James Madison University

JMU requires an official high school transcript for all applicants that includes a full senior year schedule. Some families that are homeschooling their children may not understand what we may need for their transcript. When sending a transcript, be sure to include the following information:

• Homeschool contact information (address, phone number)
• Demographic information about the applicant (name, date of birth, address, email address, phone number)
• Name of each class (9th-12th grades including all courses projected to take for senior year)
• Grade for each class
• Grading scale used in your homeschool
• Cumulative GPA (through 11th grade)
• Credit earned for each class towards graduation requirements
• Information about your homeschool approach, including a thorough curriculum description. We know there are a variety of approaches used by families who homeschool, including: set curriculum, dual-enrollment courses, self-created curriculum, etc. Some families use a combination of different approaches. A thorough description of the curriculum(s) used is very helpful.
• If you are using a set home school curriculum, please let us know which curriculum you are using and which years it was used.
• If you have created your own curriculum, please provide a syllabus with topics covered and a reading list for each course, if appropriate.
• If you took college courses, please provide an official transcript from the college.
• Special Notations for classes – note classes that were taught through a local college, taught by a separate tutor, taught in a homeschool consortium, etc.
• Anticipated Graduation Date (or date of graduation if applying as a transfer student)
• Signature of person issuing transcript and date (this can be parents acting as a school administrator)

Many homeschool students supplement their courses taught at home or through other tutors with work at a college or community college. If this is done prior to graduating high school, these courses are called Dual Enrollment courses. Make note of any of these courses on your transcript, so we can know that they are college-level courses and list the college they attended. Transcripts from the college are not required for incoming freshmen in order to apply, but are required to receive credit at JMU. Students that decide to attend JMU should send their transcripts from your college coursework so it may be reviewed for credit. If you are within Virginia and are taking courses through a community college through the VCCS, please review courses that transfer to JMU.

Sending a letter of recommendation to JMU is truly optional. If you would like to send one, it must come through the online submission process found in the online application. We prefer recommendations to be academic in nature and would prefer one to be sent from an external teacher as opposed to a recommendation from a parent.