<p>Basically, I want to know if there is a way for me to calculate my GPA based on the subjects I do at home. Post away.. :)</p>
<p>Well, GPA is usually not a major factor for homeschoolers. Just add your grades with w/e weight and divide by number of classes I suppose.</p>
<p>Some people do weight GPAs by adding an extra point for college or AP courses (the latter taken elsewhere or supported by the test). You can do this or do it the simple way logisticswizard said -- I don't think it will make any difference.</p>
<p>Others don't bother at all. I didn't grade and it didn't seem to affect college admissions. When colleges asked, my daughter said NA. My understanding is that parent-generated grades are discounted. (Yeah, I've had a number of arguments over the years over this one, but it is the adamant position of my umbrella school. With around 1,000 graduates, they've only run across one college that wanted grades, and this was a more a question of having something to fill in their blanks than something that affected the admission decision.) Colleges look at test scores, outside courses and recommendations, course descriptions and reading lists, essays, work samples, awards, interviews, ECs, etc. in making their decisions. </p>
<p>Whether you weight or not is probably irrelevant, since colleges convert GPAs so they are all on the same basis -- or at least this is what I've heard. Not all schools weight or weight the same way; I've heard of regular schools that give an extra point for an honors course and two points for AP courses, for instance. Weighted GPA is something that is more relevant in comparing people within the same school for class rank.</p>
<p>The only folks that seem to be sticklers for homeschool grades that I ran across is the NCAA Clearinghouse. I ended up faxing them with my assurance that the courses on the transcript were passed.</p>
<p>See, right now, I have a couple of problems with applying to summer programs. I applied to RSI, and I doubt that I will get in. The competition seems really intense as well, so I am not so enthusiastic about it. I mainly applied to get the experience of applying to prestigious places and to get a taste of what college applications will be all about.
The program that has really caught my attention is the S3 program at Baylor college of medicine.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.bcm.edu/smart/?PMID=3611%5B/url%5D">http://www.bcm.edu/smart/?PMID=3611</a></p>
<p>There is a section in in the application form that states the following:</p>
<p>"Use the actual numerical grade (for example, 93) to calculate the score, not your GPA. Record the grade; for any honors or advanced class, add a 10 point bonus to the grade. i.e. 93 becomes a 103. </p>
<p>I called the contact number on the application form and told them of my situation. They said to email the director since and homeschool student had NEVER before been admitted. And now I come to my question. Should I just go ahead and fill the application form out and say that I have taken honors and AP courses. ( and I really have, but at home. I am preping for the AP bio, and I have taken all of my courses with seriousness) or should I email the director and ask more information. The Application deadline is Feb. 15. I think im gonna die.... :(</p>
<p>Oh, don't do that (die I mean ...)</p>
<p>Definitely ask the director. They need to have a policy for this situation. Since the deadline is approaching, calling the director may be better than emailing.</p>
<p>My daughter went to the summer program at Brown twice. They actually specify what they want from homeschoolers (a portfolio). Of course, I never could get them to tell me what specifically they wanted in said portfolio. So we came up with a summary introduction to the home study program, course descriptions, and some work samples.</p>
<p>This is close to what we submitted with college applications, too. Nobody told us what to do; we just came up with what seemed to present her strengths.</p>
<p>If they want grades, then give them grades. Perhaps they would be willing to look at supplemental information such as I've described as well.</p>
<p>I have been mauled with bad news and blessed with good news at the same time.</p>
<p>Bad news- I called the contact number again and the lady told me that the director was out of town and wont be back until the FOURTEENTH!! She told me the email her so that she will tell the director when she gets back.</p>
<p>Good new- I know what to fill out for everything except that part on honors or ap's. (at least I'm advancing)</p>
<p>Question: I find this question on the application form quite confusing (as to what I should put)</p>
<p>"Do you consider yourself to be from a disadvantaged background?" What is that supposed to mean. The first thing that immediately came to mind was 'i dont know' I really have no idea what to say. I dont think I come from a disadvantaged background, but then again both my parents grew up in foreign countries, they speak ok english with minor grammatical flaws, I just dont know.
