Will Change of Major Wipe Old Classes Off Transcript?
Question: I plan to change my major. If I do delete my current major, will my grades from the major courses be excluded from my transcript and deleted also?
For better or worse, once you take ANY college class, it will dog you for life on your transcript. You can change your major, you can change your school, you can even change your gender, but, still, your past courses and grades will remain on your transcript. And, if you apply to transfer to a new college or if you aim for graduate school, you are expected to report ALL classes that you EVER took … anywhere.
The only thing that MAY change, if you switch to a new major, is your graduation date. Although the courses you elected for your previous major will remain on your transcript and you will receive credit for those that you passed, these credits may not count toward your new major, so you might have to spend extra time in school in order to compile the required credits to earn your degree.
Hope that helps and good luck with the switch.
(posted 1/31/2012)
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.