"Honors" work in homeschool

[klmama]

It seems I've read here both that it's important to label our homeschool courses "honors" when that might apply, in order to be more competitive for scholarships based on a higher (weighted) GPA, and also that it's important not to label such courses "honors" because it will look like we are trying to pad our transcripts. I personally know two people who have used the "honors" label; one was probably accurate (students doing college-level work at home), and one was decidedly not (students doing middle-school level work, albeit at a faster pace). I'm more likely to err on the side of NOT using "honors," simply because I don't want to be questioned about it. Yet, if it really would help for scholarship applications, there are several courses here that would probably qualify even under objective scrutiny. If you have personal experience with either side of this issue, I'd love to hear your story. Thanks.

 

 

[Hoot]

We are just starting high school this year, so I don't have experience with this yet. However, we will be doing honors level work for a couple of subjects. Ours will be evaluated by our diploma program coordinator though so it will be legitimized by an outside party before being allowed on the transcript. Personally, I like that. I don't know if you have or even want that kind of option though.

[Jane in NC]

All I can say is do what you think is best for your homeschool.

 

I stayed away from the honors label because for me it is meaningless. I felt that if an Admissions Counselor read through our course descriptions and our book list, he/she would think that it was rigorous. To me, that was critical.

 

A few years back, the College Board cracked down on schools using the term "pre-AP" for a certain high school track. The College Board owns the trademark of Advanced Placement and they have never designated a line of courses "pre-AP".

 

Similarly, there is no standardization of what makes up an honors program. I know several people who teach at expensive private schools. Essentially all of their courses are honors. They don't designate them as such because they don't have a normal track.

 

Similarly, in my homeschool, we did not have different tracks. We just had my high expectations. Apparently this did not prevent my son from earning merit aid or a local scholarship.

[teachermom2834]

I am not going to use the honors designation although I am fairly certain the work ds does in history and English is more than what is done in honors courses at our local highly rated high school. I really am going to have faith that ds will be evaluated on the strength of his course descriptions, book lists, etc.

 

Most of the kids I know at the high school who take honors classes take honors in all subjects across the board. My son took some classes that are not honors ( TT geometry for example). By designating a couple of his courses as honors might that highlight the fact that not all of them are at that level? I don't know. I just have decided not to let myself get too worried about those things. I am doing what I think it is right and having faith it will work itself out.

[snowbeltmom]

All I can say is do what you think is best for your homeschool.

:iagree:

I am also not planning on designating any of my courses as "honors" even though I know that the classes are far more rigorous than the honors level at my public school.

 

I was looking at a college website recently. It had an online calculator that would state the amount of merit-aid that would be given. The student had to enter his SAT/ACT scores, his gpa, and the number of "honors" and AP classes listed on his transcript. By not listing the courses as "honors" my kids would receive less merit-aid.

 

If one of my kids decides to apply to a college that offers merit-aid strictly based on numbers, and part of that calculation depends on how many "honors" level classes are listed on the transcript, I will use the "honors" designation on the transcript. The adcoms don't always have time to review our applications and determine that our classes were, in fact, taught at the honors level. Imo, in these types of situations, we need to simply state "honors" on the transcript and make it easy for them to check their boxes.

[Brigid in NC]

All I can say is do what you think is best for your homeschool.

:iagree:

I did include the honors designation on my two ds's transcripts. I included a 10-page course description supplement that provided "back up" for the honors designations.

 

I have two "from the horse's mouth" plot points to share. Four or five years ago a Campbell University admissions representative (whose responsibilities included the homeschool community) spoke to a homeschooling youth group that I was involved with and counseled the kids to include both weighted and unweighted GPAs on their transcripts. She indicated that Campbell would not apply weights to unweighted GPAs--and that the submitted weighted GPAs were used for scholarship consideration. She stated to the kids that they were putting themselves at a competitive disadvantage by not including weighted GPAs.

