Ok, please don’t make fun of me, I personally don’t know how big of a deal this is but my mom has been telling me that my world is over, etc.
I’ve been late to school this single year 7 times, and in my school’s transcript that is sent to colleges, they can see how many times I’ve been late. I’m shooting for Ivies and top colleges, so how badly would this affect me?
Not at all. But make your mother happy and be on time. 
You’ve been late seven whole times??
Your application is definitely going into the rejection pile.
^^
lol
Well there are two mutually exclusive things happening here. 1) you mom IS overreacting. Colleges don’t give a rat’s behind about your tardies. 2) By applying, you should absolutely KNOW that you’ll likely be rejected at every top college you apply to – this applies to everyone. The numbers are just that tough.
Perhaps your mom is concerned about why you’re late, and about your ability to make it to early classes next year?
My son was tardy for first period so much his senior year of HS, you would have to count the days that he wasn’t tardy. Okay, that is a bit of exaggeration, but not far off. His teacher in 1st period didn’t care and my son is not a morning person. OTOH, his teacher for his class after lunch would lower your grade if you were late to class more than three times during any semester. My son was only late for this class twice in two years. Tardies do not matter at all unless it counts against your grade.
BTW - My son is a sophomore and has only had one class at 9 since he started college. The 9 a.m. class was to fulfill a necessary distribution requirement. Other than that, my son’s earliest class since starting college was at 10:30.
@viphan, thanks for the sarcasm after i said i didnt want any. and thanks everyone
My son was tardy so often that he was elected “most likely to be late for graduation.” By his classmates.
He tells me that he’s usually on time to his classes at Yale.
I’m fanatical about punctuality, but as a parent of 4, I’ve come to realize that a teenager’s internal clock is a work-in-progress.
Your mother should lighten up. You should be more punctual. Both things will probably eventually happen.
Good luck.
Relax bud, it’s really nothing to stress over about.
Please re-read post #4 reason 1
For admissions, this is absolutely correct. Be aware, however, that once you get to college, there may be some classes (foreign languages come to mind) where your lateness to a class will have a negative impact on your final grade.
I’m really surprised that colleges don’t care about this. I care about this, both as a parent and as a boss. Your inability to get to school on time should, even if we rely on the info on this thread that says it doesn’t, have some affect on the admission process IMHO. If I had a student who was compulsively late, his grades would reflect that, in that after a couple of times I wouldn’t let him/her into the class and would grade a fat zero. IRL this is not acceptable behavior so regardless of whether admission ignores it, doesn’t even know it (which is most likely the case) is really irrelevant in the long run.
I’m with Mom, although its not the end of the world, and apparently not even a negative on decisions. Makes me wonder why she allows it.
@NEPatsGirl Of course, in the professional world, tardiness would certainly be looked down upon and may cost one’s career. HOWEVER, in college admissions, where so many aspects come into play - GPA, SAT/ACT, ECs and more - being tardy only a handful amount of times would be simply negligible.
You are associating tardiness with laziness and incompetency. If that were the case, the student’s grades or his/her letter of recommendations would all reflect that character flaw - which would now certainly be a major setback in college admissions. Because OP only mentioned that s/he was simply late 7 times with no indication of any of those aforementioned flaws, we can safely disregard OP’s mom’s concern.
Agree to disagree. She has been tardy 7 times, not a handful, and the year is not over. I do understand that admissions has bigger things to consider but ya know, sometimes the kid that tests really well isn’t the best potential student at college and certainly not the best candidate in the work community. And yes, FWIW, I do absolutely associate tardiness with laziness (but not incompetency) but more importantly, immaturity.
Could be that there are problems associated that have nothing with laziness (car broke down, unplanned accident/traffic, moved to a different neighborhood that is far away from school/is “out of area”, can’t wake up due to a variety of issues, parents can’t take kid on time and there’s no bus, student has to walk and when it’s -20 it’s a bit tougher than usual, school starts unusually early, ADD, other disabiliy, cultural*… there’s a kid on CC who was late several times a week for 2 years because he was homeless.)
7 tardies isn’t much, especially for college admissions.
Once in college, you may never have a class again that starts before 10.
As adolescent bodies mature into adults, the issue becomes less severe, so that by the time they go out into the real world, it’s no longer a problem. If it’s ADD, it can be treated. If cultural, the kid can grow into his own “third-culture” at college. Etc.
In short, it’s not related to character.
*in many cultures, being punctual has an elastic window of 15mn. In other cultures, the elastic window may be 2 or more hours.
@MYOS1634, I agree. Pre-college schedules are set up for the convenience of the adults. Let’s not kid ourselves – most teenagers have a very different circadian rhythm than adults. The school schedules are set for the convenience of employers.
I think my son’s earliest class in college is at 11.
I am in a profession where things don’t happen until I show up. If an event is to begin at noon, I will show up at 11:55. This used to make people very nervous, people who say, “if you aren’t early, you’re late.” I’ve never been fired. Of course, I also always show up.
Yes, punctuality is important in college. But as @MYOS1634 pointed out, there are many things beyond a high schooler’s control that could contribute to tardiness AND a certain inflexibility with rules. In the workplace, if you are running late due to a traffic jam, you can call ahead. In high school, you may have to use the restroom in the four minutes you have between classes and the teacher held you back for a minute to ask a question, leaving you with three minutes to relieve yourself, go to your locker, whatever. It doesn’t matter. The school will mark you as tardy.
Besides, I can’t think of a single college professor I had who was ever punctual. Come to think of it, my kids’ high school teachers were often AWOL for the first few minutes.
I’m glad colleges don’t look at tardiness in their decision making.
As are the schedules of businesses. Some post-school individuals come to realize that a little late. I’ve had to counsel some.
I know friends who didn’t schedule morning classes. It was not an option for me. My 0730 Calculus class nearly killed my grades (but I was never late). And all my instructors were on time.