Transcript

A transcript describes what courses students have completed. It includes student’s grades, GPA, course description, and extracurricular activities.  Most umbrella schools or correspondence schools provide students with a transcript. 

Unless the school is accredited, its transcript is as good as a transcript

 prepared by a homeschool parent.

If the student takes some of the classes through a virtual school or online-accredited school, the parent can ask the school to send the transcript to the university. 
If the student is homeschooled part time and take classes through an accredited school, make sure to mention that on your transcript.

How to write a transcript 

I have included a blank  transcript template  that can be used for high school.

Header of the Transcript:

·       Write “Official School Record” on the top left corner of the transcript. Schools and universities often require the transcript to be official, so “make it official."  That’s right! If the schools want it to be an official document, we can make it official by simply adding this disclaimer. However, some schools may ask for an official transcript from an accredited school.

·       The first step is to change the heading on the blank transcript by adding student’s address, phone number, and email address. This information will automatically be on every page of the transcript.

Student Information:

·       Add student’s name, sex, and address. If the student has two addresses, add the second one on this page.

Student Academic History:

·       List all coursework under each grade level, along with grades, and GPA. Include “course code” which should correlate with public/private school course number. I looked up course codes on  Florida Virtual School website.

·       Any completed college class should have an asterisk (*) next to it. There is a disclaimer on the transcript that says, “* Coursework taken at a local university/ community college. The official transcript has been requested and will be sent to the admission’s office.”

·       Add two asterisk (**) for classes taken through accredited schools. There is a disclaimer on the transcript saying (Classes taken through an accredited school. The official transcript has been requested and will be sent to the admission’s office.)

·       Curriculum Description: Some universities require a course description for each class.

·       Under “Unit," add number of credits for each class. Some classes are one credit, while others are half a credit. Each state has its own definition of how many hours of work a student needs to earn one “unit” of high school credit. See more details under “Universities/SAT II/ Student Aid” tab.  

 Summary of Academic Record section:

·       Add how many days your child attended school and how many days your child was absent. Each state has a specific number of school hours required per year. Florida requires 180 days. Check the required number of days per year that is required for the student to attend school in your state.

·       Under Total Graduation Units, add up the total number of credits for all the classes from tenth through twelfh grades.  Also, calculate the total high school GPA.

College Board SAT:

·       If your child has SAT scores, add them to this table. If not, leave it blank.

Grading  and GPA Scale:

·       Modify if you have a different range. Some people like to make it simple.

See another example below:

A= 90 to 100

B= 80 t0 89

C= 70 to 79

D= 60 to 69

Calculating the GPA ( Someka Excel Solutions)

GPA calculator

Extracurricular Activities:

·       Make a list of all extracurricular activities your child participated in.

Signature Page:

·       The last page has a place for  parents’ names  and signatures. On my children’s transcripts, we also added our professions. In addition, we had the transcript notarized. It made it look more “official.”

Changing the Watermark:

·       How to change the watermark: Since we live in Florida, I have added a sailboat to our transcript.  To change the watermark on your transcript follow these simple steps below.

Under the “Design” tab, press on Watermark. Add a watermark of your choice.

You can select a picture or any custom drawing of your choice by choosing “Custom Watermark” and select the desired picture/ drawing.

Note: The instruction may vary depending on what version of Word you may have.

Universities require that homeschooled students cover required course work at the same level of achievement as freshman applicants.  Most universities require a transcript. According to Wisconsin University, the following information should be in the transcript:

• Description of each course completed and what is in progress.
• Grades earned for each course.
• A brief summary of what was covered in each course.

Detailed performance evaluations or course bibliographies are helpful but are not required.