<p>D wanted to apply early to a few safeties with rolling admissions to get an early acceptance and take some of the pressure off. Then we found out that her hs does not even provide transcripts until November! Not only can she not get in early applications, if the school won't send transcripts, she can't even apply EA.</p>
<p>This is unfair. She's worked hard all through high schools, and now because of idiot bureaucrats, she could get shut out of EA (and the advantages with admissions and scholarships that can bring). </p>
<p>I was told that the topic came up before, and it doesn't matter because "the [in-state] colleges" know this district sends transcripts later! Granted, this is a small town that sends most top graduates to State Flagship U, but there are some kids who do apply to privates and OOS - and their deadline is their deadline. What happens when an application is complete for EA, but no high school transcripts? Is it automatically deferred to RD? </p>
<p>Any advice on how to handle this when the guidance counselors come back for fall? I don't want to antagonize her counselor, who will have to write her a recommendation. Would it be a good idea to go straight to the head counselor? Or to the school district, since the guidance secretary said the transcripts come from "downtown" and the school cannot provide them before then? Or complain to the school board?</p>
<p>Talk to the principal…if that doesn’t get you someplace…go to the Board of Education. If that doesn’t work, talk to someone in your town government.</p>
<p>Students should be able to apply EA, ED or rolling admissions if that is their choice AND the school should be sending the materials out to meet those deadlines.</p>
<p>Thanks. I’ll try calling the principal first and see what happens. Unfortunately, our town government is incompetent and corrupt so hopefully the principal will do something, but if it’s a district policy, that’s a problem. </p>
<p>I really don’t want the school’s incompetence to prevent kids from applying EA and rolling admissions. Now I wonder if other schools have this problem.</p>
<p>I guess I would call the head G counselor and ask if an exception can be made. If you are not satisfied with the answer, then I would call the school district (supported by your tax dollars) and ask them what there policy is. If that doesn’t work then call the Board of Education (supported by your vote). I suppose they are trying to avoid having to send out the application packet and THEN send out midterm grades, but this is just not right! </p>
<p>I was at my son’s school today dropping off 3 early requests for college application packets. The woman at the front desk just kind of stared at me and then said. “I hope there aren’t anymore because typically these are all done at once and usually not until later in the fall.” So does that mean you will do them or not…you’d think I was asking her to rearrange the sun and the moon! The words “typically” and “usually” are alway red flags to me. </p>
<p>This is your daughter’s future they are messing with!</p>
<p>Escalate as high as you need to. And be advised you/she need to review a copy for potential errors prior to it being send “officially”, especially if you know of bad info that was supposed to have been fixed.</p>
<p>If you can’t get an official transcript out by the November 1 EA deadline, I’d have the application itself be there by the deadline. Colleges are more flexible deadline-wise for parts of an application that don’t come from the applicant.</p>
<p>I would also have an unofficial transcript attached to the GC’s Secondary School Report that could be affirmed by the GC and/or the principal and have the GC write a note explaining that transcripts won’t be available till sometime in November, after the EA deadline. I think that could get the application read, with any final positive result contingent on making sure the official transcript matches the unofficial one. EA results usually don’t come out until mid-December so there is time for the transcript to catch up to the application.</p>
<p>Also, I’d talk SOON to someone higher up in the Admissions Office at the EA colleges (that is, talk to an admissions officer, not clerical personnel) and ask what you can do about this problem. As long as they have an unofficial transcript with grades that is vouched for by a responsible school official, they may be willing to wait for the official transcript. Having an application with grades, even if the grades are not part of an official transcript, to look at is a whole kettle of fish different from an application with no grades at all. </p>
<p>I’m not convinced that she is “shut out” from EA consideration. As hard as it is to move bureaucracies, I’d see if the EA schools are more flexible. But get in contact with them early on in the process. Also, the GCs may have already had this problem before and figured out a way to get around the bureaucracy. I’d see what the head GC and your own GC’s experience is with these kinds of matters first.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone. I’m still stunned by the fact that this school apparently doesn’t care about kids who want to apply early in the cycle. </p>
<p>Kajon - it sounds like your son’s school is something like my daughter’s, in that they seem to want to do the least possible amount of work, treating the whole process like it’s an assembly line. Our tax dollars at work…</p>
<p>Violadad, yes, I will escalate to the principal, head GC at the school, head GC of the city, school board… I’m thinking not only of my daughter, but of all the other kids in this district who could be harmed by their laziness.</p>
<p>Ellemenope, that is great advice - thank you so much! I’ll call Admissions at her EA schools to see if they will take an unofficial transcript attached to the GC’s report. The school will provide printouts of grades, but that doesn’t even include the school’s name. Still if the counselor could sign it and provide some sort of official stamp along with an explanation that the district will not provide official transcripts until after the deadline, that could work! I just don’t want her to lose out on the EA cycle because of bureaucratic idiocy. Hopefully the colleges will understand that it’s not the kid’s fault and not hold the lack of an official transcript against her.</p>
<p>Sometimes those small schools are just in a habit of doing things the way they have ‘always’ been done.</p>
<p>Great idea above about mailing in an unofficial transcript. Talk to the college to which she is applying and ask if they will accept it.</p>
<p>On of my DDs attended 2 HSs, the 1st with much har, der grading than the 2nd, her marks which put her in the top 20 at the 1st school put her in the bottom 50% at the 2nd school. We spoke to the admissions dept at her university of choice and they agreed to qualify her for her merit scholarship based on SAT along rather than class rank. They completely worked with us in addressing unusual circumstances, your rolling admit school may do the same for you.</p>
<p>Then at your HS, understand that they people you have been dealing with live and work inside the box, you are asking them to both go outside the box and to actually think and to understand why you want to do something unusual Sometimes you run into a power player who resents this, sometimes you just run into some one who does not have the energy to think outside the box. Can you nicely ask for an exception and explain what would need to be done? Sometimes people in the box will do what you request if you show them (without implied criticism) how to do it.</p>
<p>This is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard!
