<p>So it's that time of year again...with college apps looming up ahead of us...</p>
<p>So I have a question to the folks who've already been through this process (student or parent). How did you deal with GPA? Did you include it with your transcript to make it look as "normal" as possible? Or did you forgo the whole GPA grading scale? What about weighted and simple GPA's?</p>
<p>I just recently calculated my weighted and simple GPA, counting only my AP classes as weighted. The weighted GPA sits somewhere around 4.4 (out of 4) and looks ridiculously high, especially for a "self-graded" student. The thing is though, I really did earn those A's (apparent if you check my AP scores). I don't know how colleges would look at that.</p>
<p>Have you taken the SAT/ACT? If your scores are above, say, the 90th percentile, I don't think your grades will be questioned--especially with your AP scores. I would imagine that many homeschoolers are given a 4.0 by their parents. If your scores match up, no problem. A 4.0 with average or below average scores might raise some eyebrows, though.</p>
<p>My son's high school courses are mostly external courses (distance learning or college-as-high-school dual enrollment), so I just pass along the transcripts from those programs along with a statement that our family's homeschool doesn't issue grades.</p>
<p>I have been wondering about that myself. My son's classes are mostly external too, but there are a few that were solely homeschooled. At the recommendation of a friend who is a homeschooling mom as well as a school administrator, I have assigned grades for the homeschooled classes just as a formality. She said when her daughter applied to college she sent in the transcript (record of course work) without grades and they called her back and asked to assign them. My friend said she thought that was a bit silly, being an independent study type situation without institutional standards, but the school said it was difficult to process the application without them. My friend went ahead and gave her daughter all A's because that's what she thought she deserved... and the girl got into that school, although ultimately decided to go elsewhere.</p>
<p>I retrospectively assgned my son A's too. I figure those grades are backed up by later work and test scores. For example, I gave him A's in algebra 1&2 and geometry, but he has a later pre-calc class he took at the high school where he also got an A, and his senior year (now) he aced the placement exam to enroll in calculus at the college. His SAT math scores are okay (a 690 which is 93rd%, and a 730 on the math2 subject test - which is not an "A", but I'm not going to dock his transcript for that one test.)</p>
<p>Same with world history. He did it at home, I gave him an A, but he then got a 770 on the subject test.</p>
<p>Stuff like that. I figure my A's are backed-up enough to not look ridiculous. He has a 4.0 with the classes he's actually taken at the high school, and a 3.98 at the local univ. where he's taken classes.</p>
<p>We have issued grades all along (because they take tests and quizes that are graded.). Some people say that they study a course until they figure they mastered it (which would be an "A"). Just put something reasonable down - most schools won't put much weight into the GPA for home-schooled students - they will look harder at SAT scores.</p>
<p>On my son's transcript, I only give grades that were issued by outsiders. For self study APs I gave the grade that cooresponds to the AP score (5=A).
I note on the transcript what I did and why. I said something like "he works to the highest standard and his test scores show that"</p>