Should You List Religion on the Homeschool Transcript?

Should you list religion on the homeschool transcript? Here are some thoughts:

Religion on the Homeschool Transcript

In my years serving the homeschool community as academic advisor, I was sometimes asked the question: Should you list “Religion” on the homeschool transcript?

As you know, we 7Sisters always say, “There’s not ONE right way to homeschool high school!” (BTW- If you feel overwhelmed by the idea of homeschooling high school, try our free mini-course to get you started if you are feeling intimidated by homeschooling high school.)

Here are some Pros and Cons I would share with the families:

Since there’s not one right way, then we need to know up front, that there’s not one right way to decide whether it is best to include religion on the homeschool transcript. Let’s be real for a minute and list of the pros and cons of including religion on the homeschool transcript.

Pros for including Religion on the transcript

Pro: If your homeschool high schooler is applying to a Christian college, Religion counts as a useful elective.

Pro: On the other hand, if your homeschool high schooler is applying to a secular college, a Religion elective credit shows at least some ability to do moral thinking. (In our part of the country, our local homeschool students have not ever been the brunt of religious discrimination in the admission process.)

Pro: An elective can add some real sparkle to the transcript when your homeschool high schoolers specify the TYPE of Religion credit being earned. For instance, my son (who was a music major in college) earned credits in high school for:

• History of Church Worship Music
• Hermeneutics
• Apologetics

(He didn’t need that many electives, actually, but he was interested in the topics so we listed all his honestly-earned credits. It sure sparkled up his transcript!)

Pro: It has always been our local umbrella school’s policy to list as many electives on the transcript as are useful to illustrate the interests and personality of the homeschool high schooler. Religion credits are not necessary for graduation, but they help create a picture of the kind of student that will be attending the college.

Cons for including Religion on the transcript

Con: Including religion can look like bragging. Well, that’s what a few families have told me. If a homeschool high schooler feels prideful in listing his/her Religion credits, then I would avoid listing Religion on the homeschool transcript.

Con: It looks like too many credits. Colleges do not complain that there were too many credits. In fact, in my almost two decades experience getting homeschool high schoolers graduated and into college, extra credits tend to find extra credits add sparkle to the transcript. In fact, often our students graduate with well over the required 26 credits needed. As long as they are honestly-earned (Carnegie units) credits and have documentation to back them up, Religion on the homeschool transcript will not give a student too many credits; rather, it creates richness.

Con: Too much trouble to document another course! Now, THAT one is true. Several of my kids did not list a Religion credit on their homeschool transcript because they didn’t feel like logging the Carnegie hours. That was fine for them.

Clearly, then, I’m not giving a “standardized” answer to the question: Should you show Religion on the homeschool transcript?

That’s because there is no ONE right way to homeschool high school. We homeschool so that we may educate our teens in the best way for each of them. Thus,
transcript electives will vary from student to student.

But don’t let the high school years go to waste in developing their religious preparation for the world. Download our WONDERFUL and FREE Apologetics course. Dr. Gerald Culley, professor emeritus of Classics at University of Delaware created this delightful series of voice-over powerpoints for 7Sisters and Good Answers Ministries. My son’s favorite high school course was Apologetics.

Also, my son learned a lot about prayer by working through the interactive prayer activities in 7Sisters Prayer Journals. Give one a try.

For more discussion on what to include on the homeschool transcript, check out this Homeschool Highschool Podcast episode about What to Include on Homeschool Transcripts.

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Religion on the Homeschool Transcript