C’mon Man! — Transcript Edition

I’ll Admit It!  I am a big NFL fan.  So when I can marry my passion for the NFL and my passion for admission, I arrive in blog wedded bliss.  If any of my readers are also NFL fans, you likely watch “Monday Night Countdown” on ESPN.  (If you don’t, C’mon Man!  Chris Berman is a commentating genius.)  And “C’mon Man!” is exactly where my summer blog series is headed.  Those of you who are fans of “Monday Night Countdown” are likely very familiar with the “C’mon Man!” phrase.  For those of you who aren’t, it’s a segment of the show which reviews the past week’s blunders.  It’s the equivalent to Home Simpson’s “D’oh,” to the ‘80s “Duh” (man I’m dating myself a bit) or to hitting yourself in the forehead with the palm of your hand.

So this blog series is designed to introduce you to some of the “C’mon Mans” made by applicants.  Now a brief disclaimer: the light-hearted and somewhat satirical tone of these blogs is not meant to disparage the young men and women who may have submitted applications with similar follies.  It is merely a heads up to those in the high school class of 2013.  I hope these blogs will highlight some applicant pitfalls to avoid in the coming months.

So let’s start with the transcript.  Not very many “C’mon Mans” to cite where this is concerned but here they are.

1. Not reporting your class rank when you’re valedictorian or salutatorian…C’mon Man!

• There are some schools where students can choose to report their class rank or leave it unreported.  If your class rank is high, REPORT IT.  Being at the top of your class is not going to hurt you in a selective admission process.

2. Tanking during your senior year

• We’ve provided plenty of blogs on this topic.  C’mon Man.  ‘Nuff said.

3. Schools that use strange symbols on their transcript but don’t provide a legend or key…C’mon Man!  We’re not mind readers.

• Believe it or not, all transcripts are not created equal and some are awfully hard to decipher.  That being said students need not worry.  When possible, we will call your high school to get clarification, and we will never hold the format of a transcript against the applicant

4. Regressing in course rigor (going from AP Statistics one year to regular statistics the next year).  C’mon Man…what’s up with that?

• If there’s something strange or unusual about your course selection (maybe there were scheduling issues or a change in what your high school offered or some strange prerequisites), please bring them to our attention either through the “Additional Information” section of the Common App or through your counselor’s letter of recommendation.

No doubt if Coach Ditka, Chris Berman, Keyshawn Johnson, Tom Jackson and Stuart Scott knew as much about college admission as they do football, they would have a collective “C’mon Man” to add to ours.

Wendy Livingston ’03, M.Ed. ‘09
Senior Assistant Dean of Admission