<p>I'm writing this post because I really don't know what to do. I've been denied admission at all schools I applied to; at this point, I'm not sure what I can do for the next year until the next round of admissions, and I don't know if it would even be worth my time to try applying again.<br>
Stats:
-1560/1600 SAT, 2190/2400 SAT (Bombed writing, 630)
-33 ACT (24 on reading section no clue how, 35/36 on the others)
-GPA was a fixed 2.7(as in, set in place.) I was enrolled in a pilot program that let me test out of any classes I felt I was prepared enough to leave behind, and graduated in 4 months. Unfortunately, the GPA awarded for these classes wasn't based on test grades (I had straight A's,) but instead on the average grades students received within the district to which the program had belonged. I wasn't aware of this until graduation because my grade cards all had the straight A's I'd received but yeah, explanation for a 2.7.
-No EC, wasn't at the school long enough to participate.
-250-300ish hours volunteer work, mostly at the American Red Cross, and the local public library. Small amount done at a therapeutic animal park, where I cared for, and walked with horses that carried mentally handicapped children through a walking path.
-Will complete third quarter at an Ohio State University regional campus with a 4.0 for two quarters following handwriting disability recognition; before that one class was failed because a professor couldn't read my final essay exam. I'll be able to take the course again over the summer under "freshman forgiveness" and should have a 3.8-4.0 after.
-Schools denied to: Case Western Reserve, Emory University, Emory University Oxford Campus, Wake Forest University, Ohio State University (main campus, was supposed to be my safety). No waitlists, all denial. </p>
<p>Major Hangup: My high school LOST my transcript. I graduated early in December 2007, and was applying to colleges for the first time this year. The school was generally unhelpful, and the office of records refused to check for a hard copy of it, insisting that if it wasn't in the computers they didn't have it. I mailed an "unofficial" transcript, as well as a letter from the guidance office explaining the predicament, but I think this might have something to do with my lack of admissions. </p>
<p>So yeah; what can I really do over the next year, and beyond? I can't stay at my OSU regional campus; this is the last quarter I have to take courses that are relevant to my major, and after that I'd just be paying to take things like Intro to Photography. I don't know whether I'll be able to get in ANYWHERE really without the transcript, and I'm sure being a 20 year old applying for freshman (or sophomore) admission doesn't exactly help matters. What can I do?</p>
<p>Transcript: Contact the school board and the school district superintendent. If you attended a school in that district, they have a record. If your record is missing, other students’ records are missing as well. This. is. a. scandal. If the school district cannot/will not help you, your next step is to take the issue up with the state board of education. Be a total pest.</p>
<p>Ohio State: Meet with the transfer advisors at your current branch campus. Have them contact the admissions office at the main campus and ask why you weren’t accepted there. Find out what programs at your current campus have articulation agreements with other universities that would facilitate a transfer. Your best bet might be to complete an A.A. (if available) where you are, and then to transfer.</p>
<p>** Transcript: Contact the school board and the school district superintendent. If you attended a school in that district, they have a record. If your record is missing, other students’ records are missing as well. This. is. a. scandal. If the school district cannot/will not help you, your next step is to take the issue up with the state board of education. Be a total pest.**
-I’ve contacted the school superintendent; he told me there was nothing he could do, nothing anyone could do to make something materialize out of nothing. Apparently, they aren’t under a legal obligation to keep my records more than some set amount of time (a year?) after graduation. Also a fun note; my former HS is currently facing criminal charges for losing and falsifying records unrelated to student transcripts. Apparently the records office intentionally loses things all the time, including complaints of inappropriate behavior against instructors.<br> Ohio State: Meet with the transfer advisors at your current branch campus. Have them contact the admissions office at the main campus and ask why you weren’t accepted there. Find out what programs at your current campus have articulation agreements with other universities that would facilitate a transfer. Your best bet might be to complete an A.A. (if available) where you are, and then to transfer.
Unfortunately, I can’t complete an AA with my current major where I am now (I’d like to do premed with a research focus, I’m majoring in Biology currently, and was hoping to change to a double major in Microbiology/Evolutionary Biology or Anthropology after transferring. At my branch campus, the only 2 years that can be completed in their entirety on campus involve business majors; econ, business admin, etc. My biology credits wouldn’t count towards that major, and either way I’d prefer not to fill up on credits I won’t actually apply to my future intended major.<br>
I’ve spoken with the guidance counselor at my current campus and he was able to definitively tell me that yeah, you NEED a high school transcript or your application won’t even be considered for admission at main campus. They wait until they have all available information, and if they don’t receive it by the decision deadline, the application in question is denied.</p>
<p>How much time and money would it take for you to pass the GED exam? Go back to your advisor and ask him/her to ask the main campus if a GED plus the classes you’ve taken will get you in.</p>
<p>I have a high school diploma, and I’m formally graduated, so I’m not eligible for a GED. They have a record I graduated, they just don’t have records of what I did while I was there.</p>
<p>Have you tried the State Department of Education? Someone there should be able to take this on. Or, do you have a friend in the press? Amazingly documents sometimes appear when reporters get involved.</p>
<p>** What records does the pilot program have regarding your grades?