 

The other example I have to share is a state scholarship program that was associated with my dh's occupation. GPA and SAT scores were the sole first-cut criteria. The wording on the application:

 

"The . . . will follow the procedure below to determine which applicants will be interviewed:

• Determine the grade point average for the most recent three semesters, multiply by 500 and add the applicant's highest SAT score.
  
• The . . . Scholarship Committee will review the top twenty-five applicants (as determined in 3 (e) (1) above) and will choose ten to twelve applicants to be interviewed."
  

It was not stated that the GPA was unweighted, but when I inquired, I was told that honors/AP courses should be included in the GPA calculation that was submitted. So our transcript included weighted and unweighted GPA, "just in case." All I wanted was to make sure my ds's were given the same consideration as other students who were performing at the same level. :001_smile:

[Candid]

I'm in the nonhonors group. With our work in Tapesty, I know that Tapestry, itself, would define our level of work as honors, but I think there is a very real danger of destroying all credibility in your transcript by using "honors" for home grown classes (my ds will take some online classes that designate themselves as honors).

 

I think Brigid's evidence is good to know, BUT I am not shooting for Campbell College. The schools I am shooting for will also be looking at students from nationally ranked public schools, elite prep schools, etc. I think the danger of an admin totally dissing my transcript if it appears my student doesn't match up with honors students at those schools is a possibility. I also think I can avoid that, but at the same time force a comparison.

 

Here's how I plan to do that. First, I have read that top schools don't use GPA. Instead they use two things to score a student's academic course load. First, they use class rank. Top prep schools have stopped using class rank because who wants to pay $50,000 a year to have your kid be in the bottom 50%. But their guidance counselors also have personal, long-standing relations with admins so they can signal who is appropriate. The other thing that top schools do is assign a score of academic rigor. Everything I have seen has used a five point scale with five being the highest. Students at poor public schools who took the hardest course load they could will get a four with an asterisk to indicate that.

 

I think on class rank, schools will look at your students admissions scores, other scores (SAT IIs, APs, etc) and outside classes.

 

This leaves the rigor score. So what I am shooting for is the five score. So how do I show that?

 

Well, first you'll want some outside classes. This doesn't mean paid classes, it could mean cc classes, but a lot will depend on your local circumstances and for that matter your monetary circumstances. Although it is difficult. I had to decide this summer whether to use the CTY Online classes for writing and physics. In my judgment, the two alternative classes were more likely to have seasoned instructors vs. recent graduates or grad students with other things on their minds (I have heard positive things about the in person classes, but I am a bit of cynic on these matters as well). The CTY classes were also three times the cost. So I had to make decisions about these factors vs. the prestige factors.

 

BUT I also want my home grown stuff to look like fives, too. So I need to consider how I will write course descriptions. In my case, I included the publisher information on texts we use because many were university press publishers. Recently I noticed on Art of Problem Solving, another poster here gave a little description of them from their website, I will consider that as well. For our first year of math, I had thought, originally to use "integrated" to describe our last year in Singapore's math, but other posters pointed out the integrated maths were often thought of as lower level. So I simply described is Singapore's Additional Maths program with the information as AoPS above.

 

My goal is to have enough there to push them towards the five, but if they are wary, make them do more research to verify what I have said. I realize that most don't have time to do research, but I want to make even the most jaded admin either give me the five based on what I said or have to go look.

[8filltheheart]

:iagree:

I did include the honors designation on my two ds's transcripts. I included a 10-page course description supplement that provided "back up" for the honors designations.

 

I have two "from the horse's mouth" plot points to share. Four or five years ago a Campbell University admissions representative (whose responsibilities included the homeschool community) spoke to a homeschooling youth group that I was involved with and counseled the kids to include both weighted and unweighted GPAs on their transcripts. She indicated that Campbell would not apply weights to unweighted GPAs--and that the submitted weighted GPAs were used for scholarship consideration. She stated to the kids that they were putting themselves at a competitive disadvantage by not including weighted GPAs.

