I heard of anyone needing to back up their course description document with samples of completed work.

re: saved work
No, you don't need to save everything. However, it is always in your best interest to save samples--a handful from each course. So yes, saving that 9th grade essay on To Kill a Mockingbird might be a good sample to save. Yes, save the end-of-semester tests and capstone projects, but also save a few pieces of work to represent typical work across the semester.

And definitely keep all of your booklists, syllabi, and schedules (such as: if you print out a weekly schedule or check-off list for your student of what lessons, books, quizzes, videos, labs, etc., to accomplish that week).

Depending on how many courses your student is taking throughout high school, you can usually fit a small number of samples + capstones/final tests for each class in a 3-ring binder.

Will you likely need it? Probably not. BUT... people have posted here in the past that yes, the school their student applied to DID require a portfolio of representative work. Or life circumstances changed, requiring the student to have to go to a brick & mortar school, and the comprehensive samples saved the student from having to do the school's testing to "prove their credits." Or someone needed to recreate exactly what was done for a course because a program or internship the student was applying for wanted it. And the real kicker: twice during my 20+ years on these boards I have seen 2 different people post that they had to recreate documentation of homeschool high school -- for their student who was applying for a MASTER's or Ph.D. 😳

Good for you getting a jump on those course descriptions! Maybe throw all of the papers/tests/etc. in a box, and when you do the spring semester course descriptions, sort through all of your saved samples and whittle down into a reasonable amount and stick it in your binder.
BEST of luck as you wear your homeschool high school administrator hat!

👑 🎩 🎓

Edited February 27, 2022 by Lori D.

[Frances]

At least one of the selective LACs my son applied to required a graded high school paper to be submitted. I also recall him submitting a graded research proposal he wrote for a class he took at our state medical school. Perhaps for a special science scholarship? It’s hard to recall the specifics now. None of this was required as proof of anything, but just something all students, not just homeschoolers, were required to submit. This was in addition to the course descriptions and other homeschool materials I prepared.

[madteaparty]

Sample of one, here. Not lab reports. 

one school asks if you’ve completed a research project. If you click “yes” they ask several questions about it but you can’t upload the whole thing, just an abstract.

one LAC has an optional writing supplement. Used to be required to be graded but not anymore. 
and at least one other LAC you can upload optional information and I imagine a research paper might go there. 

[Eos]

My three graduates all submitted a lab report and an English paper.  One STEM, one music, and one humanities kid - I wanted to show breadth for each.

[EKT]

8 hours ago, Lori D. said:

Will you likely need it? Probably not. BUT... people have posted here in the past that yes, the school their student applied to DID require a portfolio of representative work. Or life circumstances changed, requiring the student to have to go to a brick & mortar school, and the comprehensive samples saved the student from having to do the school's testing to "prove their credits." Or someone needed to recreate exactly what was done for a course because a program or internship the student was applying for wanted it. And the real kicker: twice during my 20+ years on these boards I have seen 2 different people post that they had to recreate documentation of homeschool high school -- for their student who was applying for a MASTER's or Ph.D. 😳

Good for you getting a jump on those course descriptions! Maybe throw all of the papers/tests/etc. in a box, and when you do the spring semester course descriptions, sort through all of your saved samples and whittle down into a reasonable amount and stick it in your binder.
BEST of luck as you wear your homeschool high school administrator hat!

👑 🎩 🎓

Thank you, Lori D., for this information and for your general encouragement. (I had not thought about the possibility of a prospective grad school requiring records! That is a good reminder to keep things for the long haul.) 

I'd personally rather err on the side of overkill than insufficiency, so it's encouraging to know I'm on the right track (or at least, that I'm not on the wrong one). Thank you so much for your help!

[EKT]

9 hours ago, Jann in TX said:

The universities my dds applied to did not require course descriptions or samples.  For my middle dd (low SAT scores due to dyslexia) we sent in an optional writing sample (first chapter of a novel she was writing).  That sample made a difference and she was accepted within 2 weeks!

 

This is so good to know! (And congratulations to your middle dd!) 

[Lori D.]

