Escaping the transcript at Goucher College
Goucher College's gives you the option to not have to use your transcript in applying to their college. All you need is a two minute video of yourself with 2 graded assignments, one being writing. Photo is a screenshot.
by Jaclyn Thompson, staff reporter
Starting junior year and leading into senior year, students stress about what college to go to. Many students end up worrying about acceptance because their grades might not be up to par. While almost all colleges require applicants to submit a transcript, Goucher College is one of the few that doesn’t have this as a requirement.
Goucher gives students the opportunity to show themselves off in a two minute video, along with two graded high school assignments of your choice, including a writing assignment.
“I like that so much better because they won’t see the grades I did bad on,” senior Anthony Castagliola said.
This is better for the students because people who struggled in high school may be a perfect fit for the college and their personalities can show that. Being able to show their strengths rather than weaknesses is more of an advantage for a person applying to college.
All colleges should start this process of acceptance, because it will give students a chance to show who they really are, besides a grade on a piece of paper.
Most colleges accept students with a 3.0 GPA or higher. If students has grades under that, Goucher College gives the applicant the chance to exclude the transcript within their application. Even a 2 year community college wants at least a 2.8 GPA with good SAT or ACT scores.
“It’s beneficial because they can show what their strengths are rather than being judge on their grades which might not be an accurate representation of a student,” geometry teacher Mrs. Johnston said.
On the other hand, some people do prefer the traditional way of sending in a high school transcript. Many people believe that colleges should still view transcripts, since they worked hard for four years and do have impressive grades. If teens aren’t required to show their transcript, that defeats the purpose of all the hard work the student did during high school.
“I dont think its good, how would they know if you’re smart or not so smart,” junior Alyssa Malave said.
Grades do not determine somebodys intelligence, nor does somebodys transcript. Grades neither show laziness and weakness, nor the standard of hard work one can do. Intelligence may be shown through other things other than grades, such as speech, actions and personality. People’s intelligence may be shown in an interview and Goucher College offers that.
Not showing a transcript can give students a chance to show who they really are and not just as a student, but as a person. More colleges should start doing this to offer everyone a fair chance of getting a serious education.