<p>I do know that my daughter's high school has an incompetent guidance counselor (thank goodness the rest of the faculty/staff are wonderful). But I'm not sure if this particular issue can be blamed on her or is me misunderstanding Naviance.</p>
<p>When d finished the common app, she needed to make sure her transcripts were sent. I looked around online and found info from a high school (apparently with a competent GC) with pictures and all that showed if the college list in Naviance shows a little "CA" icon, then the colleges will automatically be sent transcripts. Didn't think about it again until today, when d told me that she needs to do everything manually. We need to pay two bucks per transcript and give the school the addresses of her colleges, etc. As if we were living in the primitive days when I went to college. </p>
<p>How has it worked for others using Naviance? Was it all magically automated? As Luddite as my experience? Somewhere in between? </p>
<p>On a side note, I am addicted to the little scattergrams and other school specific comparison info on Naviance. I'm so anxious since she did everything RD (will April ever arrive?), but now I can spend my time over-analyzing the scattergrams.</p>
<p>I believe Naviance has a menu of features that high schools can pick and choose from, probably depending on how much they’re willing to pay.
Our high school does not send transcripts or anything else through Naviance. It’s all done manually. (And we have very good GCs!)</p>
<p>Our system is transitioning to Naviance so the transcripts are not being sent through Naviance, but another electronic delivery service that we were already using. Perhaps something similar is going on at your school - whatever the case may be, your child is close to graduation and there will be a whole new list of administrative and beaurocratic nonesense to concern yourself with at the college level!</p>
<p>It was not magically automated at our school, either. S still had to fill out HS’s transcript request form, and pay $4 per transcript to the registrar. However, for those schools that could receive the paperwork electronically (as noted on Naviance), we did not need to provide the school address, it was sent electronically (so why did it cost us $4? who knows). </p>
<p>Scattergrams are great, although I know they tell us nothing about the students ECs, rigor of course load, recommendations, etc… I’m with you on anxiously waiting till April. I’m jealous of all of those who have heard from so many schools already!</p>
<p>Our HS uses Naviance but (at least last year) still uses the snail mail method of sending transcript packets, including requiring the students to fill out forms, turn in envelopes, pay $x per transcript, etc. It purported to use Naviance as a method for the teachers to submit recommendations, if the teacher was willing and the college had the capability. S’s teachers did this, from our end it looked like they had been properly requested and sent. Then something caused S to check with the college counselor - when he looked at the system report from his end, it became apparent that the recommendations were “stuck in the system” and had not been sent to the colleges. This discovery was made two days before the ED decision was to be made by his first choice college!! It all worked out in the end (S got in to ED school, and he is very happy there). Just a reminder that the new technology is not always better.</p>
<p>D’s very, very competent guidance counselor insisted on sending transcripts and teacher recommendations by snail mail rather than using Naviance for that. I don’t find $2 for a transcript to be anything close to outrageous.</p>
<p>We pay for transcripts and the system is fairly automated. Even with Naviance, the teachers choose to send their LORs via snail mail and the students are responsible for providing forms, addressed envelopes with postage, etc. Naviance is only as good as the limited information that is presented. Students may retest for SATs in their Sr year, raising their scores, these being the ones that gain entrance. My student’s scores reflect Jr year testing. This isn’t a problem, however the nice green ‘dots’ that will end up on a scattagram showing an admit will reflect the lower scores, giving an inaccurate view to anyone looking for historical data. Will the higher SATs make that much of a difference? I don’t know, but they do not reflect the scores the university used for acceptance. </p>
<p>As previous posters have also stated they tell you nothing about ECs, rigor, rank, etc. It also does not tell you what school within the university the students were accepted to (Engineering, Liberal Arts, Architecture). These can have very different standards. You see a red X in a sea of green dots and wonder what the heck happened. Did their essay stink? Bad recommendation? Depending on the university it could be an Architecture applicant where the available spaces are minimal compared to Liberal Arts, therefore likely to be more competitive. It’s a very two dimensional view of an applicant. A useful tool, yes, but only as a guideline.</p>
