<p>Hi guys. I'm a homeschooler in China. Very few Chinese kids are homeschooled in China now, and we don't have a real organization or laws that support us. In additional my family's financial situation is not very good that I couldn't afford paid curriculums. So throughout my homeschooled years I've been self-studied, with help from my father, by using free books, videos, sites and other study materials on the Internet.</p>
<p>I know my education is very non-traditional and is something between homeschool and unschool. Colleges would definitely want to know how I learned in detail. So I wrote a long essay, reflecting and describing how I used online materials, sites to pursue my academic interests, how I searched for adults and online teachers to help me and how I used every way to make friends and get involved in various activities.</p>
<p>But this essay is about 4000 words! (I swear I wrote little about my reflections; most of the content is detailed descriptions of how I homeschooled, and it's hard to delete them.) All my friends and parents who have read the essay said that it gives them a clear picture of my homeschooling, and there's no need to delete the content. I too feel that, and without this essay, colleges wouldn't know exactly how I learned. But I'm still afraid that it'd scare admission officers away. Or would they be acceptable to such information, since I'm homeschooled? I found that colleges often like homeschoolers to send info as sufficient as possible to better evaluate the student.</p>
<p>I've also created a portfolio that includes not only course descriptions, struction and materials used, but also my papers/research summaries, summaries of my art works, the reading list and movies/documentary films I've watched. But it's 13 pages...am I really giving too much info?</p>
<p>I'm really confused. Please help me! Thank you!</p>
<p>I agree with your statement. It may also depend on the schools to which you apply. I don’t think you can go wrong by providing more information. </p>
<p>I am a homeschooling mom, and everything I’ve read indicates that schools always welcome more information with regard to homeschooling. They may not read it, but they welcome it. I called one of the (public univ.) schools to which my D applied, and they advised that they would be glad to receive any information that would put her in a more positive light.</p>
<p>With regard to your portfolio, it would definitely be welcomed. Thirteen pages is not too much. What homeschoolers provide to colleges will vary greatly, based on a wide variety of reasons. For my D’s applications, I submitted a transcript followed by course descriptions (1 page per course, 26 courses!), and a three paged “counselor” letter describing our schooling philosophy, goals, and my dd’s progression to being an independent learner. When the schools allowed, dd also had an instructor from a community college course submit a letter of recommendation.</p>
<p>Thank you Marbling for your sound advice and the links!!! </p>
<p>Do you think I need to contact each college about my long essay, or I can just upload it on Additional Information? I hope they will not be like, “Oh my god 4000 words? I won’t read it.”</p>
<p>I don’t know… that is REALLY a lot of words. I am not sure your friends and parents in China have a very clear view of the college admissions process here in the US, so they may not be the best to judge whether it is really appropriate. Have you taken standardized tests (SAT or ACT)? You might be better off putting some of that in more of a resume-type format (sort of a replacement for a transcript) with bullets, vs. an essay/paragraph format. You could do an intro essay of a couple of pages with a discussion of your philosophy of how you approached your learning.</p>
<p>I’ve trimmed it down to 3200. It really covers almost every aspect of my homeschool, like finding study materials, making schedule, socialization etc… And that counts to 3000 words. I’ll put the philosophy and goals on the homeschool supplement. And I’ll contact each college I’m applying to. Thank you all for your advice!</p>
<p>When my son and I finished his homeschool portfolio, we made a table of contents so the reviewers could skip through it and get to the information they were looking for if that is what they wanted. I vote for the front page summary and a table of contents.</p>
<p>In GENERAL, I disagree with the above. It is not necessary to provide extra info. UNLESS asked to do so by the college. (They will gladly take what you send, but most colleges will not use it for anything–it will go in the trash. And the bigger the school, the faster it will go in the trash.) IMO, you should make a transcript or one-page summary of your “work” by subject. Colleges will be most interested in your SAT or ACT score. That is the only objective way colleges will compare you to other applicants. If your scores are good, and your essay is good (describing your unique education in your essay is a good idea, but try to keep it within recommended limits), your chances will be good. </p>
<p>I have 2 home-schooled kids through college who had top scores (one NMF) and no question about one-page transcript. Nothing extra. I also have 2 kids who have gone through a public high school, both NMF. One page transcript.(BTW, I do test prep classes for home-schoolers.)
