Hello,
Does anyone have a sample page or example of a homeschool course description? Also, where is it submitted through common/coalition application?
Look at your local high school or a college course description. Those will give you an idea of what they look like.
I know CC doesn’t like blog links all the time but there are some nice guides for writing descriptions out there if you google “homeschool course descriptions” you will find some guidance.
My kid’s transcript is 13 pages long. The first page is a traditional one page grid transcript like you’d expect. The rest is a graduation credit worksheet and course descriptions sorted by subject area. We loaded all of that into the counselor transcript document on the common app. 11+ applications in and no complaints yet. Though one is complaining about something else homeschool related.
Anyway - with the traditional transcript on the front page, it’s easy to ignore all the extra info. And I’m sure no one is reading it in full anyway, but they can clearly see our method.
We had the same setup as above and it seems to be working well.
Here’s a sample.
Fall 2011 – HONORS Foundations and Economics
Spring 2012 – HONORS Advanced Economics
For High School credit, the material covers the following subjects: Economics (.5 credits), Advanced
Economics (.5 credits), Entrepreneurship (.25 credits), Law & Justice (.25 credits), and Ancient History
(.25 credits). Timelines, maps, quotes, and internet links and original source documents (added by Mrs.
XXX) enrich the experience even more.
The course includes the following texts: Uncle Eric Talks About Personal, Career, and Financial
Security; Workbook: Building a Personal Model for Success; Whatever Happened to Penny Candy?;
Workbook: Economics; Whatever Happened to Justice?; Workbook: Justice (Law and Justice); Economics:
A Free Market Reader; Ancient Rome and How It Affects You Today; Workbook: Ancient Rome
Economics (Rise and Fall of the Pax Romana); The Money Mystery; Workbook: Solving the Money
Mystery; The Clipper Ship Strategy; Workbook: Applying the Clipper Ship Strategy (How to use your
economic studies in real life); Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt
1.75 High School credit
Method of Evaluation: Weekly graded homework, chapter tests, weekly class discussions, midterm and
final
Grade: A
Date: 2011-2012
Location: XXX
Teacher: XXX
One of the state colleges on “the list” required not just a materials list but a full description for homeschool classes. I found my state’s handy standardized course description booklet online and copy/pasted whatever fit. That document became 24 pages.
One of the higher up adcoms at Samford, a Christian school in Alabama, told me at {an invite only recruitment event based on SAT score} that not only would I need this 24 page course description document, but I would also need to provide class syllabuses for every class. “Every class,” said I, “all 20 classes?” “Yes,” said he, “because otherwise we can’t make sure your algebra I is the same as everyone else’s algebra 1.” “You want the 4+ page syllabus for every class? That’s 80 pages and a ridiculous requirement.” “Yes, we need that for every class.” I turned to my kid and said, “C’mon, we’re wasting our time. Their loss, not ours.” I turned to this adcom and told him that we would not grace his desk with an application. So far, sr has been admitted with merit $ at 7 schools, most in the top 100 lists. I’m telling my homeschool group not to bother Samford with applications but to focus on schools which do not have narrow minded requirements.