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Articles / Applying to College / Must We Correct Misreported GPA?

Must We Correct Misreported GPA?

Sally Rubenstone
Written by Sally Rubenstone | Feb. 22, 2012

Question: My granddaughter was just accepted to college. However, looking at her application we noticed she messed up her GPA. She submitted 4.2 instead of 4.1. What do we do? We were told that they actually use the official transcript to make a determination.

There are plenty of things to worry about when your grandchildren are teenagers, but this is NOT one of them. :)


Colleges definitely use the official transcript and not the GPA that a student has self-reported. Moreover, your granddaughter's error was a tiny one. She didn’t ratchet herself up to a 4.2 from a 2.8. So it's not going to look like intentional dishonesty.

Don't give this another thought. Congrats to your granddaughter on her college acceptance and on her fine high school record.

(posted 2/22/2012)

Written by

Sally Rubenstone

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.

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