has this question ever appeared to you? How did you take it?</p>
<p>I guess it won't hurt to get some grades together. If they are discounted, they are discounted. You aren't given much time to pull things together, are you?</p>
<p>I always have understood the "disadvantaged" question to relate to socioeconomic status.</p>
<p>CRbomber650, if that's just a yes/no question about coming from a disadvantaged background, I'd do as DianeR suggested and look at your economic status. If it's an essay, or otherwise has room for explanation, you could mention growing up in a non-English speaking home.</p>
<p>As far as your application goes, just complete it as well as you can. If you do have home issued grades, then include them. If not, take the opportunity to explain why you don't.</p>
<p>This is excellent practice for you college applications, and is a chance to get your transcript into shape. For your current application and for your college applications in the future, think of everything on the application as an opportunity to help them know who you are. Any time your experience does not fit into their format, find a way to use that to your advantage. They want grades, and you don't have them? Write a nice essay explaining what you have instead. </p>
<p>I suspect that if you send in your application as completely filled out as possible, along with supporting material to explain any departures from the format, they will consider you. Be sure to mention that you were unable to find out their homeschool requirements. </p>
<p>Let this be a very important lesson. It's never too soon to get in contact with colleges you are interested in to find out what their application requirements are for homeschoolers. The sooner the better. Schools keep track of early contact they have with students because it demonstrates sustained interest.</p>
<p>thanks to both of you: DianeR and Nan.</p>
<p>One last thing:is there some sort of format for high school transcripts that you recommend? Or are there any important guidelines that I should be aware of?</p>
<p>For your college admissions you should contact the schools you'll be applying to, at least the ones you really care about, and find out what their requirements are. Some colleges require portfolios, and some want transcripts as much like standard high school transcripts as possible. Some want complete course descriptions with supporting material, and some want brief descriptions. </p>
<p>Most likely you'll be able to find a format that will work for most of your applications, once you've contacted your top choice colleges.</p>
<p>My daughter applied and was accepted early decision to her university, so only had to put her transcript into the format requred for that school. However, it was a very thorough transcript and would have worked for her other applications as well if she had needed it.</p>
<p>If you've taken any classes outside the home be sure to include them, so your transcript reflects all the work you've done.</p>
<p>For your summer application, it's probably not as critical that you get it into a certain format. Just make it thorough yet concise, well organized, and easy to read. We put my daughter's together in an Excel speadsheet, then moved it to Word for final formating.</p>
<p>There's a lot of portfolio and transcript advice available in homeschooling literature. Arco's The Homeschooler's Guide to Portfolios and Transcripts was quite useful for us.</p>
<p>I've heard of people putting transcripts together several different ways. Some organize by grade level, others by type of subject. Some with lots of outside courses organize by whom the courses are from. Really, I think you can come up with anything that best shows what you have done.</p>
<p>We did it by grade level. But I also did course descriptions and I organized them by type of subject.</p>
<p>I think you can find transcript templates on the web. We used an umbrella school so they had the basic form. One useful thing was a legend for designating where certain courses came from. There was a blank space, so I had them put in my daughter's ECs. Nothing fancy -- something like "competitive fencer, 4 years." The form also said what the basis for granting credit was, which was a minimum of 120 hours work (a Carnegie unit). Be sure to have an address, a date, and your mom or dad's signature and I think you are good to go. Some folks like to have the transcripts notarized to make them seem more official.</p>
<p>I think I've mentioned before I didn't grade. The umbrella's form said that only objective, outside grades were shown. Instead of grades, the transcript showed credits, important since we had a some 1/2 credit courses and one course that was spread over 4 years. The total number of credits per year and overall were listed. I have heard of homeschoolers with lots of SAT II and AP scores showing those next to particular courses on their transcripts.</p>
<p>I always asked colleges what they wanted. No one, for us, came up with anything specific. A number said that course descriptions would be useful so we included that. I also threw in a reading list and a couple outside-evaluated work samples in my daughter's prospective field. I called some courses "honors" so I also gave my definition of that: using college-level materials.</p>
<p>But I don't know that there are any hard and fast rules. Present what shows you to best advantage. If you have lots of quantitative stuff (test scores, outside grades) show that. If you are relying on qualitative assessments, you might end up being as wordy as we (well, I) was. I don't know if anyone actually READ what I wrote other than my relatives, but who knows? At least when my daughter graduated and I showed everything we had done, for the first time they were impressed and thought that homeschooling was a great thing for my daughter.</p>
<p>When I applied to colleges, I put my GPA as 3.9. Basically, I stated that I don't get grades for subjects I study at home. If I don't understand something, I keep working on it until I know it and am doing 'A'-quality work. Once I know it, I move on to the next chapter or subject.</p>
<p>I have tutors and music teachers. Ten wrote me recommendations for my first-choice college. </p>
<p>I had only one outside grade, which was from a summer course at my top-choice school. The prof of that course and a TA enthusiastically recommended me. </p>
<p>I don't think colleges take into much consideration the GPA of a homeschooler. Recommendations from outside teachers, I am told, hold more weight than does a glowing letter from one's own mother (although my mom did write me a letter of recommendation). A GPA doesn't so much matter.</p>
<p>Wow, TEN letters of recommendation? Thats a lot, and now that I think of it, it is a good idea to send lots, since it has a lot of weight since for homeschoolers. Whats a TA?</p>
<p>A TA is a teaching assistant, aka a grad student. I had two for the course. They helped grade tests and quizzes and held review sessions of previously-covered material. </p>
<p>I had ten teachers send in recommendations for me to the University of Chicago. I also applied to Lawrence University and St. Olaf College, to which I had teachers send in three recs to each school. It worked, and I was accepted to all three schools.</p>