Midyear Grades for College Applications

If you have a senior, it's time to send colleges your mid-year grades!

When you have a senior, you will need to send colleges your child's mid-year progress report, or semester grades. Part of the process of applying is keeping your colleges apprised of your student's academic achievements. If you have applied to colleges and have not yet declined their offer of admission, they will usually request a mid-year transcript or report.

When I was homeschooling, the need for a mid-year report came as a complete surprise. I had never before provided semester grades, only end of the year grades. I spoke to the 4 colleges we had been admitted to and explained the situation. Remember that your goal is to give colleges what they ask for, unless it conflicts with your beliefs. When you are easygoing and agreeable they are more likely to have positive feelings about your child's application. When requested by you college or the common app, resubmit your transcript with some sort of indication about mid-year grades.

There are many ways to note mid-year grades, and it all depends on how you homeschool, and how you grade. 

Option 1
On your transcript, instead of a grade you can say "S" and make a note that "S indicates satisfactory progress through first semester." You would not need to recalculate GPA.

Option 2
You could indicate the grade thus far, with an asterisk (like 4.0*) and in your notes section of the transcript say " * indicates class is in process, grade estimate provided through December 31st. Grade estimate is not used in GPA calculation."

Option 3
You could say IP for the grade, and in the notes say "IP indicates class in progress. Grades are calculated and provided yearly"

Option 4
You could provide your child's grade in each class (like 4.0) and adjust the credit value and recalculate the GPA.

Note 1
If your child is taking dual enrollment classes, you will need to have the dual enrollment community college (or college) submit their final grades for the quarter or semester and send those grades to the colleges your child has applied to, also. There may be a small fee. You can includes those completed college courses on your homeschool transcript, as well.

Note 2
If your child is taking classes at a public or private school that provides a transcript (I.e. Not a homeschool co-op) then that school must also send a transcript with mid-year grades to the colleges your child has applied to.

If these mid-year reporting options are useful for you, please let me know. If you have decided to share your mid-year progress report in a different way, would you leave me a comment and share your homeschool policy with us? Perhaps your method can be helpful to another homeschooler! As always, I'm happy to help you personalize your transcripts and college admission records. If you'd like that kind of help, consider joining my Gold Care Club. You'll get to talk with me personally once a week and walk you through transcripts AND college admissions!

If you don't have a senior, but will have soon, get more answers about putting together a transcript with my free workshop, A Homeschool Parent's Guide to Grades, Credits and Transcripts!