This week I was speaking with a friend at my child’s school about the application process and our school. She told me that this year the guidance office decided to send ALL of the senior class transcripts to a few schools where many of the students apply. Since all of the students transcripts were sent our “non-ranking” school is obviously ranking the students. Is it ok for high schools to send transcripts out for students even if they are not applying to those schools? I am a bit confused on how the whole FERPA thing works and if this falls under its protection.
I don’t follow your logic in concluding that the school is ranking the students if it is sending all transcripts, but that’s not really your question, and I have no idea how the confidentiality rules work in school to school communications. It sounds fairy benign to me, however: if many of the students typically apply to these schools, I can see the savings to your school from just sending all of them in one fell swoop rather than having to send them piecemeal.
Even if a HS doesn’t report student ranking, a college can still get an idea of where a student sits in the distribution from the GPA range in the HS’s School Profile.
That said, I don’t it’s right for a HS to share student records to a third party, without authorization by the student. It sounds like laziness on the part of the guidance office.
I do not see how a counselor could release a student’s transcript (presumably with individual students’ names and grades) without student consent. Even if it is not a direct violation of privacy laws, which I’d guess it is, then it is awfully close. One example - my child had a college call asking for a transcript for my daughter (long story) and the counselor called my daughter down to ask if it was okay to send it.
Aside from possible FERPA violations, I can’t imagine that the colleges in question will appreciate being inundated with material for students who will not be applying. Although it’s a nice payback for all the crap that colleges send students, I can’t help but think that the AO’s will not be putting the school, and by extension the applicants, in a positive light.
I have serious doubts your friend heard correctly. That’s a huge unnecessary workload for the HS and, as has been pointed out, inundates the college. I really doubt this happened.
What does the school gain by doing this and what colleges are they sending them to?
Even if this were true, I would be surprised if any college has the patience to figure out everyone’s rank. For one, they try to review files only after they are complete and if there are a bunch of transcripts sitting around with no other information, no adcom is probably looking into them.
I’m sure she misheard.
NO HS counseling office would want all the work sending out all those transcripts to a colleges that students had no intention of applying to. The blow-back from those colleges, as well as from the students and parents, when they found out, would be enough to get any counselor who was dumb enough to send them fired[ and rightly fully so]
I am pretty confident the information is correct… I verified it elsewhere. The high school is not big less than 150 in each class. I guess my concern is whether a school can send out academic info on my child even if we/she does not give permission… or request the info be sent out.
@texaspg I am not sure what the school gains… maybe the appearance of being efficient?
That is ridiculous, and the parents should protest vehemently. I’m shocked anyone would be naive enough to have considered it a good idea.
@MurphyBrown Printing off 150 transcripts probably does not take much effort… just have to hit a button I think. I am sure most parents are unaware AND for kids in the top 10%/ bottom quarter of the class it is not a big deal… only those kids who are borderline does this new policy really affect in a negative way (potentially).
I do not think parents will protest… no one wants the guidance office unhappy right before they send out letters of rec.
There must be a way to check with the specific colleges to see if your child’s transcript has arrived, but you haven’t applied. Call an admissions office and find out!