2 hours ago, EKT said:

... I had not thought about the possibility of a prospective grad school requiring records! That is a good reminder to keep things for the long haul

That is clearly an extremely rare and odd circumstance. Not something that 99% of homeschoolers will probably ever encounter, so NOT something I would spend any time worrying about. 😉 

2 hours ago, EKT said:

...I'd personally rather err on the side of overkill than insufficiency, so it's encouraging to know I'm on the right track (or at least, that I'm not on the wrong one)...

But "overkill" doesn't need to be more than one binder per student. 😉 

And a lot of moms hand over that binder to the student once the student graduates from college (which also frees up your shelf space 🎉). So then it is up to the student to keep and store their own records if there is some obscure reason in the far future for needing them. 😉 

[kokotg]

14 hours ago, EKT said:

Hello!

I'm reading through the Motherlode posts and working on my daughter's ninth grade course descriptions. (My goal is to draft course descriptions annually every spring; this is my first go!) Some example course descriptions I'm looking at say things like "completed 18 labs" or "completed research paper" or whatever. This makes sense, and I plan to include the relevant info in my various descriptions, but still...I'm curious: Have you ever been asked to produce said lab reports or research papers for college admissions? 

I'm Type A by nature, so one thing I have going for me is that I keep excellent homeschool records. (The truth is I genuinely enjoy it; I love looking back on what we accomplished each year!) But I can't help wondering: Will anyone ever ask to see any of this stuff? Are work samples required anywhere in college admissions? (I'm not referring here to things like a portfolio for a prospective art major; I just mean...is anyone ever going to want to see my daughter's 2-page ninth grade essay on To Kill a Mockingbird for general admissions purposes?) 

To put it another way: Do colleges generally take your course descriptions at face value, or do you have to somehow "prove" you did the things you claim you did? (Did you save everything at the end of each school year, or just the major math tests/bio lab reports/capstone papers?) 

My oldest applied to 16 schools (mostly small LAC), and I think that 2 of those asked for examples of his work (IIRC it was Oberlin and Hamilton, FWIW). The requirement was pretty vague, though--I think he just put together a small portfolio with samples from across subjects (including both a lab report and a literary analysis and history paper). My current senior is applying as a music major, so far fewer schools and a different situation, but Bard did want to see a paper from him--I think it's required only of homeschool applicants. So our experience is that it's not common but definitely not unheard of. And I don't save everything! But having a few solid examples of lab reports and essays or research papers for assorted subjects is a good idea. 

[Farrar]

The graded paper thing has surged in popularity - not only for homeschoolers, but as part of holistic admissions. Just, hold on to a few from junior year.

All Arizona publics have to ask for proof of labs, so it's not just ASU. I have heard of some individual stories of schools asking to verify this, but it's not common.

It's totally possible that you won't need anything. But it's better to be safe than sorry. Don't feel like you need to keep much though. Book lists and course descriptions are much more key than anything else.

[Lori D.]

1 hour ago, Farrar said:

... All Arizona publics have to ask for proof of labs, so it's not just ASU...

Actually, in AZ, it is ONLY ASU that asks for this. The other 2 AZ state universities (UA and NAU) never chose to ask for this as proof.

Below, I am quoting you and me, haha! 😄  from this thread from 2 years back ("re: University of Northern AZ"😞
 

   On 1/5/2020 at 2:52 PM,  Farrar said: 

Are you sure? Someone said to me that another of the AZ state schools requires it as well...

On 1/5/2020 at 3:20 PM, Lori D. said:

Absolutely sure. That's my state, and I've researched all 3 of our public universities, plus all of our private schools. Years back, the AZ Board of Regents (which governs the public schools) included in their policies that universities have some sort of policy for proof from homeschoolers of science labs done in a lab setting. (That may be what that person who spoke to you was talking about.) But the only AZ school that actually followed through with a hoop for that policy was ASU. 

Here's the most recent (December 2019) AZ Board of Regents policies -- they have apparently dropped that proof of Science lab wording. (see below) I would guess that once ASU picks up on that change, that they may be likely to drop their requirement, as it has NOT worked in their favor. Even over the past 5-8 years, I've seen them start soft pedaling their requirement, because they've had so many great homeschoolers attend ASU, AND they seeing that it's more off-putting to potential students (who end up attending other AZ colleges) -- rather than making ASU look "rigorous", lol. Which it is not.

