Struggling with Attendance
Good afternoon Compass family!
Looking to revamp some of our questions on our application and struggling with one question/answer in particular.... how to ask about excess absences or tardies that show on an applicant's high school transcript??
I would really appreciate to hear how you ask this question on your application!! Ideas, suggestions or comments!
Thank you,
Kasey Rouse
Scholarship Program Manager - Hamilton Community Foundation
Comments
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We don't ask about a student's attendance. I guess it has never seemed relevant to our selection process! Maybe we're missing something, but -- just asking -- would it make more sense to just remove this question altogether? #fixtheform
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Thank you for your comment @TomWickersham ... attendance is a requirement for some of our scholarships. So unfortunately we can't remove the question.
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Too bad, @KaseyRouse. Around here, attendance is not listed on transcripts, so I wouldn't even know how to begin asking about this. I suspect most foundation's scholarship programs have those early agreements that stipulate unnecessary or undue burdens as part of the criteria. I know ours does. And I would count attendance requirements as an example of unnecessary requirements. Hopefully these are not continuing with newer agreements...??
Best of luck figuring this out. Wish I could have been helpful...
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Usually attendance is reflected in the grade, but different states may have different practices when it comes to including actual attendance on official transcripts. If it is shown on the transcript then the school system thought it relevant enough to include. Perhaps @KaseyRouse the answer is in your question. I think you can include the question kind of like you did here. Something like "What effect, if any, do you feel absences and/or tardiness affect your grades?" While not accusatory, it gives the student a chance to address their own attendance shortcomings, if any. It may also give you insight to the student's mindset about furthering their education.
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@WalterWilliams - thank you! That is how we decided to address the question, give the student the opportunity to provide additional information if they had excess absences, perfect attendance or something in between! Happy New Year!
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For our county public high schools, attendance is provided on their transcript that the school uploads into the applicant's applications as a 3rd party participant. Maybe your schools could include attendance on the transcript?
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