How Do You Read A College Transcript?
Reading a college transcript is fairly simple. It is just a record of courses a student has taken, her grades earned in the courses and her cumulative grade point average. An official transcript will come in an envelope with a signature or stamp over the seal to show it hasn’t been tampered with. Any other transcript is considered unofficial and is not admissible to most fellowship programs or graduate schools. If you want to open your transcript to look at it, you should order more than one. Check the name, student ID number, degree concentration and graduation date (if applicable) at the top of the transcript to make sure they are correct. Read through your coursework. It should be listed by semester, including any interims, such as a winter term. The name, course number and department code (example: COM for communication) for all of your classes will appear on the left, except for classes that you dropped during the approved add/drop period at the beginning of the semester. (Any you
