• LAVA Moderator: Shinji Ikari

Academic Record

Depends on where you're from, I suppose.

When I applied for postgraduate courses I was told I needed to submit an academic transcript from a past degree (at another university) that had absolutely no relevance to what I was applying for. I didn't want to, as I had no idea where the transcripts were, and was told that they could find out if I'd studied anywhere else and, if so, I'd risk losing my scholarship. I suspect that the information would be available from the Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre, which is our state's administrative office for higher education. Whether they actually bother checking though is another story...
 
Generally, they just want proof that you have completed an undergraduate (or an associates in the US?) degree before enrolling you in graduate school, as that's what it is, GRADUATE school ;)

Doing things that will adversely effect your application, like not doing what they want in regards to previous transcripts, does not sound like a good plan of action to me.

CB.
 
zyggy, how many universities did you attend? It can't be that many, can it? If it's an accredited school then they are only interested in transcripts from other accredited schools. State/vocational/trade schools won't transfer anyway to an accredited college.


whoooooops, the link I posted was for Florida only. LOL I had to delete it.
 
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When I applied to graduate school, I listed my main college and the university I was applying to said they wanted the transcript from this school I went to in the summer to take a course. So yeah, some how, some way they know whether you have submitted all the transcripts, especially if the credits were transferred.

If you don't have any transfer credits and only took course for fun, that may be a different story.
 
Below is some of my background info:
(My main question is at the end, in bold letters, so if u don't like reading all this extra info about me you can just skim and/or go there and see if your omniscient brain can help me out)

I used to work for the state and had great benefits that included free tuition to any state university for up to 12 credit hours each semester. After I did my undergrad I kinda wanted to take a break from school and got a good job very closely related to what I majored in during undergrad. I did Biology/Philosophy and got a job doing Clinical Genetics. The reason this job paid so much more than research and had sweet benefits is that it's clinical, meaning I actually got specimen from patients which had to be tested for genetic abnormalities.

The job really excited me for about 6 months. After I learned everything that was to be learned there I became almost suicidally bored. So I started taking those classes. I didn't want to leave the place cuz I agreed to a minimum of 2 years full time work if hired. Even thou I could have broken that promise w/o many problems I chose to stick to my word and stayed for almost exactly 2 years minus 3 days.

I was pretty bored and was taking these classes just to pass the time. Very interesting classes in which I learned a lot but they have nothing to do with what I am applying to grad school for, namely Speech Pathology.

Classes about history, economics, gov't, drawing, painting and more.

It would be a big pain-in-the-ass to send all that info to each grad program I apply to. Not to mention the extra dough.

Would it be a problem if I just ignored these and instead only sent them relevant work, like my undergrad and prerequisites required for the graduate program.

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Is there some database that admission officials can punch your name into and all schools you ever attended pop out? Or it's more like each school has its own database and unless you know a student went to a specific school, you can not know which schools a student attended.
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Thanks Lysis, ChaosButterfly and sushii for the help.

chucky1432, that's kinda unfortunate to hear. I guess then there is some database college officials use in order to find out our academic history. Can anyone confirm this?
 
When I applied to graduate school, I listed my main college and the university I was applying to said they wanted the transcript from this school I went to in the summer to take a course. So yeah, some how, some way they know whether you have submitted all the transcripts, especially if the credits were transferred.

If you don't have any transfer credits and only took course for fun, that may be a different story.

Can I ask where you were applying to and to study what?
 
zyggy, i'm not certain that there's a database or not, but if your school has your social security number, i imagine it's possible to pull all of that up.

when you took those courses, were you enrolled as a degree seeking student or something else? at the universities tied to the one i actually attend, there are options for people who just want to take classes to just take classes, and they are generally listed as non-degree seeking.

how many grad schools are you applying to?
 
Below is some of my background info:

I was pretty bored and was taking these classes just to pass the time. Very interesting classes in which I learned a lot but they have nothing to do with what I am applying to grad school for, namely Speech Pathology.

Classes about history, economics, gov't, drawing, painting and more.

Ha, your situation sounds like mine! I was applying for a PhD, and apparently the psychiatry department wanted to see all my old transcripts for a fine art degree and a whole lot of random classes (in philosophy and sociology mostly) at another uni, that I didn't even graduate from. It was a whole lot of beauracratic nonsense but I handed them in anyway.

It actually wasn't as much hassle as I thought tracking them down, either - I did have to pay (but it was a small amount) and they just sent my old transcripts out to me.

Can you contact the school and ask them? It might be the easiest way to find out if they can check up on you.
 
Here is the situation:

Now I want to go to the program I chose as my career. My undergrad grades are decent, nothing great, not enough to get into the MS program in SLP. I'm planning to go to community college for a speech therapy assistant program first and then later applying for the MS program. It's really competitive and I probably won't get in now. So if I do the assistant program first, do well, work in the filed, I'm almost guarantees to get in. It will take longer, but I'm still young and that's what I really want to do. Don't care how much time it will take me as long as I finish within the next 5-6 years.

Now here is the problem.

Because i was addicted to heroin, I was sleeping in class. I failed some classes in an MS program I was going to. I have been clean for almost a year and I'm almost ready to continue my education.

Some school just saying to give them the transcripts related to Speech Pathology.

I'm worried that the 4 failed classes will prevent me from getting into the SLP(Speech Language Pathology) program later.

If I just not provide that transcript, do you think that would be a big problem.

I took my GRE's are they are enough to get into the SLP MS program.

I just want to do everything possible to get in. Please help if you can.

Thanks in advance for any advice.
 
Why don't you ask the SLP department faculty that you're interested in going to? You know that they make individual decisions about what students they want in their program, right?

It isn't a computer program that does this s**t. You're talking about human interaction. And if you develop a relationship with the people who make the decision not only will you be better informed but you'll be more likely to get the spot no matter what, especially if you're talking about a few years down the road.
 
Zyggy, it depends on the program. I was denied in the program I want to go in, but my professor said I could probably get into the chemistry department since I did really well on the GRE but my GPA isn't that hot. I slacked off too - didn't fail, but have a few C's :( Some departments, depending on how competitive they are, will weigh the score of your GRE and kinda sweep the lower GPA under the rug.

It was suggested to me to apply to the chem department or the biology department and ask to take classes in the other program. My other option was to continue in the undergrad program and get some A's and apply again.
 
How does a graduate school know what universities you attended in the past, other than you telling them?

No. You have to authorize the release those records (under law). Academic records are a lot like medical records, in regards to privacy.
 
^Good to know I guess. Would they have the possibility of knowing that I even went to a school? Like if they found out I went somewhere for a certain amount of semesters then they can request that I provide those transcripts, right? Is there some sort of a database thingy where they put your name and the list of schools u went to pops up? Does anyone know?
 
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