 

The other example I have to share is a state scholarship program that was associated with my dh's occupation. GPA and SAT scores were the sole first-cut criteria. The wording on the application:

 

"The . . . will follow the procedure below to determine which applicants will be interviewed:

• Determine the grade point average for the most recent three semesters, multiply by 500 and add the applicant's highest SAT score.
  
• The . . . Scholarship Committee will review the top twenty-five applicants (as determined in 3 (e) (1) above) and will choose ten to twelve applicants to be interviewed."
  

It was not stated that the GPA was unweighted, but when I inquired, I was told that honors/AP courses should be included in the GPA calculation that was submitted. So our transcript included weighted and unweighted GPA, "just in case." All I wanted was to make sure my ds's were given the same consideration as other students who were performing at the same level. :001_smile:

 

See, this makes no sense to me at all. I have seen public school systems that use a 5 pt scale so APs and honors both receive a pt boost. But, I have also heard of public schools that use a 6 pt scale so APs receive a 2 pt boost and honors 1. Since there isn't even conformity w/in various public school systems, how do universities deal with those discrepancies?

 

That doesn't even take into acct school systems that incorporate the +/- system with a range of GPAs in between a 5 and a 4, and a 4 and a 3, etc. I have a difficult time accepting that unis just use what is sent. And if they do, they probably lack the intellectual depth I am seeking for my kids. :p

 

(ETA: do a google search of AP gpa scale and you will see pages of school systems scales links. They definitely represent the spectrum I just posted. Anywhere from a 6 to a 5 to even no weight for AP and honors as well as the +/- scales.)

[Wildcat]

I used the honors designation on my ds' transcript.

 

I spent the better part of a year going back and forth with the 'should I, shouldn't I' thing, and I finally decided to go ahead and use the label.

 

There are valid reasons on both sides of the fence, and I rest easy with my decision.

 

My reasons in favor of using "Honors" on our transcripts are many. Yes, the extra aid (if any was given because of those classes---I don't know) would be nice, but that wasn't the main reason I did it. I just wanted the admins, and whoever else looked at ds' transcript, to get a good idea of what he accomplished.

 

I looked at our local high school's class pages to see how they differed between regular & honors classes, and I labelled accordingly. In fact, since I wanted to be sure any home-grown classes could stand up to the scrutiny of the honors label, I made my classes a bit harder than the honors classes at the local (excellent) high school. Other classes that received 'honors' designations were online classes that already had the designation, but I didn't just take their word for it... I still compared those to my local high school. If I purchased an 'honors' hs curriculum, again, I would make sure it stood up to my definition. It's amazing, to me, what some consider 'honors'. If it fell short of my comfort level, I didn't use the honors name, despite what the curric/syllabus said.

 

I know it might not be a popular idea among some circles, but I felt that if my kids were doing *honors level work*, it should be noted. To me, it didn't matter if there wasn't another student to compare to.... it was about the rigor and level of work, not "what Timmy did vs Johnny". I figured if any uni or organization had an issue with it, they would let us know. I was very careful to keep all supporting documents, assignments, texts, etc, to back up our claims. I have heard nothing but positive remarks.

 

All in all, honors differ vastly among public & private schools, so I'm not sure it makes a difference in the long run, anyway, but I wanted to look at my kids' transcrtips and see that their high school work was accurately represented.

 

So, to agree with Jane and others "do what you think is best for your homeschool". :001_smile:

[Brenda in MA]

See, this makes no sense to me at all. I have seen public school systems that use a 5 pt scale so APs and honors both receive a pt boost. But, I have also heard of public schools that use a 6 pt scale so APs receive a 2 pt boost and honors 1. Since there isn't even conformity w/in various public school systems, how do universities deal with those discrepancies?

