Content of HS Transcripts

Applying to College
1

<p>I apologize if this topic has already been discussed. I've looked through a lot of threads and didn't see an answer to this specific question, but please don't hesitate to tell me if I missed it. </p>

<p>Does anyone know exactly what the high school sends to the colleges? Is it literally just the transcript with the grades and courses or do they also include any "notes" that have been slipped into a student's file? Also, does anyone know what an asterik next to a course and grade denotes?</p>

<p>My reason for asking is that in my son's sophmore year there was an issue with his honors advanced algebra teacher. To make a long story short, we wound up disputing his final grade and had to take it to the superintendent's office and consult with an attorney. This teacher was really nuts and still tried to sabotage my son's grade when he switched to a different class. It was really a big mess; she tried to fail him and make him go to summer school, she lied repeatedly about things and tried to accuse him of cheating, which was overturned. I'm not the kind of parent that makes a habit out of fighting with teachers, but I had to step in with this one because she did some pretty horrible stuff. Anyway, we got the grade changed, but now I've noticed an asterik next to this class on the transcript. I plan on discussing it with the school, but first I need to find out if it's really a big deal. If it's something that the colleges won't really take notice of then I don't need to get crazy over it. I'd rather not have to go through all that again. He has since taken pre-calc and AP stats and had over 95% in both classes. </p>

<p>Soooo, do you know if high schools simply send grade transcripts or can they include additional, potentially damaging info?</p>

<p>Thank you!!</p>

2

<p>I have seen my transcript before and it is just simply a list of all of my yearly grades, regents (state tests for NY) and umm… I think that might be it. Nothing else.</p>

3

<p>Every school’s different. You will only get the answer by asking. It seems a * would correlate to some legend so the ad coms can understand what it means. I would have your son take the transcript to the college admission counselor and get the answer.</p>

4

<p>At my school an asterisk indicates that the course is weighted.</p>

<p>An asterisk could mean a few things, I suppose. That there was a grade change, that there was a class switch…</p>

<p>I’m pretty sure that the school does not send along little “notes” with the transcript. For example, I’m doubting that the asterisk points to a little note at the bottom that says, “This student’s original teacher doesn’t approve of this grade,” or anything else equally ridiculous. A transcript (to my knowledge) usually just includes raw data, usually meaning grades, but also potentially including standardized test scores depending on the school.</p>

<p>That said, if you’re really worried about it, you could always ask your son’s guidance counselor about it.</p>

5

<p>That’s interesting about the * meaning a course is weighted because at the bottom of his transcript there’s an asterik and next to it it says “courses with max GPA >4”. But Honors Adv. Algebra is not a weighted class so it doesn’t make sense. You guys are right, though…the only way to find out is to ask. I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t missing something and that I was prepared before going up to the school. Thanks for the info!!</p>