Do colleges look at your entire file for high school

<p>I was wondering when colleges look at your application do they look up your entire file?</p>

<p>The only thing colleges get from your high school is: (a) your official transcript; (b) if requested by the college, a form filled out or a letter prepared by your counselor (or other person) which usually provides basic GPA or class rank info, verifies what classes you are currently taking, and sometimes provides a personal recommednation; (c) if college takes recommendations, the recommendation letters you ask teachers to send. As to what actual information the college gets, it depends on the high school but things like suspensions may be noted on your transcript or the counselor's form. They will look at those things but they generally do not go back to the high school and ask to see your whole file -- which, legally, they cannot do anyway without your consent.</p>

<p>Thank you very much.</p>

<p>Another thing that the colleges receive from your high school is a "profile" of the high school that contains such info as the average SAT scores, breakdown of the student body by race, special programs at the school, # of AP courses offered, and etc. None of this info is specifically about you, the individual, but it tells the colleges what kind of high school you attended. For example, it can used to decide if you took enough AP classes. If your high school doesn't rank, it will give the colleges an idea of where your gpa fits into the entire student body.</p>

<p>The actual format of your transcript and the profile differs between school districts. For example, some transcripts will contain your SAT scores and others won't. Any disciplinary actions may be on the transcript. You can get a copy of your transcript and the school's profile from the GC or registrar at your hs.</p>

<p>I thought I'd read somewhere that they only take the last two or three years of high school. Is that true, or do they get the entire four years?</p>

<p>They will get the entire four years. Not all colleges will include your freshman year when they compute your gpa, however.</p>

<p>How would colleges know what courses you took and how would they know they level? Would they also find out all the courses the school offers and what levels they were besides APs?</p>

<p>GULP! i gotmyonly b in sophomore year,it wasn't even in a APclass
I took APbio and Gov and scored a5and4respectively do you think colleges will really care that i got that B?</p>

<p>not at all!</p>

<p>Misty_One, your high school transcript will list your courses for each semester of high school from freshman year through junior year and final grade per semester for each and will also note whether the course was honors or AP. If the college requires first semester senior year grades after you apply, you will then need to send another transcript after the first semester ends. Moreover, some colleges (example UC's) have you list your courses and grades on the application. As to courses offered by your high school and their level that is information often provided on the high school's profile and very often colleges have admissions personnel who are assigned regions and whose job includes learning and knowing what the particular high schools in the region offer.</p>

<p>Thanks. But would a college know what courses I am taking as a senior first and second semester when I apply, besides the ones I list on the app because some apps dont have enough lines. Also would the transcript list other level courses besides AP or honors, like accelerated or college prep?</p>

<p>For RD, they send the transcript as it appears at application time. It may have your senior classes listed, but of course with no 1st semester grades. Then when the 1st semester grades are completed, you have your hs send a senior mid-year report which is the transcript with your 1st semester grades. </p>

<p>You should ask your GC or registrar for a copy of your transcript to see what the format is like for your hs. You should anyway just to make sure that everything is right.</p>

<p>I'm sure it would matter but if I didnt pick rigorous or challeging courses in my freshman year but started to take some more advanced courses 2nd semester sophmore year, and now junior and senior year I am/will be taking a lot more advanced courses, will that hurt me by a lot. Freshman year i wasnt thinking about college and wasnt concerned about it either until midsophmore year. my gpa is up and i know for sure im in the upper half of my class; anything more specific im not certain.</p>

<p>You're okay. Freshman year doesn't mean that much. "Upper half" of your class is not too encouraging, but if you pull everything together beginning with soph year, you should be fine. They do look for rising trends. However, the competition goes exponential when you are talking about the top 10-15 schools. A weak freshman year will be very damaging if you are applying to Harvard. </p>

<p>You should come up with some EC's. The most important thing they look for is taking the most challenging courses offered (AP and honors), then gpa/rank, and then standardized test scores. After you qualify on academics, they look at EC's, essays, and recs in order to identify unique people. They don't want well rounded applicants. They want applicants who show "passion" in one or two EC's. The essay can typically describe the EC's, and then the recs and any awards backs it up. Also, do some volunteer hours. In some cases, an EC and volunteer hours can be combined into a single interest. Large public schools are more numbers driven.</p>

<p>Are my chances completely crushed now that I'm getting Cs in my junior year even though I'm planning on getting high marks in my senior?
And how much importance is placed upon SAT scores?</p>

<p>I will just go straight to the point.</p>

<p>what if I moved school too much?</p>

<p>, I have attend like 3 different schools, and I am planning to move school after my 1st smester of grade 11, so the grade of my 1st smester will be transfered to my new school.</p>

<p>now I am doing FUll IB diploma, and I want to move because I want to do AP which more interest.
Thanks</p>

<p>how come there is nobody answer me :(</p>

<p>i don't understand ur q..u just said "what if i moved schools too much" what if what?? do u mean tht u have bad grades?
Im last year of ib dp now and Iv moved around A WHOOLLEE LOT!
i wouldn't advise u to leave ib half way thru the year btw this is because:
1- the colleges will see it like u think its just too hard and u want to go where the easier option is offered//
2- ur gonna start an ap class in the middle of the year?</p>

<p>im still in grd 11 now. and my grades are not good and also not bad.</p>

<p>this quarter i got
7 for computer science HL
4 for Physics HL
5 for ENglish B HL</p>

<p>and all my standards are just average..</p>

<p>im not gonna start AP in the middle of the year...
AP is only 1 year right? and IB is 2 years and we have to do EE and TOK.</p>

<p>so what do you think?</p>

<p>my question and my concern is just, will college consider me as a bad student if I moved school too much?</p>

<p>Thank you</p>

<p>i dont know what the 7, 4 etc mean. what scale is used? and what colleges do u mean?</p>