Question About College Admission: GPA and Multiple High Schools

[Christine]

My DD is a senior and we are planning college applications. She has spent grades 10-12 in a private school and attended a public high school for 9th grade. When she transferred from public to private, the private school requested her transcripts and "took over" her record at that point.

Now I am being told by the guidance counselor that when they send in her high school transcript to the various colleges, there will be two transcripts, not one and they won't be averaged together. It will be up to the college to recalculate her GPA based on the two transcripts.

I find this odd and confusing. Not a darn thing I can do about it but it concerns me. Her GPA is not so great and the public school transcript will raise it overall. But now the college will see both separately. Is this weird?

 

[allison443]

My dd is also a senior so going through the whole application thing too
I think what the guidance counselor is saying makes sense. The transcript is basically a list of courses and their grades...so they would have to show two separate transcripts for your daughter. They couldn't just add her freshman courses from school A to the current transcript for school B-she didn't take them at school B. Not that your dd did this, but for example, if someone attended a very easy high school and got straight As for two years, then transferred to a difficult school bringing those As to be added to their GPA. KWIM?

A question I have, is that I know the schools are supposed to send a "school profile" with their transcript. It shows info about the high school, whether higher level courses are offered, etc. Does your current school have a school profile for the first school they can send? It seems like the colleges might want that.

I think the colleges are used to seeing this situation and it isn't that uncommon.

Good luck to your dd! And to you as you go through this!!

 

[Pin Wizard]

Based on when I worked in Admissions at a school years ago, they'll most likely request transcripts from both schools directly. I wouldn't take a current high school's record of a previous school someone attended. They should be looking for official seals on records from both high schools.

 

[Christine]

You see, I'm just confused. And I'm basing this on my college experience.

For a few semesters, I went to College A. I then transferred to College B. College B did a review of my College A courses and grades and then "accepted" those courses as their own. Now, when I need to send a college transcript somewhere, I can just use the entire transcript from College B and I no longer need to go to College A for any info although I could.

When my daughter left public school and went into private, they got her transcript. They reviewed it, determined what they would "accept" and based her 10th grade schedule on this. For instance, she took Biology in 9th grade (public school) but the private school didn't do Biology in 9th grade, they did it in 10th grade. So in 10th grade, my DD had to take the 9th grade science (Earth) since she had already done the Biology. They also made her repeat Spanish 2 again (even though she had a B from Public School Spanish 2) because she couldn't test into the private school's Spanish 3. She took Spanish 2 again but got no grade for it. So, I guess I was thinking that they "accepted" those courses in some fashion and they would be part of the overall GPA.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Christine my dd did 9,10,11 in Texas and her Sr year here in Missouri.

So since we were out of state her grades were totally RECALCULATED to MO state standards.

So we had to find a school that had matching AP classes. It was crazy.

Anyway, it worked to her favor and she has been accepted to our alma mater state school.

Good luck to your dd!!!

 

[johnsontrio]

Don't know much about this but I have been told that the transcripts from the private schools are weighted according to the school in order to compare the GPAs with students from the public school system. The college prep school my DD attends only offers 6 AP classes total that can be taken in Jr and Sr year. There are Honors classes but they do not have a different scale, maximum grade is 4.0.

I know a student from University of Detroit Jesuit High School that had a 3.6 and was accepted this past fall at U of M, which is difficult to get in. His friend from the local public school had a 4.2 and did not get in. There were also differences in extra-curricular activities.

Ask the counselors if this is done by the Universities in your state. I'm not looking forward to the process, it seems overwhelming and very confusing. My sister sent me a link to an on-line College Fair but I wouldn't even know where to start. DD doesn't know or even have an idea what she wants to study or where she wants to go. Good luck.

 

[RitaE]

I believe separate transcripts is the standard, directly from each school sealed in a school stationary envelope with the school seal.

For a few semesters, I went to College A. I then transferred to College B. College B did a review of my College A courses and grades and then "accepted" those courses as their own. Now, when I need to send a college transcript somewhere, I can just use the entire transcript from College B and I no longer need to go to College A for any info although I could.

Totally opposite from my experience. I attended Arizona State and the Univ of Colorado. When I applied to Grad Schools I had to request transcripts from each school. My CU transcripts do not show my ASU classes, although the ASU classes did apply to my graduation requirements.

 

[Pin Wizard]

You see, I'm just confused. And I'm basing this on my college experience.

For a few semesters, I went to College A. I then transferred to College B. College B did a review of my College A courses and grades and then "accepted" those courses as their own. Now, when I need to send a college transcript somewhere, I can just use the entire transcript from College B and I no longer need to go to College A for any info although I could.

When my daughter left public school and went into private, they got her transcript. They reviewed it, determined what they would "accept" and based her 10th grade schedule on this. For instance, she took Biology in 9th grade (public school) but the private school didn't do Biology in 9th grade, they did it in 10th grade. So in 10th grade, my DD had to take the 9th grade science (Earth) since she had already done the Biology. They also made her repeat Spanish 2 again (even though she had a B from Public School Spanish 2) because she couldn't test into the private school's Spanish 3. She took Spanish 2 again but got no grade for it. So, I guess I was thinking that they "accepted" those courses in some fashion and they would be part of the overall GPA.

