Transcript Question

[Joyful]

So, for the grading scale on the transcripts, I have A = 90-100; B = 80-90; C = 70-80; D = 60-70

What do I do when an online provider gives a grade for my student that is an A- or A+?

I thought of just recording them as "A", according to my grading system, but then would schools think I am making an A- look better? (He has some + too)   What are my options for the transcript? Should I just adjust the scales to include the - and +? But then that takes up more space.  (I am preparing to attach the online providers' various transcripts and evaluations with the homeschool transcript.)

Can I just footnote that the grade was given by the online teacher and then list the exact grade given by the teacher?  But then, I am confused as to what I do when I calculate the GPA.

I'm confused. Please help with your advice

[Julie of KY]

On my transcript, I changed them all to an A with the above grading scale. In the notes, I noted that such and such teacher recorded the grade as whatever it was. It was not a problem for us.

If the university wants to recalculate your GPA, they are welcome to do so however they want.

 

[Joyful]

Thanks Julie for sharing with me what you did.

Did you note the teacher's recorded grade as a footnote on the transcript or in your course description?

 

[alewife]

I addressed this in the homeschool profile.  I had a blurb that said that outside providers did not have consistent grading scales and + and -'s were not used on the transcript.  I did not report the teacher's recorded grade anywhere.

[mirabillis]

11 hours ago, alewife said:

I addressed this in the homeschool profile.  I had a blurb that said that outside providers did not have consistent grading scales and + and -'s were not used on the transcript.  I did not report the teacher's recorded grade anywhere.

 

Care to share just that bit of your blurb from your school profile for us newbies at this whole transcript/college app thing? 🙂

[easypeasy]

We've never included any outside transcripts (unless it was a university transcript... so my answer would differ only for that) - but for outside homeschool providers, I assign a grade according to my grading scale and make no mention of it being "different" whatsoever.

 

[Joyful]

I see. Thanks!

I thought I read somewhere that some people will include transcripts from online providers.

We have been using a variety of online providers, so it makes sense to give it some consistency by "merging" them into a "unified" grading scale.

[Joyful]

1 hour ago, mirabillis said:

 

Care to share just that bit of your blurb from your school profile for us newbies at this whole transcript/college app thing? 🙂

Yes, alewife, I'd like to see too.  🙂

Please PM me if you'd rather not post here.

[easypeasy]

42 minutes ago, Joyful said:

 

I thought I read somewhere that some people will include transcripts from online providers.

We have been using a variety of online providers, so it makes sense to give it some consistency by "merging" them into a "unified" grading scale.

 

Some people definitely DO include online provider transcripts. For us.... I've found that staying with the K.I.S.S. philosophy is best when it comes to college applications. I don't want to upload several online provider transcripts - I want to provide one high school transcript... mine. I'll make the obvious, and necessary, exception for a college class - but not for a homeschool high school class.

In my counselor's letter, I speak about utilizing outside sources for educational enhancement and in the class description document, I will include the provider's name as a co-teacher on the subject.

But I never let go of my "high-status" along the way. This homeschool was run by one king - and that's me. lol 👑 So the transcript aligns with that philosophy. Any outside providers were assistants to our family's end-goal plans, if that makes sense. 🙂

[RootAnn]

4 hours ago, easypeasy said:

We've never included any outside transcripts (unless it was a university transcript... so my answer would differ only for that) - but for outside homeschool providers, I assign a grade according to my grading scale and make no mention of it being "different" whatsoever.

This. No outside provider transcript (except for college class) & grades given are according to my grading scale, not theirs. (Which meant, in one case,  that a A- became a B+ because my grading scale is actually harsher than most other providers' scales.) 

[alewife]

4 hours ago, mirabillis said:

 

Care to share just that bit of your blurb from your school profile for us newbies at this whole transcript/college app thing? 🙂

Academic Providers did not have consistent grading scales. Some awarded an A+ for any score about 97%, while others awarded an A for the same percentile. In an attempt to standardize the grades, we did not list any grade as an A+. Our letter grades were assigned based on the percentile scores received from each provider. Our grading scale is stated on the High School Transcript.

[Joyful]

So, there are different ways I can do the transcript huh? Just so long as it makes sense and gives a record of what was done, I suppose.

 

 

[Joyful]

4 hours ago, alewife said:

Academic Providers did not have consistent grading scales. Some awarded an A+ for any score about 97%, while others awarded an A for the same percentile. In an attempt to standardize the grades, we did not list any grade as an A+. Our letter grades were assigned based on the percentile scores received from each provider. Our grading scale is stated on the High School Transcript.

Thanks! This is helpful. 🙂 

[alewife]

2 hours ago, Joyful said:

So, there are different ways I can do the transcript huh? Just so long as it makes sense and gives a record of what was done, I suppose.

 

 

Yes, you are in charge of the transcript and can present your children's academic records as you deem appropriate.  

