1. 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!

2. 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?

3. 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?

4. How to read my transcript

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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!

8. So, what am I looking at?
You are looking at a version of your
UNOFFICIAL Transcript!

9. • The Course tells you the Course Number and
the Course Name
• These are the classes you have taken and
received a grade for.

10. • 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)

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

12. • The Weight is how many credits each course is
worth.
• At Valley, each trimester class is worth ½ credit.

13. • 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.

14. • 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

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

16. • 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

17. • The section called GPA Summary shows your
Cumulative GPA – which is your total GPA for all
of 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”

18. • 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!

19. 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!

20. What grade am I in?
• Your grade level is based on how many credits you
have earned:
10th = 5 credits
11th = 11 credits
12th = 16 credits
Graduate = 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 the
1st Trimester Report Card!

21. Filling out your Lack Card

22. 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

23. 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

24. 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

25. How do I fill it out?
• Looking at your
Unofficial Transcript:
– Shade in the box for the
Core Curriculum Classes
you have earned credit
for (no U’s)
This box is NOT filled
in because the
student earned a U!

26. 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)

27. 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!

28. 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)

29. 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.

30. 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!

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

32. 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?

33. 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