Throughout my entire application process, I’ve repeatedly informed my school that I would need a Semester 1 transcript by January 15th (the application deadline for most of my schools). A few days before the deadline, I was told this wouldn’t be possible, and the earliest date they could submit one was February 12th. I contacted all of my schools, and they said that, although my application might still be on time, there was no guarantee it’d be considered.
I’m really upset - I’ve spent months and hundreds of dollars on these applications, and they might not even be looked at because of something that’s out of my control. I don’t want to place the blame on my school, but I’m stressed and disappointed nonetheless.
Has anyone dealt with this issue before? What should I do?
@almondblossoms please don’t be too worried. Our school last year was late sending and then there was a glitch with Gateway so the transcript wasn’t uploaded. It is not even February yet and schools are still getting the materials in. You may want to notify the admissions offices. We submitted a copy of the transcript directly from our school to the school - not through Gateway and this worked out for us. Have your parent contact the school.
Have the schools received transcripts for all coursework prior to Semester 1? If not, you should have your school send what is currently available and then resend when Semester 1 is available. If Semester 1 grades are completed and available online or in print, you could send a screenshot or scan of them to admissions with a brief explanation that the final official transcript will be submitted Feb 12. We had to do similar because of transcript problem.
@Golfgr8 Thank you! I know it’ll most likely be fine, I think I’ve just worried about it too much. I’ve already notified the admissions office for each school, and I’ll get my parents to talk to my school as well.
@Altras Yes, they have! Unfortunately, my school won’t put out any Semester 1 grades previous to Feb 12th, so I can’t even give the schools that. Hopefully things end up fine regardless.
If semester 1 transcripts aren’t ready, then they are not ready.You are not the first student to have this issue. As long as a transcript with whatever was available was already sent, it’s fine.
@almondblossoms Hey man, same situation here. I sort of said to most schools, “I sent you my most recent grades, being Q1. If my 2nd quarter grades are absolutely necessary, you’ll have to accept them late in alignment with my school’s schedule. If there was anything else I could do, I would, but there is not.” I take a respectful but firm tone. In my eyes, there is no sense wasting time discussing something that simply won’t change. Especially if you are in a public school, there is very little “bending” the rules due to the various regulations. I know my school specifically worries a lot about DASA-esc problems with things like this.
I believe @Altras meant that all your transcripts from previous years (6&7) should be turned in now and then your current school can update when this years semester 1 grades for year 8 are complete.
I am in the same boat as you. Our semester ended on the 14th and our registrar was out of the office the entire week afterwards. He finally submitted my transcript today. I’m not sure exactly which schools you are applying to but most AO’s I talked to said they don’t actually start reading apps until the 20th so they will probably still accept it. Ultimately, your best option is to send as many grades as you can whether they be from all of middle school or even just have the school upload it directly. I totally understand your frustration and I wish you the best in every way possible.
Don’t stress! The transcripts from my area were weird and the schools I sent them to didn’t accept them, so I had to redo everything in a different way—which then took 4 more tries way past the deadline. I’m not sure which schools you’re applying to, but the people behind the phone at Deerfield even said that Jan 15 was a very soft deadline. Like people have said above, there are lots of other applicants in the same boat as you, and schools know it.
@marcellasne I agree that when I was on the phone with deerfield they also reiterated the exact same point that January 15th was a soft deadline. However, other schools, such as Mercersburg were very explicit in their email stating that “we expect all application materials here by January 15th” they asked the we give AT LEAST a two week notice if something was going to be late. Ultimately, make sure you reach out to each school’s admissions office to ensure that they will at least be open to accepting a late transcript or any late file for that matter.
If you are having any trouble getting things done quickly your parents should be dealing with your current school, not you.
My kids’ counselor sent their mid-term grades back in November when she sent everything else. I haven’t heard anything from the schools indicating that they needed the full semester, so I’m guessing that as long as they have 6th, 7th and 8th “so far” that it’s ok.
Thanks so much to everyone! I’m a lot less stressed - hopefully everything will go alright 
@dogsmama1997 Although that’d be helpful, they’re not willing to. It’s okay, though, I think I handled the situation as best I could.
@almondblossoms Sorry to hear that. Glad you are less stressed.