 

That doesn't even take into acct school systems that incorporate the +/- system with a range of GPAs in between a 5 and a 4, and a 4 and a 3, etc. I have a difficult time accepting that unis just use what is sent. And if they do, they probably lack the intellectual depth I am seeking for my kids. :p

I agree that this sounds crazy, and that most universities would just "unweight" the grades anyway -- but I definitely see Brigid's point about the local scholarship competitions. I did strictly unweighted grades for my oldest, and it was fine for all the colleges, but this next time around, I am toying with the idea of having both weighted and unweighed GPAs to put my son on par with other local kids for scholarships. If I go this route, I think I will use the particular weighting system that my local high school does.

 

Brenda

[Jenny in Florida]

My general approach is that I would not label anything "honors" without some kind of outside authority to back up that claim.

 

Each of my kids has taken classes through FLVS, which offers an honors track for some classes. So, they end up with "official" honors coursework on their transcripts. Earlier this year, I had planned on giving my son honors credit for completing two courses I designed based on honors syllabi I purchased from Hewitt, with a note on the transcript indicating the work met the criteria from the purchased syllabi. (We ended up going a different direction for school this year, but I still think that would have been a legitimate choice.)

 

When I wrote our school profile last week, one of the things my husband and I decided to do was to give our son specific guidelines to meet in order to earn a "with honors" designation on his diploma. We wanted to give him a goal for the next couple of years. So, we did some research online, looking at criteria for various schools locally and nationally, and came up with a list of requirements, which I wrote into the profile document. Briefly, he'll have to:

 

- Complete a total of at least eight credits of honors, advanced or dual enrollment courses.

- Earn no grade lower than a B for any semester in any class.

- Maintain a cummulative, unweighted GPA of at least 3.5.

- Earn scores on the ACT and/or SAT that meet the college readiness benchmarks in every subject.

 

We don't intend to weight the GPA on his transcript, but we hope that setting out these kinds of guidelines will encourage our son to work to meet them and also show future college admissions officers that we took his education seriously and maintained high standards.

[8filltheheart]

I agree that this sounds crazy, and that most universities would just "unweight" the grades anyway -- but I definitely see Brigid's point about the local scholarship competitions. I did strictly unweighted grades for my oldest, and it was fine for all the colleges, but this next time around, I am toying with the idea of having both weighted and unweighed GPAs to put my son on par with other local kids for scholarships. If I go this route, I think I will use the particular weighting system that my local high school does.

 

Brenda

 

I can see the bolded as well.

[snowbeltmom]

First, I have read that top schools don't use GPA.

I have read this as well, but now I am wondering if it is true. Up until recently, I was not going to assign any grades to my homeschooled classes. I changed my mind when I read about the academic index. I may be changing my mind about the "honors" designation when all is said and done as well.

 

Recruited athletes at the Ivies have to meet an Academic Index. The rules state that the mean of the Academic Index of all athletes must fall within one standard deviation of the mean of the Academic Index of the whole student body. The academic index number required is slightly different at each of the Ivies - Harvard and Princeton have the highest numbers.

 

The academic index is calculated based on the following:

Average of the SAT Writing and Reading scores + SAT Math Score + Average of Two SAT II Tests.

GPA: either weighted or un-weighted (I don't know if weighted results in a higher AI.)

 

According to Michele Hernandez"s book, A is For Admissions, "In some schools, the AI is used strictly for athletics; in others, the academic ranking for all applicants is based directly on the AI." She then goes on to point out the flaws in this method which are obvious: the rigor of the courses are not taken into account, etc.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

See, this makes no sense to me at all. I have seen public school systems that use a 5 pt scale so APs and honors both receive a pt boost. But, I have also heard of public schools that use a 6 pt scale so APs receive a 2 pt boost and honors 1. Since there isn't even conformity w/in various public school systems, how do universities deal with those discrepancies?

 

That doesn't even take into acct school systems that incorporate the +/- system with a range of GPAs in between a 5 and a 4, and a 4 and a 3, etc. I have a difficult time accepting that unis just use what is sent. And if they do, they probably lack the intellectual depth I am seeking for my kids. :p

 

(ETA: do a google search of AP gpa scale and you will see pages of school systems scales links. They definitely represent the spectrum I just posted. Anywhere from a 6 to a 5 to even no weight for AP and honors as well as the +/- scales.)

