Talk to me about transcripts

[Coco_Clark]

My oldest two are entering 8th grade (eek) and I need to start thinking about transcripts.

Any tips?  Favorite template?  Should I bother with course descriptions on the off chance I need them?

He is heading towards running start and duel enrollment at 16, and she isn't likely to be college bound.  So I probably won't ever use the dang things 😂. But I'd rather be safe than trying to remember what we did and sorry in 5 years.

[Arcadia]

What can you bring up from 7th/8th grade as high school credits? For example, California allows bringing up high school level foreign language and math. I have to supply a transcript for dual enrollment.

I would keep 8th grade records as if it is 9th grade in the off chance your children want to graduate a year early or do Running Start a year early. 

The mega thread by @Lori D. on transcripts and other college admissions related topics

 

[Coco_Clark]

7 minutes ago, Arcadia said:

What can you bring up from 7th/8th grade as high school credits? For example, California allows bringing up high school level foreign language and math. I have to supply a transcript for dual enrollment.

I would keep 8th grade records as if it is 9th grade in the off chance your children want to graduate a year early or do Running Start a year early. 

 I plan on bringing up Algebra 1 for my son, and Latin for both.  Theyve been doing Latin for several years now and I'm just going to call 8th grade Latin 1 and count up from there.  I don't know that there's anything else worth carrying over.  Maybe logic, if we don't end up repeating it as planned.  Possibly a half credit for government, as that's our focus next year and I'm pretty sure we wont repeat that.  I definitely plan on recording the entire 8th grade year, I can always remove anything I decide I don't need.

Thanks for the mother thread.

[Lori D.]

Really, it's not too tough, esp. if you just keep up with it. At the end of each semester, update your transcript: course name, amount of credit, grade. And if you finish any credits, write a 2-3 sentence course description for each course: the main thrust of the course, and major resources used. For standard courses using standard materials/textbook, it doesn't even need to be that long. 😉 

Credits you'll want to consider accomplishing in high school if wanting to leave doors open for possible future college:

4 credits = English (usually 1/2 Literature + 1/2 Writing; could be creative writing, journalism, etc.)
3-4 credits = Math (Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2; some colleges want a 4th math; some want that 4th math to be above Alg. 2)
3-4 credits = Science, with labs (colleges usually very flexible -- only a few want Biology and/or Chemistry)
2-4 credits = Social Studies (many colleges want 1 credit = Amer. Hist.; some want 1 credit = World Hist. or Geog.; a few want 0.5 credit each = Econ + Gov't)
2-4 credits = Foreign Language, same language (Latin accepted by all colleges; ASL accepted by many colleges)
1 credit = Fine Arts (can be performance (theater, dance, music, etc) or creation of art, studio arts, photography, digital arts, etc., or can be Appreciation of Film, Theater...)
4-8 credits = Electives (ex: Logic, Computer, Health, PE, Religious Studies, Vocational-Tech, personal interest subjects, additional Fine Arts, "Academic Electives" = additional credits in the first 5 subjects above beyond the required amount, etc.)
22-28+ credits = total

- That averages out to about 5.5 to 7 credits per year of high school.
- Roughly, 1 credit = 1 hour per day, 4-5 days per week, for 36 weeks (or completion of most of a standard textbook/program).
- Credits usually accepted for "bringing up" from middle school: Science = Biology and above; Math = Algebra 1 and above; Foreign Language at a high school level, where the student continues with the next step of study in high school.
- Note: some colleges only accept credits earned in the 4 years prior to high school graduation.

Example of transcript for your student NOT planning on DE:

High School Courses Completed Before 9th Grade
course . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . credit . . . grade
Foreign Language: Latin 1 . . . . . . .1.0 . . . . . X
Social Studies: Government . . . . . 0.5 . . . . . X
total pre-9th grade credit/GPA . . . . . . .1.50 . . . X.XXX

9th Grade (2021-2022)
course . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . credit . . . grade
English 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.0 . . . . . X
Math: Algebra 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.0 . . . . . X
Science: _____________ . . . . . . . . . . 1.0 . . . . . X
Soc. Studies: _____________ . . . . . . 1.0 . . . . . X
Foreign Language: Latin 2 . . . . . . .1.0 . . . . . X
Fine Arts: _____________ . . . . . . . . . 1.0 . . . . . X
total 9th grade credit/GPA . . . . . . . . . . .6.00 . . . X.XXX
cumulative credit/GPA . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7.50 . . . X.XXX

