Specific questions about my ds's transcript

[lewelma]

I'm getting down to the nitty gritty on my homschool documents, and have some questions:

 

Transcript:

 

1) Is it ok to give some 0.25 PE credits a pass grade?  I vaguely remember that someone said that Pass grades average poorly into GPAs calculated by schools for scholarships.  Just wondering if Pass is ok?  

 

2) Also, is 0.25 Martial arts for 4 years, and 0.25 badminton for 2 years ok to put in?  Is there a reason to keep them out?  I also remember someone talking about not being able to list PE as an extracurricular if it is on the transcript, so where is it better put?

 

3) Should Organic Chemistry count outside of the standard chemistry course?  NZ has orgo as a part of the standard curriculum, but ds has done way more chemistry units than he needs for a full course in NZ, so I thought I might peel this off as it is not in the standard American Curriculum. He is doing a 5 credit 11th grade unit (so 50 hours), and a 5 credit 12th grade unit (so 50 more hours) (although he is doing it way faster than that).  So can I give 0.5 credits for this?

 

4) DS only has multivariate calculus down for his 12th grade math courses. I'm afraid this might look weird as ds has done a LOT of math in previous years.  so 9th grade: number theory, combinatorics, intermediate algebra, and precalc (yes it was quite a year!), 10th grade: Calc 1 and Calc 2, and 11th grade: 2 university courses.  So 12th grade seems like less -- only 1 university-semester course instead of 2 like in 11th grade and he is doing the course at home.  The thing is he will be using 2 textbooks, a standard multivariate one and Apostol which is hard core, as in really hard core.  Not sure how to handle this as it looks like he is doing less in 12th grade than in years past, but actually he is doing the same amount.  I doubt they will be looking at the course descriptions to notice the Apostol book (or even know what it means). So I'm wondering about using Anton textbook for a standard multivariate course and giving an extra 0.5 credit for his work with Apostol, but then I have no idea what to call it.

 

5) DS will do the WOOT for 3 years.  This is currently not down on his transcript.  I'm wondering about pulling off the PE and putting down the WOOT, but I have no idea what kind of grade to give it.  And I don't know if it is better to put the PE down. or neither.  If neither, I'm not sure how many credits is a good number of credits. If I add in organic chem and an extra Apostol math course each for 0.5 credits, I could replace the PE credits in 11th and 12th grade.

 

6) I have stated elsewhere in my homeschool documents that ds has done the equivalent of 1st and 2nd year university classes in both number theory and probability (so 4 courses, which he has definitely done through the his competition math study).  But then on his transcript I have given him only 0.5 credits each for the 2 intermediate courses he took through AoPS in 9th grade; the rest has been done through self study with various resources over the period of 3 years.  I think that these should probably be bumped up to 1 credit each but over the period of high school I guess, so lots of 0.25 credits.  I have stated in the notes that courses are listed in the year that the majority of the work has been done.  I had to do that because he has stretched out both physics and chem a bit for a number of reasons and the exam marks on his transcript will span more than a calendar year.  So to stretch out number theory and combinatorics is going to go against this statement, but I can't give him a full credit for each in 9th grade or he will have 9 credits which seems kind of excessive. Plus he simply did not do that work in 9th grade or near it.

 

7) I've indicated in my school profile that the level 3 NCEA courses are equivalent to AP or IB or A levels, and I have named the courses as Physics (NCEA level 3) on the transcript.  Should I put a note on the transcript also, so readers know the level of the course?  DS did the 11th grade and 12th grade chemistry course at the same time, and I am only giving credit for the 12th grade course as those were the only exams he took.  This would be the same as a student only listing AP chemistry even though clearly you would have to work through intro chemistry to be able to do the material.  However, the reader won't know the level of the chemistry course when reading the transcript unless I say.  This is true for 7 of his courses on the transcript.  So is a note in order even though it is on the homeschool profile?  Also, who am I to say that NCEA level 3 is like AP or IB anyway?  Am I going to get myself in trouble for claiming some similarity?  My sister said that "advanced" chemistry just wasn't a good enough description. 

 

Picky questions about course descriptions:

 

8) is there a short way to write textbook details down.  Some of my references go just over the length of a line and look odd and take up too much space.  Can I do last name only. date. abbrievated title? Or will this look like I don't know how to properly reference?

