Submitting Your High-School Transcript
College Applications Must Be Complete With High-School Transcripts
Most students who are applying to college will begin the search and application process, prior to graduating from high school. The applications ask for high-school transcripts, but yours is not yet complete. What should you do? Should you wait until you graduate to complete your application? Should you send the colleges what you have and then coast the rest of the way through high school, since you already turned over your transcript?
Of course, colleges understand that those students applying for admission are still in the process of completing their high-school education. There are processes in place for dealing with transcripts. You simply need to review the college admissions policies and find out the required processes.
The Initial Transcript Request
Most community colleges and four-year schools require, at the very least, an expected date of graduation on your application questionnaire. In many cases, you will be asked to send a transcript with your initial college application, even if that transcript is not complete. This transcript request can usually be fulfilled by asking your high-school guidance office to fax a copy of your transcript (complete as of the end of your junior year) to the admission offices of the universities to which you are applying. A faxed copy of a transcript is not an official copy, but it generally works to complete the first stage of the application process. Remember to make this request well in advance of the application deadline. You also need to know that you are required to submit a college application essay. So, investigate sample college application essays, so that when you write and submit yours, it will be completely acceptable to your college of choice.
Sending Additional Transcripts In-Progress
Highly-selective colleges may ask for an additional transcript midway through your senior year in high school. Again, these requests can be fulfilled by having your high school guidance office fax a copy of your transcript or send an official copy, if required, once your first-term senior courses are completed. State universities will likely not require this step, but if they do, the request and deadline for submission will be listed as part of the college application process.
Submitting a Final High-School Transcript
Even if you are accepted at a university, they will still require an official copy of your high-school transcript. This means that you will have to maintain continued contact with your high-school guidance office. Find out what forms require completion to submit copies of your high-school transcript, and determine if there are any fees involved. Finally, official transcripts will be mailed out, and you must remember to allow time for the postal service to get your documents to the correct office. You are not able to handle and deliver this document yourself. If you are still considering multiple universities at the time of your high-school graduation, go ahead and request that your guidance office submit copies of your transcript to each of those schools you are considering. If you have already committed to a particular school and signed on the dotted line, remember to get your completed transcript to that college, so that the college file is complete.