What about using CLEP in high school? Wendy asked these questions after she read my blog post about Capturing CLEP Credit on a Homeschool Transcript:
If a college doesn’t accept CLEP courses as fulfillment of a college class, will they recognize it as fulfillment of the high school course?
And will this make the student’s college application more competitive?
Will organizations like National Homeschool Honor Society and other “honor” societies make a student’s college application more competitive?
Dear Wendy,
Colleges each have their own policy about CLEP and other things. The best answer is to find out what YOUR colleges want, and then GIVE them what they want to the best of your ability. However, CLEP is outside documentation of your homeschool, just like AP, SAT Subject Tests, SAT and ACT provide outside documentation. Using CLEP as a way to document what they learn will provide additional weight to your transcript. That doesn’t mean a college will necessarily prefer your student over another, however. When you are homeschooling independently, you can teach a class in your own way. You can evaluate in your own way. If you teach the content of a CLEP exam, and then evaluate the success of your class with a CLEP exam, it will certainly not be any LESS recognized as a homeschool class. Instead, the outside documentation of the test can demonstrate that your child knows the material.
If you are applying to very competitive schools, find out what they want and give it to them. Our first choice schools accepted CLEP, so we used that for our outside documentation. Some other schools we applied to did not recognize CLEP in their admission policy, but it did improve their position for admission.
If you have a high school student who has taken the PSAT or SAT or ACT, you may get some offers to join an honor society. Some are legitimate and some are not. Try to determine if the honor society is tied to some sort of actual “honor” like GPA or SAT scores. Then look to see if it is a money-making organization or a charitable organization offering the award. A legitimate honor society may make a college application more competitive, but not necessarily any more than the GPA and SAT score required to receive the award.
Learn the SECRET to getting your student placed at the TOP of the stack for college admission consideration as well as one of those MASSIVE university scholarships. Get the Comprehensive Record Solution!
Senior year feels so awkward. You have to submit the transcript during applications, but your child is still in the middle of senior year! What do you do with the classes they are currently taking?
Hey, Lee- I wanted to tell you that Evan’s interview at Grove City back in Sept. went well and the Admissions person loved my notebook with course descriptions and said that’s exactly what they want to see. He said to send it when Evan applies, which will be soon, as he is applying for Early Admission. I was glad you had said to cool it with the course descriptions at the interview; I just casually showed it to him and asked if this was something they would want with Evan’s application. Anyway, my question today is with regard to the classes he is taking now, during his senior year, that he obviously hasn’t finished yet. Should I include course descriptions for them with or without his grades thus far? They are of course on his transcript as “Taken during Senior Year” but have no grades by them. Just wanted to see what you thought. Thanks again!
Leanne
For current year classes, list them on the transcript and list them in the course descriptions. Just don’t provide the final grade. You can say “To be Determined” or “In Process” for the grades. I suggest you give the course title, completion date, and credit value just as usual on the transcript. The only thing that is different is the final grade. For the course description part, you can fill in the description, and grading criteria if you know it (or just the part of the grading criteria you DO know) but leave the final grade blank.
Learn the SECRET to getting your student placed at the TOP of the stack for college admission consideration as well as one of those MASSIVE university scholarships. Get the Comprehensive Record Solution!
I often get asked about how to get a homeschool diploma. In this video clip I answer that question and also share what colleges are looking for in your homeschool education.
Learn how to translate all those great homeschool high school classes into the words and numbers that colleges will understand. Get the Total Transcript Solution.
Senior Year Last-minute 12-Step Emergency Panic Plan
Hopelessly Behind?
“Second best” success is also possible. If you don’t have a clue about college admissions, and you are in the midst of senior year, it’s very difficult to quickly regroup in order to experience success. I have an emergency plan for families who haven’t started preparing for the admission process prior to senior year. Here is a quick checklist just for those panicky parents.
Drop all school and activities and work on college applications
The best success comes to parents who plan ahead. What does that mean exactly? It means parents with elementary students who “listen in” when others talk about high school. It means middle school parents who learn how to homeschool high school BEFORE panic starts. It means taking challenging classes each year, just in case one year you can’t get everything done. It means seizing junior year tasks with gusto. But you know what? Everything can still be OK even if you haven’t done those things in the past. All you need to do is hit the ground running on the first day of senior year.
Remember the Boy Scout Motto? Always be prepared! Be prepared because teenagers do change their minds. They may go back and forth between, “I’m going to college,” and “I’m never going to college. What a stupid idea!” Plan ahead as much as possible. If your situation changes (either for better or for worse) you’ll be prepared! Avoid fear that immobilizes you. Spend some time learning about homeschooling high school so you can feel confident in your abilities.
When you are applying for colleges, you will need a great homeschool transcript. The good news is you can “do-it-yourself” and save thousands. Discover the Total Transcript Solution.
Whenever colleges are looking over students to admit, it’s quite a lengthy and arduous process for them. Rather unpleasant, they point out! They typically have only a couple of minutes to make a thumbs-up or thumbs-down on an applicant. For that reason, the transcript might be the only section of information they utilize for that determination.
The transcript is designed to whet their appetite. Do they want more of your student? or not?