10th Grade (2022-2023)
course . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . credit . . . grade
English 10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.0 . . . . . X
Math: Geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1.0 . . . . . X
Science: _____________ . . . . . . . . . . . 1.0 . . . . . X
Soc. Studies: _____________ . . . . . . . 1.0 . . . . . X
Foreign Language: Latin 3 . . . . . . . . 1.0 . . . . . X
Elective: _____________ . . . . . . . . . . .  1.0 . . . . . X
total 10th grade credit/GPA . . . . . . . . . . .6.00 . . . X.XXX
cumulative credit/GPA . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13.50 . . . X.XXX

11th Grade (2023-2024)
course . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . credit . . . grade
English 11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.0 . . . . . X
Math: Algebra 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1.0 . . . . . X
Science: _____________ . . . . . . . . . . . 1.0 . . . . . X
Soc. Studies: _____________ . . . . . . . 1.0 . . . . . X
Elective: _____________ . . . . . . . . . . .  1.0 . . . . . X
Elective: _____________ . . . . . . . . . . .  1.0 . . . . . X
total 10th grade credit/GPA . . . . . . . . . . .6.00 . . . X.XXX
cumulative credit/GPA . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19.50 . . . X.XXX

12th Grade (2024-2025)
course . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . credit . . . grade
English 12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.0 . . . . . X
Math: Business Math ? . . . . . . . . . . .1.0 . . . . . X
Elective: _____________ . . . . . . . . . . .  1.0 . . . . . X
Elective: _____________ . . . . . . . . . . .  1.0 . . . . . X
Elective: _____________ . . . . . . . . . . .  1.0 . . . . . X
Elective: _____________ . . . . . . . . . . .  1.0 . . . . . X
total 10th grade credit/GPA . . . . . . . . . . .6.00 . . . X.XXX
cumulative credit/GPA . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25.50 . . . X.XXX


Example of a possible transcript for your student who plans to do DE:

High School Courses Completed Before 9th Grade
course . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . credit . . . grade
Math: Algebra 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.0 . . . . . X
Foreign Language: Latin 1 . . . . . . .1.0 . . . . . X
Social Studies: Government . . . . . 0.5 . . . . . X
total pre-9th grade credit/GPA . . . . . . .2.50 . . . X.XXX

9th Grade (2021-2022)
course . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . credit . . . grade
English 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.0 . . . . . X
Math: Geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.0 . . . . . X
Science: _____________ . . . . . . . . . . 1.0 . . . . . X
Soc. Studies: _____________ . . . . . . 1.0 . . . . . X
Foreign Language: Latin 2 . . . . . . .1.0 . . . . . X
Fine Arts: _____________ . . . . . . . . . 1.0 . . . . . X
total 9th grade credit/GPA . . . . . . . . . . .6.00 . . . X.XXX
cumulative credit/GPA . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8.50 . . . X.XXX

10th Grade (2022-2023)
course . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . credit . . . grade
English 10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.0 . . . . . X
Math: Algebra 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1.0 . . . . . X
Science: _____________ . . . . . . . . . . . 1.0 . . . . . X
Soc. Studies: _____________ . . . . . . . 1.0 . . . . . X
Foreign Language: Latin 3 . . . . . . . . 1.0 . . . . . X
Elective: _____________ . . . . . . . . . . .  1.0 . . . . . X
total 10th grade credit/GPA . . . . . . . . . . .6.00 . . . X.XXX
cumulative credit/GPA . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14.50 . . . X.XXX

11th Grade (fall 2023, dual enrollment, indicated by *)
course . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . credit . . . grade 
WRT 101* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1.0 . . . . . X
MTH ____: College Algebra* . . . . . .1.0 . . . . . X
[gen. ed. or AA required credit ?] . .1.0 . . . . . X
[gen. ed. or AA required credit ?] . .1.0 . . . . . X
total 11th fall credit/GPA . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.00 . . . X.XXX
cumulative credit/GPA . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18.50 . . . X.XXX

