Creating a Good High School Transcript

As a transcripts evaluator for a university, I see many high school transcripts. Some are easy to evaluate and some are not. Most universities accept homeschooled students. Homeschool families often have a difficult time knowing how to create the high school transcript. The following are the items that should be included on every high school transcript.

1) The name of the student

2) The student's birthday

3) The student's address and phone number

4) The name of the school, if there is one

5) The school's address and phone number

6) The courses in each year of study clearly separated (9th, 10th, 11th, 12th)

7) Each specific course title (Algebra II is a better listing than "math")

8) The grade received for each course (either numeric or letter grade (A, B, C, D, F)

9) A grading scale *

10) The units received for each course**

11) The date of graduation

*Units are a time measurement. The Carnegie Unit is fairly standard - one unit equals 5 class periods a week for 9 months, each class period lasting 40-50 minutes. A half unit or a quarter unit may be given for a class that does not meet as often as that.

**You will decide what the grading scale is for your school. Examples of grading scales commonly used in the United States are as follows:

A = 95-100; B = 88-94; C = 81-87; D = 75-80

A = 93-100; B = 85-92; C = 75-84; D = 70-74

A = 90-100; B = 80-89; C = 70-79; D = 60-69