Final Transcripts and the Fine Print

Admit It!  You’ve been a bit busy lately.  There are these little things like prom, finals, AP/IB exams, graduating, planning your summer that have been on your mind.  No worries.  But before your brain totally checks out for the next few months, there’s one more little piece of college application business; sending your final transcript.

All enrolling students need to send us an official copy of their final transcript.  If you didn’t read the fine print in your admission package, it said that your offer of admission was contingent upon completion of all courses in progress and maintaining the high standards of academic and personal conduct you presented in your application.  Now this fine print is not out to get you; neither are we.  But it is our job to ensure that you’re doing all you can to put yourself in the best position to transition to college in the fall.  Therefore, we review all final transcripts to ensure that students have in fact maintained the standards they presented when they applied.

Now there’s no hard and fast rule about how we respond to those that haven’t maintained those standards, but if we see a significant downturn in academic performance (generally defined as multiple Cs or any D or F) or if there were any personal conduct violations, a dean will be in touch to learn more about what occurred and why.  Based on the response, we go a number of different directions.  What’s important is a) BE SURE THAT YOU’VE ASKED YOUR SCHOOL TO SEND A FINAL TRANSCRIPT ONCE IT’S AVAIALBLE, b) if you did have any kind of decreased academic or personal performance, reflect on why it occurred, how it occurred, and how you can prevent it from happening again in the future and c) don’t freak out about this, it’s all part of the growth and maturation process.

Enjoy your final days of high school and your summer.  College will be here before you know it!

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