52 Weeks to College: Week 6 - Your Academic Record

Sit down for this - I want to start this week with stating the obvious, because it so often gets lost in the college application process. Are you ready?

College is an academic enterprise. Therefore it is appropriate that your academic capacity is the first thing that admissions officers evaluate.  They want to do a full evaluation, but are limited to what you submit. 

Put yourselves in the admissions officer's shoes for one minute.  You have a responsibility similar to being a team captain who is picking the team for the upcoming season. Who do you want on your team? You want the proven performers, the academic stars, don't you?  Tell the truth.  You do. 

So how do you present your academic record in such a way that you show that you are a proven performer, an academic star?  You take time to put your academic record in the best possible light.  Yet, most applicants spend very little time on this aspect of the process.  

The reasoning goes something like this.  "I didn't get 2400 on the SAT and I'm not Valedictorian, so I've got to sell them on my leadership abilities.  That means I'll spend hours on my activities section and my essays, but I won't even bother to review my transcript or consult much with my counselor or fill out all those pesky demographic checkboxes because I mean my grades are my grades, my scores are my scores."   

Sound familiar?  If so, stop and rethink.  Believe me when I say the same raw numbers are not created equal.  Both Applicant A and Applicant B have GPAs of 3.6 and are in the top quarter of their classes.  But every admissions officer I know at a top school is admitting Applicant A and denying Applicant B ON THE BASIS OF ACADEMICS.  How is that possible?  Applicant A comes from a competitive college prep school and has taken every AP offered.  Applicant B comes from a not-so-competitive school and has taken a lot of Band and PE classes.  Same academic capacity?  Obviously not.  Make sense? 

If you want the best chance to be admitted to the college of your choice, you want to convey ALL of the information important to the admissions officer's interpretation of the numbers. Here's your checklist for things you can do to make sure your numbers are presented in the best light: 

For your college counselor's recommendation, work with him/her to supplement the information about your school or give special information about your situation if any of the following are true:

1. Your school uses abbreviations on the transcript that aren't easily translated. You want the officer to know that CMP was a Math Computations course, not Composition.
2. Your school uses a non-traditional grading system. You want a full explanation of the system included with the Secondary School Report (SSR).
3. Your school offers APs or Honors offerings. Make sure your transcript shows those designations, the number of offerings, and any scheduling conflicts that prevented you from taking advanced courses for which you were eligible.
4. Your school offers NO APs or Honors offerings. Make sure that is noted, so it is clear to the admissions officer that you weren't a slacker; you just didn't have the option.
5. You attend a competitive admissions school that may not be well known to the admissions officer because few people from your school apply to that college. Make sure the school information is clear about the caliber of students attending your school.
6. You have participated in a special program or a school within a school that is for the school's best and brightest. Make sure that the school information explains the demographics for selection and for who is in the program with you.
7. You have an "uh oh" on the transcript for one class, one semester, or one year and you have a good explanation. Make sure that the counselor notes the circumstances in his/her recommendation.

Answer questions about the following situations FULLY (if asked) and, regardless of any specific questions, supplement your application with a brief narrative essay (whether or not required) unless it is already the subject of one of your primary personal essays:

1. You changed schools and that had an impact on your class standing, GPA, or eligibility for honors. Explain why you changed schools, and note what opportunities were foreclosed.
2. You suffered a significant personal/family tragedy during high school: bitter divorce, death, major illness or injury, and the tragedy had some meaningful impact on your academic record. Explain the tragedy, note the consequences, and how you have "bounced back" and are now ready for college.
3. You have heavy-duty family responsibilities that severely restrict or interfere with your education in some important way (preclude taking certain schedule, limit time for homework, etc.). Explain your responsibilities, note the consequences, but also note what you have been able to do (e.g. take AP course as independent study).
4. You had a disciplinary incident that was academic in nature - cheating, plagiarism etc. Describe the incident, take responsibility, tell what you have learned and why it will never happen again.
5. You have an "uh oh" on the transcript for one class, one semester, or one year and you have a good explanation. Even if your counselor has addressed this issue, you should also address it independently to demonstrate that you have learned from the mistake. Just make it brief and DON'T make it the subject of your personal essay - that is a waste.

Disclose demographic information that is pertinent to your test scores. If you belong to one of the following demographic sub-groups, your test scores will be best understood if you disclose that fact:    

1. You are a member of an underrepresented racial minority.
2. You are first-generation college.
3. You come from a low-income household.
4. You have a disability.

Note that attempts to squish yourself into one of these boxes -- if not really true -- come across as pathetic at best, and fraudulent at worst. 

Comments or Questions? 

Want to know what to do with your test scores or grades?  Post a comment!

Alison Cooper Chisolm writes the series 52 Weeks to College. She has worked in admissions at Southern Methodist University, the University of Chicago, and most recently Dartmouth College. She is a graduate of Yale College and the University of Virginia Law School. As part of the Ivey Consulting team, Alison works with college applicants and their families as they navigate the college admissions process. Read more about Alison here.