Fwiw, I did not include any of the transcripts provided by the outside homeschool providers because they didn't provide any information that I had not already provided on the transcript, and ,more importantly, I didn't want these documents to detract from the other documents I had submitted.  (My kids did not take any classes at a college or community college.  If they would have, I would have been required to submit those. )

[kirag714]

I did include outside homeschool provider transcripts for the fall semester with my daughter's mid-year transcript because they made some very nice comments about her there and I thought it would strengthen her application. Without those comments I wouldn't have added them to her package. I did not upload any outside providers with her initial transcript, or include them with her final transcript. And yes, I also simplified her transcript and eliminated plusses and minuses for all the reasons stated above.

You are in charge of your child's transcript and can tailor it so that it works for you and your child.

 

[Sebastian (a lady)]

On 7/10/2019 at 5:04 AM, Joyful said:

So, there are different ways I can do the transcript huh? Just so long as it makes sense and gives a record of what was done, I suppose.

 

 

Absolutely. Different school districts have different transcript systems and grading scales. 

The priority should be clarity and consistency. Don't leave a college guessing. 

I also totally agree with the post above about being in charge of how outside coursework is accepted into your homeschool. This would be similar to the way a brick and mortar school decides what and how they accept outside coursework. 

[EKS]

First of all, I think it's important to differentiate between credit granting institutions (such as a public or private schools) and classes (online or otherwise) geared to homeschoolers (such as Derek Owens or WTM Academy).  Many of the colleges my sons applied/will be applying to specify that they want homeschoolers to send official transcripts from all high schools (and colleges) attended.  This means that even though I list all high school classes taken on my homeschool transcript, I also get the schools (actual schools) that my kids have attended to send their own transcripts.  I make sure that the grades listed on my transcript match whatever is on the schools' transcripts exactly.

That said, for the Derek Owens type classes, I consider the class to be a resource that I am using to teach the course, just as I would consider a textbook to be a resource.  I am granting the credit and I am the one that issues the final grade, which may be the same as that given by the online provider or it may not.

So if the grades you are talking about changing are from a real school, I would think seriously about whether you want to change them.  But if they are from Derek Owens type classes, I would say to go for it.

Edited July 13, 2019 by EKS

[Corraleno]

I used the 10-pt grading scale (no extra or reduced points for +/ -) for calculating GPA, but I did list the exact grades as given by outside providers. DS received an A+ in every Greek and Latin course, and I thought that helped highlight his persistence and hard work in very tough subjects despite being dyslexic. There is a section on the Common App where you explain the grading scale, and I wrote:

"Grades assigned by outside providers are included on the transcript as given. Since courses done at home or through dual enrollment did not use a +/- grading scale, GPA calculations were based on a standard 10-point scale, with no additional credit for "plus" grades."

[Julie of KY]

On 7/9/2019 at 1:06 PM, Joyful said:

Thanks Julie for sharing with me what you did.

Did you note the teacher's recorded grade as a footnote on the transcript or in your course description?

 

I footnoted it on the transcript. I don't think it's a problem however you do it though.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

On 7/13/2019 at 1:42 PM, Corraleno said:

I used the 10-pt grading scale (no extra or reduced points for +/ -) for calculating GPA, but I did list the exact grades as given by outside providers. DS received an A+ in every Greek and Latin course, and I thought that helped highlight his persistence and hard work in very tough subjects despite being dyslexic. There is a section on the Common App where you explain the grading scale, and I wrote:

"Grades assigned by outside providers are included on the transcript as given. Since courses done at home or through dual enrollment did not use a +/- grading scale, GPA calculations were based on a standard 10-point scale, with no additional credit for "plus" grades."

That's a nice approach. It let's you show the +/- from the source without requiring you to follow someone elses scale for gpa.

 

[2_girls_mommy]

On 7/10/2019 at 3:06 AM, easypeasy said:

 

Some people definitely DO include online provider transcripts. For us.... I've found that staying with the K.I.S.S. philosophy is best when it comes to college applications. I don't want to upload several online provider transcripts - I want to provide one high school transcript... mine. I'll make the obvious, and necessary, exception for a college class - but not for a homeschool high school class.

In my counselor's letter, I speak about utilizing outside sources for educational enhancement and in the class description document, I will include the provider's name as a co-teacher on the subject.

But I never let go of my "high-status" along the way. This homeschool was run by one king - and that's me. lol 👑 So the transcript aligns with that philosophy. Any outside providers were assistants to our family's end-goal plans, if that makes sense. 🙂

This aligns to what I've done on my dd's unofficial transcript I had to whip up fast for her DE enrollment, and plan to stick with fir her official when we start college applications next month. I'm glad to see this has worked for others. I am thinking of listing me as co-teacher on most of her classes from homeschool co-ops because I never thought biology was just the course she took there. We did our own work and books at home and their grade was part of my overall grade for all work done.