Preparing the transcript

Pre-College Issues Home Schooling and College
1

<p>I am preparing my D's high school transcript for college applications. I have a few questions and I wonder if anyone here can advise.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>How do we show 4 years of math in high school if D actually did 9th grade curriculum in 7th grade, 10th grade curriculum in 8th grade, etc.? Do we need to have a transcript that begins in 7th grade?</p></li>
<li><p>I am assuming that D applies to colleges and will put my email address for the counselor contact. How do we submit the transcript: will D give my email for that as well?</p></li>
<li><p>I have found several transcript templates online. Does anyone have a preference for one or another?</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Any other advice or help would be greatly appreciated!</p>

<p>Thank you!</p>

2

<ol>
<li><p>If the school(s) your child is applying to expects to see math in each year of high school, as most upper level schools seem to, they are only interested in classes taken during the high school years. So you don’t need to start your transcript in 7th grade, start with 9th grade. If you want to explain what you consider to be advanced classes taken prior to high school, you’ll have ample opportunity to do so with your counselor’s recommendation and homeschool supplement. Of course, some schools might not be so concerned with the math courses taken, just depends on the school your daughter applies to. BTW, even if she has taken math through calculus, there are always advanced dual credit or online courses available. In addition, even if she takes calculus again at a community college, or better yet, a four-year college, it is a very different situation and very impressive if she does well.</p></li>
<li><p>Yes, your daughter will name you as counselor and possibly principal also. You will be linked to her Common App account and sent an email to register as a referrer on the site. Between the homeschool supplement and your letter of recommendation, you will have a tremendous amount of input. You should put as much effort into your letter of recommendation as your daughter puts into her essays. Or more.</p></li>
<li><p>Like you, I researched transcripts and how to present them. I decided to use a transcript that was very similar to what public and private high schools would be using. I wanted to make it very easy for the applications officer to read and understand quickly. Some of the transcript templates I saw were obviously exercises in creativity/obfuscation rather than communication, so if you feel your daughter has a strong case to present for admission, don’t be cute, make it easy to understand. Your applications officer will appreciate it!</p></li>
</ol>

<p>I realize I have probably created more questions than I answered, so please feel free to follow up.</p>

3

<p>Thank you, neogeezer, for this very helpful response.</p>

<p>She did take the AP Calculus BC exam and got a 5, so I’m sure that will be helpful.</p>

<p>For some reason, there isn’t a homeschool supplement on the Common App site any more. So I’ll put all of the important information into the counselor report/recommendation.</p>

<p>Was there a particular transcript that you felt worked? I checked the HSLDA site and found a few different ones.</p>

4

<p>I apologize for the delay in my response. We spent a few days taking our girl to college, and I sort of drifted away from CC for awhile.</p>

<p>I did not know they removed the homeschool supplement from the CA. It was there a couple of months ago when I sent in my final report, but I haven’t paid any attention to the CA since then. As you say, you’ll be able to put everything you need to say in your recommendation, plus she will be able to make a statement also.</p>

<p>The transcript I used is arranged by year, each year with two semesters. Since she took all college classes her junior and senior years, it was actually pretty easy for me to do it that way. I used footnotes to explain where each class was taken in 9th and 10th grade.</p>

<p>Headings for the columns, left to right were Grade, Year, Course Title, 1st Semester (with subs for Grade and Credit), 2nd Semester (same subs as first), Final (same subs), Yearly Totals (with subs for Credits and GPA (further broken down into unwgt/wgt).</p>

<p>Each year had its own section from top to bottom. At the bottom, directly underneath the course listings, I put notes regarding where the classes were taken and the cumulative GPA for high school.</p>

<p>Of course school and student information was at the top, and there a place for my signature and date as the principal at the bottom.</p>

<p>There were a total of 39 courses (some one semester and some two), and I deliberately made it all fit on one page in order to make it simple for the admissions officer to absorb quickly. I knew I had ample opportunity to explain anything I wanted in more detail in the various sections of my recommendation, so I kept the transcript itself as simple and self-explanatory as possible.</p>

<p>I hope that helps, but let me know if you have more questions.</p>

5

<p>I realize this is an older thread, but in case anyone in future also has a related question, I use a low-cost transcript generator for mine called “my homeschool transcript” (google it … my homeschool transcript.com I think) It was 39 dollars and I successfully used it for my son and now my D. Didn’t cost more for multiple uses. It was very easy.</p>

6

<p>Hi shelleybean, does every college accept the transcripts? Do you mind telling me which schools your son used the transcripts for? Thanks so much.</p>

7

<p>@veritasry1 Sorry so late responding. University of Denver, Middle Tennessee, North Texas, and so far no one has rejected them from the following: Sewanee, U of Mississippi, Vanderbilt, Ohio Wesleyan… a few others I can’t remember right now. Of course, I also always submit a course outline with books/curriculum used as well and with a couple like University of Cincinnati, I also submitted a small portfolio (which I will probably do at Vanderbilt as well). </p>