 

9) Do I need to indicate where a course was taken on the course descriptions?  Like 'Art of Problem Solving online school'? do I need to indicate that it is accredited? 

 

Thanks heaps for your thoughts.

 

Ruth in NZ

Edited July 12, 2017 by lewelma

[JanetC]

1. Why do you think he doesn't deserve an A? If P is the honest and true grade, then ethically that is what you need to put down, though. Another option is to just not list these classes. I had things that we started and never finished and never listed on paper if it wasn't worth at least a half-credit.

 

2. I wouldn't obsess too much about giving both PE credit and allowing a student to list sports awards, tournaments, etc as ECs. High school athletes regularly double dip on PE. Their school counts practices as their PE class and it's still an EC as well.

 

3. Pick a convention that courses are listed in the school year started, the school year completed, or the school year when the majority of the work was done (this last is what I do). Then list your chemistry work there.

 

4. You are overthinking this. No way anybody looks at your DS as someone slacking off in math, regardless of what you decide to do.

 

5. I'm lost as to why WOOT and PE are being traded off in this question, they seem unrelated. You mean the math WOOT, right? When a class is repeated for credit, I usually add the grade taken. So, Math Olympiad Training 9 for 9th, Math Olympiad Traininv 10 for 10th, etc.

 

6. Obviously you need to find some sort of consistency somehow, I make my classes worth at least .5 credit.

 

7. If NCEA Level 3 describes an exam he took, then put that in the title. Explain what it means in the school profile.

 

8. Materials used goes more than one line in a lot of my descriptions. Don't be overly wordy, but be clear.

 

9. I flag all the dual enrollment classes on the transcript, but not the homeschool co-op ones. AOPS is something that adcoms should be familiar with, so flagging it as from there is enough to designate the course as honors. I did not worry about marking things as accredited, that implies everything else is unaccredited and maybe suspect? All of my classes are good courses or I wouldn't list them. They're unique, but they're all equally valid IMHO, so I don't want to imply any are lesser.

[J-rap]

Just addressing the PE part...

 

I'd just combine all the PE type activities you did, including Martial Arts and Badminton.  So, maybe you'd have 1 credit total.  If you have 1 credit's worth over four years, you can always list .5 in 10th grade and .5 in 12th grade (or something like that), if you do it by grade.  Or, if you organize by subject only, then you don't even need to list years.

 

Our PS here just uses S/U (Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory) for PE.  We did the same.  

 

 

[lewelma]

Thank you so much for your detailed response!  I so appreciate getting ideas as to what to do.  I am at least past the worst of the conversion between NZ to american education.  Now, it is just a last few little things. 

 

To address your bigger issue about credits.  In some way, we unschool. DS studies all sorts of stuff that is not for credit in the NZ system, and he only decided to apply to American Universities last December.  So now I'm trying to collect together all the different work he has done into understandable classes for an American audience, and I'm organizing to have him take whatever he is missing during his senior year. So there is a ton of stuff he has done that is just not showing up on the transcript, and I need to decide what should be there and what is ok to leave off.  So for the Number theory and Probability, he has placed out of both first and second year university classes through portfolio assessment (assessor was head of math department). So my understanding is that this represents 4 high school classes.  Currently I have listed on his transcript a 0.5 number theory and 0.5 probability class both taken through AoPS.  The rest of his work in these field has happened over numerous years and without tests or textbooks. So not sure how or if I include them. This is true for all sorts of work he has done.  For example, a typical course in NZ is 18 credits (180 hours of work), so if ds does 23 credits of chemistry at both 11th and 12th grade level, he is 100 hours over a standard credits (spread over 2 years).  Do I split it out?  So the overarching questions is how many credits do I create? He has the hours, lots of them, so I can make more or less.  So my thoughts about PE, WOOT, organic chemistry, Apostol, probability, and number theory all revolve how many credits to create vs just leave out or subsume into other courses.  I guess it is about perception vs fairness -- does it look like padding or it unfair to DS to under-represent his work. I'm sure it does not matter too much, but I do have to make a decision.  I took 2 months off of these documents, and now going back and looking at them has brought some issues to light.       

 

 

1. Why do you think he doesn't deserve an A? If P is the honest and true grade, then ethically that is what you need to put down, though. Another option is to just not list these classes. I had things that we started and never finished and never listed on paper if it wasn't worth at least a half-credit.

