High School Transcript-- need course numbers?

[ByGrace3]

Twice this week I have run into people saying that high school transcripts SHOULD have the corresponding course number of the corresponding public school course for college admissions purposes. Is this true? What if we have a course that the public schools don't offer? 

We have always homeschooled and I have never questioned our plan of offering a homeschool diploma, but lately as high school is now upon us, I am suddenly questioning and considering an online diploma program . . . someone talk me down. 😉

[Matryoshka]

4 minutes ago, ByGrace3 said:

Twice this week I have run into people saying that high school transcripts SHOULD have the corresponding course number of the corresponding public school course for college admissions purposes. Is this true? What if we have a course that the public schools don't offer? 

We have always homeschooled and I have never questioned our plan of offering a homeschool diploma, but lately as high school is now upon us, I am suddenly questioning and considering an online diploma program . . . someone talk me down. 😉

Uh, I've never even heard of a high school that has course numbers.  And if any did, it would be a local thing and colleges across the country would have no idea what they meant.  Usually courses differ wildly from town to town and school to school.  There's no unified numbering system!

I did include the course numbers of my dds' DE classes on their transcripts, but  the CC does have course numbers, and they were applying to in-state universities that are familiar with those course numbers.  But I probably didn't even need to do that.

[Arcadia]

27 minutes ago, ByGrace3 said:

Twice this week I have run into people saying that high school transcripts SHOULD have the corresponding course number of the corresponding public school course for college admissions purposes.

 

My school district has only two high schools and the course numbers aren’t even the synchronized 🙄  Many were accepted to UCs (California) and private universities in state and out of state.

[Lori D.]

I've only heard of college courses having course numbers, and that is part of the course heading. My understanding is that yes, for those dual enrollment college courses, you do list the course by the college's number and course name on the transcript. Example of a transcript by subject:

ENGLISH
course . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . credit . . . grade
English 9: Intro to Comp. + Lit .  .  .  .  .  .  .  1.00 . . . .  X
English 10: Intermediate Com. + Lit  .  .  .  .  1.00 . . . . X
English 11: American Literature .  .  .  .  .  .  .  1.00 . . . . X
WRT 101 * .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  1.00 . . . . X
WRT 102 * .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 1.00 . . . . X
total credits/GPA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.00  /  X.XXXX
* = course taken as dual enrollment at XYZ Community College

ETA:
The main deal with course names on transcripts is that you want them to be:
a.) something easily recognizable as checking the box for required credits by the college admissions officer
b.) consistent -- use the SAME course name on the transcript AND on the course description document

Edited August 27, 2019 by Lori D.

[8filltheheart]

Never heard of such a thing.  Even if it were a thing, I wouldn't do it b/c ps don't offer a lot of the classes my kids take.  (Philosophy of Science and Religion is one that my dd is taking this yr.  😉 )

[Sebastian (a lady)]

11 hours ago, Lori D. said:

I've only heard of college courses having course numbers, and that is part of the course heading. My understanding is that yes, for those dual enrollment college courses, you do list the course by the college's number and course name on the transcript. Example of a transcript by subject:

ENGLISH
course . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . credit . . . grade
English 9: Intro to Comp. + Lit .  .  .  .  .  .  .  1.00 . . . .  X
English 10: Intermediate Com. + Lit  .  .  .  .  1.00 . . . . X
English 11: American Literature .  .  .  .  .  .  .  1.00 . . . . X
WRT 101 * .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  1.00 . . . . X
WRT 102 * .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 1.00 . . . . X
total credits/GPA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.00  /  X.XXXX
* = course taken as dual enrollment at XYZ Community College

ETA:
The main deal with course names on transcripts is that you want them to be:
a.) something easily recognizable as checking the box for required credits by the college admissions officer
b.) consistent -- use the SAME course name on the transcript AND on the course description document

 I think it is useful to provide info on exactly what college course was taken, but that can be done in the course descriptions. 

On the transcript I used names that paralleled the official name, but reflected how the credit was brought into our homeschool. For example one CC had separate courses for STEM college level Chemistry and its lab.  I recorded that as General Chemistry 1 (fall semester) and General Chemistry 2 (spring semester) with the CC location and course numbers included in the course descriptions. (This was a total of 8 college credits so I gave 2 high school credits, one for each semester.)

As others have said, matching numbers is unnecessary and often not possible. There isn't a standard course numbering system across district and state lines.

The only think I can think that this might refer to is that NCAA liked to see English 9, English 10, etc. I  don't know if NCAA still asks for this format, it would apply to only a fraction of students, and I don't think they get that from all high schools even.  

If you hear this again from a local peer, ask them how they transcript something unusual that the high school doesn't offer. 

[Sebastian (a lady)]

This is a sample transcript from our local district. It's a little tough to read, but it gives an idea of both how packed a transcript can be and what isn't included.

You can also see on this how credits were brought up from middle school for a couple courses. 

https://www.google.com/search?q=fairfax+county+public+schools+sample+transcripts&client=ms-android-att-aio-us&prmd=insv&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiw6LzgtKXkAhXCt1kKHQX8D9QQ_AUoAXoECBAQAQ&biw=360&bih=560#imgrc=beNwKvge-noerM

[regentrude]

Never heard of this. Sounds like complete nonsense to me, for a variety of reasons: Ps courses may not have numbers and are definitely not standardized across the state/country, colleges will have no clue what those numbers mean at a given ps anyway, and homeschool courses do not need to have a ps equivalent.

