The Parts of a College and High School Transcript

When you graduate, you don’t leave your school behind completely. Take your transcript for example; these are the records of your performance throughout your academic career. While it may not be needed in daily life, when you need it, you typically need it on short notice; potential employers may ask for your transcript before deciding whether to hire you, so it’s best to be prepared.

What is Included in High School Transcript and College Transcript?

A transcript is a record of your academic career. It can be used to judge how suitable you are for a position, and if you’re a high school graduate, colleges are likely to ask for your high school transcript as well. Here are the most likely pieces of information to be found in your transcripts:

High School Transcript

  • Classes Taken: Each class you’ve taken will be listed and sorted based on when you took them.
  • Grades: A full list of your grades for every class taken will be listed along with your GPA.
  • Exam Scores: All SAT, PSAT, and ACT scores will be included.
  • Ranking and Achievements: Many schools rank their students based on grades and include these rankings on the students’ transcripts.

College Transcript

  • Classes Taken: These will also include a list of classes taken, though it will also include courses you dropped or didn’t finish. These will be organized by date.
  • Schools Attended: If you transferred universities, this may be reflected in your transcript.
  • Seal: Your transcript may contain a seal to vouch for its credibility, though this can be accomplished by a signature or another form of official documentation.
  • GPA: Your cumulative GPA will be included.

How to Calculate Your GPA

If you want to calculate your GPA manually, you can follow the following steps:

Your Semester GPA:

  1. Multiply the value of your grade by the credit hours of the class it’s for. The result will serve as your “quality points” for that class. Do this for every class.
  2. Add up all of the credit hours for the term.
  3. Add up all of the quality points for the term.
  4. Divide the overall quality points by the overall credit hours to get your semester GPA.

Your Cumulative GPA:

  1. Add up all of your credit hours for your time at this school.
  2. Add up all of your quality points for your time at this school.
  3. Divide the overall quality points accumulated by the total number of credit hours for all terms to get your cumulative GPA.

What Employers Look for in Your Transcript

There is plenty of information on these documents that can be useful to recruiters. These are the three most common things that employers look for in transcripts:

  • Your GPA: If your GPA is above 3.5, it could leave a good impression on your potential employer.
  • Date of Graduation: Employers typically use this to judge how much life experience you’re likely to have depending on how long you have been out of school. 
  • Courses Taken: If you were able to pass more than the required courses, this may show them what kind of workload they can entrust you with.

Conclusion

Your transcripts may play a significant role in whether you get hired. To look as professional as possible, prepare your transcripts ahead of time, figure out your strong points, and be ready for any questions. For more tips and guides like this, feel free to browse our website!

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