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mooreboyz Forum Pro
Joined: March 16 2008 Location: Wisconsin
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Posted: Oct 07 2014 at 8:19am | IP Logged
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I'm working on my son's transcript right now and see on a lot of samples online they list activities. My son already has to list these on his application. I know on my high school transcript only my courses were listed. Do you think I should list his activities also? I'm referring to things like piano competitions, volunteering, soccer...
__________________ Jackie
7 boys - 1, 4, 7, 10, 13, 15, 17 years
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SallyT Forum All-Star
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Posted: Oct 07 2014 at 9:33am | IP Logged
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Not unless you're counting them as actual coursework, I don't think. I have done that in some instances -- my son is in a production of King Lear right now, and I am counting that as a half-credit in fine arts, so that will in some form or fashion ("elective: drama seminar," maybe) go on his transcript. Piano competitions might fall into this category, as they're juried and competitive.
Soccer, etc, could count as PE if you need it to; then I'd put it on the transcript. Otherwise, I'd list it as an extracurricular activity.
I also did list one of my son's jobs on his transcript -- he worked for a year for an equine vet, as his assistant, and I listed that as an internship, with a grade (A), especially as his major academic interest/aspiration is biology.
So ultimately I guess the question to ask is, "Would I count this as part of academic coursework?" If yes, then put it on the transcript (or include it under something that's on the transcript). If no, list it as an extracurricular activity.
That's my MO, anyway!
Sally
__________________ Castle in the Sea
Abandon Hopefully
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mooreboyz Forum Pro
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Posted: Oct 07 2014 at 2:22pm | IP Logged
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Thanks, Sally. That leads me to another question. Do I need to list phy Ed? The colleges say they don't consider it towards credits. In WI, health is a mandatory class for homeschoolers. So, do I need to actually list this as a class? We've always kind of done that as part of life, kwim?
__________________ Jackie
7 boys - 1, 4, 7, 10, 13, 15, 17 years
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SallyT Forum All-Star
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Posted: Oct 08 2014 at 7:35am | IP Logged
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I guess it really depends on whether a college would want to see it. I always list a credit of PE, because it's in our state graduation requirements (not that the state is going to stop my kid from graduating or going to college), and it's easily covered by normal activities. It would be on a school kid's transcript, I guess, so I do include it.
My son has been interested in military academies and private military colleges like VMI, which I think are more interested in whether someone has "lettered" in a sport than in PE as a class. So that's been much more our focus (running is our current sport -- road races & triathlons -- so on applications we've decided that we'll say that he lettered in cross-country . . . ). But again, I imagine that that kind of thing would go under extracurricular activities and not on the official transcript.
Sally
__________________ Castle in the Sea
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SallyT Forum All-Star
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Posted: Oct 08 2014 at 7:36am | IP Logged
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And I should hasten to add that I am not the last word on this kind of thing. We've done college once so far, and are gearing up with an 11th grader to do the whole thing again! And it's always a learning curve. What my son wants to do is radically different from what my daughter wanted to do, and did, so although I have done record-keeping and transcript-making before, it is kind of a new game.
Sally
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SallyT Forum All-Star
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Posted: Oct 08 2014 at 7:44am | IP Logged
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I'll also add -- with apologies for flooding the thread! -- that when my daughter was applying to colleges, I did submit a narrative transcript as well as an official transcript form with courses, grades, credits, & GPA. The schools she applied to -- all Newman-Guide Catholic liberal-arts colleges -- indicated that they would be receptive to a narrative transcript (though the University of Dallas, where she ended up going, uses the Common App with a separate form for homeschoolers, which basically rendered the narrative transcript redundant).
On that transcript I did list extracurricular activities, with a qualification saying that we did consider these activities part of her education. (and if I had to do it over again, I would have made this transcript way less wordy and explanatory than it was . . . ). I don't know that that was really necessary --probably it wasn't. But it didn't hurt her any. She got in at all the schools she applied to, anyway.
The kinds of colleges my son will be applying to probably will not have that "hey, send us your creative transcript!" ethos, so I'm thinking: straightforward, to the point, not-outside-the-box, just make it look NORMAL!
Sally
__________________ Castle in the Sea
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Angel Forum All-Star
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Posted: Oct 14 2014 at 7:08pm | IP Logged
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I'm using Transcript Pro to make my kids' transcripts. This has made my life *much* easier. It does have a section for activities, but it is clearly labeled "Activities". It also has a section for "Awards and Honors". And I do include PE classes, but you can choose in the software whether or not to include PE courses in the GPA. (I am not.) I'm sending a narrative transcript, too, though, with course descriptions.
__________________ Angela
Mom to 9, 7 boys and 2 girls
Three Plus Two
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Angel Forum All-Star
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Posted: Oct 14 2014 at 7:11pm | IP Logged
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SallyT wrote:
The schools she applied to -- all Newman-Guide Catholic liberal-arts colleges -- indicated that they would be receptive to a narrative transcript (though the University of Dallas, where she ended up going, uses the Common App with a separate form for homeschoolers, which basically rendered the narrative transcript redundant).
Sally |
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Not trying to hijack the thread here, but... Sally, did you fill out the whole supplement and then send the narrative transcript, too? My ds is applying to Newman Guide colleges, too (including Dallas) and I'm trying to figure out how to use the forms that some of them provide when his courses don't fit into them... I probably just need to email admissions.
__________________ Angela
Mom to 9, 7 boys and 2 girls
Three Plus Two
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SallyT Forum All-Star
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Posted: Oct 15 2014 at 9:48am | IP Logged
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Well, we first sent the narrative transcript as part of whatever else we had to send via snail mail. Then there was much dithering about whether or not we had to fill out the supplement. Then finally it was decided that yes, we did have to fill out the supplement, so we did that and sent it, too.
Their admissions department folks are very nice and helpful. Email Lacey de la Garza -- I'll try to find her contact info. You might end up sending some kind of alternative "things that don't fit neatly into categories" list, but they're generally pretty cool with things like that.
Sally
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SallyT Forum All-Star
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Posted: Oct 15 2014 at 11:21am | IP Logged
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Here is Lacey's profile and contact info at UD.
She's on the College4CathHS yahoo list I'm on -- I think Maria Rioux is the list owner, and it's a very helpful loop for this kind of thing. A number of Newman-Guide schools have admissions or other reps on that list as well, so it's a good place for "horse's mouth" information.
Anyway, I've had some correspondence with Lacey directly, and she's great -- very together, very prompt, very interested in answering questions. When my son went down to visit his sister there last Easter, Lacey helped us put together an interview and itinerary for him, including a class visit.
Anyway, they're very used to dealing with homeschoolers and out-of-the-box thinkers!
Sally
eta: And they weren't at all fazed by all my dithering.
__________________ Castle in the Sea
Abandon Hopefully
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