Transcript Toss Up

1. Get into teams of 4-5

2. As a team, look at the 5 different Valley Transcripts

3. Pretend that you are a College Admissions Board. As a team, put them in order of Most Likely to Least Likely to get accepted!

4. Be prepared to share your reasons!

Transcript Toss Up

• Things to think about when deciding:

– What did the candidates get on their ACT?

– What are the candidates GPA?

– What kinds of grades did the candidates get?

– Did the candidates show improvement from 9th

to 12th grade?

Can you guess who?

• One of the Transcripts belongs to a High School Drop-out

• One of the Transcripts belongs to a Teen Mom

Your Transcript isn’t a true reflection of who you are as a person, but it does give an impression

of who you are as a student!

What can you do to make a good

First Impression?

How to read my transcript

What does my transcript tell me?

• What courses you’ve taken

• What courses you’ve passed and failed

• How many credits you have earned

• Your GPA for each Term

• Your Cumulative GPA

• Your Credit Summary

What can my transcript help me figure out?

• What courses you still need to take (or retake)

• If you are on track to advance to the next grade level

• How close you are to meeting graduation requirements

Who gets to see my transcript?• Colleges and Universities!

– When you apply to college, you have to send them an official transcript

• Scholarship Programs– If you apply for scholarships, you might need to send them

an official transcript if the scholarship is grade or GPA based

• Counselors and Teachers– To help you stay on track to graduation!– To help you determine the best college or post-high school

plan for you!

• You and your parents/guardians– Your transcript is a record of your successes! Make sure

you know what it says!

So, what am I looking at?

You are looking at a version of your UNOFFICIAL Transcript!

• The Course tells you the Course Number and the Course Name

• These are the classes you have taken and received a grade for.

• The Course numbers tell you if it is Part A or Part B of a class

• Numbers ending in 4 = Part A• Numbers ending in 5 = Part B• Numbers ending in 6 = Part C (for Year Long Courses)

• The Mark is the letter grade you received for each class.

• The Weight is how many credits each course is worth.

• At Valley, each trimester class is worth ½ credit.

• Credit is how many credits you earned for each class you took.

• So if you passed, you get 0.5 credits.

• If you failed you get 0.0 credits.

• Term tells you during what grading period you took those classes and earned those marks.

Term 2 = 1st Tri Term 4 = 2nd Tri Term 6 = 3rd Tri

Term 7 = Summer School and/or ESS

• Credit (at the bottom) tells you how many credits you earned for just that Term.

• GPA tells you your Grade Point Average for just that Term

• Your GPA is an average of your Marks:

A=4 B=3 C=2 D=1 U=0

• The section called GPA Summary shows your Cumulative GPA – which is your total GPA for allof your classes during high school

• Weighted just means that if you are in AP, Advanced, or Honors classes, you have been given GPA “Bonus Points”

• The section called Credit Summary tells you how many Credits you have earned in the different category of classes towards Graduation Requirements

• It is a general guide, not an official count!

Graduation Requirement = 22 credits• English = 4 credits• Math = 3 credits (but you have to pass a Senior Math

class)• Science = 3 credits• Social Studies = 3 credits• Health = ½ credit• PE = ½ credit• Computer Apps. = 1 credit• Humanities (HAVPA) = 1 credit • Electives = 6 credits

– Honors students must have 2 credits of the same World Language

Remember – each “part” of a class = ½ credit! You have to pass both parts A and B to get 1 credit!

What grade am I in?

• Your grade level is based on how many credits you have earned:

10th = 5 credits11th = 11 credits12th = 16 creditsGraduate = 22

It is possible to get more than 22 credits.It is possible to change grade levels mid-year

– although it will only be done at the1st Trimester Report Card!

Filling out your Lack Card

What is a Working Lack Card

• A Lack Card is something the counselors use to keep track of what classes you have already passed, and which ones you need to take.

• It’s like a Graduation Requirement Check List

• We call it “Working” because you add on to it all year long

A Note on Class Names:

• As long as the name of the course has the Required Course name in it, it counts!

• Ex) – AP U.S. History COUNTS as US History

• Ex) – AP English Language and Composition COUNTS as English 3

Abbreviation Key• SS/Ex Civ = Survey of Social Studies OR Exploring Civics

• WC = World Civilization

• Gov = Government

• Literacy Lab = Eng Lab / Reading

• Eng Sp. Topics = ACT Prep OR Eng Intern Sr Sem

• US = U.S. History

• Bio-INT = Biology Intervention

• Humanities = History Arts HAVPA

• HNR = Honors

• AP = Advanced Placement

• ADV = Advanced Program

How do I fill it out?

• Looking at your Unofficial Transcript: – Shade in the box for the

Core Curriculum Classesyou have earned credit for (no U’s)

This box is NOT filled in because the

student earned a U!

How do I fill it out?

• Looking at your Unofficial Transcript: – Shade in the box for the

Required Elective Classes you have earned credit for (no U’s)

How do I fill it out?

• Looking at your Unofficial Transcript:

– Write in any other Elective classes on the lines provided

– If it doesn’t have its own box, it’s an Elective!

How do I fill it out?

• Thinking about your schedule for this trimester:

– Mark boxes with an X for courses you are currently taking (Core Curriculum AND Elective)

How do I fill it out?

• Thinking about your schedule for this trimester:

– Write in any Elective classes you are currently taking

– Circle its number.

What’s the point of this, again?

• The point is to give you a visual representation of what classes you need to take and pass in order to graduate – especially if you are a Senior!

• Unless you are a Senior, you will use this Lack Card when you do Schedule Requests for next year!

• Take responsibility for your own education! Know what you need to do and do it!

You only get one chance to make a good first impression!

The BIG Questions

• What does your transcript say about you?

• Is it an accurate reflection of how you are as a student? As a person?

• What does it NOT say about who you are?

• What accomplishments does it NOT reflect?

• What can you do to create a better picture of who you really are?

Set a SMART Goal!

• S= Specific: focused, not vague or general

• M= Measurable: you will know for sure when you have reached your goal

• A= Appropriate: related to your grades or academic achievement

• R= Realistic: the goal is doable, but still ambitious

• T= Timebound: you have a date picked out for when you want to have achieved your goal