Making an amazing transcript

Pre-College Issues Home Schooling and College
1

<p>So i'm only a junior right now, but most summer programs need transcripts (or for homeschoolers, course documentation).</p>

<p>i've been looking at homeschool transcripts on the internet and I don't like how they almost exactly mirror high school transcripts. They have 4 units of english, 3 math and science, 2 years of foreign language, and the letter grade/gpa.</p>

<p>How are you supposed to tell the special way you've learned chemistry as a homeschooler by yourself with this on your transcript:</p>

<p>chemistry w/lab - 1.0 credits, A-</p>

<p>do you guys have any suggestions on making a transcript with your own descriptions? i'd really like to see what a good one looks like. if you have any, i'd really, really appreciate it if i could see it, because I wish adcoms could feel impressed by the effort i make.</p>

2

<p>Both my son's transcripts were of the "regular" sort, coming from an umbrella school. However, they spent a lot of time creating portfolio supplements that they sent to each college. They included a fairly detailed syllabus of their coursework, a few pages on extracurricular activities including photos, and a section with writing samples and a lab report.</p>

<p>They included a cover page with a brief explanation of their learning environments and benefits of the flexibility of homeschooling and how it best met their needs.</p>

3

<p>Most schools will look at the transcript and then your list of course descriptions to sort it all out. The transcript helps clarify your course of study in a simple format - the course descriptions/outlines gives them indepth info on what you actually did.</p>

<p>We use Edu-Track software through a company called (I think) Eduserv -found it on the internet. Took awhile to learn the program and although it does all sorts of stuff, we really only use the transcript portion.</p>

4

<p>My son has applied to numerous summer and school-time programs that were very selective. I did alot of research on what type of information would be best. Every school/program I contacted wanted a transcript in standard form, just like what the public high school would send. They emphasized that a "creative" transcript would most likely harm my son's application rather than hurt him. for school/summer programs (not college apps) I did not send in any course descriptions or additional information on classes -- I was specifically told not to send that information.</p>

<p>My son's transcript looks standard, with semesters and classes chronologically. There is a column for grades (both semesters and final) and also a column for the type of class: online, community college, self-study, etc. He only received grades for classes taken outside the home where there was an outside evaluation. Self-study classes were all pass/fail.</p>

<p>the Transcript was two pages and I included a mission statement, a list of his awards and honors, a list of his extracurricular activities and a signature. I did note that course descriptions were available upon request.</p>

<p>As far as how you indicate the special way you studied a particular subject -- that is what the essay portion of the application is for.</p>

<p>Other items he included with each application (unless the application specifically stated that no additional materials would be accepted): 4 letters of recommendation, resume (2 pages), letter from parents describing our reasons for homeschooling, his success in schooling and details on our homeschool evaluation (1 page).</p>

<p>He has been accepted to numerous programs with this method -- but I will post a caveat: His extracurricular activities, awards and honors are excellent and his passion is unusual. His GPA is 3.9 and over 75% of his classes are taken outside the home -- so it is his stats (properly documented and communicated) that get him into the programs, not the format of the transcript.</p>

5

<p>I was in a similar situation to you, maributt, having been home schooled for (what will be) ~2 1/2 out of 4 years of high school. </p>

<p>My advice is this: make sure your transcript is customized to what you did; don't just borrow someone else's transcript. I wrote an essay for the "what else do you want us to know about..." section of my applications explaining why I chose homeschooling and how I think it has helped my education. </p>

<p>I would also make a table of courses, including those with tutors and independent studies, with names and (if they requested) a brief description of what I did for those classes, and grades I received (they weren't "official" grades per se but those that my tutors gave me.)</p>

<p>Besides that, the most important thing is to do the application work yourself; if was done by a professional or lifted off of someone else college admissions application officers will recognize it as one of those "standard" apps which neutralizes one of the biggest advantages of being home schooled; not many people do it!</p>

<p>Admissions officers want to see that you had the initiative to become home schooled (and hopefully you did, and it was your decision?) and if you can demonstrate your genuine feelings about home schooling it will go a long way and can help you in the admissions process. I would try to shy away from parent recommendations/having them write about being home schooled IF you have non-home schooling experiences like I did (otherwise you basically have no choice so it is fine.) </p>

<p>As hsmomstef correctly alludes to, her son was an "unusual" case, but so are all home schoolers! Because home schoolers can be as different from each other as they are from a traditional high school student, take advice in the context of the experiences that the other home schooled person had.</p>

<p>I successfully navigated the admissions process and got accepted early to my #1 choice, Princeton, by doing much of the application and transcript work myself, but what I did may or may not apply in your case (and again I had different extra curriculars, a traditional hs experience for a semester, etc.)</p>

<p>Remember that the goal of the transcript and application in general is to give you the best chance to present yourself as who you are, and not to make an "auto-in" applicant; don't make a transcript that exaggerates or misrepresents in any way what you have done or who you are.</p>

6

<p>Cibbar -- great information, but I was under the impression that maributt was looking at doing a transcript for summer programs, not college. My advice is really geared towards summer programs and scholarships -- where a "different" approach to education just causes ripples. I think that, in the case of homeschoolers, a different approach to transcripts/application package needs to be used for summer programs/scholarships vs. college applications.</p>

7

<p>Whoops; sorry - you're right. But college will be just around the corner! :-)</p>

<p>Can't help much on the summer programs, since I never applied to one.</p>

8

<p>cibbir -- great advice, though! I will be printing it off for future use.</p>