How Do You Go About Making a Great High School Transcript? *EASY Question, WILL pick a Best Answer!=]*?

Question

Okay, So I'll be starting 9th grade this Stepember., I'm also homeschooled (as you can tell, by what section I but it in lol)

I want to make a great high school transcript, how should I go about doing this? I want to apply to schools such as Yale, Harvard, UCLA, Berkeley, etc. What other extra curricular activeties should I do (besides GirlScouts lol, that I can put on my transcript). Please feel free to add ANYTHING and everything you can think of including websites (if you like, and can find some.)! I want my transcript to be great, becuase after all I really only have one chance at this.

Thanks SO Much in Advance!!

**WILL pick a Best Answer!!=]**

Answer 1

I'm assuming you will be homeschooling next year too? Take honors or AP courses. Study hard, because the grades you make in high school can ultimately impact your future. Get involved with community service. I'm not sure what organizations homeschoolers can join, but you can always research online. Sports, clubs, and basically any activities.

Answer 2

OK, people, she is a homeschooler!  She is not going to take AP classes!  Get with the program or don't answer.  Gosh.  As a homeschooler, you might need a portfolio in place/addition to your transcript.  It just depends on the individual school you are applying to so make sure you know what is expected of you.  Here is what I did for my homeschool transcrip/portfolio.

~ I loved reading and throughout highschool I read many different things, so I had quite an extensive reading list.  

~ My family counts EVERYTHING as a learning experience, so all those dinners I cooked?  Those were Home Ec. credits.  Babysitting time was converted to Child Development credits, and well, you get the picture. Also, if you babysit frequently, advertise your services, and have regular 'clients' this could technically be your own business which makes you a teen entrepreneur!

~ Colleges really like to see commuinty service/vonunteer work in your portfolio.  Plus, it's just a great way to help others.  

~ Especially in a year like this get involved in local/national politics by working for the campaign of your favorite candidate.  I have been doing that since I was quite young and it definitely made an impression on the college I applied too.

~ I was ahead of my 'grade' so I took college courses during high school.  This showed the colleges I applied to that not only was I capable of getting into a college, I was doing great.  I even used some of my papers from my English class at the commuity college to showcase my writing.

~ This might sound lame, but colleges will (most likely) look at your ACT/SAT scores so study hard and be prepared to take the test multiple times.   I got two scholarships because of my test score and it wasn't even that great.  

Hope this helps!

Answer 3

Hi, first of all I want to say you don't make your own transcript. you can do your own resume but not a transcript. the school that you are attending will give you the transcrip. my suggestion is to get good grades in all of your subjects and if you are in girlscouts keep it up and get into ROTC, and computer classes that will help you as well. my son did some of these classes, he's in the 11th graded. he needed 26 credits to graduate. he started going to an Entrenuership school now he needs 2 and a half credits to graduate. and he work also. so that gave him 2 credits. he needs 22 credits in all the graduate. what I am trying to say is, you can do anything you want to do if you keep a level head and go after wha you want.  keep up the good work.

Answer 4

Hey I'm in tenth right now and am basically on the same track you want to be on.

First: take the hardest classes you can get into at your high school (within reason of course). Most schools would rather see an B in Chemistry than an A in Freshman Sciences. Not to say there is anything wrong with taking intro courses.  Do your work, do your best, and don't leave any room for losing points you don't need to lose- no one can blame you if you don't understand something, but everyone can blame you for stupid mistakes.

Second: nobody ever thinks about character being too important- but it is. Be happy, cheerful and most importantly, be yourself. A teacher who sees you as an individual will not only be more helpful but will write you better reccomendations =P

Third: Arrange to take the PSAT in sophmore year- this shows colleges that you are motivated. You'll start getting information on programs that you can only do by invitaition, which look great on a college app. You should plan on taking the SAT's mid year junior year and repeating them 2-3 times.

Fourth: Get involved in activities! There are no "specific" activities that are better than others, but colleges like to see you involved in what interests you. It is not necesary that you be involved in a ton of activities- colleges would rather see a commitment to one or two versus a dabble in twenty. Stick with whatever activity you start (unless you really hate it) and in junior or senior year, try and take on a leadership position in that activity (i.e. team captain, editor of the newspaper, director, president, etc.)