11th Grade (spring 2024, dual enrollment, indicated by *)
course . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . credit . . . grade 
WRT 102* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1.0 . . . . . X
MTH ____: Pre-Calculus I* . . . . . . . .1.0 . . . . . X
[gen. ed. or AA required credit ?] . .1.0 . . . . . X
[gen. ed. or AA required credit ?] . .1.0 . . . . . X
total 11th fall credit/GPA . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.00 . . . X.XXX
cumulative credit/GPA . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22.50 . . . X.XXX

12th Grade (fall 2024, dual enrollment, indicated by *)
course . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . credit . . . grade 
_____________ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1.0 . . . . . X
_____________ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1.0 . . . . . X
_____________ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1.0 . . . . . X
_____________ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1.0 . . . . . X
total 12th fall credit/GPA . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.00 . . . X.XXX
cumulative credit/GPA . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26.50 . . . X.XXX

12th Grade (spring 2025, dual enrollment, indicated by *)
course . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . credit . . . grade 
_____________ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1.0 . . . . . X
_____________ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1.0 . . . . . X
_____________ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1.0 . . . . . X
_____________ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1.0 . . . . . X
total 12th fall credit/GPA . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.00 . . . X.XXX
cumulative credit/GPA . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30.50 . . . X.XXX

Edited June 30, 2020 by Lori D.

[....]

In a sudden fit of hysteria....after spending months agonizing over dd18's transcripts last year, I bought a subscription to Fasttranscripts.com. It was 5 bucks.  I plugged everything in, saved it and printed 3 gazillion copies.  Done!  😂  

I'm doing that again in December with ds17.

[cintinative]

23 hours ago, Evanthe said:

In a sudden fit of hysteria....after spending months agonizing over dd18's transcripts last year, I bought a subscription to Fasttranscripts.com. It was 5 bucks.  I plugged everything in, saved it and printed 3 gazillion copies.  Done!  😂  

I'm doing that again in December with ds17.

 

Can you share a little more about your experience with this? Do they give you formatting options once you put things in?  

Prior to using this, did you have a transcript work-in-progress or was everything on paper?  

[historically accurate]

I downloaded a free transcript template off of the internet when my kid was in 8th grade; mine happened to be a word document using the table function. I immediately added the personal information (name, name of school, address, etc). At the end of each semester, I updated it with title, grade, and amount of credit if it was a semester class (my one who has graduated did a lot at the cc, so her classes were mainly semester-long). I would write a quick class description (or copy the program's or college's description) and note the program/textbook used if it was a home-based class. I did not note the texts if it was a dual enrollment class. I figured out how to calculate GPA by reading a couple of internet sites and set up an excel sheet for it with both weighted and unweighted GPA. Then I can just plug in the grades as they come in. I updated that number every semester as well. Super easy if you keep up on it. If you let it go, it can be very difficult to build.  

I used footnotes to note "where" the class was taken on the transcript and noted it in the description. My oldest took classes at the community college, home based classes, a couple of classes at the local place, and a couple of online classes. For a weighted GPA, I counted classes taken with a CLEP test as the final and high school level taken at the community college as worth 4.5, college classes as 5.0, and all home based classes as 4.0. Two of the 5 colleges she applied to required class descriptions, so I'm glad I did them. The only thing one school did not like was I listed 05/2020 as the graduation date - they wanted an actual date. So, I put 05/15/2020 and resent them the transcript and had no problems. 

This past weekend I set up my next child's transcript as she is starting 9th grade this coming year. I personally don't count anything prior to high school as I figure they can figure out that the kid took German I or Algebra I previously if they start with German II or Algebra II. 

[....]

1 hour ago, cintinative said:

 

Can you share a little more about your experience with this? Do they give you formatting options once you put things in?  

Prior to using this, did you have a transcript work-in-progress or was everything on paper?  

 

Yes, I always keep a transcript "in progress" throughout high school.  I also keep records of every book they read, all curriculum we use, any sports, any sports records they break, awards, volunteer work, activities.  It's basically all in one file.

The problem I was having was the darn formatting on Word!  I felt like I couldn't cram all of the information in there and if I pressed the wrong button, everything just moved around and it was frustrating moving it all back....I was using a really tiny font to try to fit everything on there.  Anyway, yeah, I was ripping my hair out.  

No, fasttranscripts just has one format.  It's by school year.  I wish it had different options.  Maybe there's another one out there that does.

