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What do you use for high school transcripts?


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Guest Momathon

I've been using Transcript Pro. It is very user friendly and created by a homeschool mom. It also has a DVD tutorial/training you can purchase to help.

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I DITO Transcript PRO! :iagree:It is fabulous. SOOOO easy, just plug and go, professional looking and used for multiple students. My DD used this to get into community college (Jr and Sr year of HS) and then I also used for her admission process for Va Tech.

I got mine from HSLDA 6 years ago.

Using now with younger siblings.

HTH!

Amy:001_smile:

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I made it using a table in word. I didn't make the table until the end of junior year. Before that, I just had a list of work done and the classes they might fit into. At the end of every year, I looked at what work was done, what classes they might be part of, and what else needed to be done to complete those classes. This let us stay flexible until the "end" (about the end of junior year). For example, whenever we did something having to do with US history, we wrote it down (including reading a spine). In the end, with the older one, I looked at how much work had been accomplished in US history and decided that it was worth a little more than a credit. I rounded down to 1 credit because he didn't have time to do more work and round up. In another class, I might have told him that he needed to read two more books and do another paper, or, as in the case of my youngest and electronics, that he needed to do a project using an ardrino controller in order to call the "class" (really a series of projects) "electronics". I decided this by comparing what he had done with some syllabi on the web. I think roughly about hours and make sure they are reasonable, but this is tricky in a non-direct-instruction or non-textbook situation. In those cases, looking at material covered and/or giving a very descriptive course title (so it sounds like what it was) works better, I think. I have one in at a state college and there were no questions about his transcript. I included a school profile letter explaining exactly how I "translated" what he did into a standard-looking transcript. The big thing was being very careful about recording any projects, papers, travel, or books. I wrote everything down. Then it was just a matter of organizing it later.

 

Does that help?

 

Nan

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I have created one in Excel similar to the ones in posts #3 and #11 in this thread from samples I have received through other WTM members. If you (or anyone else) would like a copy, PM me with your email address, and I will send the samples to you.

 

I like this format because the colleges can see at a glance how many English, Math, Science, etc. classes the student has taken over their high school years. I think that is preferable to one in which the person has to look through each grade to find the English classes and then count them up.

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Is there a way that is better when filling out transcripts than another? (by subject/by grade/by semester?)

 

 

It all depends on how the college wants to see it -- OR the need for a situation for which you need the transcript (sports, special program/extracurricular, scholarship application, etc.) -- OR what you want to emphasize about your student. :)

 

A transcript is all about making it as easy as possible for whoever is receiving it (college admissions; program director; scholarship board, etc.) to see exactly what your student accomplished over the course of 4 years of high school. ;)

 

So, for example, semesters are not typically listed, because what colleges are interested in seeing are the final grades and the number of credits -- semester information is extraneous material for admissions officers to have to wade through -- they are just looking for the final results.

 

The only time we had to list more detail was when our DSs were playing tennis on the local public high school team; everyone has to submit their grades every 4.5 weeks to prove they are still academically eligible to play. The high school students at the school had that done automatically by the school registrar, but I had to create a special transcript broken down by semester AND by quarter -- and also have a column for "mid-quarter" grades, and then update it and turn it in 3 different times -- when they signed up; 4.5 weeks into the season; and again about 2 weeks before the end of the season.

 

That's also a reason why it's a good idea to list credits by subject rather than by grade level; if the college is looking for 4 English credits, and you have all the English credits listed under one heading, and then a "total credits" and overall GPA listed under the credits, it makes it super easy for the admissions officer to skim the transcript and see the student has all the requirements for entrance to the college.

 

About the only reasons to list by grade level that I can think of are, either the specific college requires it, OR, you have an advanced student who has been consistently working above grade level, and listing by grade level will really make the student's advanced status stand out. For example, under 9th grade, to see Algebra 2, Chemistry, AP Government... etc., and then by 12th grade seeing all college level courses, will help emphasize the student's advanced status. However, if a number of these credits were spread outside of more than just 1 school grade level (i.e., 0.5 done in 9th, 0.5 done in 10th), then stick with listing by subject, as it starts making the transcript long and messy.

 

Some colleges require a "completion date" for each class, but many don't, so it's a good idea to stay streamlined as much as possible, and if the college doesn't request or require info, don't offer it.

 

A few pieces of info you DO need to include on the transcript:

- your grading scale

- the cumulative GPA

- expected graduation date

- student's name, birthdate, address

- your name as administrator, plus a line for you to sign and date the transcript

- the words "Official Transcript" as a heading (and then "Final Official Transcript" once your student graduates)

- indicate coursework done outside the home with a notation or footnote -- examples:

* = class completed at Local Community College

+ = class completed online through ABC Online School

 

 

Once you look at some sample transcripts, learn how to calculate GPA, and figure out what you will specifically need for your DC, transcripts aren't too hard -- just tedious. ;) BEST of luck! Warmly, Lori D.

