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Quick Question about Transcripts


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For High School transcripts, do you usually put all semester grades, or just the final grade for each class?  I'm just wondering, because I JUST started recording grades for the year (Son is suffering from Post Concussion Syndrome, grades in the beginning of the year mean nothing, since he can't remember anything, and was completely impaired).  If you need to record in semesters, how would I mark the first semester.  He did do work, but it wasn't representative of him in the least, I mean, honestly, he couldn't even pick up a pencil and write. It was mostly just discussion and reading. Nothing more.  We just started Geometry and Science a little before Thanksgiving.

 

Thanks!

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I only give end of year grades, and only in core academic subjects.

 

ETA: In a situation like your son's, I would only give grades at the point when he has recovered enough so that his performance is not impaired by the injury. If that may mean finishing some subjects late and not having grades by year's end, I would explain this in the counselor's letter.

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Oh really?  Only in academic subjects?  I hadn't thought of that. Is that what is expected?

 

I have no idea what is expected - but it seem silly to me that a letter grade for PE is averaged with a letter grade for, say, calculus. To me, that does not seem to produce a meaningful GPA.

 

I assign letter grades for core academic subjects: math, science, English, social sciences, and foreign languages.

 

I do not feel that I can determine a letter or numerical grade for subjects like PE, art, computer skills and certain free electives. I give a grade of P for those and explain in the notes "a grade of P indicates participation in a course in which a letter grade was not provided".

 

DD's transcript was not questioned by any of the schools she applied to, and she got admitted to highly selective schools - so I guess this was aceptable.

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Make sure you're following any rules that would apply for your state or cover school etc.  I know not everyone has a cover school or lives in a state that has lots of rules, but I thought it was worth mentioning.  I recently moved to TN where I'm under a cover school and they require all high school courses to have a letter grade, Pass/Fail grades are not accepted for high school. 

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Oh really?  Only in academic subjects?  I hadn't thought of that. Is that what is expected?

 

For what it's worth, both of my kids got into the colleges of their choice with grades on their transcripts for all kinds of arts and elective courses. I didn't find it any more difficult to decide on a grading framework for those courses than for things like English and history. 

 

So, I think there are lots of ways to do this kind of thing. You just have to decide what makes sense for your family and your student(s).

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Right, it is ridiculous, that's why I wasn't grading anything until now, I just don't know how to handle it with the transcript.  But, the doctor wanted us to start school work, part of his therapy.  At first he couldn't write, and I read to him on the couch, and that was the extent of it.  It actually helped him cognitively.  I started grading in the middle of November.  He was ready, and even hurried up and won NaNoWriMo (HUGE!!!!!!)  He still has a lot of days off at this point, because of other issues concerning the concussion, but, he's getting a's in everything since I started grading. But he definitely won't have his hours by the end of the school year. Should I just consider the start of the school year a wash, and note that he didn't start his year until November 15?  That might be a better way to handle it.

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 Should I just consider the start of the school year a wash, and note that he didn't start his year until November 15?  That might be a better way to handle it.

 

It is your homeschool. You can decide when your school year starts (unless your state law prohibits that). Some people begin in January.

 

Alternatively, there is absolutely no reason to assign grades continuously during the year - you can simply base the grade on an evaluation at the end of the year. (I give, for example, a math final that determines the grade).

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There are no semester grades on my transcripts. We use year end grades only. I don't see why you need to worry about when you started. All the transcripts will record is what his performance was when it was all finished. 

 

I do give grades in all courses and that worked for the only college ds applied to. Public and private schools give grades for all classes including PE, art, band, and other difficult to grade subjects. I have no problem averaging those grades in with the academic subjects. It is just the way it is done. Obviously, Regentrude is proof it doesn't have to be done that way though.

 

As long as your state doesn't have requirements, then homeschoolers are very free to write their own rulebook on these things. Some people don't give their kids grades in high school at all and still get into highly selective colleges. It is all about finding the best way to showcase your child and also playing the game with the particular college you are dealing with. Some will want grades, some will want everything graded, some will take a narrative transcript without grades but with great tests scores... there are many paths and even many destinations.

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As others have said, follow the rule for your state, but in general, I think grading for mastery makes the most sense (and there is actually at least one high school in our area that grades that way as well.)  You don't complete the course until there is a specific level of mastery, so you can progress as quickly or as slowly as need be, and the grades are going to be fine. 

 

I'm not clear on where your son is now, but it may be that he will need additional time to complete high school grading in that way, but you will know he is leaving prepared.

 

Side note:  my 17 yo daughter knocked herself out figure skating last New Year's Eve (seizing for 5 min, total amnesia for close to an hour), so we were doing the whole brain rest thing into February last year.  Scary stuff, and you are wise to take it easy with your son.

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I was looking a some college admissions sites over the last couple months. I noticed a few that specified they considered grades in core courses. The long time admissions counselor at one school specifically said that they don't consider gpa as there are too many weighting systems. Another school encouraged me to go ahead and give additional weight for AP and dual enrollment classes.

 

There are some schools that may hinge more on the gpa, like big state schools that don't have time and staff to do detailed assessment. But I think lots of other schools take all grades with a grain of salt. They are an indicator not absolute truth.

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I was looking a some college admissions sites over the last couple months. I noticed a few that specified they considered grades in core courses. The long time admissions counselor at one school specifically said that they don't consider gpa as there are too many weighting systems. Another school encouraged me to go ahead and give additional weight for AP and dual enrollment classes.

 

There are some schools that may hinge more on the gpa, like big state schools that don't have time and staff to do detailed assessment. But I think lots of other schools take all grades with a grain of salt. They are an indicator not absolute truth.

 

The private LAC that ds will be attending specifically told me to weight his GPA. They said the use the weighted GPA if it was given, but do not recalculate. They said it was the most common mistake they see in homeschool transcripts. I don't think any of the other schools we've considered would use a weighted GPA and I didn't plan to provide one, but added it just for them :).

 

The key on things like that is to talk to admissions at each college and make sure you give them what they want, not what someone else tells you they will want.

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