 

Well, I required him to do PE, and he does 7.5 hours per week year round, but I'm not there to grade him.  There is no grading aspect of Martial arts or badminton. So I was just giving a pass for attendance basically.  His transcript looked odd to me with no PE component, but maybe that is just me.  Perhaps leave PE off. I could make it 0.5 credits, I just thought that PE was always a quarter credit.  no?

2. I wouldn't obsess too much about giving both PE credit and allowing a student to list sports awards, tournaments, etc as ECs. High school athletes regularly double dip on PE. Their school counts practices as their PE class and it's still an EC as well.

 

Oh, OK. 

3. Pick a convention that courses are listed in the school year started, the school year completed, or the school year when the majority of the work was done (this last is what I do). Then list your chemistry work there.

 

He has too many chemistry credits for a single course in NZ. So do I break it out or just subsume it in? In NZ a teacher chooses which units to do to build a class of 18 credits. Ds has had so much fun that he just did too many.

 

4. You are overthinking this. No way anybody looks at your DS as someone slacking off in math, regardless of what you decide to do.

 

Haha. probably not.  Just looks weird to me. :-)

 

5. I'm lost as to why WOOT and PE are being traded off in this question, they seem unrelated. You mean the math WOOT, right? When a class is repeated for credit, I usually add the grade taken. So, Math Olympiad Training 9 for 9th, Math Olympiad Traininv 10 for 10th, etc.

 

So you would put WOOT in? Some people say no.  Beats me. 

 

6. Obviously you need to find some sort of consistency somehow, I make my classes worth at least .5 credit.

 

Makes sense.  I'm just unclear on the number theory and probability that he has worked up to such a high level over the period of 5 years (8th through 12th). So I can't see how to not do quarter credits. And it was confusing to say he had done 2nd year number theory and probability but then not see it on the transcript.  It really stood out to me.  As for PE, I thought PE was quarter credits.  So I can make them 0.5 credits instead. He has the hours.

 

7. If NCEA Level 3 describes an exam he took, then put that in the title. Explain what it means in the school profile.

 

Yup. That is what I have done. But my sister thought I needed to clarify what NCEA level 3 is equivalent to in America.  She thought I should say in the school profile it is equivalent to AP or IB.  It is a second year course that you take *after* the first year course, which is taken *after* integrated science in 9th and 10th grade.  So it is at a high level.  The organic chemistry unit covers about 50 reactions with alkanes, alkenes, haloalkanes, alcohols, ketones, aldehydes, carboxylic acids, esters, acyl chlorides, and amides, along with the reaction sites and why these things react as they do, plus physical properties and their underlying reasons.

8. Materials used goes more than one line in a lot of my descriptions. Don't be overly wordy, but be clear.

 

Well, my sister found it annoying that the textbook reference would be one line long and then the date would flip to next line. She said I should make them one line long because no one is really going to care. I just need to be seen as using real materials. 

9. I flag all the dual enrollment classes on the transcript, but not the homeschool co-op ones. AOPS is something that adcoms should be familiar with, so flagging it as from there is enough to designate the course as honors. I did not worry about marking things as accredited, that implies everything else is unaccredited and maybe suspect? All of my classes are good courses or I wouldn't list them. They're unique, but they're all equally valid IMHO, so I don't want to imply any are lesser.

 

Ok. lose the accredited piece. Can do.

 

Thanks so much!!!

Edited July 12, 2017 by lewelma

[lewelma]

DS's transcript is a grid, so both by subject and by year.  Very clever approach that was passed to me by another boardie.

[snowbeltmom]

If your son has done the PE for more than 7 hours per week over the entire 4 years of high school, I would list PE on his transcript for 9th grade and award 1 credit.  I would consider the last three years of his weekly activities an EC and list those activities there.  No college is really going to care about PE.  The only reason I even bothered to list it on the transcript was because I thought it might be a "box checking" requirement at some colleges.

 

Fwiw, I only listed the textbook title and author. I didn't bother listing the edition, date, etc.  It was not an issue with any college with either of my high school grads.

 

Good luck as you put the final touches on your transcript.  It is a great feeling when you are finally ready to hit submit!

[eternalsummer]

I don't know how homeschool PE courses are generally notated, but in my experience in the US you get .5 credit for .5 year of a 1-hour/day PE class, or 1 credit for 1 year of a 1-hour/day PE class.