Edited by Lori D.
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I made my own. There are several examples transcripts at the HSLDA website:

 

http://www.hslda.org/highschool/academics.asp#TR

 

HTH,

Brenda

 

I used one of the HSLDA ones. I really liked how it turned out, how nice it looked, how easy it was to change things. When I had a question about computing things, I could find answers at that site, too. We submitted it to two colleges for PSEO last month, and both accepted it without question.

 

Easy and free :)

Julie

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I made a one page summary plus course descriptions using Microsoft Word. The one page summary had a text box at the top with identifying information. I had another text box with his pertinent test scores. Then I had a table for each school year listing the class, credit and grade, plus a summary box for the gpa and credits for that year. I also had a key at the bottom to indentify outside classes. On the bottom, I imported my signature that I had scanned in. The course descriptions were also done in Microsoft Word. Title for the course, high school credits, where taken if an outside course, and a detailed description of what we did in the course, including texts/books/resources. If there was an outside instructor, I listed that person as well.

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I started with this one from the HSLDA site:

 

http://www.hslda.org/highschool/docs/SampleTranscript.pdf

 

I tweaked it a bit.

 

1. Got rid the column that said "Grade Level" which gave me more room for the course title. (Many of our courses were NOT on grade level so that made no sense.) Instead, I tweaked the heading for each year:

 

COURSE STUDY (9th Grade)

 

2. I played around with the lower left area. Ours includes a clearer GPA table and an enhanced Grade Table with a key to the symbols used to mark the Course titles: * for courses with an outside instructor. (CC) for dual-enrollment, etc

 

3. The lower right has tables for listing test scores: SAT/ACT

 

There are other transcript types here:

http://www.hslda.org/highschool/academics.asp#transcripts

 

I started out working in Word, but eventually switched to Pages on my Mac. Our transcript ends up being the first page in a lengthy document that includes course descriptions. If I need the transcript, I just include (print) the first page; however, in the end the whole huge document needs to be converted to a readable pdf that has a controlled file size. The document is uploaded to the Common App site to the "Transcript" location. Then when I get to the "Homeschool Supplement" where there are a ton of boxes under the page marked "Transcript", I just fill in the first box for each subject with a comment indicating that the complete course descriptions accompany the transcript. Viola. Supplement done - with a format that makes sense. (Who only has four courses to list for each discipline??? Homeschoolers that use textbooks for every course in high school? Yawn!)

 

https://www.commonapp.org/commonapp/Docs/DownloadForms/2012/2012HomeSchool_download.pdf

 

Peace,

Janice

 

Enjoy your little people

Enjoy your journey

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I use one made by a friend of mine who is a wizard with Excel. It is is organized by subject. It has drop boxes for grades and credits. It calculates the credits earned and the GPA for me. It has an area for extra curricular activities and awards. It also has an area for ACT scores.

I'm so very grateful to my friend. Her transcript has saved me alot of work this year. I wish I would have had it last year for my son's transcript.

Blank Transcript 8 - 12.pdf

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  • 1 month later...

Would anyone care to post a usable version of theirs-or the example shared on that yahoo group hs2college?

 

I have the Transcript Pro, but not the syllabus or DVDs just the software. It is okay, but I would like other options that you can see easier. It looks like I can spend another $30-80 to get more info, but would like not to have to do that.

 

Anyone willing to share their winning transcript?:001_smile:

 

Kathy

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  • 4 months later...
I started with this one from the HSLDA site:

 

http://www.hslda.org/highschool/docs/SampleTranscript.pdf

 

I tweaked it a bit.

 

1. Got rid the column that said "Grade Level" which gave me more room for the course title. (Many of our courses were NOT on grade level so that made no sense.) Instead, I tweaked the heading for each year:

 

COURSE STUDY (9th Grade)

 

2. I played around with the lower left area. Ours includes a clearer GPA table and an enhanced Grade Table with a key to the symbols used to mark the Course titles: * for courses with an outside instructor. (CC) for dual-enrollment, etc

 

3. The lower right has tables for listing test scores: SAT/ACT

 

There are other transcript types here:

http://www.hslda.org/highschool/academics.asp#transcripts

 

I started out working in Word, but eventually switched to Pages on my Mac. Our transcript ends up being the first page in a lengthy document that includes course descriptions. If I need the transcript, I just include (print) the first page; however, in the end the whole huge document needs to be converted to a readable pdf that has a controlled file size. The document is uploaded to the Common App site to the "Transcript" location. Then when I get to the "Homeschool Supplement" where there are a ton of boxes under the page marked "Transcript", I just fill in the first box for each subject with a comment indicating that the complete course descriptions accompany the transcript. Viola. Supplement done - with a format that makes sense. (Who only has four courses to list for each discipline??? Homeschoolers that use textbooks for every course in high school? Yawn!)

 

https://www.commonapp.org/commonapp/Docs/DownloadForms/2012/2012HomeSchool_download.pdf

 

Peace,

Janice

 

Enjoy your little people

Enjoy your journey

 

I know this is an older thread, but I was wondering if you noted the primary text used when you filled out the Common App supplement and referred them to the attached transcript.

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  • 3 weeks later...

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