High School Absences a Factor in Admission?

<p>When applying to college, how important is good attendance at high school? Would having 1 or 2 days missed versus, say, 8 days missed make a difference as long as your grades are very good? I've heard different things from different people, and this is sort of a problem with me because I get sick easily, so I would really appreciate a response.</p>

<p>thank you :)</p>

<p>are we talking about per semester or per year? one or two absences per semester seems insignificant because we all get sick and missing one day is highly unlikely of impacting your school performance. missing 30 days a year, however, is really pushing it. even if you have good grades, how do you justify missing so many days (unless, of course, you were hospitalized or have some sort of illness that prevented you from attending those days. those are provable, valid reasons for missing school)?</p>

<p>You might want to check with your guidance department about whether or not absences are recorded on transcripts. Some schools don't even include the information. My guess is that absences aren't a huge admissions factor as long as academic performance is good. FWIW my d had about 30 absences freshman year and it appeared on her transcript. Since her grades didn't suffer she didn't bother making any explanations. Her admissions results so far have been very good.</p>

<p>they likely don't show up on your transcripts. from what i have read on CC, it seems that most schools don't include it.</p>

<p>Wow, let me just say that I REALLY hope they don't count in admissions; I have missed by far the most amount of school in my class. The maximum number of days a student can supposedly miss in my school before a parent is called in for a meeting with the principal is ten....I've more than tripled that number every year so far...</p>

<p>I really don't think it will count against applicants unless a teacher writes in a recommendation that the days missed affect a student's grades, but hopefully teachers realize how deadly saying that can be.</p>

<p>Well, after re-reading your post, I realize you're talking about the difference between two and eight days, not two and thirty....I think you'll be perfectly fine, don't worry about it.</p>

<p>Absences don't even appear on my transcript. As mentioned above, as long as they don't affect academic performance and recommendations, they don't matter I believe.</p>

<p>why not walk on down to your GC and request a copy of your transcript? (It's a good thing to check just in case it contains any errors.)</p>

<p>strandlib, if you missed so many classes, why? that is something you need to think about when thinking about college, if you are missing six weeks of school every year, well, that may not be such a good thing in college</p>

<p>Like what most people said, talk to your counselor. For my school, 11 unexcused class (not day) absences take away credits, thus lowering your GPA.</p>

<p>this thread is really old but I'm concerned about this as well. I've had like 15 absences every year due to health reasons, but I didn't think they were a big deal since I was still ranked first in my class. and furthermore, don't most schools' transcripts not include attendance? wouldn't that be unfair for adcoms to judge one student's attendance and not another's simply because they didn't have the second student's attendance record?</p>

<p>does anyone know for sure? please answer cause I'm freaked out right now lol</p>

<p>No. In most cases, absences won't even appear on a transcript.</p>

<p>Absences don't appear on my transcript, either. Even if some colleges believe that your college attendance might be a reflection of your attendance in high school, they shouldn't mind because they would still be getting your tuition money :P But for real, if you catch up on your missed work and your grades reflect it throughout high school, I don't think absences should matter to colleges.</p>

<p>attendance (or lack of actually) is listed on my transcripts from my school</p>

<p>I was out 33 days freshman year, 84 (or something) sophomore year, and 30 junior year. This year i'm up to a mere 15, but 2 school weeks (10 school days) I had the flu and a high fever which had nothing to do with the previous condition I suffered from so it is actually much less than usual.</p>

<p>As long as you have a valid excuse you have nothing to worry about. It may even help you if you go in for an interview and talk about it (if it was a serious disease/illness); they'd be able to see how dedicated you were in your school work and how you didn't just give up.</p>

<p>If you're talking about only 8 days.. no school is going to care. People get sick, you shouldn't be given better treatment for pulling the lottery ticket of health</p>

<p>Good thing it isn't listed on mine...</p>

<p>If took all the days I was absent over my school career and did them now... I could probably miss the entire 12th grade...</p>

<p>I'm talking more like 15-18 though....like for each year. </p>

<p>still not a problem?</p>

<p>any acceptees that had absences in this range?</p>

<p>Buuuuuuuump. Anyone know for sure?</p>

<p>Pretty please help?</p>

<p>I missed around 25 days each year, and i had bottom 25% stats/white/not first-generation/non-athlete and I got into Carnegie Mellon.</p>

<p>and the absences were stated on your transcript?</p>

<p>don't get me wrong, I have been accepted at some schools already but I'm really worried about MIT on saturday cause I don't know if some schools care and others don't and if MIT is one of the schools that care</p>

<p>I wish they were a factor... never been absent since grade K.</p>