<p>I've seen some people talk about sending colleges very detailed information, curriculum descriptions, information about why they homeschool and their school philosophy, ect. How should these extra documents be formatted, where should letters of recommendation come from, and how many pages is too much?</p>
<p>I'm planning to apply to MIT, CalTech, Wellesley, and Harvey Mudd among others, just to give you an idea</p>
<p>Hackschooler, I think the lack of replies is because the question is so wide open that trying to give a good answer becomes quite complex and overwhelming. Additionally, these general questions have been answered often in this forum. Even so, if we knew more about your education or background, it might be easier to help you. The level of colleges you are interested in helps some, but would you mind giving us a little more to go on? Test results, background, type of courses taken, dual enrollment, strictly online, etc.</p>
<p>You really need to visit each school’s website and search for their homeschool specific admissions requirements along with their regular admissions check lists. I have seen vast differences from school to school. It’s making it rather like jumping through hoops. I have one app that my d is working on where I’m supposed to proved a bibliography of our school text books and curriculum. Um…we have used a literature-based program and there is no way I am creating a full bibliography for hundreds of books. I have a transcript (notarized), a six page course description document, a resume of my d’s activities, and I will include other forms as requested from the schools. Whether it is requested or not, I will include a letter along with the documents. I’ve been customizing this letter according to what I think the school is looking for from the “school counselor”. In one version, it’s more of a recommendation and in another it might be more like a profile of our homeschool. I’m trying to prepare a package for each school and send it in one envelope. My d will also have recommendations from 1-3 other people as the schools request. Those will be sent directly from those teachers. Of course, we also send SAT scores and request transcripts from the cc d has done dual credit courses with. </p>
<p>When in doubt, contact an admissions counselor. Many schools have one who works with homeschool applicants </p>
<p>And for a different take~ :-)</p>
<p>I don’t customize my counselor letter at all. Once size fits all is easiest for me. I just try to address all the points that I think would be important for the counselor to know.</p>
<p>As far as LORs, my oldest son, homeschooled all the way through, is a junior at MIT. He was also accepted to Mudd, Caltech, etc. His letters came from: local univ. professor, online math tutor, and homeschooled honors/AP Lit teacher. His music rec came from a family friend, and I honestly can’t remember who his “other” recommender(s) were. Maybe someone from church?? Sorry. Can’t recall. </p>
<p>My current son’s recs (also homeschooled all the way through): college prof, homeschool co-op teacher, and probably another college prof. His “other” recommenders are his former boss and his music teacher.</p>
<p>And we’ve only done letters through the Common App, not via snail mail, though I did ask one recommender to send it via snail mail.</p>
<p>And yes, I have a document with very detailed information about why we homeschool, our philosophy, curriculum used, grading scale, etc. Basically, whatever is <em>your</em> family’s situation and decisions should go into that letter. Your parent or another adult needs to be involved, if possible.</p>