Preparing a High School Transcript

 

The college-bound student will need an official high school transcript for college admissions. A transcript documents the academic achievement of your student for the full four years of high school. Parents generate the high school transcript in the ninth-grade year and simply add to it each subsequent year.

Formats for the high school transcript abound, but the basic information that is required remains the same. The transcript includes three general section: personal information, academic information, and certification signatures.

Personal information includes the following information: a transcript title (label your transcript as an “Official High School Transcript” with your homeschool name), student information (name, mailing address, cell phone, email address, and date of birth), as well as school information (name, mailing address, parent phone, parent email address, and date of graduation).

Academic information includes the following information: courses (under each school year you will list the courses completed), grades (beside each course you will list the final grade), credits (beside each course you will list the credit in terms of Carnegie units – an 18-week course is worth a half unit or 0.5 credit and a 36-week course is worth one unit or 1.0 credit), GPA (beside each school year you will list the grade point average – to calculate the GPA, assign grade points to each grade ((A=4, B=3, C=2, D=1, and F=0)), add together all the grade points for each course taken that year, divide the total grade point by the total number of courses taken, and this is your GPA), grading scale (document the grading scale that was used to assign the final grade), academic summary (document the cumulative grade point average, total credits earned, and test scores), volunteer summary (document the student’s volunteer service through the high school years), as well as activities (document the student’s extra-curricular activities through the high school years).

Certification signatures include the following information: parent signature (you will sign the transcript attesting to the truthfulness and completeness of the transcript) as well as notary (some colleges require homeschool transcripts to be notarized and you will include that in this section).

When student’s submit college applications, the parent will print, sign, and mail the high school transcript to each college. This transcript will not be complete because the student has not completed their senior courses; but you can note “in progress” in the final grade column. Upon acceptance, the parent will need to send an official high school transcript with final grades. The transcript should be sealed in an envelope and mailed from the homeschool, not from the student.

The high school transcript is more than a record of your student’s academic achievements. It is also a reminder of your accomplishments as a homeschool parent. Homeschooling through high school is a great accomplishment!

Happy Homeschooling!