You definately want to be involved in community service activities, either through or out of school. The National Honor Society reccomends 10-15 hours of direct service a year.  Student government is never a bad idea, but trust me, if it's not your thing, DON'T DO IT. Basically, just whatever you're interested in, find a club pertaining to it and join that.

Fifth... i thinkk haha: If your school has a chapter of the National Honor Society try and join in junior year. This gives you the opportunity to get scholarships, etc. but above all it looks great on a college app.

Colleges want to get to know you- they don't want the person who is amazing at studies but does nothting else. You have to be a well rounded person to get into the best schools.  When a spokesperson from Brown University came to our school they said "At Brown we don't want a "geek" or a superinteligent student. We want a person".

good luck! and I hope i've been of some help! =]

Answer 5

A high school transcript must be prepared by an accredited high school, public or private. I think you're out of luck there if you've been home schooled all the way through 12th grade. You will have to ask the schools to which you apply what you will have to do to qualify. I would imagine really great SAT or other entrance exams would figure highly.

If I'm wrong and you will be attending an accredited high school, of course you will want to get really good grades and the exams still count. Extra curricular activities that would be good would be mock trial, student government, music and drama. Sports count, but there must be more. Don't leave out the Girl Scouts and be sure to count church and any clubs you join. Anything that looks like community service is great.

Good luck.

Answer 6

You should get into Honors and later AP classes, as many of them as you can handle. But those aren't the only thing that would look good because alot of people do honors and ap classes. If your school has a career pathway join those, like my school has a AOIT pathway, basicly computers and technology where I take a class for 3 years about various arts in computers.   That will set you aside from other people. Also do ALOT of volunteer work, and join clubs, student government. Basicly do anything that will set you aside and show that you're ambitious, mature and responsible. And get high SAT score when you take the SAT. Another thing is sports and stuff like singing or dancing.

Your highschool should have a college couselor or something, talk to them they'll help you.

Answer 7

Okay, apparently the first four answerers were nitwits and didn't realize that you stated very clearly that you are HOMESCHOOLED. They also don't seem to realize that homeschool families DO prepare their own transcripts,a nd they are considered just as good (if not sometimes better) than a transcript prepared by a public or private school.

Recordkeeping is key. Keep track of all the materials you use, and all the work you do so that you won't be thinking back and trying to guess when it comes time to apply for college. Make sure you know what courses are required for the colleges you want to attend (as well as any additional testing they may require) and choose challenging curricula in whatever format works best for you for those courses. Most colleges will want to see a sort of bibliography of the materials you used so they can determine what level of work you did and what was covered. As well as the required courses, take a variety of courses that interest you and keep track of them. Whether it's a co-op class, a class in the community, or just something you're studying on the side at home, treat it like a homeschool class and record it. Show that you're a well rounded person who is going above and beyond and taking even some classes that aren't offered in the public schools. Lab work is important as well. "with labs" are two words you're going to want to be able to write next to science course titles. There are websites that sell great complete lab kits on a smaller scale for homeschoolers to use, or you could see about taking science classes at community college (duel enrollment looks very good as well) or with a co-op. Remember to write a good explanation of your grading system if it isn't the standard one used by conventional schools. As far as appearance goes, you can probably find good templates online that will get you started, or at least give you an idea of what you and your parents can do. Course codes aren't always important, but theymight be. You should ask the colleges you want to attend (call the admissions office) if they require course codes on homeschool transcripts, and if so, what you should do if you take a class designed by the parent that doesn't seem to havea  standard course code. In this situation, a simple description of the class should be all you need.

Good luck!

Answer 8

Rigorous college prep courses... between 26 and 30 credits... 4+math, 4+history, 4+science, 3+foreign language, PE, arts, electives

Some college credit / dual credit courses.

ACT / SAT scores (and don't forget the PSAT)

Two or three extracurriculars where you can demonstrate involvement and long term commitment (become an officer / leader if you can)

Community service

Awards

*Send me an email and I will point you to my 9th grade HOMESCHOOLED son's online academic portfolio.

He is on the same track as you and is homeschooled.