<p>There are some notable school districts that are very high ranking nationally that do not use Naviance for a number of reasons, security concerns being one. Their GCs are known for being quite good. These schools are sending transcripts and letters via snail mail. It can be more cumbersome for the students, no doubt, however it is not impacting their success in admissions.</p>
<p>Still living in primitive surroundings, I guess…our transcripts go to the colleges with the SEcondary School Report that the GC fills out and sends in. Still done by hand and through snail mail.</p>
<p>IIRC, most of the schools DD applied to do not accept electronic transcripts. The exception was Penn State. We don’t have to pay for them (except for the postage) as long as the student is enrolled. After graduation, I believe they cost a couple of dollars each.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the info: looks like it is indeed an issue with me not understanding what Naviance is supposed to do! Just to be clear: this is not why I call the GC incompetent! She actually seems anti-college. She doesn’t think there’s any reason (or at least not many) for students to go out of state and doesn’t even announce large area college fairs half the time. She tells students that the students at this high school don’t do well on tests and not to worry about them. She trumpets weird things like DeVry and Full Sail University in newsletters while ignoring high school outreach efforts by the flagship state U. that is right next door (literally!)</p>
<p>Sorry, I could go on! Anyway, I’m glad I checked with my CC “experts” before complaining to any other parents that this was yet another failing on her part. I do like to see efficient use of technology, but I guess it’s easier said than done. I did think it was odd that the teacher rec’s where handed back to my daughter in their signed and sealed envelopes for us to mail. She had supposedly given up her right to see them, but could have if she’d added one “bogus” request. She would never do such a thing, but I found myself regretting the lost opportunity!</p>
<p>Also, noted that I really shouldn’t complain about two dollar transcripts when I look at the costs of even the cheapest college she’s applying to!</p>
<p>Regarding the scattergram obsession: Yes, it’s probably good I wasn’t even aware of them until my daughter had most of her apps in. Though some of the points made don’t apply. She’s mostly applying to SLAC’s, so I don’t think there’s the huge difference in acceptance for different majors that you might find at a big U. (Though I’m not entirely sure about that). And for rigor, this is a small school with no AP/IB/Honors (shocking!), and my daughter has taken all the highest “college prep” type classes. There are a few kids who take lots of classes at the university next door, but not many on a regular basis. But point taken that we know nothing about the kids’ ec’s, community service, etc. Like I said, maybe good that I’m only looking at these things after the horse has left the barn.</p>
<p>And it is interesting to wonder what’s going on with a denial of a high scores/high gpa kid or why a kid with a 2.5 gpa and 1500 (incl writing) SAT would apply to Harvard. (Note: my daughter is not applying to Harvard, just looking at them out of curiosity!)</p>
<p>We were told that some of those odd data points could just be a data entry problem. The scattergrams should be thought of as only a general idea of what stats are needed. I’ve noticed this year the information for some schools has been removed for privacy reasons.</p>
<p>Transcripts, LORs, brag sheets all get mailed at my son’s private school and the GC is top notch. We don’t have to pay for anything to be sent but I’m sure the $$$$$ I pay in tuition cover that. ;)</p>
<p>A quick comment on schools mailing vs. sending transcripts and letters of rec electronically - my son’s large public hs still mails everything and I am glad they do so. We use Naviance - but just for information. Sending stuff electronically is more complicated than you think - there is one way to do it for schools that are common app and other ways for schools that are not. Then there is the issue of a student who applies to a common app school - but uses the schools own application or a priority app. Before major deadlines - November 1 for example - the system to send things electronically crashed several times.</p>
<p>I think as the bugs get worked out high schools will gradually move towards sending docs electronically - perhaps over the next 5 years - but for now - the system is far from perfect and I would choose snail mail any day.</p>