The funny thing was - after all that agonizing over everything - dd18 handed her transcripts to the admissions office and they pulled them out of the envelope, glanced at them for a second and just threw them in a drawer.  😂   I was like "but...but...don't you want to sit there and admire them for a moment????!"  

[historically accurate]

4 minutes ago, Evanthe said:

 

Yes, I always keep a transcript "in progress" throughout high school.  I also keep records of every book they read, all curriculum we use, any sports, any sports records they break, awards, volunteer work, activities.  It's basically all in one file.

The problem I was having was the darn formatting on Word!  I felt like I couldn't cram all of the information in there and if I pressed the wrong button, everything just moved around and it was frustrating moving it all back....I was using a really tiny font to try to fit everything on there.  Anyway, yeah, I was ripping my hair out.  

No, fasttranscripts just has one format.  It's by school year.  I wish it had different options.  Maybe there's another one out there that does.

The funny thing was - after all that agonizing over everything - dd18 handed her transcripts to the admissions office and they pulled them out of the envelope, glanced at them for a second and just threw them in a drawer.  😂   I was like "but...but...don't you want to sit there and admire them for a moment????!"  

Yes, I really feel like the admissions counselors should sit and gaze in awe, but, alas, no one really seemed to properly appreciate them!

[Garga]

Note: do the course descriptions. A school that I would have never thought wanted them, wants them. Call around and ask a few colleges that your student might end up at if they are going to want course descriptions for homeschoolers.  They might and then they’re a pain to try to create quickly. I got mine done just a few weeks ago and it took me about 20 hours to do them.  Seriously.  Because I had to research how to do them and then sit there and come up with what to say. 

I created a little document on how to do course descriptions with examples of my son’s.  If you want it, PM me your email address.  

 

(And don’t be like me and wait until 12th grade. Do them all along.  Once you wrap your head around them, they’re really not that hard, but it can be time consuming.)

[Garga]

 

 

8 minutes ago, Evanthe said:

The funny thing was - after all that agonizing over everything - dd18 handed her transcripts to the admissions office and they pulled them out of the envelope, glanced at them for a second and just threw them in a drawer.  😂

 

 

I was thinking the other day that I’d like to get a job. Just so that I can put 20 hours into something and have someone say, ‘Great job, Garga! We’re glad you’re on our team!”. There’s so much work involved in the stupid high school paperwork, and nary a single “Great job!” from anyone.  Sigh!!!!  😄

[Coco_Clark]

How did you all denote classes taken in 8th grade?  Id prefer to organize by subject and not year.  I was going to use an * to denote classes in progress...

[cintinative]

So far, mine is organized by subject and at the top there are columns for the years. So 7th/8th (for my oldest) is 2018-2020. (There is a typo on spreadsheet pictured below actually). I am pretty sure I used a template that was here on one of the WTM motherload threads.  I have classes in here (without grades) that we haven't even started yet and one that is just finishing. FYI.  I really like the way this lays out progression. The trouble is, it takes up a lot of room. So I can see needing to redo this later on to not be set up by subject.  Unless I can work some magic on the spreadsheet. Anyway, YMMV.  

Edited July 3, 2020 by cintinative

[Arcadia]

13 hours ago, Coco_Clark said:

How did you all denote classes taken in 8th grade?  Id prefer to organize by subject and not year.  I was going to use an * to denote classes in progress...

I put the grade at which classes were taken in chronological order by subject. I did not put a grade or credit for classes done from 6th to 8th as my kids went the credit by AP exam score route. 

Their AP, SAT, ACT, SAT Subject test scores are included in the transcript. My kids transcript is two page long. The guidance counselors and the admin dept at the community college were only seriously looking at the AP score report because they award credit by exam. I could have made typing errors in the transcript and no one would have realized. 

[Lori D.]

14 hours ago, Coco_Clark said:

How did you all denote classes taken in 8th grade?  Id prefer to organize by subject and not year.  I was going to use an * to denote classes in progress...