Home-schooled Student Criteria:
Each university will admit home-schooled students who meet criteria developed and established by each university. As possible, the universities will follow the admission criteria outlined in A.1.a. and b.

A. Freshman Applicants
A freshman is defined as a student who has graduated from a regionally accredited high school and has fewer than 12 transferable college credits post- high school.

   1. Admission criteria for residents and non-residents

      a) Assured Admission
1) Each university will admit undergraduate applicants, from regionally accredited high schools, who meet the 16 academic coursework competency requirements, herein after called “core” or “core competencies,” and demonstrate aptitude for coursework by earning a 3.00 unweighted core grade point average (GPA) on a 4.00 = A scale in the core competencies outlined in Section ABOR Policy 2-121C or rank in the top 25 percent of their graduating high school class.
2)  Each university will adhere to the core GPA as the primary consideration for assured admission.

      b) Delegated Admission
1) Each university may use its discretion in admitting applicants who do not meet the assured admission requirements, provided the applicant earns a core high school grade point average (GPA) of 2.5 or above on a 4.00 = A scale in the core competencies and have no more than 2 deficiencies. These 2 deficiencies cannot be in the same core subject area

Edited February 27, 2022 by Lori D.

[EKT]

1 hour ago, Farrar said:

The graded paper thing has surged in popularity - not only for homeschoolers, but as part of holistic admissions. Just, hold on to a few from junior year.

All Arizona publics have to ask for proof of labs, so it's not just ASU. I have heard of some individual stories of schools asking to verify this, but it's not common.

It's totally possible that you won't need anything. But it's better to be safe than sorry. Don't feel like you need to keep much though. Book lists and course descriptions are much more key than anything else.

Is it okay if the graded paper is graded by me? (We currently outsource French to WTMA, and my daughter plans to take some community college courses in 11th and 12th grades, but I used to be a high school English teacher, so I'm planning on teaching English throughout high school. Will colleges accept a paper graded by me for admissions purposes, or will it have to be graded by some other teacher? (FWIW, I provide extensive written comments, etc. when I grade my daughter's finished writing.) Thanks!

[ScoutTN]

If my student is registered with an umbrella school and so will have a transcript and diploma from them, will I still need to submit course descriptions? 

[Farrar]

1 hour ago, EKT said:

Is it okay if the graded paper is graded by me? (We currently outsource French to WTMA, and my daughter plans to take some community college courses in 11th and 12th grades, but I used to be a high school English teacher, so I'm planning on teaching English throughout high school. Will colleges accept a paper graded by me for admissions purposes, or will it have to be graded by some other teacher? (FWIW, I provide extensive written comments, etc. when I grade my daughter's finished writing.) Thanks!

I mean, you have to choose from what you have, so it has to be. I think the big things they're looking for are a good paper and some good feedback (though that latter depends - some schools want the feedback, others just want the grade). So it sounds like she'll have that. So that's fine.

[Farrar]

1 hour ago, ScoutTN said:

If my student is registered with an umbrella school and so will have a transcript and diploma from them, will I still need to submit course descriptions? 

Depends on the state. In Maryland, I would say yes, absolutely. I'm a lot less sure about Tennessee.

But don't see them as a drawback. Being able to do this stuff is a bonus. Yeah, it takes some extra work, but it's good for them.

[Aloha2U]

Has anyone had to provide more than just a transcript and SAT/ACT scores for community college admissions?

Edited February 28, 2022 by Aloha2U

[Wheres Toto]

12 hours ago, Aloha2U said:

Has anyone had to provide more than just a transcript and SAT/ACT scores for community college admissions?

My son didn't even need SAT/ACT scores for our local CC.   He could have skipped their placement tests if he had certain grades but it wasn't a big deal to not have them.    I did a transcript with just a list of classes and number of credits.

[regentrude]

None of the schools my kids applied to wanted to see work samples. If memory serves right, a few of the top selective schools required course descriptions. Most didn't. But that was when SAT subject tests were still a thing, and schools required several of those.

[fourisenough]

Yes, course descriptions were used, but only one graded essay was needed (for a scholarship application). I kept papers, exams, lab reports, and syllabi for each course. Will likely keep for a couple years, then shred. 99% wasn’t needed, but I’m glad I have it.