<p>Hey,
So I'm applying to a few colleges with the common app and I'm a little confused about the school forms section. I am homeschooled but I technically attend a long distance school that keeps my records etc. My "counselor" at this school told me that she can fill out the school forms...but she doesn't really know me or the reason I homeschool, so that doesn't really make that much sense. Should I have my mom fill out the counselor recommendation form and then one of my tutors fill out the teacher recommendation? There's also a homeschool form, in which case do I submit that along with the other two recommendations?
Thanks, I'm going a little crazy with all these apps...</p>
<p>My kids homeschool, and they do it for real, so these guidelines refer to them - </p>
<p>I am the counselor. I create a transcript, write the counselor letter and fill out the school form. I also do the homeschooled supplement. For the two recs, she used one online teacher, and a math prof at a local university who runs the high school math circle that my daughter has been involved in for the past 5 years. </p>
<p>If 100% of your classes are through the online school, then I would have the counselor create the transcript, the counselor letter, etc. I would ask two tutors who know you best to do the recs. If you have taken any local classes , maybe at a CC, I would ask one of those teacher is that works.</p>
<p>I think the HSing form would be your parents or your job, but here is the tricky part - it should be sent in with the counselors stuff, either electronically or by snail mail. (to get it electronically, you need to enter your counselors name on the common app school form section - that field becomes visible only after your finish a particular section of the CA, but I cannot remember what it was…) So you will need to furnish your counselor with the information needed for her to fill out the forms. It is not a difficult form.</p>
<p>My son homeschooled and took <em>many</em> classes at the CC. I did the counselor letter and the transcripts, and he asked profs from the CC for teacher recs.</p>
<p>I don’t know if you have to have that school do your stuff or not - why don’t you ask the colleges? Or, if you’re paranoid (like me), ask OTHER colleges what they would want. If you decide that you have to have the online school fill out your counselor stuff, you could do an ADDITIONAL rec letter from your mom, either invited as another teacher or sent in snail mail. </p>
<p>One school told me that their standard party line of “don’t send us too much junk” doesn’t apply to homeschoolers because they’re so different the school needs lots of documentation to understand.</p>
<p>If the “long-distance school” merely keeps your records, but doesn’t control your curriculum, then I think you should just do the Secondary School Report and the Homeschool Report yourself (well, you and your parent) as would a student who is a more traditional homeschooler.</p>
<p>I completed the common ap much like anotherparent. Our homeschool oversight would have provided transcripts, however, when they sent me a copy of his transcript for the “good student” drivers’ insurance discount, I was NOT impressed. It was handwritten and quite unprofessional. Plus, it took 2 phone calls requesting it and was still late. I didn’t want to take any chances with the transcripts, so I prepared my son’s using Protranscript ( transcriptpro- I forget. I guess I must be a bit dyslexic!) Anyway, it wasn’t a problem and all went well. Lastly, I sent the school’s part ie guidance counselor’s part snail mail while my son sent his part in electronically.</p>