I was just looking at my transcript and discovered that it had a section for test scores. Part of me hopes this is an internal thing, but knowing my school and its lack of experience with handling kids with college ambitions, I have a feeling that it was sent to the schools I applied to. This worries me as I decided to omit my SAT test scores from applications due to the fact that I was unable to take the test more than once. On top of that they also included my AP test scores which were rather poor due to the changing of the test format from what I had previously studied for. Overall, this information about colleges receiving my scores is eating me up as I will never know if it was a deciding factor for them or if they never even saw them. Does anyone have an experience with this? Is there anything that I can still do? Am I stressing out over nothing?
Adcoms at TO colleges can ignore this. Good chance they will. Kids make choices, through hs and into the application. The adcoms can accept your choice to apply TO and not go finding some test results to alter their overall view of your TO application.
Literally, an adcom can say, âBut this one applied TOâ and continue on.
I had the same fear because the Transcript they sent me (unofficial) contained test scores but I was assured that the official transcripts did not include test scores, which ended up being the case. If you want reassurance you can email your school and ask them to see the exact copy of the transcript that they sent.
Are you in Texas? TX transcripts tend to list all this invasive info.
No, New Jersey Actually.
I am definitely going to email the school. I went back through my email and I did find an âofficialâ transcript they sent me in the past, with the seal and everything. It did include a section for test scores. On the school website I also found a college prep post that said something to the effect of, âdonât forget to send in your SATs, as they will not be on the transcript sent by your high school.â I just really hope that this is actually a school policy and not just a generic district post. Either way, I will find out soon when I contact the school. Thank you for the comment!
I hope, but I am still worried that they wonât be able to actually separate them mentally. Especial with my AP scores (3). Thank you for the comment!
No one has a right to list your scores without your authorization. Remind the guidance counselor of that (with your parents in tow) and either ask to have that removed for the future (in the event you need to transfer later) or just have the guidance counselor black it out with a Sharpie before it gets uploaded again.
Yes, if itâs on there, the schools youâre applying to will see it. Just so you know, any info the schools have can be used for or against you, even if they say otherwise on their websites or via their written materials. If the scores they are seeing are really low, it will most likely come up at committee. They wonât be able to un-see that. Just being really honest with you.
If this messes up your results, Iâd look at transferring next year, and please address getting those scores removed or hidden from the high school transcript before you bother with that later, or this could happen again. Remember, transfers still have their high school transcripts sent.
Also, I have no idea what your scores were or where you applied. All of this could very well be a moot point if the scores really arenât that bad or the schools you applied to werenât that competitive.
If the district or state has mandated this, thereâs little argument. Some place do, some donât. One would need to actually look at what the policy is, whether local GC or admins have any discretion in this.
Seeing the score and using it in reviewing a TO applicant are two different things. I donât agree with your statement that it can be used against you, even if policy is otherwise. Granted, you only said âcan,â and there âcanâ always be some rogue AO. But many colleges have more than one reviewer working on individual files. Many can also black out something like scores, if the transcript does include them.
It seems youâre setting up an âus against themâ scenario. Adcoms can go to committee with no mention of it- after all, they committed to not using scores in their decisions.
I could be wrong, but isnât the academic index score the first thing being assessed usually? Doesnât giving that score help indicate the order the readers and AOs are reading the files? Again, I donât know where this person applied, but Iâm guessing itâs possibly somewhere highly selective.
Also wondering which computer systems the highly selective schools would be using that would enable the AOs and readers to black out sections or any other info that needs to be un-seen? Of course, without question the readers and AOs are going to be completely fair to applicants when reviewing their files.
It depends. Ime, the AI is primarily used to verify that, overall, an athletic team reaches some average standards. Yes, that requires calculating for non-recruits, as well. But the process is still holistic. And in this case, TO.
Ime, no effect on what order various files are read in. Holistic isnât about âtop down.â Blacking out some portion can be manual (or manually done, via the system.) Lots of bits get highlighted this way, a blackout is hardly different.
But itâs not necessary to hide scores. Being âfairâ is a commitment. Itâs not perfect, but can always frame the review. Imo, one gets further trying to, so to say, work with AOs, rather than the time spent distrusting them.
This is really awesome to know. I guess thereâs nothing to really worry about then.
Lol, lots to worry about, to pull together in the right ways, .
Itâs just so helpful to know. My older sister got into Stanford in the early round back a few years ago. She then decided to apply to other schools in the regular round since she wasnât completely sure she wanted to be at Stanford. She ended up getting rejected at all her other schools in the regular round. For all this time since, my father and I had just assumed that Stanford admissions had notified these other places of her successful early admission status. Now I know we were wrong and that the other schools wouldnât be trying to access that kind of info. Itâs good to know that ethics are in play and that my familyâs concerns were false.
I sometimes get asked to help friends through the college process and I start by asking them to request âan officialâ transcript. Applicants are entitled to see it, sometimes getting charged $5, and it tells a lot. On a rare occasion, there is a surprise; an indication of rank by a school that does not rank, grades sent (sometimes including every semester and final exams), a W or mistake grade, and even test scores the applicant does not want sent. If you get to this early enough, you can sometimes fix something you do not want on there - if it is a mistake or a score if applying test optional. Some schools list every test taken (all 10 the applicant really took), and is a bad look if the application asked for that self-reported and she only listed two.
My Dâs HS has all standardized tests on the official transcript. Even the entrance exam for the HS admission.
Would be interesting to hear if they changed that practice during TO, but itâs in a state that administered the ACT that all juniors take for graduation before the shutdown.
I donât doubt that admissions officer will try to ignore, but sometimes an impression can be made, and it may not be the one an applicant wants. I think there are a bunch of possible potentially annoying scenarios. Not speaking about your situation, in general.
Update: My guidance counselor sent me the official transcript he sent to the common app in October. This was about a month after my SAT, so by shear luck my SAT score had either not been received or processed by my school yet. So, my SAT score was not on my transcript! However, it still had my two AP scores of 3 (eh) and a PSAT score of like 1320. Overall, while I would prefer not to have the test section at all, but I can live with these scores being visible. I only wish I had done a little better on my AP exams. Thank you to anyone who took the time to leave a comment!
Best of luck! Hooves crossed!