The Importance of YOUR transcript and what’s on your College application.

What is a transcript?  A detailed record of your overall academic performance starting with 9th grade, which also includes performance on state and national assessments. It includes your class rank and GPA.  What is class rank?  This is a numeric ranking that allows college admissions officers to evaluate how well you performed academically  in relation to your classmates. Higher rankings are also beneficial when applying for certain scholarships.  What about that GPA? GPA stands for Grade Point Average and is a representation of your accumulated grade points earned over a period of time.  Every class that you successfully pass raises your GPA value. GPA is based on the grading scale of A, B, C, D, and F.  Each letter grade is assigned a number of grade points. For example an A grade typically receives 4 points, B receives 3 points,  C receives 2 points and D receives 1 point.  Honors classes are considered weighted classes and therefore earn .5 points more which raises your GPA further.  Colleges and Scholarships will differentiate between your Weighted GPA and your Unweighted GPA.  The higher the GPA, the more opportunity you have to earn scholarships and a spot in the college of your choice. 

What else looks good on your high school transcript but also allows you to explore a career? INTERNSHIPS!  This opportunity will be afforded to PECIL students during their Super Senior year as a Seminar class!

Community Service is something else that college admissions officers look at when making decisions about applicants.  PECIL has a strong focus on Service Learning and Community Service and provides opportunities for students to participate in both activities.  Colleges like to see students giving back to their communities. Students can also find their own community service activities as long as they notify the staff member handling service hours