Homeschool Transcripts

Email of the Day:
[This was kind of long and involved, but the upshot was about the legitimacy of homeschool transcripts and diplomas].

Answer:
Some general thoughts on transcripts and diplomas:

1) It’s not always useful to point out that you’ve been homeschooled. It’s great in some cases, neutral in others, and detrimental in a few. If you name you homeschool something that doesn’t use the word “Homeschool” in it (“Smith Academy” instead of “Smith Homeschool Academy,” for example), you leave that door open.

2) Make your transcript as normal and bland as you can for things like job applications. Entitle it “Official Highschool Transcript.” Have it notarized. These things make it raise no red flags.
(On the other hand — if you’re applying to college, you probably want to play up the uniqueness of the education and go the other direction. I see no reason you can’t have two).

3) Ditto the Diploma — make it pretty. Get it notarized.

4) Unless it’s useful to advance your case, don’t mention you’re homeschooled. See #1.

5) HR folks are bureaubots (good HR folks are not, but there just aren’t many of them). It’s your job, as a homeschool parent (and sometimes as the homeschool graduate) to help the bureaubot get what *he needs. The bureaubot doesn’t generally care about the content of certain documents. The bureaubot needs to check items off a list, and file appropriate paperwork. If you can give the bureaubot the information *he needs without raising red flags, everyone’s life is better.

6) Bureaubots make the world go around. They’re annoying, but we need them. You cannot defeat the bureaubot. Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated.

~Jen GS, Advocacy