 

If you are going to claim the sports as PE, you can just call it 1 credit per year, as he has the hours.

 

Alternatively I think you could leave the PE off (no one cares whether a homeschooler has done PE classes, I think) and put them as extracurriculars.

[eternalsummer]

hah, posting at the same time!

[JanetC]

It sounds like making up separate course titles is really hard. It's OK to explain in a course description, "1.5 credits awarded for chemistry for completion of the following beyond NCEA Level 3 (list of things)"

 

The use of hours of instruction as a measure for credits may not always be the best idea when your kid learns so fast. If he masters a high school amount of material in a month or two, it can still be a high school credit.

 

As far as the unschooled aspects, I assume you decided not to do a narrative transcript for a reason? You do have alternatives to trying to make nonstandard stuff look "standard."

[Julie of KY]

1. While it is fine to give a pass for PE, I just gave an A as my student did everything expected. This gets rid of the problem of universities downgrading your GPA for a pass. If they want to ignore the PE grade then it is easy to do.

 

2. I'd list PE and then I'd list the specific sports as extracurriculars. I'm sure he does enough overlap to be able to count it as both. 

 

3. I'd give him the additional 0.5 credit for organic chemistry.

 

4. I wouldn't worry at all about Multivariable calculus being his only math credit for 12th. As far as to how much credit it should earn, I'm not sure.

 

5. While not everyone would give credit for WOOT, I would. It is an academic subject. Many schools have competition math classes and that is what this is. I'd list it as WOOT and give the year to differentiate since it was done multiple years. I would not have a problem giving an A based on the facts that he is doing a rigorous course with complex problem solving, doing rigorous proofs, learning a lot and showing evidence of learning by making the IMO team (and doing well I'd add).

 

6. I would definitely give a full credit to number theory and combinatorics. I'd list the AoPS class with any other specific resources. I'd simply give the course description that he went beyond the AoPS class with much self-study.

 

7. I'd list the course as NCEA level 3 and then describe it somewhere. I wouldn't have a problem saying that your advanced class is similar is in level to an AP or IB course here. 

 

8. I gave minimal references in my course descriptions - usually just a title and author and sometimes the edition of the book. It's no problem to give more and I see no problem in going over one line.

 

9. I listed where online courses where taken, but I didn't worry about accreditation. 

 

 

I wouldn't worry about giving him the credit for hours he did. I think he deserves a full credit for NT and combinatorics as he did much outside of the AoPS class. I'd list out the organic chemistry separately because it is something not typically covered in the US and therefore looks like he went deeper/futher into chemistry. I think this certainly looks better than chemistry and advanced chemistry. For some subjects, I'd just list the single credit and might write down he spent x hours or went further than typical in my course description. You son is already going to stand out so I would try not to overthink it too much.

Edited July 12, 2017 by Julie of KY

[regentrude]

1. Fractional credits and a Pass grade in PE are fine. I did that for both my kids.

2. If he has enough extracurriculars with strong focus - and I know he does! - I'd give PE credit for those.

3. If he has covered the regular chemistry topics and done extra organic on top of it, I would give the extra half credit.Does not seem unusual to me.

4. I don't think one math credit for multi looks weird at all. 

 

6. I don't follow. You can simply give him a full credit in the year the work has been completed. I would not clutter the transcript with too many fractional credits.

7. I don't see wht you would not give credit for the 11th grade course. If students take regular chem and AP chem, both appear on the transcript.

you can include a remark in the notes section "NCEA level 3: compares to AP. See school profile"

8. Nobody cares how you cite the textbook. Abbreviate, list only first author and 'et al". Edition and year are completely unnecessary.

9. you don't need to do anything. I would mention "AoPS online" if it was an online school. In which sense is it "accredited"?

[TravelingChris]

My suggestions would depend completely on what American schools he is applying to. They don't all require the same things. Generally state schools (our government schools)are the ones that are most likely to want to have boxes checked but we also have come across a private school twice that did have those requirements. Now some schools, like my youngest's home college, she is right now at your Victoria University, have so-called requirements that we didn't do and she not only got accepted without the supposed required SAT2 tests, but got a nice scholarship too. She had done dual enrolment Chemistry at the local state university and done very well and had a great recommendation from the professor. I guess they figured that her science SAT2 wasn't needed. I didn't include books or materials used though I gave a general description of our homeschooling which included examples of some material we used. My kids got into most of the colleges they applied to overall.

