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What do colleges look for in your college transcripts?
I’m in 11th grade and starting to apply to colleges.
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4 answers
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Anahi’s Answer
Colleges typically review your college transcripts to gain insight into your academic performance and evaluate your suitability for admission. Here are some key aspects that colleges often consider when assessing college transcripts:
1. Grades and GPA: Colleges examine your overall grade point average (GPA) as well as the grades you earned in specific courses. Strong academic performance, especially in relevant subjects or courses related to your intended major, is generally preferred.
2. Course rigor: Admissions officers evaluate the difficulty level of the courses you took during high school and college. They often look for evidence of challenging coursework, such as honors, Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), or college-level classes.
3. Major-specific requirements: For certain majors or programs, colleges may specifically look for strong performance in relevant subjects. They want to ensure that you have the foundational knowledge and skills necessary for success in your chosen field.
4. Progression and improvement
5. Consistency and balance
They also review other aspects, such as standardized test scores, essays, recommendation letters, extracurricular activities, and personal achievements.
1. Grades and GPA: Colleges examine your overall grade point average (GPA) as well as the grades you earned in specific courses. Strong academic performance, especially in relevant subjects or courses related to your intended major, is generally preferred.
2. Course rigor: Admissions officers evaluate the difficulty level of the courses you took during high school and college. They often look for evidence of challenging coursework, such as honors, Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), or college-level classes.
3. Major-specific requirements: For certain majors or programs, colleges may specifically look for strong performance in relevant subjects. They want to ensure that you have the foundational knowledge and skills necessary for success in your chosen field.
4. Progression and improvement
5. Consistency and balance
They also review other aspects, such as standardized test scores, essays, recommendation letters, extracurricular activities, and personal achievements.
Updated
Murph,’s Answer
The simple answer is your grades, but they also look at patterns. Are most of your courses in sciences and math, history and English or political science and the arts. These patterns help colleges determine your best fit and your likely path for success. Especially if you come in as an undecided major. Your transcripts also tell a story of a steady pattern of academic success or rises and falls. If you start shaky but end strong, that generally is a good sign, versus starting strong and ending bad. Either way, that should be addressed in your college personal statement if the dips are drastic. At the end of the day, the transcripts don't really say how hard of a worker you are or how bad you want to be successful. So one day one, you have to prove yourself all over again and make sure that when you are done, your transcript accurately reflect your hard work.
Updated
Charlie’s Answer
Colleges review your transcripts to gain insight into your academic performance, paying close attention to your overall grade point average (GPA) and the grades you have earned in individual subjects. They also consider the types of courses you have taken throughout high school, such as advanced placement courses and honors classes. Strong performance in core subjects like English, math, science, and social studies is particularly important as they showcase the foundational knowledge and skills necessary for success in college.
It's important to keep in mind that your transcript is just one factor in the admissions process. Colleges also consider other aspects of your application, including your essay, letters of recommendation, extracurricular involvement, and personal achievements when making their admission decisions.
It's important to keep in mind that your transcript is just one factor in the admissions process. Colleges also consider other aspects of your application, including your essay, letters of recommendation, extracurricular involvement, and personal achievements when making their admission decisions.
Updated
Adrian’s Answer
Colleges primarily focus on the difficulty level of the courses you've taken and your overall grades in them. Additionally, they pay attention to identifying your strong areas.