I’m a current senior in high school and am awaiting my ED decision. This past summer, I took a 2-credit class at SAIC (School at the Art Institute of Chicago). The class was titled “Material Manipulation” and it was an advanced college-level art class. I got perfect marks in the course and received both credits. However, I don’t plan on going to school for art, and if I get into my ED school (a small, selective LAC), I would study art history or archeology. Is it even worth it to use those credits? If so, how would I go about sending them? I just want to know if that program was actually worth it for the cost to get some possible humanities credits out of the way.
You need to contact SAIC and request that the transcript be submitted to each and every place you apply to. Period. Not sending the transcript can be a reason to deny your admission, rescind an offer of admission, expel you from a program that you have begun, or even rescind a degree. Yup. Colleges and universities take it that seriously. It helps to remember though, that this really is more about them playing nice with each other than it is about you.
Whether or not the place you do decide to attend awards you transfer credit (and as what) is entirely up to them. You can ask for an early evaluation, but many institutions don’t finalize decisions about transferred credits until after a student has enrolled and begun taking classes.
@happymomof1 I didn’t think it would be that serious. I only took the class as a technical skill builder (AKA not for the credit) but the credits were a bonus. Half the people there aren’t even applying to college this year. Why would that be reason to deny me admission? I have all my required credits on my transcript from my regular high school.
@artlingo @happymomof1 is correct - get your SAIC transcript submitted to the schools you applied to ASAP.
Agree that you should send the transcript. But rest easy – I can’t see any college rescinding an offer of admission because you didn’t send them a transcript showing a perfect grade in a 2 credit college art course.
If you want to get credit for the course then once you enroll in the college you can contact the registrar and ask if it is possible to get credit for the course and what the procedure is to do so. It is worth asking about.
Send the transcript. Yes, some places won’t consider your application complete until they have the original from SAIC in addition to the transferred information on your HS transcript. Technically (going back to the colleges-playing-nice-with-each-other thing) you aren’t supposed to be allowed to enroll without having the original transcript on file at the college/university you do decide to attend.
Generally speaking, you as a student don’t have say in whether or not you get credit or as what. That normally is decided by the institution where you enroll according to its own policies. If you aren’t awarded any credit automatically, or if there are options as to how the credit is applied, that is when you would petition for specific credit. Should that be the case, you should prepare to present the course syllabus, textbook, and any graded homework that can be used to back up your petition.
Whoa. My kid attended a summer program, the unexpected bonus of which was official college-level credit. Some of his fellow attendees did not fare well in the grading and assessment at all.
No way would I insist to those kids that they submit a transcript from that program. They were rising HS juniors for goodness sake. The program was arduous, intensive and hard as heck, apparently.
If college credit is awarded, the transcript has to be submitted. Period. For the rest of those individuals’ lives, they will need to order up this transcript every time they apply for admission to a degree program at an accredited college or university in the US or for a job that requires all college-level transcripts. Which is one reason why I recommend non-credit classes rather than credit classes for students in that age group.
Frankly, any college or university that has admissions teams that can’t appropriately evaluate college grades earned when someone was a rising HS junior is a place that clearly is run by idiots. If one bad summer grade like that will keep a student out, then that student should be eternally grateful to have avoided the college/university in question.
@Waiting2exhale they need to submit it regardless. It sucks. If I ever go back to school I will have to submit transcripts from a European university (original transcript is in Latin!) and a total of five US colleges for bits and pieces courses here and there. It’s just the rules and the rules follow you for life. It’s really not a big deal. Admissions people understand different circumstances.
@happymomof1, @CCtoAlaska : I thank you both for your respective reply, and for the breadth and scope of consideration of those replies.
@Waiting2exhale - You are welcome!
@CCtoAlaska - I beat you on raw numbers (seven academic transcripts) but all domestic, and all in English. So glad now that I didn’t go grad school while I was living out of the US. Latin transcript - wow!
@happymomof1 I had a pretty low-level job where they wanted all of my college transcripts per state regulations. I loved sending that transcript. The form parts were in Latin but the course names were in two other languages.