To know do colleges look at attendance….Read on this article….!
This is a question, one would imagine, asked most frequently by both students and parents, while applying for colleges. Whether colleges in the United States look at attendance during admission is an ambiguous area. But attendance is an important factor indirectly in some colleges and directly in some. This is a quandary for students all over the world, and realization only hits you when you see the impact of non-attendance when you start applying to colleges.
Do Colleges Look at Attendance?
Attendance Counts
- In any case, indirectly or directly, attendance counts.
- When you are in high school, and your attendance is low your grades will be affected.
- You may not be able to catch up with the syllabus and your learning process will be impacted.
- As a result, your understanding of the course you are studying will be affected, and ultimately your grades will suffer.
- This will directly impact your GPA which will in turn have an impact on your admission.
In high school there are strict rules and specific numbers of classes you’re allowed to miss and a set number of missed classes you can have before they start affecting your grades. But college is a completely different ball game. Especially when you are applying for admission. These grades will be inspected by the admissions officer, which will in turn determine whether the college will accept you or not. It is important to realize that not attending classes will affect your GPA in the long run.
Teacher’s Impact on Your Grades
No teacher appreciates the fact that a student is not attending his or her class, and ultimately it is that teacher who must write you a glowing recommendation when you apply to a college.
- It is important to be on the good side of your high school teachers. Which means if you are a regular truant, make no mistake it will be noted.
- The only exceptions are, if you are genuinely sick and have a doctor’s certificate to prove the same. Family emergencies are another teacher favourite to fact check, so make sure you have an adult/guardian’s word to back it up.
- It also depends on how often and for how long you have not attended; if you have been absent for months with no concrete reason it will be put onto your permanent record.
- This cannot be removed or exempted under any circumstances.
So, it is important to note if your attendance is not up to the mark for no apparent reason except truancy, then don’t expect a good recommendation.
Always remember that colleges do expect and require specific grade point averages to get you in.
Attendance Impact on GPA
Colleges in general, focus mainly on your grades and GPA during the admission process. But if, due to non-attendance your grades fall, for example from getting straight A’s to getting C’s, the college application administrator will want to know why. You will be questioned about this. if you don’t have a plausible excuse, you may be turned down. After all, colleges’ reputations depend on their student’s performances. Therefore, it is important to be regular and on time.
- Most forms have an additional section to explain why your grades have dropped. If you have a genuine reason like illness backed up by evidence like a doctor’s certificate and your teacher’s recommendation you will be ok.
- But if your attendance is low because you just did not want to attend and you have no reason or explanation then you are in trouble without any doubt.
- Many high schools take non-attendance very seriously. They are well within their rights to act against you in the form of suspension or sometimes even expulsion depending on the reasons for non-attendance.
- This will directly reflect on your admission into any college because no college would want to knowingly admit someone with a red mark against him or her.
Remember, if you keep missing classes, your GPA will be negatively impacted. You could be missing important classes where your teacher discusses complicated topics, making you not being able to understand what is happening in that class which will directly result in you not doing well in your final exams. You need to ask yourself whether it is worth not attending class when you are struggling to catch up.
You will need a good GPA if you want a scholarship or to get into a competitive program. This is very important.
Attendance for Specialties
An important point to note is when you do get admitted into a college-
- Some colleges do take attendance per class depending on the size of the class.
- If it is a small class for example lab work, (e.g., physics), small seminars (e.g., research seminars), foreign language classes, or small humanities courses that require active discussions and interaction.
- Many of these classes require attendance because the course succeeds when there is active contribution from the students themselves.
- These classes are often classes where the student needs this curriculum in order to apply to a particular course for college.
Responsibilities and Demands of College
- When you go to college you are essentially an adult. You are expected to be independent and responsible enough to understand the repercussions of not attending classes. You will fall behind and you will find it difficult to catch up.
- You will have presentations, assignments, research, seminars and many more obligations to fulfill. You will have deadlines to meet. All this requires your full concentration and dedication for which attendance is imperative.
- It is understood that you may have other priorities like doctor’s appointments or part time jobs that many students take to see them through college and for a bit of extra pocket money. You must factor in all this to ensure that your college work does not suffer.
Finally, look at it whichever way you will, even if the college doesn’t really take attendance into consideration except if it is on your permanent record as mentioned before this will only be if you have missed months of school.
When your attendance in high school is good, you get into the mindset of attending classes regularly. Your grades will be good, and you will get a good GPA. This will help you once you are in college. You will get the college of your choice and not have to settle for less.
So, in answer to the question do colleges look at attendance? It may not be make or break from their point of view, but it certainly impacts the admission process from your point of view.
Ultimately the choice is yours.