Have you seen public school transcripts? They do not include textbook titles, copies of student research papers, or teaching philosophy etc.
Course title, grade, credit hours–that’s all. A course with the same title (“English 9”) can vary greatly school to school or even teacher to teacher in the same school. Colleges don’t care. Every education is unique, yes. And colleges make admissions decisions every year based on this limited info.
That’s why they want to see your SAT/ACT scores above all else. While the links above advocate for comprehensive records, they also recommend a one-page transcript. The mom states that her kids were offered large scholarships. I guarantee those scholarships were offered based on the kids’ high test scores, NOT based on comprehensive records.</p>
<p>She didn’t ask if it was necessary, it was additional info she wanted to provide.</p>
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<p>My D’s experience has been completely opposite of this. She applied to a school with an undergrad enrollment of 17,000. The counselor called me on the phone with a question about a subject, and he told me that he had the transcript, the 26 page course description, and my 3 page “counselor” letter (which detailed our homeschool journey). He offered (without my asking) that the info was very helpful, that he typically would have to call homeschooled families for more info. </p>
<p>She also applied to a school with an enrollment over 30,000. This school told me over the phone that any additional information I chose to send would be welcomed in their consideration for admission, whether the student was homeschooled or not.</p>
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<p>Many colleges are interested in far more than your scores. They are interested in what you will bring that is different to their school. Scores are one consideration, but not necessarily the only consideration.</p>
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<p>And this is where homeschooled students can shine! That first school I mentioned above–the counselor called to discuss the possibility of my D taking a higher level math class during 2nd semester of her senior year. (They wanted one class higher than Alg II.) He said the school recognizes that homeschoolers have the advantage of tweaking their schedules to change or add classes like this.</p>
<p>For so long, homeschoolers have tried to fit into the college box, but that’s no longer necessary at every college. The uniqueness of homeschoolers is more acknowledged and appreciated.</p>
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<p>I disagree. Admissions make decisions every day between students who might appear similar on paper. Providing more information can tip the scale and highlight what makes you special. It can definitely make <strong>ALL</strong> of the difference in being admitted or not.</p>
<p>I have found this to be so, as well. I’ve shared (maybe here, maybe elsewhere) that admissions at Harvey Mudd were so happy to have all the documents (including a transcript with 1 6page course descriptions) as it made it super easy to see what we did. Princeton’s initial response to my 21 page course description (“we’ll take it but if you can make it shorter, that would be great”) caused me to shorten it, but they obviously were fine with all the documentation since my son was admitted.</p>
<p>I guess it’s different strokes for different folks. :-)</p>
<p>My son was just admitted to Princeton, and we submitted a bound booklet that was about 60 pages front and back. I do not know if they read it all, but scanning through it was one way to see the rigor of his curriculum. We felt that everything we submitted was important to explain what he did during high school.</p>
<p>I would follow the directions in terms of word limits for the essays, but I don’t think it would hurt to send your explanations and essays to the admissions office too. Some may read it all and savor it all, some may not read it at all, but I don’t think anyone would hold it against you at all. It might answer some questions they may have.</p>
<p>For homeschooled candidates, SAT2s can be very important along with the ACT or SAT1.</p>
<p>I would say your essay is certainly excellent to include under additional information (but not as your admissions essay). I might take out your papers, research and art summaries from the portfolio (which I guess makes it less of a portfolio) so it is more focused on the curriculum you followed, and provide those if asked. Actually, by the sounds of things you might be able to combine your essay and parts of your portfolio to create a curriculum plan write-up.
However, given your special circumstances, more information is probably better than less.</p>
I do not know if they read it all, but scanning through it was one way to see the rigor of his curriculum. We felt that everything we submitted was important to explain what he did during high school.</p>