How To Write Course Descriptions For Your Homeschool High School Student

Writing detailed course descriptions for all of the high school-level classes your homeschooler took can be a bit overwhelming. Keeping track of grades and creating a high school transcript are big jobs but an even bigger job is writing course descriptions! It can make a homeschool mom's head spin!  

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A course description is a way to explain what your student covered in each course they took in high school and how they were evaluated. As more and more families choose to homeschool, college admission departments are becoming a lot more familiar with homeschooled student transcripts. Providing colleges with course descriptions will help them understand your student's level of academic achievement, course difficulty, and how they earned their grades. 

I have a confession to tell you about course descriptions. I admit I was one of those homeschool moms who waited until my child was in 11th grade before I got serious about writing course descriptions for all of the high school level classes she had taken! I really regret not starting them earlier because it would have saved me a lot of time and wouldn't have been so overwhelming. I ended up setting a goal to have them all written by the end of the summer so that when she started applying to colleges that fall they were done and ready to be submitted with her transcript. 

I'm telling you all this not to scare you but to encourage you to get started pulling together these vital course descriptions today. 

How To Write High School Course Descriptions For Your Homeschooler

In this post we are going to cover the following 3 things you need to know about course descriptions:

1. What is a student portfolio.

2. How to write a course description and what to include in a good course description

3. How to submit a course description to a college. 

 

Student Portfolio

Speaking of college - I'm proud to say that my daughter was accepted into every college she has submitted an application! I'm not sharing this to brag (ok, maybe a little) but to tell you that your homeschooled child can and will get into college because homeschooling does works!

Even though college admission staff are beginning to become more familiar with homeschoolers I still wanted to make sure there was no confusion when they got her application. Instead of just sending each college her official transcripts (grades only) I put together and submitted to each college what I called a "student portfolio". Her student portfolio included the following:

• Official transcripts - make sure the words"Official Transcript" appear somewhere on the transcript you submit and that it is signed and dated)

• Course descriptions for all classes taken 9th grade through 11th grade - updated class descriptions for her 12th-grade year will be sent once her classes have been selected.

• Complete reading list of the books she was required to read in high school

• List of activities, achievements, and volunteer opportunities she participated in or received in high school

 Maybe I went a little overboard, but not a single college admissions department has asked for additional information or clarification of her transcript. The portfolio speaks for itself and I consider this a success!

I came up with the idea to call this bundle of information a "student portfolio" so if you call and ask an admissions counselor if you should submit a student portfolio they might react a bit confused about this concept. This is a term I use in our homeschool so my kids (and husband) know what I'm talking about. 

How To Write A Course Description 

Don't let writing course descriptions scare you! Once you learn how to find course information you will be well on your way to getting the task done. This is a task you don't want to put off until your homeschooler's senior year. Instead, begin writing the course descriptions for each class your child takes starting their freshman year.

Today I wanted to share with you how I wrote course descriptions for my daughter's high school classes and what they actually look like. My hope is that this example will be a springboard to get you started writing course descriptions for your student today. What I included in the course descriptions are what I determined to be the "must-have information" which I am going to try to break down into small easy to follow sections:

#1. Course Title

The course title should match the title from your student's official transcript. I listed all of the courses in bold so that the college admissions department could easily find each course within the course descriptions. If the class had a lab component include the words "with lab" in the course title. I chose to group my course descriptions by subject rather than by school year. You choose what works best for you!

#2. Credits Earned and Academic Level of The Class

Again, the credits earned should be consistent between the official transcript and course description. It is also helpful to state if this was a high school or college-level course especially if your student took the course as a dual-enrolled student. Here is an example:

This is a 1.0 credit high school level course.

 

or

This is a 1.0 credit dual enrollment course taken at Grand Rapids Community College.

#3. Written description of the course.

 This part should include skills acquired, material covered as well as details describing lab work if applicable. In addition, you should include how the student was evaluated - tests, quizzes, oral discussion, and essays. Lastly, a list of the course textbook(s), supplemental materials, and if this was an online class or lecture.

Here are some examples of the course descriptions I wrote:

Remember, I am not a professional course description writer so I'm sure there are bound to be a few inconsistencies but I tried my best and I think it does the job! If anything this is a good springboard for you as you prepare your high schooler's student portfolio and write course descriptions. 

How To Submit Course Descriptions To Colleges

As a homeschool mom, a.k.a. high school guidance counselor, I took a proactive approach when submitting my daughter's transcripts to each college. I saw myself as a kind of translator who was responsible for translating my student's homeschooling career into an easy-to-understand language the admissions counselor would understand. What worked well for me was to email the full student portfolio as one pdf document directly to her assigned admissions counselor.  

Plan on the course description document alone to range anywhere from 10-15 pages in length. This combined with the transcript, reading list, and activities/volunteer record can make for a lengthy document. Don't panic! Most colleges would rather get more information than too little and it is up to their discretion if they need to dig through every page. Most colleges do read every page! Not only will your child's complete student portfolio be helpful but it will show how seriously your homeschool student took their education. 

BONUS - Free Course Description Download!!

Now that you are all ready to start on this course description writing journey I thought I would lend a hand and give you access to a free Google doc with the course descriptions I wrote for my homeschooled high school student! 

Hopefully with this in hand all you have to do is tweak a few things here and there, add classes your student completed and add it to your student portfolio. 

Click this link to Free Course Descriptions

I wish you the best of luck as you and your homeschooled high schooler begin to navigate the "next step" on their educational path! 

What has been the most challenging part of the college application process for you and your student? Leave a comment to share!