imarebel

From ninth grade to present, I've been enrolled at an accredited independent college-prep online high school.

The student life is basically the same as a traditional school, except it's online, and students have the flexibility to pursue sports (like me), travel, etc. I "attend" school from home, my assignments are graded by certified teachers, etc.

So, do I check "Independent" or "Home School" as the school type on the Common App?

It's Sunday, so I will be calling my counselor on Monday. However, I'd like to receive CCers opinion on this issue today, if at all possible.

PlantMom

If all of your paperwork including teacher recommendations, guidance reports, transcript, secondary school report, etc. comes from the online school, I'd say you were a private (independent) school student. Will the online school provide a diploma? If you check the homeschool box, the common app will prompt you for a homeschool supplement that will end up being a duplicate of your secondary school report. If you're in Florida and it's FLVS you're referring to, then that's another story.

imarebel

No it's not FLVS; however, can you please clarify how FLVS is any different than other distance learning/virtual schools?

From information I've read on the Internet from varifiable sources, the legal definition of "home school" is the education at home, whether instruction is by a parent, tutor, or correspondence school; rather than in a formal setting as a public/private school.

I am still going to call my counselor tomorrow to verify; however I am interested in hearing others viewpoints.

PlantMom

Dealing with FLVS is a bit complicated because they are a non-diploma granting public school. Although they're a public school with enough courses to meet Florida graduation requirements, they don't meet some of the state's other graduation requirements such as providing the FCAT (our state's achievement test that must be passed to graduate). Therefore, to enroll in FLVS courses, one must be a student in a brick and mortar public school, a private school, or an official homeschool program, all of which have their own guidance counselors and ways of fulfilling their own graduation requirements. Although FLVS has guidance counselors, they do not, to my knowledge, ever act as a primary guidance counselor for college bound students. So, even if my officially registered-with-the-county homeschooled kids took all of their courses from public FLVS and wanted to apply to Florida universities as a public or even independent student from FLVS, they wouldn't be able to--the guidance bridge from high school institution to college doesn't exist yet. The fallback guidance link comes from the school at which the Florida student is legally registered--homeschool, private school, or public school. I hope that makes sense.

But I sense you are thinking about the opposite route. Do you want to apply as a homeschooler? If so, you'd certainly be able to make a case for doing so based upon the definition you gave above. Again, just be aware that you will have an extra shell of paperwork as a homeschooler. Applying as such certainly has its advantages. For one, you'd be able to explain why you were a home based/non-traditional student. I'd be interested to hear what your counselor advises.

imarebel

Thank you for clarifying! I spoke with my councelor this morning. He said that they strongly recommend that their students apply as home schoolers. Although, he said quite a few apply as independent. Additonally, he said that students who apply as home schoolers receive a competitive advantage in the admissions pool. I too indend to apply as a home schooler. Previous grads have been accepted to HYP, Stanford, Duke, etc. so I have no worries.

PlantMom

That's good news, rebel. You are fortunate to have both a guidance counselor and online school willing to look out for your best interests. We had a lousy experience with an umbrella that wanted to hide the fact that we were homeschoolers using online learning institutions. The guidance was just awful, a factor which likely contributed to waitlists at several elites for one of my kids. Good luck with your applications!

imarebel

I am sorry to hear that you had a lousy experience. My parents and I looked at several online schools before making a decision, and we're happy with the choice we've made. The online school that I go to isn't cheep, nor does it have too many students. Therefore, I've received a lot of individualized attention, which I really think has helped a lot.

Thanks for the luck! Cheers.

Senior's Dad

The only problem we've had with FLVS is that its courses are so dumbed down. It's worked okay for our home-schooling neighbors, but my kids hated FLVS. As a result, since my eldest's graduation from high school, all of my kids are attending (dare I say it) public school.