Counselor letter when ds attended 3 years of a private high school and currently DE at state college.

[Charity]

I asked this same question a while back. Today finally my son finished his part of common app and I got invited to be the counselor. My situation is weird in that ds homeschooled until 8th grade and attended a private high school for 3 years and for his senior year now he’s DEing ag our state university as a homeschooler. 
I feel writing counselor letter for me is a huge challenge since I didn’t homeschool him. But I think I will have to do it. I guess no one here has similar situation now, but I am just looking for some encouragement. Thanks for listening. 

[daijobu]

AFAIK, school counselors don't teach classes.  They describe the student outside of class, more as person and less academically.  The academic part is covered by his teacher recommendations.  You've got this.  

[Charity]

35 minutes ago, daijobu said:

AFAIK, school counselors don't teach classes.  They describe the student outside of class, more as person and less academically.  The academic part is covered by his teacher recommendations.  You've got this.  

Thank you so much!

[kokotg]

58 minutes ago, daijobu said:

AFAIK, school counselors don't teach classes.  They describe the student outside of class, more as person and less academically.  The academic part is covered by his teacher recommendations.  You've got this.  

What daijobu said; you know MUCH more about what his high school experience has been about than the average high school counselor would! 

[Farrar]

A lot of homeschoolers get defensive or anxious about the letter, but it's honestly a huge opportunity. Don't think of it as a justification of homeschooling. Don't think of it as about homeschooling at all. Don't worry that you're going to do it wrong. Just think of it as this golden opportunity to elevator pitch your kid to admissions directly. Be honest, but also just sing his praises in a succinct way. If his case, I'd be sure to explain why he changed his schooling mode and be sure you've said it in a positive way.

[J-rap]

I'm not familiar with the common app, but just a question:  Can the private school counselor write a letter too?  Your circumstances seem to be somewhat similar to mine.  My children went to public high school at least part-time while taking some of their classes as homeschool courses.

In my experience, and maybe I'm just lucky, the school counselor was happy to have me send her a rough draft of what I thought would be helpful for her to highlight for my child in their public school journey.  I wrote my own letter too, from a homeschool perspective.

[Farrar]

10 hours ago, J-rap said:

I'm not familiar with the common app, but just a question:  Can the private school counselor write a letter too?  Your circumstances seem to be somewhat similar to mine.  My children went to public high school at least part-time while taking some of their classes as homeschool courses.

In my experience, and maybe I'm just lucky, the school counselor was happy to have me send her a rough draft of what I thought would be helpful for her to highlight for my child in their public school journey.  I wrote my own letter too, from a homeschool perspective.

Only one person can be the counselor of record for the Common App - or for any college application. It absolutely should be the homeschool parent in this case.

However, the private school counselor could do something similar to what your school counselor did and help her draft the letter or suggest what they would have included. Or they be an "other recommender." And the private school teachers could be teacher recommenders. How many are allowed will depend on the school. And whether those are good choices or not will depend on the situation.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

Another option for including info from the previous counselor would be to quote them in your counselor letter. Not pages, but specific details or statements. 

Don't get freaked out by writing the counselor recommendation. 

Write about character traits, specific milestones that might not be clear in the application, and reasons for changing schools. 

What insights can you offer about who the student is. I like to use stories about their experiences or accomplishments to demonstrate the traits I'm trying to convey.