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Will English Class Transcript Error Mean Rescinded Admission?

Written by Sally Rubenstone | July 15, 2011

Question: Recently it has come to my attention that there was a discrepancy regarding two English courses on my undergraduate application; one of the English courses was entered in the wrong semester and the other English course was completely different than the one that is listed on my official transcripts. Upon finding this out, I immediately, contacted my campus admissions and records office through their contact information on the web page and let them know of my findings.

Thus, my question is as follows: Will that error prompt my college to rescind my offer of admission for the 2011-2012 academic school year, or will they just fix the error and continue on with what is left to do? Its not like I lied about the grade or the GPA, because I indeed graduated top 4% of my class and maintained an average GPA of 3.8 almost the entirety of my high school career and have AP credit to my name.

It was admirable of you to correct the error as soon as it came to light. The fact that one English course was entered in the wrong semester will definitely have no impact on your admission decision. The other error could be a problem, but only if your college's admission officials were falsely led to believe that you took a higher level class than you actually did (e.g., the application said that you took AP English when, in fact, you really took regular English). I’m guessing that this is not the case. But, even if it were, I’m also guessing that it will not affect your enrollment plans.

Again, it sounds like you did the right thing to follow up on the mistake. Let me know if you encounter any problems, and congrats on your excellent high school career.

(posted 7/15/2011)

Sally Rubenstone

Sally Rubenstone knows the competitive and often convoluted college admission process inside out: From the first time the topic of college comes up at the dinner table until the last duffel bag is unloaded on a dorm room floor. She is the co-author of Panicked Parents' Guide to College Admissions; The Transfer Student's Guide to Changing Colleges and The International Student's Guide to Going to College in America. Sally has appeared on NBC's Today program and has been quoted in countless publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Weekend, USA Today, U.S. News & World Report, Newsweek, People and Seventeen. Sally has viewed the admissions world from many angles: As a Smith College admission counselor for 15 years, an independent college counselor serving students from a wide range of backgrounds and the author of College Confidential's "Ask the Dean" column. She also taught language arts, social studies, study skills and test preparation in 10 schools, including American international schools in London, Paris, Geneva, Athens and Tel Aviv. As senior advisor to College Confidential since 2002, Sally has helped hundreds of students and parents navigate the college admissions maze. In 2008, she co-founded College Karma, a private college consulting firm, with her College Confidential colleague Dave Berry, and she continues to serve as a College Confidential advisor. Sally and her husband, Chris Petrides, became first-time parents in 1997 at the ripe-old age of 45. So Sally was nearly an official senior citizen when her son Jack began the college selection process, and when she was finally able to practice what she had preached for more than three decades.