<p>DS got homeschooled for one year during high school and returned to the local high school. Just found out today that they do not include the homeschool grades when calculating class rank and GPA!!! Counselor says he will explain in his letter. Meanwhile, his GPA and class rank are not nearly as high as they should be!</p>
<p>Should we note this somewhere on the common app? Should I calculate it myself and put that on the common app?</p>
<p>Not what we need when he is about to send out his first app today...</p>
<p>Many schools will not blend GPAs from anywhere you transfer from. It’s apples and oranges. Colleges will see both transcripts and along with scores, it will form a picture. I don’t think you need to do anything here.</p>
<p>It’s not surprising that a school wouldn’t average in homeschool grades, especially if they are higher than the grades from the school. If it affected rank, the other parents would be up in arms.</p>
<p>No. The admissions department will get your son’s transcript from high school and will notice the difference. </p>
<p>I think the best thing to do would be to have your son write a letter to each college explaining the situation and offering his gpa with the homeschool year calculated in. </p>
<p>Honestly, I think the colleges will go by the gpa and rank his high school sends them. Be sure that your son is applying to colleges that reflect that reality as well as the higher rank/gpa of the homeschooling year.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t raise that big a fuss. There’s a section of the Common App that allows you to explain special circumstances. Include the information there, but, again, not in a way that makes it appear that you’re making excuses, just matter of fact.</p>
<p>Ex: “I was homeschooled for a year, and those grades are not reflected in my Whatever High School transcript. When adding my freshman grades, my overall GPA is x.xx.”</p>
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<li><p>This is typical. As Hunt noted, somebody has to be frustrated here–either the occasional homeschooler who returns to school, or everybody else. I’m a homeschooling parent, and I think the way the school is doing this is the best available option.</p></li>
<li><p>You don’t really need to do anything to address this. The transcript will show credits for a year of homeschooling. The guidance counselor has promised to address the effect of homeschooling on GPA and rank in his letter. What more are you going to add?</p></li>
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<p>Okay, you have all calmed me down. I completely understand why they do this. Just wasn’t sure if it would affect ds negatively (of course it may). The grades from the homeschool year are on the transcript; just not included in the GPA/class rank. </p>
<p>I will be sure to have ds jot a couple of sentences down in the “special circumstances” section.</p>
<p>I think at the vast majority of colleges and universities in the country, if he has good grades and good test scores, this won’t matter one whit.</p>
<p>At highly selective colleges and universities, it might matter, but they tend to practice more holistic admissions, so they’re likely to take your son’s personal circumstances into account. Besides, many of these schools are so darn selective that if he doesn’t get in, you’ll never know whether this was the reason, or something else was the reason, or there was simply no good reason at all!</p>
<p>Good point Sikorsky. He has a few highly selective schools in his list. I guess that is why I was worrying. It will all work out one way or another.</p>
<p>Thank you again, everyone, for your thoughts and reassurance.</p>
<p>Don’t forget that his homeschooling experiences, especially if he chooses to write about them, may work to his advantage as well. </p>
<p>By the way, this often happens to students who transfer from other schools as well, it’s not just homeschoolers who will have grades that won’t be accounted for by the school that graduates the student.</p>
I completely understand why they do this. Just wasn’t sure if it would affect ds negatively (of course it may). The grades from the homeschool year are on the transcript; just not included in the GPA/class rank. </p>