For those who've done an unweighted & a weighted GPA on your transcript, how did you weight "honors", "AP", and "dual enrolled"/"college class"? Thanks, yvonne

Isn't an "AP class" usually said to be equivalent to an introductory level college class in the subject? Maybe it would work better to just say that ("this class was equivalent to an introductory level college class in X") than to call something an "AP equivalent" class if an AP syllabus wasn't followed and/or an AP exam wasn't taken? Personally, I think that sounds better anyhow, but it would also solve the potential questions about what exactly made it an "AP equivalent" class.

I don't know if it's true or just urban myth.

Another transcript question... Is there any reason not to put a "P" (pass) on the transcript for a course like PE or for a 0.5 and two 0.25 public speaking & debate classes? I seem to remember a suggestion NOT to include any "P" (pass) grades on a transcript because a college might/would? convert it to a "0" when calculating the GPA. Any BTDT experience w/ "P"s on a transcript for ungraded courses?

I'm wondering about this, too. TPS has a couple of English courses (Ie, "English 6: College British Literature & Composition") for which TPS states: "College Credit: This course is pre-approved for college credit (Belhaven ENG 201, 3 credits). Upon successful completion of this course, the student may apply for a college transcript from Belhaven University for this course. These transcripted credits may be transferred to other colleges..." I doubt it would be "dual enrollment," because my sons won't actually be enrolled with Bellhaven. I assume I would weight it the same as an AP class, since those are supposedly comparable to a first year, introductory college class.

Thank you, thank you. I think it will look much neater w/out them.

Is it really necessary to include ISBNs for texts listed in the course descriptions? Seems like people have said to include them, but I'm not sure they add much value, esp for works of literature.

Thanks, snowbelt! Do you think NMSQT unweights the submitted GPA and recalculates every student's GPA in order to standardize them? Would you use the public school or the private school weighting system on the transcript?

Some more questions... On the Grading Information page, 1) "What is the GPA scale?" and "Will the applicant's GPA be weighted? I assume unweighted GPA scale would be 0.0-4.0. I'll calculate both an unweighted and a weighted GPA for my son's transcript, but do I go with the public school's weighting (+1.0 for honors or AP) or the private school's weighting (+0.5 for honors and AP)? (Do most schools weight AP the same as honors?) If I go with the private school's system, the GPA scale would be 0.0-4.5, right?

That would solve it! Thank you!

That's so hard for a mom. :grouphug: He'll be ok, though. St. Louis is a big city. Despite the news which will make it sound like the entire city is in chaos, the protests and unrest will not be everywhere. As Janet mentioned... don't let him do anything stupid, like seek out the hot spots even just to observe. Avoid them. Hole up in his dorm if it's quiet there and if he doesn't want to be out on the roads this weekend.

Thank you so much, Julie. That's exactly what I needed to know!

Yes, I am on hs2coll. LOL Gathering all the samples from there and a couple other sites is what's gotten me into this quandary. I think you're right about only admisisons folks only skimming texts/sources, though. I guess I'll stick with what I have. I'd still be interested in knowing if I can pull the doc off the Common App site once I've submitted it and replace it with a different doc if I find a better format.

I was surprised at some of the things the admissions people mentioned that I should do as a home schooler when we visited a couple of colleges in August. Seemed obvious to me, but they said I'd be surprised what some people submit. I think that's made me more concerned about asking about what others who've btdt have done.

My course descriptions don't fill up the entire page; I just have each course on a separate page. (Have to say... an irl friend did full page course descriptions and they were beautifully done. Looked professional, well-written, etc. Her dd got into some selective schools, so it didn't hurt her! Mine aren't nearly as beautifully done. Mine are much more bare bones, but I'm more of a bottom-line person.)

Thanks, snowbeltmom! I guess that's another way I could go. I'm not sure what's best. We've used a couple of instructors for multiple years, so doing just one bio page would make it less repetitive. Was your bio page just a single page with all the bios? If I went with one bio page, I'd probably attach it to the end of my course descriptions since that's where the teachers are mentioned. Hm. Although putting it w/ the school profile would help explain why we chose to outsource the way we did. There are too many variables in all this! I think I've been stricken w/ analysis paralysis! I can't even figure out how best to format the course descriptions doc. At least it's written. (How did you format your course descriptions? One course/page? That's what I have currently.) I'm probably agonizing over trivialities that don't matter. On the other hand, a professional presentation would convey a different impression overall than a sloppy, haphazard one.

"Homeschooled Students: In addition to the requirements listed above, homeschooled students should ensure that official high school transcripts come from a homeschool clearinghouse, guild, or association. If transcripts are unavailable, we encourage you to consider FastTranscripts.com, offered in concert with the Home School Legal Defense Association. We will also accept detailed course descriptions, along with proficiency levels and textbooks used." And from Hillsdale, of all places. I thought they were pretty home schooling friendly. How odd. I wonder if they've had some sort of issues with home schoolers that they're trying to address by asking for an outside source for transcripts. And how exactly do they think a transcript from a "home school clearinghouse" (whatever that is) is going to help? An outside transcript service didn't do much good for University of Rochester.

Should the course descriptions document be uploaded to the Common App? If yes, can I change it later, if I want to? Or is it trapped there, as-is, forever once I upload it? (I won't need to change content, but I may want to change the formatting. Right now, I have each course on a separate page. But that seems difficult to read. I may think of a better way to format it but I've got to move on to the next bit... counselor letter.)

I'm in the same boat. LOL Is there a deadline? I haven't even looked. Wasn't going to start it till I get the Common App stuff in.

Everyone's advice has been helpful. I'm glad I asked. I knew ED was binding, but had no idea there were sometimes restrictions on EA.

Thanks, Sebastian and Julie. I pulled my course descriptions document back out today to proof & make any final polishing touches & it looked a little bare. I originally did something like yours... just put down the name of the instructor and the provider after the description and the list of materials/texts used... "Instructor: Jane Doe, Wilson Hill Academy" An irl friend shared her course description & she'd put in a separate section at the end of all the course descriptions w/ longer bios for the different instructors. So.... I was thinking maybe something between the two... not just a "Jane Doe, WHA" because what does it really matter that it was JD at WHA vs anyone else? But also not a sheet of more extensive bio info.

Thanks, Kai. I was thinking about something along those lines... short, one or two liner. Good qualifications don't always make for great instructor, but they definitely can and have for several of my sons' classes.

Here, too. I think we could do all right with the actual writing. It's the gathering of content for the writing that is harder. Some people are so amazingly good at drawing teens out and really getting them to reflect on themselves. I'm not. Even with my own kids. Hm. Now that I think about it, I do know a debate mom who knows them who is really good at that. Maybe I'll try her. Thank you!

Thanks for the heads-up on the single choice early action limitation for some colleges. I guess there's more I have to read.

If your student did outside classes, did you include a one or two line bio about the instructor on your course descriptions? I would think that a well-qualified instructor would add credibility to a course. An AP score of 4/5 or a high SAT subject exam score would also certainly add credibility, but not all courses have AP exams or SAT subject exams. For those courses, in particular, would it be useful to include the instructor's qualifications in the course description? Thanks!