[lewelma]

Thanks so much everyone!  

 

I'll add the 0.5 organic chem, and not worry about just one math credit senior year.  I'll think about the PE situation, but probably just give an A for 1 full credit in 9th grade.  I'll give author and title for textbooks and leave off the full reference. I'll equate NCEA level 3 to AP in the transcript notes.

 

Regentrude: 11th grade chemistry and physics courses cover the same topics as the 12th grade ones but just at a lower level (this is not true for Bio). So for example ds studied 11th and 12th grade mechanics at the same time and then only took the 12th grade mechanics national exam. I think this is equivalent of a student taking an AP science class without taking the first year course. So all the other NZ students would do the 11th grade mechanics, EM, Wave, and Modern exams (4 separate exams) in 11th grade, and then those 4 exams again in 12th grade.  DS studied 11th and 12th grade mechanics and took the 12th grade exam, and then studied 11th and 12th grade EM material and then took the 12th grade EM exam, etc. Basically, he found the 11th grade material and exams incredibly annoying because he was just thinking at a higher level and got so frustrated with the lower level explanations. So in the end he did mechanics and EM in 10th and modern and wave in 11th -- mechanics and EM are worth more credits (12 total vs 7 total), so I have put all of physics down in 10th with a note on the transcript that courses are listed when the majority of the material was studied. (This whole situation is kind of a mess because I didn't know at the time that ds was applying to american universities, so we were just going for credits when he had the time and interest). I have written about this in the school profile as:

 

Focused on authentic learning: By skipping most of the 10th and 11th grade exams, and only taking the 12th grade exams, DS had the time to delve more deeply into each subject using university level textbooks for many subjects and following his own interests through personal research. 

 

So one main question remains and that is the Number Theory / Probability situation.This is actually a part of a larger problem -- that I have to explain ds's lack of 'scholarship exams' which are the top exams in NZ which every other student applying to elite universities from NZ will have. I can't explain their lack by saying he wanted face to face interaction instead self-studying, because the courses at the local uni are too easy so he is not going to take any more (he got 100% when the mean and median was 60%).  So instead I have stated in the school profile: 

 

Worked at university level in his strengths: DS chose to bypass the NZ scholarship exams to instead study at the university level in maths and music. Through personal study and formal courses, ds will have completed 9 university-level maths courses available at XXX. DS also completed a post-secondary diploma in music through the Royal Schools of Music.

 

So the problem: there is no indication on the transcript of these NINE courses. (he currently has calc 2, multivariate calc, and 2 uni classes on his transcript).  So for example, he self studied the first year number theory course to take the second year number theory course.  The first one was so easy, it probably only took him 50 hours, so I didn't put it on the transcript.  Another example, the first year course on Mathematical Thinking is basically teaching you how to write proofs, which ds has already done through his competition math work.  He has also done the first and second year number theory and probability courses.  So 5 1st year courses and 4 second courses, but only 4 are on the transcript with 2 half courses also. It looks and feels odd to me, especially because I am using this high level work to explain a very glaring lack in a standard NZ transcript for elite students.  

 

So I'm having trouble with the transcript because I can't give a full credit for number theory and probability in 9th grade, as that would give him FOUR math classes in 9th grade (Algebra 2, precalc, number theory, and combinatorics) and 9.5 credits (if I give him a full credit for PE that year).  It would also look like he slacked off the remaining 3 years as they only have 7 credits. Also, there is definitely the problem with the course names.  He did introductory number theory and combinatorics in 8th grade through self study with AoPS books of those names.  And then Intermediate number theory and combinatorics in 9th grade through an AoPS course which will be on his AoPS transcript with that name.  Then he continued to work on number theory from 10th - 12th grade through a variety of resources including things like course notes from WOOT, or wikipedia, or studying IMO number theory solutions really carefully, or having a friend teach him a new technique.  I don't know that I can call this continued work advanced number theory.  I could possibly call it olympiad number theory. But then I am unclear if I list it as a separate course and if so, which year.  I currently have not included introductory number theory and combinatorics in the before high school section, only listing Algebra 1 and Geometry. So not only do I have a naming issue I also have a timing issue.  I have also considered putting 1 credit each year 10th-12th for WOOT and having that act as a proxy for all this advanced work, but it still doesn't line up with my school profile.

