<p>Hi, I was wondering if a few unexcused absences could hurt an admitted student by drawing the attention of Caltech and giving him/her a warning or even rescind his/her acceptance?</p>
<p>I just got two for not submitting a trip form before I missed two days of school...students are supposed to hand in trip forms before any trips lasting more than one school day; I was unaware of that. I had my parents note and everything...should I explain the unexcused absences as a miscommunication instead of an intended violation when I send my final transcript?
Thank you!</p>
<p>I hope not. I'm on threat of No Credit for not turning in admits to my teachers...even though the school computer has my complete file stating I was excused...hopefully something that can be quickly cleared up...</p>
<p>Oh damn, so it's tight if I somehow can't graduate on time and have to wait until August to do so due to No Credit for unexcused absences right?</p>
<p>Not saying I will, but just in case wanted to make sure...</p>
<p>I'd disagree... if there's been an honest mistake and you end up needing to finish up over the summer, I bet Caltech would understand. Probably a bit less stress if it doesn't happen that way, but don't freak out.</p>
<p>(...Then again, I might just be in a blissful bubble-world, as I "decided" to graduate from high school after all just before sending in college apps, and then did nothing to make this happen until the week of graduation. At which point I let the English department head know I hadn't taken four years of English, and she had me write a two-page paper on Hamlet. If you have a decent relationship with the administration--even with one person in it--threatening the dropout rate can be a better negotiation strategy than you think makes any sense.)</p>
<p>flierdeke,
you got off easier than my S. He took an on-line English IV class over summer, and then a Lit class at Caltech, in order to get HS degree. Caltech didn't care.</p>
<p>Kami--Sounds like you need to meet with HS advisers ASAP. You don't need this stress</p>
<p>Due to a bizarre twist of fate, I still have yet to (and will never) gradute from HS. True story. (Freaked out everyone in the class below me when I then remained in the computer system for their year and they were all bumped down one class ranking. Heh.)
Caltech may ask for a final transcript, but if that doesn't show whether or not you graduated I doubt they'll ever find out or care that you didn't graduate. But I agree with flierdeke regarding talking with someone in power and getting them to fix things up for you.
Worse case, I think, is that you have to call up the admissions office and spend an hour explaining things.</p>
<p>A high school dimploma is not required for most colleges. Homeschooled students often do not have one, and it is not a problem. Of course, not having one, and failing to earn one are two different things. </p>
<p>I hope that Caltech can see through the overly officious adminstrators at any high school who would not grant a diploma to someone who did not fill out the correct paperwork.</p>
<p>OMG...I applied as a junior and my high school is not giving me a diploma at all...I just assumed I'm OK cuz I saw on the website that Caltech doesn't need one. If not graduating is a big problem, then it is bad...</p>
<p>but based on my very personal experience, it is true that quite some colleges do not require a diploma. Hopefully another parent is right in that Caltech doesn't care.</p>
<p>I'd just like to clarify that I said it "might be" a problem--not that Caltech requires a diploma or anything like that. It's certainly something to call admissions about. In general, Caltech seems to be pretty good about things like this, but I would not assume that everything will be OK without explaining the situation to Admissions.</p>