I would go straight to the superintendant of the district.
At the same time, I would demand they process her application before November 1.
I would not take “no” as an answer. I would be come their worst nightmare!!</p>
<p>I know I sound rather harsh, but this is your child’s future.</p>
<p>I agree most with the posters who recommend that if you can’t get this fixed by using some moral persuasion on them, at minimum secure an agreement that this HS from the stone age will be writing something official looking to the EA school explaining why the official transcript is not yet provided, and when it will be.</p>
<p>Next, if you don’t have any others kids coming through this bureacracy from hell, I’d blast them publically in a letter to the editor, a presentation to the school board, whatever it takes. Just because they are the gatekeeprs of the official records, this gives them no right to mess with your kids ability to apply where she wants, putting the best step forward (meaning that she doesn’t look like an outlier due to the unresponsiveness of the school.)</p>
<p>Someone like the GC probably knows the person who handles the transcripts at the district office. Treat GC kindly and she might be able to call in a favor. Do NOT go ballistic, especially at the GC level. People may be used to working in a box, but the survivors also know how to get what they want done within the box.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>In MY particular corrupt, incompetent town, this is the kind of problem a state legislator’s district office would do a good job helping with. Of course, we’re sending the one who was best at it to jail in a week; HE would have had the school superintendant deliver your transcript crawling on hands and knees. But all of them have relatives on their staffs whose job it is to hound local bureaucrats into doing something they would have done anyway a little faster. </p></li>
<li><p>What would have happened if your kid had switched schools or something? Surely they would have produced a transcript before November. If you go to the district office today, request a transcript, and pay the fee, don’t they just issue the thing? Why not try?</p></li>
<li><p>Maybe you have an unofficial transcript lying around, or you can get only one copy of an official one as above. Maybe the deal you propose to the GC is he sends an uncertified copy of THAT with his recommendation, says what the district policy is, and promises they will get it as soon as possible. Your kid also alerts the college adcoms to the problem. I bet they are willing to go forward with the unofficial transcript, subject to confirmation by the official one.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>If you can’t get unofficial transcripts for some reason, I’d type up my own along with photocopies of your child’s report cards. But of course this is ridiculous and you should work your way up the hierarchy as nicely as possible including the idea of getting a local politician or the media on your side if necessary.</p>
<p>Under FERPA don’t students (parents) have the right to their educational record? Some district even has explicit deadline when it is suppose to be provided after a written notice. I googled it and one district actually said 45 days, but you would be charged with copying fee.</p>
<p>This school is definitely one that has “always” done everything the same way. And they are no help with the college admissions process - no one ever says anything about ED/EA, SAT subject tests, taking both the ACT and SAT. They don’t even have a college night for parents of juniors and seniors. </p>
<p>It says something about the district that the in-state schools know this town sends its transcripts late. I don’t know why they can’t get their act together.</p>
<p>Yes, I will try the “catch more flies with honey than vinegar” approach to get the GC to send something to D’s EA schools. If an unofficial transcript has GC’s signature and some sort of school stamp, hopefully the EA schools will accept that. Adcoms should understand that it’s not the kid’s fault - her cc transcripts will be there.</p>
<p>When D’s applications are sent, if not before, I’ll write that letter to the editor, go to the school board, the state legislator, and annoy these idiotic bureaucrats until they are forced to do their jobs. I feel sorry for all the other kids who have to contend with this, won’t know what to do, and might give up on EA/ED as a result. College applications are stressful enough without having to cope with incompetent high school administrators.</p>
<p>Our school actually has seen a huge growth in the number of students either apply EA/ED/rolling…or just wanting to get the application process over early in the senior year. The GCs and the registrar (the one who sends the transcripts out at our school) are actually HAPPY to be able to spread some of this clerical work out over more months. </p>
<p>I boldly suggested to them that they make a file for each senior who indicates they are applying to college and when that student requests the FIRST transcript…to make several copies to place in that file for future use. </p>
<p>I had to LEAN on our high school with BOTH of my kids to send the final transcript in June. They weren’t going to send them until JULY and both schools clearly stated that the deadline was June 30. So…I went to the school with addressed/stamped envelopes and took a seat in the office…and politely said I wasn’t leaving UNTIL I had the transcripts IN the envelopes to mail. It was amazing how quickly they were able to get to the copying machine…print the transcript…and stamp it with the school seal.</p>
<p>Our school also took its time sending transcripts. Many districts are slow, and yes, colleges know this. They know what is the students responsibility, and what is the school’s. The application deadline is for the application, not for the stuff from the school. </p>
<p>Your daughter should get her own stuff together, and include a copy of the form she filled out to request her transcript, so they know she has done her part.</p>
<p>At our school, a student with pre-addressed envelopes and a very polite explanation of why she needs the transcript sent by a particular date would get a much better response than a mom would.</p>
<p>Going to Guidance with pre-addressed, stamped evelopes is a good idea. There’s no reason, other than sheer laziness and incompetence, why the office could not print out a record of her grades. They say the transcript has more, including test scores and extracurriculars, but the colleges should take a grade report with some kind of official stamp on it. </p>
<p>Good idea too about sending a copy of the transcript request. It’s going to be very difficult getting this bureaucracy to move.</p>
<p>At the school I’ll get my daughter to ask - you’re right that she could get better results from the guidance office than I could. This school is definitely not very parent-friendly. Teachers have been known to retaliate against students whose parents contact the principal.</p>
<p>I do think the problem needs to be addressed at the district level. There’s no excuse for this school system not doing what our tax dollars pay for.</p>