There are two theories that can be found in the internet world pertaining to high school record keeping. One claims that there is no need to keep any extra paperwork as even if your child decides to apply for college, no admission officer will read more than the absolute “must” of what is submitted. The other theory provides seemingly overwhelming list of materials you should ensure are filed in your treasure box as colleges like to see extra documents even though they don’t read them in detail. Let me give you a couple of examples to illustrate that there is a measure of truth in both of these theories.
“No Special Records Needed” Theory
Every college receives thousands upon thousands of applications each year. With the limited number of admission officers dedicated to reading these applications, only the basic materials are studied. Even though you may add additional materials so that your application looks impressive, eventually (with a few exceptions), only the “official” documents will make a difference.
For many years in business, I worked in human resources for one of a Fortune 100 Companies to Work For. One of our responsibilities was to hire a large number of fresh college graduates. I literally personally read through hundreds and hundreds of applications each recruiting season. The first selection criteria was the grades. As our applicants came mostly from two or three colleges in the country (I lived in Europe at that time), their grades could be easily compared. So why would grades become the main selection criteria? The company’s hiring director had one rule when it came to grades: “If you can’t be diligent enough to get good grades in school, you are not going to be diligent enough to get the work done that our company requires.” No one cared if you worked full-time while being full-time in school. The business we were involved in required both hard work and continuous education. If an applicant passed the grade test, then came job experience and extracurricular activities. The rest of the paperwork was pretty much irrelevant.
Hence, those who claim that officially required documents should be sufficient for your student’s college application are correct.
“Keep All the Records You Can” Theory
With the pandemic invading our world and colleges waiving SAT and ACT tests as the primary application comparison criteria, the acceptance process suddenly has become more complicated. Not only are the students required to submit the usual official documents, but also any “extras” that may help them score high when compared to the other applicants. As a matter of fact, because there are no SAT or ACT test results required, the number of college applicants has increased so significantly, that colleges are adding personnel to their usual application officers to help them read through the piles of paperwork. Due to extreme difficulties to compare actual grades from various high schools and their various standards, any extra material one can add to their application makes a difference. The more impressive one’s application looks, the better chance they have to be accepted.
College Application: A Real Life Story
Recently I talked with a friend of mine who has recently applied for an elementary education master’s program. Because the university has determined not to conduct face-to-face interviews, they will be basing their decisions on the paperwork the applicants have submitted. It included, among others: a certificate showing 11 years of music education, a certificate of sport achievements during elementary school years, any certificate of successfully winning competitions like spelling bees, etc. My friend cannot stop thanking her father for keeping his children’s successes filed in his desk. She was grateful for being able to add her 5th grade award certificate for winning the math competition to her university application. Even though this story comes from Europe, do not be surprised if your high schooler is asked for their “extras” when applying for college.
High School Record Keeping Essentials
I trust that by now you are beginning to understand that keeping high school records is rather important – just in case. Your child may end up not needing some of them, but you will be safer in case they do.
So which documents should I keep?
Following is a list of suggested materials to keep for your high schooler:
- Grades
- Course descriptions, including curriculum used
- Work samples
- Report cards
- High school transcript
- Standardized test scores
- Reading list
- Documentation of any learning issues your child may have
- Extracurricular activities
- Volunteer work
Do not be overwhelmed by the list above. When you look at every point in detail, it really is not all that overwhelming and it does not take much time to produce this paperwork if done on continuous basis. Find a simple way to record what you consider important whether on paper or electronically. However, it is highly recommended that you keep duplicates of all your recordings. A friend of mine’s computer died without warning one day leaving no ability to recover the hard drive, which included all her children’s documents. She was very blessed to have her mother, who lived several states away, email her all that was lost. That is the power of duplicates!
You can download our Record Keeping Template with a purchase of How to Homeschool High School Ebook.
Do you have any special way of keeping your student’s records? Please leave a comment below. We would love to hear from you!
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