"Official" transcript

[skimomma]

Dd is in 9th grade.  I have not started her transcript.  We are in a "keeping options open" mode.  I had planned to keep some considerations like whether we will count some of her pre-high school classes (math and foreign language) on the table until when she was closer to applying to colleges.  There is even a chance, I will re-assign her 8th grade year as 9th grade depending on what dd plans to pursue.  There is a long back story to this that I will not bore you with.  Just assume there are good reasons for the uncertainty at this time.

 

I just had a meeting at our local university.  Dd is planning to DE there next year and I met with the woman in charge of the DE program to discuss how dd is to apply.  They have never had a homeschooled DE student before....hence the meeting.  We worked out a procedure.  One of the requirements is that I am to submit an "official transcript."  The very transcript I was going to avoid dealing with for a couple more years.  

 

There is a very good chance dd will attend this university upon graduation.  I am a bit concerned that whatever I submit now as an "official transcript" could cause trouble later should we take a completely different transcript approach sometime between now and graduation.  I worry that flags will be raised if there are differences between whatever I submit now and upon official application.  Her GPA will be different if I re-assign 8th grade as 9th grade, for example.  No actual grades will change, of course.

 

Surely others have grappled with this.  Thoughts? 

[EKS]

I'd just organize the transcript by subject.  That eliminates the issue of whether courses were done in middle school or high school.

[regentrude]

I do not anticipate that this will cause a problem. I would put the pre-9th high school level classes on the transcript now to demonstrate her level; you can always choose to leave them off later.

 

If your student were to fulfill the regular entrance requirements for highschool coursework with only three years of high school, then you could leave the transcript as it is and graduate her after 3 years.

 

Is this a highly selective university? For some institutions, they have an easy policy that DE students who were admitted and did well in their DE classes are automatically admitted as regular freshmen without another admissions process.

Edited January 24, 2018 by regentrude

[regentrude]

I'd just organize the transcript by subject.  That eliminates the issue of whether courses were done in middle school or high school.

 

but it still does not eliminate the question of which expected graduation date to put. The OP needs to pick one. 

I would err on the side of "it's easier to explain why a student graduates earlier than anticipated than later" and pick the later date

[skimomma]

 

 

Is this a highly selective university? For some institutions, they have an easy policy that DE students who were admitted and did well in their DE classes are automatically admitted as regular freshmen without another admissions process.

 

It is not highly selective but selective enough that DE students do have to formally apply should they seek full-time admission.  I do not anticipate that dd will have any trouble getting into this school but she may be a candidate for merit aid which is why I want to be careful.

[skimomma]

And then there is NCAA which I realize is a whole different beast.

[snowbeltmom]

And then there is NCAA which I realize is a whole different beast.

For most NCAA sports, the four year clock starts ticking as soon as you begin 9th grade. In this situation, I would call her an 8th grader and graduate early if you change your mind. The NCAA, at least last I checked, will accept high school credits taken before 9th grade for their core class requirements.

[katilac]

I would put the 8th-grade courses on the transcript, designated as such. Personally, I would ditch the option of reassigning them to 9th-grade, because it is an official transcript. The idea of changing her official transcript would cause me endless anxiety for the next couple of years, so I would just make the alternative work.

 

Her DE semester courses can count for a full high school credit, so if she takes just one class per semester next year and the following year, that is 8 high school credits, plus whatever you do at home (and the six or so from this year). You should be fine on credits, and you can put classes taken before high school for credit on her final transcript as well, it just won't factor into her high school GPA (it would mostly be to show that she did take biology or another expected course, for example). 

[skimomma]

I would put the 8th-grade courses on the transcript, designated as such. Personally, I would ditch the option of reassigning them to 9th-grade, because it is an official transcript. The idea of changing her official transcript would cause me endless anxiety for the next couple of years, so I would just make the alternative work.

 

Her DE semester courses can count for a full high school credit, so if she takes just one class per semester next year and the following year, that is 8 high school credits, plus whatever you do at home (and the six or so from this year). You should be fine on credits, and you can put classes taken before high school for credit on her final transcript as well, it just won't factor into her high school GPA (it would mostly be to show that she did take biology or another expected course, for example). 

 

 

The endless anxiety is something I specialize in.

 

It just occurred to me that the only reason we would reshuffle the what-year-is-what deck would be if dd chooses to pursue a path that does not include traditional college directly after high school.  It is unlikely, I think, but not off the table.  In that case it is probably best to make her "official" transcript as people have suggested here and if I do graduate her early and I have to change her transcript, it likely won't matter if traditional college applications are not part of the equation.

 

We will be short on credits, even with DE, if dd wants to graduates early if I don't re-assign 8th grade as 9th.  We only plan 6 credits a year.  With DE, I can get the total number up but cannot get the core requirements where I would like to see them without counting 8th grade math and foreign language.  

[skimomma]

For most NCAA sports, the four year clock starts ticking as soon as you begin 9th grade. In this situation, I would call her an 8th grader and graduate early if you change your mind. The NCAA, at least last I checked, will accept high school credits taken before 9th grade for their core class requirements.

 

 

I'm not sure I understand what you are saying here.  Which is not surprising because I feel endlessly confused about NCAA stuff even though I have combed all of the threads here on the subject multiple times.  Wouldn't that be going in the opposite direction?

 

Dd would likely not be a candidate for sport-related scholarships but if she does pursue traditional college, she would like to continue her sport.  Most of her teammates that have graduated have done so.  So that is just another "option" I feel compelled to keep open.

[snowbeltmom]

I'm not sure I understand what you are saying here.  Which is not surprising because I feel endlessly confused about NCAA stuff even though I have combed all of the threads here on the subject multiple times.  Wouldn't that be going in the opposite direction?

 

Dd would likely not be a candidate for sport-related scholarships but if she does pursue traditional college, she would like to continue her sport.  Most of her teammates that have graduated have done so.  So that is just another "option" I feel compelled to keep open.

Sorry, for the confusion. I suffered from a reading comprehension problem and completely misread your post. I thought you might at some point reassign 9th grade as 8th grade. This would cause problems with the NCAA. In your case, I would do as someone else mentioned: organize the transcript by subject and graduate her early if she has met all of your requirements and she wants to graduate. Graduating early is not a problem as far as the NCAA goes. Taking more than 4 years to finish high school is a problem with the NCAA. However, the NCAA does permit a gap year or an extra year at a boarding school after high school for some sports. In other sports, your 4 years of eligibility begin the year you graduate from high school, so if you wanted to take a gap year before beginning college, you would only have 3 years to play your sport.

[GoodGrief]

I would just call 8th grade, 8th grade. If you graduate her early, many colleges just ask about the previous 4 years. They are not necessarily concerned about assigned grade levels.