As a homeschooling parent, making a transcript for your student is a daunting task. Our High School Transcript for Homeschools makes this easier for you! But you still might have questions. Here is a thorough (but not exhaustive) list of answers to some of the questions you might have.

General Information

Should I include my student’s middle name?

Yes. This helps prevent confusion with other students applying to the same institutions who might share the same first and last name as your student. A transcript is an official document, so for consistency we recommend using the same name that would appear on your student’s official government ID.

Should I include a 9th grade start date?

Yes. It provides a distinct timeline for your student’s high school education.

What if my student took high school classes before 9th grade?

Make sure to include those credits on the transcript. Simply note the year the course was taken to provide context

What if I don’t know when my student will graduate?

Use an anticipated graduation date. You can pick the date by which you believe they will have completed all their high school coursework. You can always update this date in our form as many times as desired after purchasing a transcript as you continue your student’s education.

Should I organize classes chronologically or by subject?

Organizing by year is more common, but neither way is wrong and the best choice depends on your student’s situation. Organizing by year is helpful for showing academic progression and improvement over time, while organizing by subject emphasizes the content of education. Many institutions do not have specific stated preferences for how you should format your homeschool transcript but always double check to see if there are specific requirements.

Should I include SAT, ACT or AP test scores?

We think it is helpful to include standardized test scores on your transcript, but it is not necessary because most colleges require students to submit official scores directly from the testing agency. Including them on the transcript provides a snapshot of your student’s education all in one place. It also gives outside validation to your homeschool’s academic rigor and your student’s performance.

How do I name my homeschool?

The name of your homeschool is an opportunity to express the ideas, values and goals that have inspired your homeschooling journey. A few quick ideas:

Use your family name (last name plus “School, “Academy, etc”): “Martin Family Academy”
Include a nearby landmark: “Rocky Harbor Homeschool”
Honor an influential person: “C.S. Lewis High School”
DON’T use the name of your curriculum, support group or local high school! Your homeschool is issuing the transcript, so your unique school name should be used.

Want to go deeper? Check out our article, Naming Your Home School, for more details!

What if my student only took 3 years or more than 4 years to graduate?

Fill in course information under each applicable year. If you are organizing your transcript by subject, the amount of time that it took for your student to graduate will be indicated by the 9th grade start date and graduation date.

Should I include sports and if I do, how should I grade them?

Usually sports can be included as credit towards physical education requirements. We recommend grading on a pass/fail basis to avoid inflating GPA.

Should I include my student’s social security number?

No. It exposes you to unnecessary risk of identity theft. Colleges and universities may ask for it on their own official forms, but your transcript does not need to contain it.

Where should I put other experiences such as volunteering and internships?

College applications usually provide space for indicating these types of activities, so we encourage you to indicate and expand on those activities there. If these activities were done for credit, add it to your transcript as you would any other course and name it appropriately. For example, if your student interned for your state assembly member for credit, you could call this “Politics in Practice.” If desired, you could indicate that it was an internship in the notes section of the transcript or provide the specifics of what the course involved in an additional course description document.

Grading and Classes

What is the difference between weighted and unweighted GPA?

An unweighted GPA uses a 0-4.0 scale for every course. A weighted GPA assigns extra grade points to more challenging courses (like AP or Honors courses) so that it reflects the rigor of those classes. It is not wrong to use one over the other, but the advantage of an unweighted GPA is that it better reflects pure academic performance and does not give the impression that you are inflating your student’s grades. If you want to include a weighted GPA on your High School Transcript for Homeschools, select the “Weight” drop down on the order form and indicate the course as Regular, Honors or AP/IB. In the Academic Summary section of the order form select “Include Weighted GPA” and click “Edit Grading Scale and GPA Calculation” to indicate the exact weight you want to give advanced courses.

What grading scale should I use for calculating GPA?

This is a matter of preference and depends on your desire for specificity with your student’s GPA. A simple scale of A = 90-100, B = 80-89, C = 70-79, etc. is perfectly acceptable, but if you want more specificity you can choose the option for partial letter grades (A, A-, B+, B, B-, etc.). If you want to use partial letter grades on your High School Transcript for Homeschools, go to the Academic Summary section of the order form, click “Edit Grading Scale and GPA Calculation” and click “Advanced” in the popup.

How do I calculate the GPA?

Our Transcript order form automatically calculates GPA for you based on the grading scale you have selected. The way this works is that a letter grade is assigned a numeric value. For an unweighted GPA, this value would be between 0 and 4.0 (e.g. A = 4.0, B = 3.0, C = 2.0 etc., etc.) and each grade is multiplied by the number of credits for the corresponding course. Then all grade points are added together and divided by the total number of credits attempted (e.g. if a student earned 55 grade points across 15 credits, the student would have a 3.67 GPA).

Do I need outside authorization to say a class was AP or honors?