The question you bring up is one reason why class rank is considered for public schoolers. And why colleges consider if a student took the most challenging courses available. Believe it or not, the last school board election here had the topic of honors course availability and course grade weighting as an election issue, in part because just across the river, in another district in another state where grads compete with our grads for college slots, there is a more generous weighting for honors and AP courses. Universities either have on hand or request from the guidance office the school profile, which will give info on grading scale, gpa weighting, average gpa, AP courses offered, average SAT/ACT score etc. Three are many schools that unweight gpa so they can compare them with other students. The admissions process is definitely an art, not a science. And for the more selective schools, there are enough QUALIFIED, even highly qualified students to fill the freshman class multiple times. My own high school gave extra weight to upper level courses (not only AP, which they offered few of, but also physics, calculus and foreign languages above the second year).

[creekland]

We did not use Honors. I let my guys' scores and courses stand for themselves. They both did fine with acceptances and merit aid.

 

I suspect homeschoolers are evaluated differently than ps counterparts.

[Candid]

I have read this as well, but now I am wondering if it is true. Up until recently, I was not going to assign any grades to my homeschooled classes. I changed my mind when I read about the academic index. I may be changing my mind about the "honors" designation when all is said and done as well.

 

Recruited athletes at the Ivies have to meet an Academic Index. The rules state that the mean of the Academic Index of all athletes must fall within one standard deviation of the mean of the Academic Index of the whole student body. The academic index number required is slightly different at each of the Ivies - Harvard and Princeton have the highest numbers.

 

The academic index is calculated based on the following:

Average of the SAT Writing and Reading scores + SAT Math Score + Average of Two SAT II Tests.

GPA: either weighted or un-weighted (I don't know if weighted results in a higher AI.)

 

According to Michele Hernandez"s book, A is For Admissions, "In some schools, the AI is used strictly for athletics; in others, the academic ranking for all applicants is based directly on the AI." She then goes on to point out the flaws in this method which are obvious: the rigor of the courses are not taken into account, etc.

 

Well, yes, for the NCAA, you are going to have to put grades. Otherwise you'll be rejected.

 

AND in honestly, although they don't look at GPAs I think indicating grades is not a bad idea. While I want to be able to showcase the advantages of home schooling, I don't want to be so far off from normal to be the fringe. I just think the whole weighted discussion is somewhat irrelevant and holds dangers no matter what you do.

[Candid]

The question you bring up is one reason why class rank is considered for public schoolers.

 

The colleges all would like to get rank from elite prep schools (they whine about not getting it), but the schools have their own financial reasons for not complying and hey, when you are Andover or Groton you can get away with that. Even top public schools don't quite have that kind of pull.

[snowbeltmom]

Well, yes, for the NCAA, you are going to have to put grades. Otherwise you'll be rejected.

 

AND in honestly, although they don't look at GPAs I think indicating grades is not a bad idea.

This isn't about the NCAA though. I am making a "special" transcript just for them.

 

My point was that the colleges that I had previously considered as "holistic" and would be most interested in the rigor of the transcript are, in fact, looking at the GPA. Some are even doing more than looking at the GPA - they are using GPA when ranking the applicant pool, without taking the rigor of the transcript into account.

[Vida Winter]

I used the honors designation on the transcript when it was clearly an honors course taught by an outside instructor. However, I did not assign a weighted grade to the course.

[swimmermom3]

From what I gather in reading the posts here and on other threads is that keeping excellent records of your student's course of study and the resources used is of the utmost importance. This allows you the flexibility to tailor those applications to a specific school's requirements.

