Common Application Homeschool FAQ Infographic
Common Application FAQ:
How to Answer Those Tricky Questions
- “What is your title?”
Guidance counselor
Home Educator
Homeschool Parent
- “Graduating class size”
1
N/A
Not applicable
- “Are classes taken on a block schedule?”
No
N/A
Not applicable
- “Graduation date”
06/16
(Insert June of senior year)
- “Do you use AP curriculum?”
Yes (if approved by College Board)
No (if not approved – they still accept AP scores)
- “Do you provide applicant’s academic rating?”
Yes
- “Transcript Affirmation?” “Communication?”
<Check that box!>
- “Class Rank”
1 out of 1
Not ranked
None
- “Do you report GPA?”
Yes
- “Cumulative GPA”
<Insert transcript GPA through 11th grade>
- “Please indicate the most recent grades”
<Insert final junior year grades>
- “I recommend this student”
Enthusiastically
Highest recommendation
- “Provide any information on the homeschool experience”
<insert more information or homeschool profile>
- “Please indicate grading scale”
A (Excellent) 90-100%
B (Very Good) 80-89%
C (Average) 70-79%
D (Poor) 60-69%
F (Failing) <60%
- “If course taken outside the home”
(this section is all optional)
- “Are you member of a homeschool association?”
(optional)
Keep in mind that for many questions the answer is simply:
N/A
Not applicable
See attached
For more information, read this article:
One Common Application – One Uncommonly Challenging Struggle
Have you completed the Common Application yet? Please leave your tips in the comments! I’d love to hear your experience, and glean more tips to share!
Regarding your advice:
“Do you provide applicant’s academic rating?”
Yes
You do not have to answer this Yes if you don’t want to!
Answer this “No” if you want to leave the academic ratings blank. It will turn off the red response required asterisk on the ratings questions and you can skip them.
I found it really difficult to try to guess what percentile my daughter was in some of those categories, yet checking “No basis for judgment” made it sound like I’d never met my own kid. Using the “no rating provided” option gave me the chance to just skip that stuff.
Agreed, Janet – most of the Common App is optional and confusing. Read teh whole article for more encouragement. http://www.thehomescholar.com/one-common-application.php
Blessings,
Lee
Are you a member of a homeschool association is not an optional question (perhaps this changed). I’m not sure what they are seeking here. Is it just to know if we are part of a group? Like a local group? Or do they want to know national or state affiliations?
Hi Leslie,
Hi Leslie,
They want to know if your homeschooler is part of a homeschool association or diploma program of some sort that will be issuing a diploma for your student. Since it’s optional, you can choose not to answer that one, or you can say “yes” or “no” according to your homeschooling.
Robin
Assistant to The HomeScholar
Thank you so much for the help Robin. It really isn’t clear what they are asking for and I appreciate your help on this!
Those kind of ambiguous questions are very stressful, Leslie! You wonder what the implication is for your homeschooling and your family.
We are always happy to help!
Robin
Assistant to The HomeScholar