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Is Transcript Required for Home School International Student?

Written by Sally Rubenstone | April 5, 2016

Question: I am an international student and wish to enter an Ivy college. I am currently following my 11th grade at home, with a yearly home school program. I do not have a complete semester to show but only some grades that will be on the yearly transcripts. The yearly transcript will be official. Does the university accept a yearly transcript instead of 2 semesters?

Most students submit a yearly transcript. So you will be okay without any semester grades to report … at least as an 11th-grader. However, the colleges may request your grades in January of your senior year. If you don't have grades to report midway through 12th grade, you may have to provide a document that describes your progress so far.

Since you are home-schooled, be sure to check each university's instructions carefully to see what sort of additional information is required for home-schooled applicants. For instance, colleges may expect a detailed syllabus that shows the material that each of your classes covers.

Above all, take as many standardized tests as seems reasonable (SAT, SAT Subject Tests, AP exams if possible, TOEFL if required). The Ivy League schools are extremely competitive and, because you won't have traditional grades to report from a “bricks and mortar" high school, excellent test scores can show admission officials that you can hold your own with top students from around the world. If English is not your first language or if you have grown up with socioeconomic disadvantages or faced other obstacles, admission committees WILL take this into consideration when they evaluate your scores. But I urge you to submit strong test scores if you expect to be a contender at these extremely selective institutions.

Good luck!

Sally Rubenstone

Sally Rubenstone knows the competitive and often convoluted college admission process inside out: From the first time the topic of college comes up at the dinner table until the last duffel bag is unloaded on a dorm room floor. She is the co-author of Panicked Parents' Guide to College Admissions; The Transfer Student's Guide to Changing Colleges and The International Student's Guide to Going to College in America. Sally has appeared on NBC's Today program and has been quoted in countless publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Weekend, USA Today, U.S. News & World Report, Newsweek, People and Seventeen. Sally has viewed the admissions world from many angles: As a Smith College admission counselor for 15 years, an independent college counselor serving students from a wide range of backgrounds and the author of College Confidential's "Ask the Dean" column. She also taught language arts, social studies, study skills and test preparation in 10 schools, including American international schools in London, Paris, Geneva, Athens and Tel Aviv. As senior advisor to College Confidential since 2002, Sally has helped hundreds of students and parents navigate the college admissions maze. In 2008, she co-founded College Karma, a private college consulting firm, with her College Confidential colleague Dave Berry, and she continues to serve as a College Confidential advisor. Sally and her husband, Chris Petrides, became first-time parents in 1997 at the ripe-old age of 45. So Sally was nearly an official senior citizen when her son Jack began the college selection process, and when she was finally able to practice what she had preached for more than three decades.