I really can’t understand the GPA issue. **</p>
<p>The pilot program would just be able to say “yeah he had the same 2.7 as everyone else.” That’s more or less what the GC said when he wrote a letter to the schools I applied to.</p>
<p>The program the pilot program used was called “Plato Learning Networks.” Basically, you had a number of online resources you could use to learn material, and when you felt ready, you could be tested upon it. Anything 80% or higher was a “pass,” and anything below was a “fail.” Because the program was setup as pass/fail, the administration felt it would be unfair to award A’s for completed work, regardless of the grade earned on the examination. Each class had 15-20 tests, and I had to take the paper “final exam” that students would be taking for the equivalent course offered through regular enrollment. </p>
<p>A lawyer I spoke to (a friend of my mother) informed me that after a certain amount of time, HS is no longer required to keep copies of students records, and that the time I had been graduated was beyond that amount of time.</p>
<p>“A lawyer I spoke to (a friend of my mother) informed me that after a certain amount of time, HS is no longer required to keep copies of students records, and that the time I had been graduated was beyond that amount of time.”</p>
<p>Education law varies by state, but it is very difficult for me to believe that your school district allowed to let students’ records vanish only a year after they graduate. I do know that accredited colleges and universities have to retain records in perpetuity. When one of them closes, the academic records are transferred to another organization that becomes responsible for producing academic transcripts. You need to speak with a lawyer expert in education law in your state.</p>
<p>You are facing two issues:</p>
<p>1) Missing records
2) Continuing your education</p>
<p>These require two different, and possibly completely unrelated solutions:</p>
<p>1) You need written documentation of everything you have attempted so far in your pursuit of a transcript. Where are the letters from the HS guidance officer, HS principal, School Superintendent, and President of the School Board that state clearly that your records have completely vanished? Where is the letter from the State Department of Education that states clearly that every effort has been made to recover your records? Where is the letter from the State Department of Education stating that any disciplinary action against the school district that is called for in this case has been taken? Where are the letters from each of your individual teachers stating the grades you earned in their classes? Responsible teachers do indeed keep such records. I myself have been asked for them, and I myself have faxed grade records to interested parties years after a class was completed.</p>
<p>2) Your current branch campus doesn’t offer the major you are interested in. Some other branch campus or community college in your state does. Find that campus. Get your advisor’s help in transferring to that campus. Pursue a course of studies that has an articulation agreement with a 4 year college or university for that major field. Transfer to the 4 year institution when you have enough credits so that it doesn’t matter that your HS transcript has gone missing. And, by then you may have enough of a paper trail so that even though the transcript is missing, the admissions office is more forgiving than OSU was this year.</p>
<p>I just have to say that your hs is seriously screwing you. Most colleges absolutely need that transcript. Your best bet is to hound the school constantly. This is your future that they’re messing around with.</p>
<p>Hjwuan:
Between January and the middle of March, I went into the records office more than half a dozen times. The last time, the lady on staff had security escort me out because she was sick of seeing me coming in.<br>
After that, I spoke to the principal, the superintendent, and one of the members of the school board. I also spoke to guidance, but I’d been in contact with them before the incident. The general response was “if it’s gone we can’t get it.” The guidance office basically vouched that I would have had that gpa, and that I was an exemplary student in my time there but yeah, no transcript.</p>
<p>At this point I really don’t think that finding my transcript is a reasonable possibility. I’m really wondering what I can do over the next year that will make it possible to go to a good school in 2010…and what kind of schools I would be able to get into in 2010 : .</p>
<p>I am sorry but I seriously don’t understand. WHY DONT U TAKE LEGAL ACTION?</p>
<p>like seriously. If this happened to me, I swear I wouldn’t leave that school alone.
It’s only been two years since u graduated…in my school jsut the other day I saw someone in their late 40’s pick up a transcript from their high school years here. …</p>
<p>That’s ridiculous. seriously, u gotta protest, threaten or whatever the heck u gotta do to get this straigthened out. The above posters are absolutely correct: this is your future, DO SOMETHING ASAP and fix it. We live in America…anything is possible.</p>
<p>**
like seriously. If this happened to me, I swear I wouldn’t leave that school alone.
It’s only been two years since u graduated…in my school jsut the other day I saw someone in their late 40’s pick up a transcript from their high school years here. …
**</p>
<p>They MAY keep transcripts that long, but they aren’t obligated to by law. I gave a bit of a watered down version as well…there are some other confounding factors, but what I listed basically gives the facts of the matter. To get into the further problems a little, the pilot program in which I participated has since closed down, and my records stored at their independent facility were SUPPOSED to be consolidated with the records of the school hosting said program. I received my degree through the school in question, but yeah, it’s a little bit more complicated than just “oops can’t be found.”</p>
<p>I know this thread is old and forgotten, but I figured I’d post an update.
With the support of two professors I had at my regional campus, I was able to appeal my admission decision, and should be able to transfer to OSU-Main Campus, starting summer quarter. Hopefully, I’ll be able to maintain my gpa and transfer after a year. I’d always considered OSU a backup, as I’m not all that interested in 200+ seat classrooms. I think (hope) that some schools won’t require the transcript if I try to transfer as a Junior.</p>
<p>Two secrets to surviving those 200+ seat lecture classes are go to every single one of the small study sections that are offered (many students don’t bother to do that), and stay ahead in the reading. Making good use of the professor’s office hours is smart too.</p>