Transcript question - English and weighted GPA

[crazyforlatin]

Dd is in 8th grade and will be applying to a few private high school programs and one public H.S. (which is based on grades and an entrance exam). I'm preparing a 7th grade/8th grade transcript and need to complete the courses by semester rather than an end of year assessment.

For Bravewriter high school classes, they are worth 1/4 credit. Would one class be worth 1/2 credit on a middle school transcript? Dd has taken SAT essay, fan fiction, and Shakespeare during 6th grade summer to 7th grade summer. I think it might be fine to list these under 7th grade, correct?  

For 8th grade this year, she's with Lange Honors Lit 2. 

Another question is regarding weighted grades for one particular school. Should I give a weighted GPA for AP Latin, Honors English 2, and Honors Chemistry? I've already been told that as a homeschooler we will face more obstacles with the public school system since this school is merit based; one of the reasons for outsourcing last year and this year was to give DD some options for H.S. We haven't outsourced every subject, unfortunately.

On a side note, DD’s middle school subjects are not going to be typical of a public middle schooler, but I’m going to have a headings for subjects that sound familiar to evaluators with course descriptions on subsequent pages. 

 

 

[Lori D.]

2 hours ago, crazyforlatin said:

For Bravewriter high school classes, they are worth 1/4 credit. Would one class be worth 1/2 credit on a middle school transcript? Dd has taken SAT essay, fan fiction, and Shakespeare during 6th grade summer to 7th grade summer. I think it might be fine to list these under 7th grade, correct?  

Yes, you can list courses done the previous summer as going with the next grade. (So summer classes taken between 6th/7th grades are listed with 7th grade.)

No, I would not double the credit on the Brave Writer courses. They are only 4-week courses, they are not intensive/high rigor courses, and doubling credit just because the student was younger than the typical age range listed for the course would be awarding 1-semester (16-18 weeks) of school credit for just 4 weeks regular (non-intensive) work. That sounds like padding to me. Just list the 3 courses on the transcript, and you can group them together on the Course Description document, and use the Brave Writer course description, which says they are high school level courses that Brave Writer lists as 0.25 credit per course.
 

2 hours ago, crazyforlatin said:

Another question is regarding weighted grades for one particular school. Should I give a weighted GPA for AP Latin, Honors English 2, and Honors Chemistry? I've already been told that as a homeschooler we will face more obstacles with the public school system since this school is merit based; one of the reasons for outsourcing last year and this year was to give DD some options for H.S. We haven't outsourced every subject, unfortunately.

Even if they were honors high school courses taken in middle school, I've never heard of weighting *middle school* grades before -- although it's likely to have been done somewhere, lol. If going with weighted GPA, you might consider doing what a lot of people do on the high school transcript, and list both the weighted and unweighted cumulative GPA. Whether you weight grades or not, be sure to include your grading scale on the transcript.

JMO: I think you'll be fine just listing your student's coursework and regular grades, and entitling the advanced courses as "Honors" or "AP", as appropriate.
 

2 hours ago, crazyforlatin said:

On a side note, DD’s middle school subjects are not going to be typical of a public middle schooler, but I’m going to have a headings for subjects that sound familiar to evaluators with course descriptions on subsequent pages. 

Use your course description document to show how your homeschool courses are of equal rigor by describing the course focus and then a statement such as "major resources used for this course were of high school or college level, and include: _______, _______, ______").

 

2 hours ago, crazyforlatin said:

Dd is in 8th grade and will be applying to a few private high school programs and one public H.S. (which is based on grades and an entrance exam).

I am sure you have well-prepared DD for this opportunity. ? BEST of luck to DD in getting in! Warmest regards, Lori D.

Edited September 28, 2018 by Lori D.

[crazyforlatin]

Thanks so much for the advice, Lori! That makes sense with BW. I'm not planning to weigh middle school grades now; I’ve been perusing the transcripts thread and just assumed to do the same for a middle school transcript. 

[Lori D.]

1 hour ago, crazyforlatin said:

Thanks so much for the advice, Lori! That makes sense with BW. I'm not planning to weigh middle school grades now; I’ve been perusing the transcripts thread and just assumed to do the same for a middle school transcript. 

I am actually having a hard time picturing that middle school transcripts even list "credits", as I've only seen that discussed as a high school transcript element. I was under the impression that middle school transcripts were more like report cards -- just list "subjects" and then 2 semester grades (or 4 quarter grades) and a final grade.

I totally get that to be competitive for these high end high school programs, you'll want to highlight DD's high school coursework and list grades and credits for those. ?

Good luck! Warmest regards, Lori