Similar to an appetizer prior to a fancy dinner, you don’t require a great deal. It’s basically a single, one-page summary of the student. It shows the college some essential information. Is the student qualified? Do they satisfy the minimum requirements? The less difficult the transcript is to swallow, the more they will desire to stay and pay attention to more information regarding your child.
The transcript is the overview of your student, and the appetizer to whet the appetite of a food critic – the college admission representative. In the event that you pass muster with them, they may desire more. Be ready with course descriptions should they need it!
I supplied a one page transcript laying loose on top of my homeschool records. Beneath that overview was my package of course descriptions, inside my comprehensive homeschool records. These made available the information that could be asked for after the original “oh good! ” reaction to the transcript.
When you are applying for colleges, you will need a great homeschool transcript. The good news is you can “do-it-yourself” and save thousands. Discover the Total Transcript Solution.
A profile letter describes the school the child attends. A homeschool profile letter may be included in the Common Application or required by some colleges. It’s a description of what your homeschool was like; did you work for mastery and include delight directed learning, for example. It’s supposed to describe your homeschool philosophy, and the methods you used. It might include a family mission statement.
In my homeschool, I was completely overwhelmed at the thought of describing my homeschool or providing a mission statement! Because this form was not required by the colleges we applied to, I did not write a profile letter. Instead, I wrote a cover letter introducing my homeschool transcript. It basically said the same thing (I talked about mastery and delight directed learning, for example.)
If you want to write a profile letter, you might want to include some of these details:
Your homeschool approach (literature based, for example)
Your philosophy of education
Summary of transcript (4 years of English, etc.)
Why you homeschool, or why you began homeschooling
Mission statement
Outside classes and resources (homeschool coop or dual enrollment, for example)
Explain any unusual circumstances (5 years of high school due to illness, for example)
Grading/credit guidelines explaining “honors” or weighted grades
“Honey, There’s a Crazed Mob of Scholarship Wielding Colleges Pounding on Our Front Door!!” Get the Comprehensive Record Solution!
The easy part of earning admission to Harvard is being a homeschooler. The hard part about getting into Harvard is the same thing that makes it hard for every other student to get in. Harvard accepts homeschoolers, and if your homeschooler has an eye on the Ivy League schools, don’t worry that homeschooling will hold them back. Here is a story about one family and how they educated for excellence, with excellent results.
Here is a YouTube interview with the student and her father.
Homeschool to Harvard: one student’s amazing story – Dakota Root with father, Wayne Allyn Root on Fox News on 5-23-10 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBxCJ43uwkA
You can read an article by her father called “Homeschool to Harvard.” http://whiskeyandgunpowder.com/homeschool-to-harvard/
Homeschooled her whole life, “Dakota Root achieved her lifelong dream. She was accepted at both Harvard and Stanford. She was also accepted at Columbia, Penn, Brown, Duke, Chicago, Cal-Berkeley, USC and several more of the elite schools in America, an unheard of record for a home-school kid.”
Just remember, if your child wants to go to Harvard, being homeschooled is NOT a hurdle they have to overcome. It’s everything else that Harvard requires that’s difficult!
Homeschooling is NOT the same as doing schoolwork at home. There is LOTS of freedom! My Gold Care Club will give you all the help you need to succeed!
While supplying universities with the information they require, going beyond a transcript may better your chances of scholarships. A transcript may be the cornerstone of admission, however colleges would like more than that if you expect them to give you scholarship money. They ordinarily like to see more comprehensive homeschool records.
Examples of student work are the icing on the cake, the yummy dessert of comprehensive homeschool records.
In our homeschool records, I provided three writing samples with out comprehensive records. I made an effort to choose a range of writing styles; research, fiction, and poetry. I tried to use writing samples that I knew were very good. We had submitted a few writings to essay competitions to win scholarship money. When my children won scholarship money, I assumed the essay must have been good, so I tried to incorporate that piece of work.
Additionally, I saved a sample of work for each class on the transcript. I didn’t send those to colleges (I figured maybe they didn’t actually prefer documentation of four years of PE, you know? That could get lengthy! ) Instead, I made a note on each course description about how “written work is available upon request. ” I actually did keep something from each class. In the event that they asked me for something, I ended up being able to give it to them.
I did end up being asked for some additional work samples. I was asked for a “graded” English paper (presumably along with a few red marks on it) and math work in the student’s handwriting. A different college needed to see a lab report from science. My suggestion is to be well prepared. It’s not possible to estimate exactly what information they may ask for. Instead of being concerned about it, simply try to maintain a couple of representative samples from each course. Then you’ll be all set for anything!
Do you have a homeschooling high school question? Send me an email!
When you are making your comprehensive homeschool records, it’s a great deal like cooking Thanksgiving Dinner. There is usually a whole lot of work involved, that’s true, however there are a great number of choices! You can find a huge number of “correct ways” to create great homeschool records! You can choose to create your information appear the way that is JUST RIGHT for your family. I offer options as well as templates you are able to change and customize. I also present a selection of successful homeschool records. I truly want parents to see a large selection of perfectly good ways to demonstrate homeschool records. We homeschoolers usually are a unique group, and one approach won’t fit all of us. Loosen up a bit! Select the way that’s perfect for your family!
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