 

I'm open to suggestions. 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 12, 2017 by lewelma

[Julie of KY]

I think you could have a course called advanced number theory and then describe it as a mix of the online AoPS Int. Number Theory with further self-study in olympiad number theory using x,y, z textbooks and multiple previous IMO tests or whatever you did use. I might change the grade listed as taken in as 9-11 rather than a single grade or just list it as one credit in 9th (or whatever) but asterisk it saying much of the credit was done in 9th, but the remainder was spread through the rest of the high school years.

 

Alternatively, you could list 1/2 credit AoPS Number Theory and 1/2 credit Olympiad Number theory and list the resources. Either way should work.

 

Editted to add that my impression is that admission officers at the elite universities actually read through the materials sent and I think your son will stand out no matter how you list the courses.

 

 

Edited July 12, 2017 by Julie of KY

[Kathy in Richmond]

Just a few btdt thoughts:

 

I agree that PE isn't going to make a difference no matter what you do, and that 1/2 credit for OChem is perfectly reasonable.

 

I just gave credits for formal math courses taken at home or via AoPS. My kids had *tons* of competition math, summer camps, self study, etc. We left those items for the extracurricular list. Yes, I know that those MathCamp and MOP summers entailed advanced math learning way over and above their regular courses, but I didn't attempt to quantify it into credits on the transcript. These kids have their olympiad experiences which will speak for themselves!

 

I left WOOT off the transcript also, though I think you're fine assigning credit to it if you wish.  I just felt that it fit better with the rest of my kid's extracurricular math items.

 

As for 12th grade, I think it's fine listing MV calc and then providing the texts used in the course descriptions. The schools your son is looking at ARE going to know what Apostol entails, for instance. That's what I did with my son's senior year. He self-studied a semester each of diff eq and linear algebra using an MIT textbook and also Apostol.

 

You're going to bring copies of your transcript and course descriptions along to your meetings with admissions offices this summer, right? They are usually happy to look them over and offer advice if you have questions. :)

 

In the end, it's the kids' accomplishments that get them admitted, not the exact way you assign credits and such. Your boy will shine and be fine!

 

 

[lewelma]

Thanks Kathy!

 

So you don't think there will be confusion over listing only 5 university-level math credits on the transcript and then mentioning in the profile that he has taken or self studied 9 university courses? If that doesn't bother you, my transcript is done with the exception of adding in orgo.

[Kathy in Richmond]

Thanks Kathy!

 

So you don't think there will be confusion over listing only 5 university-level math credits on the transcript and then mentioning in the profile that he has taken or self studied 9 university courses? If that doesn't bother you, my transcript is done with the exception of adding in orgo.

 

Yes, that sounds fine to me! :)

 

 

[*LC]

I did not need to do course descriptions for homeschool college admissions, but I did for DE applications. I did put where the course was taken on the course description. I simply copied the course description from the provider's website, so I felt I needed to also put the provider name with it. I never worried about accredited.

 

DS's transcript is a grid, so both by subject and by year. Very clever approach that was passed to me by another boardie.

My homeschool graduate had classes from 5 (or 6) providers, including home. On the transcript, I put a column for where the class was taken. This was a two or three-letter code. There was a legend at the bottom of the transcript.

 

Good luck to your son.

Edited July 15, 2017 by *LC

[amy58103]

So you don't think there will be confusion over listing only 5 university-level math credits on the transcript and then mentioning in the profile that he has taken or self studied 9 university courses? 

 

You could reword the profile slightly ... say that he studied the equivalent of 9 university courses through his work with AOPS, Math Competition Prep, {whatever is relevant}.  

[lewelma]

LC, I've got superscripts and footnotes. I think it's pretty clear. I considered a separate column, but I thought that might highlight that DS did all his social science and foreign language at home and may not be viewed as rigorously as outside providers. Who knows.

 

Amy, great solution! Haha. One word. Should have thought of that. 😀

[lewelma]

Next questions:

1) how important is it to have every year have about the same number of credits?