Just give descriptive course titles on the transcript. That's it.

Edited August 28, 2019 by regentrude

[Farrar]

I have seen high school transcripts with course numbers. But I've never heard of a homeschool transcript with them. And many schools don't do them.

I think a good question to ask yourself for any transcript "thing" is whether it's something all schools, even schools outside your area, do. If the answer is no, then you probably don't need to do it, even if it's the norm for your district. Colleges are never just accepting students from your specific district. They see students from all over, including private schools and out of state schools. Of course, there may be reasons to emulate some aspects of a public school transcript, but that's different than it being "required." And there may be reasons not to at all.

[SebastianCat]

The only course numbers I included on DS's transcript have been the college courses he's taken through dual enrollment.  He is applying to 9 universities, has already been accepted at one, and his transcript has been officially accepted already by about half.    I haven't seen high school course numbers requested anywhere.

If your kids are just starting high school, one thing I would recommend you do now is to start compiling a document with course descriptions.   It's MUCH easier to pull together as you go rather than waiting until the start of the senior year.   If I am using a curriculum or outside class, I just copy their course description, list all curricula and resources used, list how grading was calculated (ex: 45% tests, 45% lab reports, 10% homework; etc.), and how much credit was given.    We have had a couple of schools ask for this type of document, which I just printed and mailed with the transcript.

[klmama]

From what I've seen, colleges generally want homeschool transcripts to have student info, course names, amount of credit, grading scale, cumulative GPA, student's graduation date, and the name and dated signature of the homeschool administrator (the parent) verifying the transcript.  Some want courses listed by semester/year instead of by subject.  Some want course descriptions.  I've never seen a request for a number attached to each course.

 

 

[ByGrace3]

Thanks everyone. One situation was a friend who met with the homeschool counselor at our school board and said for transcript purposes for applying for dual enrollment you should match every course on your transcript to one on the Florida public school (IE Florida Virtual School). This doesn't sit well with me because we didn't do XYZ course so I don't want to mislabel it. Second time this week the high school administrator at a hybrid school said they could not offer honors Spanish because FLVS/Florida BOE didn't have a course number for it so therefore we can't offer it. I thought that was strange and didn't seem right . . . .

[purpleowl]

9 hours ago, ByGrace3 said:

Thanks everyone. One situation was a friend who met with the homeschool counselor at our school board and said for transcript purposes for applying for dual enrollment you should match every course on your transcript to one on the Florida public school (IE Florida Virtual School). This doesn't sit well with me because we didn't do XYZ course so I don't want to mislabel it. Second time this week the high school administrator at a hybrid school said they could not offer honors Spanish because FLVS/Florida BOE didn't have a course number for it so therefore we can't offer it. I thought that was strange and didn't seem right . . . .

I wondered from your OP if this was in Florida. When I taught at a private school, they said the same thing - we can't offer a course without a matching code that the public schools would use. I think they even managed to find codes to assign to the Bible classes. And for foreign language, levels 1 & 2 are always regular (no honors option), and levels 3 and above are always honors or higher (AP/IB). I was never clear on WHY we as a private school cared about matching public school course codes, but it may be that there's some regulation requiring it that I'm unaware of. That would probably explain the hybrid school thing.

According to this FAQ from the Florida Department of Education (question 3), homeschooled students do NOT have to provide a high school transcript for dual enrollment purposes, so the way such a transcript is constructed (if you choose to provide one) should be irrelevant. The FAQ does say that the colleges/universities can add their own requirements, but that's listed separately under a question about age/grade level minimums, so I wouldn't think the transcript thing would be something they'd change...but I could be wrong and it could be a thing for your local DE options. 

[SebastianCat]

19 hours ago, ByGrace3 said:

Thanks everyone. One situation was a friend who met with the homeschool counselor at our school board and said for transcript purposes for applying for dual enrollment you should match every course on your transcript to one on the Florida public school (IE Florida Virtual School). This doesn't sit well with me because we didn't do XYZ course so I don't want to mislabel it. Second time this week the high school administrator at a hybrid school said they could not offer honors Spanish because FLVS/Florida BOE didn't have a course number for it so therefore we can't offer it. I thought that was strange and didn't seem right . . . .

I'm in Florida too, and my kids will be doing DE at two different state colleges.   My DS has been at St. Pete College since spring 2018, and I don't remember them even asking for a transcript.  They may have asked for one just to verify that his high school GPA was sufficient.

I'm currently looking at HCC's requirements, since SPC no longer allows out of county students and we live in Hillsborough County.    This is what they require:

Quote

The required forms necessary for participation in dual enrollment include the following:  i. Hillsborough Community College Application; ii. Home Education Dual Enrollment Agreement; iii. Home Education Approval Form (required each term); iv. Home Education Transcript and Educational Plan that clearly delineates courses taken through the home school, and courses to be taken at HCC and through the home school for completion of the home education program; v. Letter of Good Standing from the Hillsborough County Home Education Office (required annually); vi. Documentation of PERT, SAT, or ACT test scores (not more than two (2) years old).    From this link

My experience with DE has been that every college has different rules about what they require, but I've never heard anyone ask for high school course numbers.   DS has just finished his applications to universities for fall 2020, and none of the 9 schools he's applying to (including 5 in Florida) asked for course numbers.