Official Transcript vs Unofficial Transcript

When applying for college and work it’s important to know what the difference is for an Academic Transcript and an unofficial transcript. An Official Academic Transcript is requested from the Universities Registrar. These are used when you want to apply for Graduate School, Law School, Med School, and other post undergraduate courses. 

Your unofficial transcripts are always available to you in the Student Self Service Section in the Student Information System. You can use these when applying for jobs or other positions when they ask for your level of education and your GPA when you were in school. You can access these anytime you need them. Think of your academic transcripts as the Ultimate Report. 

Parts of your academic transcript include your “Courses” which are the classes that you take organized into each semester. Some universities will identify classes you have taken in the summer with an “S”. It also takes into account the years it took for you to achieve your diploma, the credit hours you took for each semester, and other bits of information. 

Another part of your transcript includes your name and information, along with the name of the institution you attended and when you passed.  

The importance of your Class Rank in your transcripts shows how you match up with your academic successes with your other fellow students. Your class ranking compares your GPA compared to the other students in your grade. 

Your GPA is you grade point average and your HPA is your weighted grade average, the weighted grade average of the courses that you take in high school. Think of AP, Aice Classes, or Dual Enrolled classes you take while in high school. 

Credit hours are courses that you take that work towards your GPA and your credit hours. Non-credit hours count towards courses completed or a certificate of completion. 

A “W” on your transcript means that you withdrew from a class in the middle of a semester. Think of it as a “neutral” mark on your