Sometimes called the School Profile Report or School Report, this document is an opportunity for homeschool families to provide context on why they chose to homeschool, how courses (and learning more generally) were structured, the rigor of classes and evaluation methods, and the overall learning environment. Based on conversations with college admissions officers, it’s clear that the School Profile Report is one of the most important parts of the application process for homeschool families.
Homeschool families choose to educate their children in this unique way for a variety of reasons and it’s here that parents have an opportunity to provide valuable context to the academic environment that’s prepared their child to be a valuable member of a college’s academic community.
While traditional schools provide their students a generic school profile report for their entire school, homeschool families have the opportunity to cater their report to the specific applicant.
Based on conversations with college admissions officers, and reviewing 100s of successful homeschool school profile reports, the following sections should be included in your report:
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Homeschool history, where parents should provide information about when and why they decided to homeschool;
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Homeschool philosophy, where parents should explain whether they have particular views on how students learn best, how they’ve employed those methods, and ways that the student themself is involved in exploring their interests/developing curricula;
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Environment and Curriculum, where parents should describe the classroom environment (in person, online, individual instruction, small group instruction, etc.) and how the specific curriculum for this student was developed. If parents used a set curriculum, let the student develop the curriculum, had certain requirements combined with student-led initiatives, created a mix of accredited school and micro-school curriculum, or some other method, it should be noted here;
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Graduation Requirements, where the parents should note how credits for each class were determined and the number of credits required to graduate from their homeschool;
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and Grading, where parents should detail their grading scale (weighted or unweighted, as referenced in the Transcript section) and how grades overall are determined. If the student took classes at an accredited institution (high school, college or university), it should be noted here that the grades reflected in the transcript were determined by the school where the class was taken. If grading is based on a combination of engagement with course material, testing, or some other method, it should be noted.
Ultimately, college admissions officers are trying to understand the structure and rigor of a homeschool, and in doing so, determine whether a student is sufficiently prepared to succeed at any given college or university. The school profile report is one of the primary mechanisms for admissions officers to make that determination.
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This blog post is a part of YourEDU’s Homeschool to College Series, overviewing the different aspects of applying to college as a homeschooler. It’s important to note that YourEDU is not a college consulting company, rather, it’s a college application platform for homeschool students and parents. YourEDU has partnered with the Common, and is working with hundreds of individual colleges and universities, to help homeschoolers understand requirements, create admin materials, and apply to college. This series of blog posts comes out of conversations with college admissions professionals, reviewing hundreds of successful homeschool applications, and Henry’s (YourEDU co-founder) own experience applying to college as a homeschooler.