 

I have decided to continue to push my student to work at the highest possible level for him in his courses and to make sure I have the outside validation if I wish to label a course "Honors." I need that outside validation because intellectual growth here is erratic at best. To give you an example, for eighth grade, my son started his English class doing what I considered "on level" work. By the mid-year there had been a staggering amount of growth and he was working at a level that approximated what my language arts gifted oldest child had been doing at the end of ninth grade. Had that been a high school course, it would have been difficult to label. It started as English 8 and morphed into almost English 10.

 

In a public school, the challenge would remain constant whether the child was experiencing Einstein moments or the occasional bout of Hormonal Half-Wit Syndrome. In home school, we tend to match our instruction to the student's ebb and flow. My son's erratic pattern of level work combined with honors-on-steroid work requires that outside testing either in the form of AP or SAT II in order for me to honestly label his courses. Otherwise, it is all too subjective.

[Storm Bay]

This is a case where I'll check and recheck the admissions requirements at the universities/colleges my ds is planning to attend and to document what we do. In colleges where homeschoolers are admitted on a different set of criteria, it might not be so important. However, at colleges where they weight GPAs according to whether or not a course is AP, honours or academic, I'd weight them and include what was done as a back up. This is a change for me, as previously I didn't do it at all, but I regretted it when my eldest transferred to ps partway though her sophomore year. Had I called them what they appropriately were, her class ranking would be higher (still high, but it's amazing how much it can make a difference, particularly for kids in the top 5 or 10 percent or higher.) The ps calculated GPAs to 4 places to the right of the decimal, and a small variation can make a surprisingly big difference.

 

Yes, it can be meaningless for a homeschooling parent to add honours, but it can be at some public schools as well since it's not standardized. What I plan to do for ds, who will be homeschooling part time, is to use our ps's honours program as a guide (not for textbooks) and add the same kinds of extra projects, essays, etc, as they do and list those briefly in the course descriptions after the textbook (or lack of textbook but things used.) This is in part because he wants to eventually go full time to ps, and I may let him once he's a junior if he has met my requirements (one main one is that he will have to drop swim team as he'll be spread too thin.) Of course, if I name the courses correctly, all his key credit will transfer & I won't have to send a transcript in unless it's helpful to include other credits. I didn't bother for dd, even though she'd have had a more interesting freshman line up and more credits.

 

Our ps has had an excellent honours math program for some time, but this year they finally started improving their okay Honours Biology when they ended up with too many dc who qualified. My middle one is there now, and her first semester Biology teacher told me she was separating the men from the boys & dd was one of the "men." She worked hard for a B+, but it has clicked, and so far she's getting an A+ in Hon Bio II (here an A+ is and average above 95 percent, and of course colleges get drop it, but it helps class ranking as an A starts at 90 percent. How I hate the class ranking system!!!)

[Storm Bay]

This is a case where I'll check and recheck the admissions requirements at the universities/colleges my ds is planning to attend and to document what we do. In colleges where homeschoolers are admitted on a different set of criteria, it might not be so important. However, at colleges where they weight GPAs according to whether or not a course is AP, honours or academic, I'd weight them and include what was done as a back up. This is a change for me, as previously I didn't do it at all, but I regretted it when my eldest transferred to ps partway though her sophomore year. Had I called them what they appropriately were, her class ranking would be higher (still high, but it's amazing how much it can make a difference, particularly for kids in the top 5 or 10 percent or higher.) The ps calculated GPAs to 4 places to the right of the decimal, and a small variation can make a surprisingly big difference.

 

Yes, it can be meaningless for a homeschooling parent to add honours, but it can be at some public schools as well since it's not standardized. What I plan to do for ds, who will be homeschooling part time, is to use our ps's honours program as a guide (not for textbooks) and add the same kinds of extra projects, essays, etc, as they do and list those briefly in the course descriptions after the textbook (or lack of textbook but things used.) This is in part because he wants to eventually go full time to ps, and I may let him once he's a junior if he has met my requirements (one main one is that he will have to drop swim team as he'll be spread too thin.) I's also for state colleges, which he'll apply to along with whichever others he chooses to (plus music conservatories.) Of course, if I name the courses correctly, all his key credit will transfer & I won't have to send a transcript in unless it's helpful to include other credits. I didn't bother for dd, even though she'd have had a more interesting freshman line up and more credits.