 

2) where do I state that the transcript has been converted into a north American school year? So September to June rather than Feb to December? And how do I explain it (or should I bother). Schools typically say that southern hemisphere kids can apply to start university six months before or six months after high school graduation, your choice. I couldnt do six months after or he won't be able to compete in the IMO next year. And I didn't want to do six months before graduation because he did quite a lot of good work in the second half of eighth grade that I wanted to be on his transcript giving him four full years. He entered the correspondence school in July instead of February, so his schedule is already six months off, and he has no plans for high school work from June to december 2018. So converting it to a north American calendar seemed like the most logical choice. But it might seem really weird. Don't know. Do I explain this choice and if so where?

[regentrude]

Next questions:

1) how important is it to have every year have about the same number of credits?

 

2) where do I state that the transcript has been converted into a north American school year? ..Do I explain this choice and if so where?

 

1) I have not found any evidence that the number of credits is important at all. 

They just want to see steady progress, i.e. no slacking off in level in senior year

 

2) school profile

[lewelma]

2) school profile

 

ARRGH.  It was looking so pretty. Now I have to change it.  :tongue_smilie:   I guess it goes in the grades section.  How much detail into why?  Or can I just state it was done and move on?

[regentrude]

2) school profile

 

ARRGH.  It was looking so pretty. Now I have to change it.  :tongue_smilie:   I guess it goes in the grades section.  How much detail into why?  Or can I just state it was done and move on?

 

you can just not say anything about it.

If you say anything, make it brief:

"Even though the NZ school year begins in February, our homeschool operated on the US schedule with school years beginning in September."

 

Actually, you could even make that a footnote on the transcript if you don' want to change the profile.

It won't matter.

Edited July 14, 2017 by regentrude

[regentrude]

Nobody cares WHY you chose to count US years. Don't bother explaining the IMO eligibilty. he can tell them in the interview if anybody asks.

Edited July 14, 2017 by regentrude

[lewelma]

Awesome.  

 

I was worried that they would think it was an odd thing to do.  DS is likely to be compared to other NZ students, and his transcript is going to look crazy different from theirs.  Final exams are in November, so the shift is tricky to bring about but can be done as a homeschooler because of the way NZ has separate units in each subject that have external exams vs internal assessments.  So EM, Mechanics, and Wave are externals in November, but Modern, Lab, and research papers are internals that happen anytime, so we did them Feb-May.  Problem is that they won't know this, so I hope they won't be thinking, how do you do a school year September to June and have the final exams in November?   

[regentrude]

Awesome.  

 

I was worried that they would think it was an odd thing to do.  DS is likely to be compared to other NZ students, and his transcript is going to look crazy different from theirs. 

 

How many NZ students do you think are applying to these schools???

[*LC]

 

LC, I've got superscripts and footnotes. I think it's pretty clear. I considered a separate column, but I thought that might highlight that DS did all his social science and foreign language at home and may not be viewed as rigorously as outside providers. Who knows.

[/quote

 

Sounds great. I wasn't sure what a grid transcript, so I thought it was just faster to put how I handled multiple providers on a transcript.

 

Good luck on finishing everything.

[lewelma]

How many NZ students do you think are applying to these schools???

 

I would say a few hundred -- there are some seriously competitive schools in Auckland.  Each elite american university seems to take 1 or 2 New Zealanders every year, so the odds for the average student won't be great. I know that places like MIT have a cap on international admits, so admissions said to definitely apply as a US citizen. So ds's friend and IMO team member is applying to these schools, but I don't think they are competing for the 1-2 slots because one is international and the other American.  

 

I'm sure it sounds like I'm a helicopter parent, but really I'm just trying to make sense of the administrative disaster that is my ds's most wonderful and beautiful education.  :001_smile:

[JanetC]

I used a resume template for my transcript (each "job" on the template is a school year). That made it very easy to add notes wherever I wanted versus a grid with specific columns or boxes to be messed up.

 

I made zero effort to squeeze it all on one page.

[Kathy in Richmond]

My kids submitted EC resumes to all their colleges that permitted them to do so (eg, MIT-yes, Stanford-no). I have no idea whether or not admission officers read or even looked at them, but it certainly didn't hurt them. They did summarize their most important ECs and awards in the lines on the Common App (or the MIT App) itself.

 

Like Janet, we did not try to condense the resume to just a single page. It was submitted along with my counselor stuff (profile, letter, transcript, course descriptions).