Starting college is a big decision and not something to take lightly. In order to make your decision as informed as possible, you need to make sure you have got all of the documents you will need. Here are some of the most important documents that will be required and the best way to organize them.
Academic transcripts are an official record of a student’s academic courses, grades, and credits. Typically, they are required for college applications, scholarships, internships, and graduate school applications. While transcripts are an important document, they are susceptible to error. Make sure to get all your transcripts from your high school, college, and any other schools you have attended. Have you ever taken the SAT? Or the ACT? In either case, you know the importance of good test scores. If you are applying to college, you want those scores to be as high as possible. In addition, wherever you may be applying, you need to know what those scores mean.
When you go to college, you enroll in a school and earn a diploma. But, if you were homeschooled, attended an institute of higher learning, or attended another school that does not provide transcripts, you will need to request academic transcripts from your school. Your transcripts will be an official document that lists your grades and any courses you took during your time at that school or what you did when you were homeschooled, so they can see what type of education you have received.
The curriculum vitae (CV) is a detailed document that provides concise information about your academic and professional achievements. It’s a professional snapshot of your background. Your curriculum vitae (CV) is a document that summarizes your strengths, education, and experience. Although it’s similar to a resume, your CV is shorter and highlights more of your skills rather than listing your experience chronologically. While it might be tempting to list everything you’ve ever done, including odd jobs and internships, it’s best to keep your CV short and to the point. Including too many details about your background will take away from your accomplishments.
While your high school transcript lists courses and grades, and work samples, it doesn’t offer as much information about you as a person. Your personal statement is a great way to share a more personal side of who you are with admissions officers and highlight why you want to study at that specific school. Essays, too, can talk about you as a person and your experience with the subjects you are taking.
A school profile is a listing of information submitted by a school, including sections on academics and extra-curricular activities, achievements, and information about the student body. This profile also helps admissions officers learn about you as a student.
Most high schools have a profile for you, which is most likely attached to your transcript. This profile tells each college what high school you attended. It highlights who you are, what you accomplished, what clubs you were in, what classes you took, and what sports you participate in. It can also include information about honors and awards you earned throughout your time in high school. Each school’s profile looks different and not all colleges actually require them. If your high school doesn’t have a profile, ask if you need to create one. If you do, attach your transcript to it and send it along the first time you apply to college.
Getting into college is tough. It seems like everyone you know is applying to college, and the application process is daunting. On top of the piles of paperwork and SAT and ACT preparation, there’s the question of where to go to college. Luckily, most colleges in the United States offer a ton of resources to help you with this process, for which you don’t necessarily need to pay.
No matter how old you are, getting accepted to college is a dream come true. However, this dream can become a nightmare when you realize you need to send in a mountain of documents to the admissions office. If you’re like most students, you’ll be needing to send off loads of documents, most of which you don’t even have, like transcripts and test scores. So, take a deep breath, stop panicking, and make sure you gather together all of the important college documents you need before the big day.