 

Our ps has had an excellent honours math program for some time, but this year they finally started improving their okay Honours Biology when they ended up with too many dc who qualified. My middle one is there now, and her first semester Biology teacher told me she was separating the men from the boys & dd was one of the "men." She worked hard for a B+, but it has clicked, and so far she's getting an A+ in Hon Bio II (here an A+ is and average above 95 percent, and of course colleges get drop it, but it helps class ranking as an A starts at 90 percent. How I hate the class ranking system!!!)

[8filltheheart]

This conversation is really causing my brain to swirl. Am I really putting my ds at a disadvantage for scholarships by not weighting grades??? So, if you do weight, do you weight on a 6 pt scale or a 5 pt scale? It seems to me that if you are using a 5 pt scale your kids are at just as much of a disadvantage as if you don't weight at all. That also makes me wonder.......shouldn't there be some way to distinguish between AP level and students taking university level work for the courses beyond AP (like 200-300+ level college level courses?) Does it not make sense that if an AP course is weighted more that jr level college classes should be worth more than AP level?

 

See......in my mind it isn't just a simple yes or no question!! There are just so many variables that it makes no sense to me. But, at the same time, should he only get a 4 on his transcript for multivariable cal, diffEQ, modern physics, etc??? Blech!

[Storm Bay]

This conversation is really causing my brain to swirl. Am I really putting my ds at a disadvantage for scholarships by not weighting grades??? So, if you do weight, do you weight on a 6 pt scale or a 5 pt scale? It seems to me that if you are using a 5 pt scale your kids are at just as much of a disadvantage as if you don't weight at all. That also makes me wonder.......shouldn't there be some way to distinguish between AP level and students taking university level work for the courses beyond AP (like 200-300+ level college level courses?) Does it not make sense that if an AP course is weighted more that jr level college classes should be worth more than AP level?

 

See......in my mind it isn't just a simple yes or no question!! There are just so many variables that it makes no sense to me. But, at the same time, should he only get a 4 on his transcript for multivariable cal, diffEQ, modern physics, etc??? Blech!

 

 

I know, confusing. You don't have to weight your grades, but be sure to put your grading scale on your transcript. Dd's ps transcript shows the scale, including how it's weighted. However, students aren't told their GPA or class ranking until their senior year, and even then not until they've added in any transfer students.

 

Most colleges remove the weighting and then add their own if they do that, since AP classes, eg, are at a higher level than high school level classes in ps. Therefore, the more important question is whether or not to call a class honours, and if you do, whether or not the college recognized that from homeschoolers if it makes a difference.

[8filltheheart]

I know, confusing. You don't have to weight your grades, but be sure to put your grading scale on your transcript. Dd's ps transcript shows the scale, including how it's weighted. However, students aren't told their GPA or class ranking until their senior year, and even then not until they've added in any transfer students.

 

Most colleges remove the weighting and then add their own if they do that, since AP classes, eg, are at a higher level than high school level classes in ps. Therefore, the more important question is whether or not to call a class honours, and if you do, whether or not the college recognized that from homeschoolers if it makes a difference.

 

 

I am not really concerned about admissions. I am thinking more in terms of scholarship $$.

[creekland]

The colleges all would like to get rank from elite prep schools (they whine about not getting it), but the schools have their own financial reasons for not complying and hey, when you are Andover or Groton you can get away with that. Even top public schools don't quite have that kind of pull.

 

 

Our mediocre public school does not rank students. I believe that is becoming far more popular.

 

Both of my guys got scholarships (merit) without me giving honors designations. I did put Stats w/AP test score = 5 where things like that were applicable and we sent in the cc transcript as well as my own. Based upon the schools where my boys went... at oldest's school AP = DE. At middle's school AP > DE. That's IF they even bothered to compare or care.