No. However, when it comes to AP designated courses, it is always helpful when the student takes the corresponding AP exam to provide outside validation to the course content. Without an exam score, using “AP” in a course name is acceptable if the course covered content that would prepare a student for the AP exam. But colleges may give this less weight than if the student took the corresponding AP exam. For more direction about AP classes and exams in relation to homeschoolers, please visit the College Board’s website.

How do I indicate that a class was AP or honors?

Add the prefix “AP” or “Honors” to the class name. Then, if you want to include a weighted GPA on your High School Transcript for Homeschools, select the “Weight” drop down on the order form and indicate the course as Regular, Honors or AP/IB. In the Academic Summary section of the order form select “Include Weighted GPA” and click “Edit Grading Scale and GPA Calculation” to indicate the exact weight you want to give advanced courses.

How do I name the classes for my homeschool?

Use clear language that will quickly communicate what was covered in the course. The names do not and should not be fancy: Algebra II, U.S. History, and English Literature all can effectively communicate what was accomplished in the course. Be specific to what was covered without distracting from the main idea of the course. If your student is applying for college, and you’re struggling to determine a good way to name a particular, unique class, we recommend looking at courses that the specific college or university offers to which you are submitting the transcript. See how they might describe one of their courses that covered similar content and use similar verbiage to reflect that.

Should I include curriculum information in class names?

We recommend not including curriculum information in the class name. A course should be named for what was learned: “Algebra I” is more clear to a college admissions officer than “Saxon Algebra I.” If you think the curriculum adds credibility to your student’s education, we recommend specifying this in the “Notes” section of the transcript or on an additional course description document.

How do I indicate that a class was taken through a college or by other online instructors?

You can notate these courses in the “notes” section of the transcript. First, in the Academic Record section of the transcript product order form, place asterisks or special characters at the end of the class name. Second, qualify it in the “Notes” section. For example, if your student took Spanish I through The Spanish Academy, list the class as “Spanish I” and then type “Indicates high school course taken through The Spanish Academy” in the “Notes” section.

Indicating which classes were taken through outside instruction can provide additional credibility to your student’s education, especially if administered by a widely known institution.

What if my graduate took 2+ years to complete a course?

List the course across multiple years and proportionally split the credit and grade across those years. You can label the course names appropriately with suffixes “Part 1” and “Part 2.”

Should I include course descriptions?

Course descriptions are not required on a transcript. However, some colleges require them as a companion document with your student’s application. Reference the college admissions requirements of the particular institution your student is applying to determine if a course description document is necessary.

How do I write good course descriptions?

If a course description document is necessary for your student’s college application, first check if the college your student is applying to has any specific requirements for what should be included in a course description document. Use only a few sentences to describe what was covered and achieved in the course, as well as the curriculum that was used. Above all keep it specific and concise.

How many high school credits are needed to graduate?

Each state has different requirements. Please refer to the homeschooling and educational laws in your state for guidance.

What constitutes full vs partial high school credit?

Generally two semesters of coursework constitutes one full high school credit. The time spent on coursework is somewhat subjective, and we recommend referring to the homeschooling and educational laws in your state to organize and credit your courses appropriately.

Logistics

Do I need to print and mail my transcript, or submit it electronically?

Generally, transcripts are submitted digitally. However, please refer to the requirements of the particular institution to which your student is applying to determine the appropriate method of delivery.

How do I prove that my student’s transcript is true and accurate?

The words “Official High School Transcript,” and your signature affirming the accuracy of the contents therein is the indication of validity. As the homeschool administrator, you are ultimately responsible for your student’s education. Each state has different homeschooling requirements. We recommend that you abide by those directives when educating your students and when possible keep documentation of the work that your student accomplished. Standardized test scores (SAT, ACT and AP exams) all provide more context to your student’s education and help give weight to their grades and the education they received.

Should both parents sign a homeschool transcript?

This is a matter of preference. Whoever signs the transcript is attesting to the validity of the transcript and its contents.

What makes a transcript official?

The title “Official High School Transcript” and the dated signatures of the homeschool administrator(s).

How do I create a transcript for my unschooled student or classify any unstructured learning my student experienced?

Review learning that took place during high school years and organize into subject categories that align with the schooling requirements of your particular state. Think about how you can frame self-directed projects, books read or life experiences as courses. Then award credit based on time and quality of engagement.

Do you electronically send the transcripts to a college or university?

No. When purchasing our transcript product, we provide you with a PDF copy that you can submit to institutions in the manner that they require.

Can HomeschoolDiploma.com print out a transcript and send it sealed to a college or university?

No. If the institution to which your student is applying requires a printed transcript, then please use the PDF we have generated for you and follow their instructions to print and seal the transcript appropriately.

Transcript Form Specific

Will I lose the information if I type it into the form?

The only way to ensure the saving of information is to purchase the transcript product. Once a transcript has been purchased for a particular student you can save different versions of the transcript and make unlimited edits to it.

Do I have to pay per student or can I just change the name and reuse the template?

Yes you have to pay per student. After purchasing you have unlimited edits of the transcript, but the only thing you cannot change is the student’s name.