That's great that all your grades were accepted when you transferred. My sister and I had both gone to the same 2-year school way back when we lived in NJ. When she decided to go back to school and continue on while in VA, she lucked out, and they accepted all her credits from the NJ school. But when I went back to school at a college in FL, there were some NJ courses/grades they would not accept! Bummer! It all had to do with different accreditation standards in different states.

Things may have changed over the past several years, but I would think they would want an "official transcript" from each school. Could be wrong though. DS is only in his sophomore year of high school, so I haven't been through this process yet.

Good luck!!

 

[Christine]

This was the information I got from the guidance counselor:

Yes, we will send all of her transcripts from 9th grade public school. Her ‘B’ in summer school chemistry from the public school is on our transcript and it has been factored into the GPA already.

We do not average the two schools’ transcripts. The colleges may or may not do that; it will depend upon whether they regularly recalculate GPA. However, that freshman transcript will be there, and will certainly help her application.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

We do not average the two schools’ transcripts. The colleges may or may not do that; it will depend upon whether they regularly recalculate GPA. However, that freshman transcript will be there, and will certainly help her application.

Then how in the heck do you get your class rank?

 

[Pin Wizard]

You could always contact the college's Admissions office and ask. Probably better to be pro-active on it than have them receive one transcript and then they contact you asking for a transcript from the second high school.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

You could always contact the college's Admissions office and ask. Probably better to be pro-active on it than have them receive one transcript and then they contact you asking for a transcript from the second high school.

Oh yea!!!! My DH was on a first name basis with the admissions officer.

She moved my dd to the "top of pile" for consideration. We were pushing it because my dd is graduating early without taking English this year, due to the move. She had to take requirement classes for the state of MO.

So we were prepared for her to go to Community College if that was needed to make up the English credit.

Anyway all is well and my dd does not have to go to CC. She is going to WORK and make all the money she can before she leaves. Plus she really needs this experience.

 

[Pin Wizard]

It doesn't hurt to get to know your Admissions people.

 

[johnsontrio]

Then how in the heck do you get your class rank?

No class rankings provided at DD's school. Don't know if that is common or not.

 

[agnes!]

Christine -

Just be glad your DD didn't go to Fairfax County schools and then elsewhere or vice versa. Their grading system is ENTIRELY off of every other county in the state. An A is *only* 94 and above, when I think everybody else in the state takes an at A 92 and above.

agnes!

 

[stitchineeyore]

First off, how good is the college counselor/counselors at her school? My son & daughter went to two different private schools - she got great support and advice in the college application process. His was not so great. Some good thoughts I picked up along the way - grades and a well-written application essay are important, but just as important is a college that is a good fit for your student. Would she thrive in a large university where students are in large part in lecture halls, or would she be better suited to a small college with 20 or less in an average class? Is she going to cope well being far from home, or would she be happier easing into things by being able to come home weekends? Then there's money. What sort of financial aid is offered by the individual schools you are looking at? how are you planning to finance her education? if she must have academic scholarships in order to be able to go, that is a huge factor. Is your college counselor answering any or all of these questions? You are entitled to guidance-that is their job. Good luck! You will all survive this process!

 

[disneyjunkie]

When my daughter left public school and went into private, they got her transcript. They reviewed it, determined what they would "accept" and based her 10th grade schedule on this. For instance, she took Biology in 9th grade (public school) but the private school didn't do Biology in 9th grade, they did it in 10th grade. So in 10th grade, my DD had to take the 9th grade science (Earth) since she had already done the Biology. They also made her repeat Spanish 2 again (even though she had a B from Public School Spanish 2) because she couldn't test into the private school's Spanish 3. She took Spanish 2 again but got no grade for it. So, I guess I was thinking that they "accepted" those courses in some fashion and they would be part of the overall GPA.

My son is in the same boat as your daughter. He attended a public school for 9th grade and a Catholic high school 10-12. When I saw his transcript last month, it included grades from both schools.

The page was divided into 4 sections. Each section shows the courses taken for that year and the overall average. On the very bottom they have the cumulative average and class rank.

I assume the school will be sending this out to the colleges. This is the way it was done when I was applying to college many moons ago.

 

[loco4dis]

Most colleges "re-weight" GPA's anyway, by removing all "fluff" classes and re-calculating the GPA only on the core academic courses. They'll know what they're doing.

 

[RitaZ.]

You see, I'm just confused. And I'm basing this on my college experience.

For a few semesters, I went to College A. I then transferred to College B. College B did a review of my College A courses and grades and then "accepted" those courses as their own. Now, when I need to send a college transcript somewhere, I can just use the entire transcript from College B and I no longer need to go to College A for any info although I could.

That's unusual. I have done it before and had to do it again over the summer... I had to request official transcripts from every institution I've ever attended. From my experience, this is the norm.

 

[chartle]

I think they only look at the first schools transcript to see if the classes meet the requirements for graduation but don't include them in the GPA.

At my son's school they have to take a math, an english, a social studies and a science every year.

My son between 10th and 11th grade took first term college calculus at the local Community College and then second term calculus at the Univ. of Pittsburgh (aced them both ).

The high school counts them as the math requirement but doesn't include them in his GPA which would have moved him way up in class rank. Which he would have needed if he was going to try to get into CMU or MIT, but he was always planning to go to PIT(wife works there, free tuition ) so in didn't matter in the long run.

The reason why college credits can transfer easier is that as long as the colleges are accredited by some accreditation organization they can accept the credits as their own.

Its similar to the AP classes my sons' take, they have to follow a very rigid curriculum in order for the credits to count for college.