Key to how credits were completed:
P = prior to 9th grade (high school level credit)
H = homeschool 
DE = dual enrollment, with XYZ Community College
OS = outsourced online course provider

ENGLISH
course . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . credit . . . grade
English 9H . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1.0 . . . . . X
English 10H . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1.0 . . . . . X
WRT101DE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1.0 . . . . . X
WRT102DE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1.0 . . . . . X
total English credits/GPA . . . . . . . . . . . .4.00 . . . X.XXX

MATH
course . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . credit . . . grade
Algebra 1P . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1.0 . . . . . X
GeometryH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.0 . . . . . X
Algebra 2OS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1.0 . . . . . X
MAT150: College AlgebraDE . . . . . 1.0 . . . . . X
MAT185: Pre-Calculus IDE . . . . . . .1.0 . . . . . X
MAT186: Pre-Calculus IIDE . . . . . . 1.0 . . . . . X
MAT220: Calculus IDE . . . . . . . . . . 1.0 . . . . . X
total Math credits/GPA . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.00 . . . X.XXX

NATURAL SCIENCES
course . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . credit . . . grade
BiologyP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1.0 . . . . . X
ChemistryOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1.0 . . . . . X
PhysicsOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1.0 . . . . . X
CHM151: Gen. Chemistry IDE . . . . .1.0 . . . . . X
PHY210: Intro. MechanicsDE . . . . . 1.0 . . . . . X
total Natural Sciences credits/GPA . . . .5.00 . . . X.XXX

SOCIAL SCIENCES
course . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . credit . . . grade
GovernmentP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .0.5 . . . . . X
EconomicsH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .0.5 . . . . . X
History: AmericanOS . . . . . . . . . . . .1.0 . . . . . X
HIS101: Western Civ. IDE . . . . . . . . 1.0 . . . . . X
HIS101: Western Civ. IDE . . . . . . . . 1.0 . . . . . X
total Social Sciences credits/GPA . . . . 4.00 . . . X.XXX

FOREIGN LANGUAGE
course . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . credit . . . grade
Latin IP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.0 . . . . . X
Latin IIH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1.0 . . . . . X
Latin IIIH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.0 . . . . . X
Latin IVH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.0 . . . . . X
total For. Lang. credits/GPA . . . . . . . . . .4.00 . . . X.XXX

FINE ARTS
course . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . credit . . . grade
Piano IH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1.0 . . . . . X
Piano IIH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.0 . . . . . X
total Fine Arts credits/GPA . . . . . . . . . . 2.00 . . . X.XXX

ELECTIVES
course . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . credit . . . grade
LogicP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.5 . . . . . X
ComputerOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.0 . . . . . X
Religious StudiesH . . . . . . . . . . . . .1.0 . . . . . X
PEH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1.0 . . . . . X
HealthH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .0.5 . . . . . X
total For. Lang. credits/GPA . . . . . . . . . .4.00 . . . X.XXX

Edited July 3, 2020 by Lori D.

[daijobu]

I used https://www.myhomeschooltranscripts.com/  for record keeping and generating transcripts.  As my students signed up for courses, I did a quick copy/paste of course descriptions and text book information and teacher info.  It also has fields for test scores and extracurriculars, so I could have that all in one place as well.  

Then you can choose what you want to print:  courses/grades, course descriptions, test scores, extra curriculars, in any combination.   

[Ellie]

Covenant College has a very helpful page on its website for homeschoolers; it includes sample transcript and editable transcript.

[BlsdMama]

On 6/29/2020 at 8:49 PM, Coco_Clark said:

My oldest two are entering 8th grade (eek) and I need to start thinking about transcripts.

Any tips?  Favorite template?  Should I bother with course descriptions on the off chance I need them?

He is heading towards running start and duel enrollment at 16, and she isn't likely to be college bound.  So I probably won't ever use the dang things 😂. But I'd rather be safe than trying to remember what we did and sorry in 5 years.

I used Excel and copied one that was asthetically pleasing from the internet.  We used dual enrollment classes as well, indicated by a star at the end of the class name and a footnote, identical to how our local school does it.  I did not do course descriptions, though for DD (now 25) I did include a reading list as she had read extensively.  My oldest two attended the state flagship and received merit scholarships.  I honestly believe that was more determined on test scores than much of anything else.  

[fourisenough]

Fast Transcripts. It is cheap, so easy, and produces very professional results. I did one at the end of this year, but have stopped my subscription and will just re-enter the same info again + the next grade level info at the end of next year.

I would do course descriptions as you go in the off chance you’ll need them. They don’t have to be extensive or fancy. Spend 5 minutes per class, per year and you’ll have what you need, without having to go back and recreate it years later when you’ve forgotten most of it!

Edited July 6, 2020 by fourisenough