Is there anything more daunting than creating a high school transcript for your homeschooled student?
Contrary to popular belief, a high school transcript is nothing to be afraid of. It is simply a record of your student’s academic achievements in high school.
It includes the courses your student has taken in high school, the grade for each course, and the credits earned. A high school transcript is usually required for consideration for admission by colleges and universities.
While creating a high school transcript isn’t difficult, there are a few common mistakes you should avoid.
Waiting Until the End of the Year to Update Your Records
Procrastination is a fact of life, but trying to create a homeschool transcript from scratch during your student’s senior year is a lesson in misery.
The best way to prepare for graduation and the college application process is to start working on a transcript when your student is a high school freshman.
If you haven’t already, implement a recordkeeping process. Keep track of your student’s courses, names of textbooks, hours spent on each topic, grades, and extracurricular activities.
Whether you update your records weekly or monthly, don’t wait until years have passed to gather this information.
Your Homeschool Transcript Contains Too Much Information
College admissions officers sort through hundreds, sometimes thousands, of applications each week, and often they will only give high school transcripts a passing glance.
It’s important to create a transcript that is easy to read and understand.
Your transcript is not the place for detailed information about all of your teen’s outstanding achievements.
It should include all of the courses your student has completed, a number grade for each course, and the number of credits earned.
Use easy to read fonts and white space so the transcript can be easily scanned.
Failing to Include the Level of Rigor in Your Transcript
There is a huge difference between a grade-level credit and an honors credit, and failing to include the level of rigor in your student’s courses could be detrimental to the college application process.
A year-long course will typically earn your student a single high school credit, but if your student is working through college-level textbooks, an AP curriculum, or earning dual credit, the course may be rigourous enough to be weighted higher on their high school transcript.
If you are unsure whether your child is doing work at the honors level, check out this article on honors courses from the HSLDA.
With some simple recordkeeping and advance planning, you can create a high school transcript that will highlight your student’s academic achievements.
To make the process even easier, attend our free online homeschool transcript workshop that will help you get started on your teen’s high school transcript.
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