Paws to Paper

Have you met the registrar at your school? At my school, the registrar is the person who sends transcripts to colleges. Transcripts – you know, those records of grades you’ve earned in high school. (GULP…I wish I had put forth more effort! But, I am going to make sure I work as hard as I can this year and finish up with a good record.)

At many schools, you have to complete a form to request your transcript. This is because your school needs your permission to release information about you to colleges.

If you haven’t seen your transcript, the time to do so is NOW! Did you know you can request an unofficial copy of your transcript? It’s a good idea to do that. Doing this allows you to see exactly what admissions offices see when they receive your transcript.

Does your high school put standardized test scores on your transcript? Mine doesn’t, by the way. Many colleges require that applicants send official test score reports from the testing agencies (www.act.org or www.collegeboard.org).

So even if your high school includes test scores on your transcript, it’s important to see if the colleges you are applying to require official test score reports from ACT and/or SAT. Some colleges leave it up to the applicant to send his or her best scores. Some schools have gone over-the-top in requiring applicants to send ALL scores. The important thing to remember is to follow the test reporting policy on the colleges’ websites.

Taking the tests a bazillion times probably isn’t a good idea. The key is to take hard classes, do your work, prepare for the tests – actually use information on the ACT and SAT websites about preparing for the tests. While you can buy test prep materials from these sites, they give great test prep information away FREE! I could just howl!

Some colleges “superscore” tests. This means that they take your best subsections from different tests. ACT thinks this is a bad idea. You just need to know how the colleges you are considering view superscoring.

Some high schools also put attendance and tardy records on transcripts. The only way you will know for sure about your school is to get a copy of that transcript. If you were tardy three times a week as a sophomore – you know, when your older brother was driving you to school and he would never get up on time – you won’t know that you need to explain that unless you know it is there!

Go meet the person at your school responsible for sending transcripts. Know what the time frame is for sending these. It may take one day or it may take two weeks to get your transcripts sent. Allow plenty of time for processing your requests and remember to sign the papers!

L8R,

Clyde