As the first quarter came to a close, many seniors were shocked to hear that first quarter grades do matter and do have an impact on the college admission process.

There was a misconception on campus that first quarter grades did not matter at all, and it was only after the grade report came out that seniors started to learn that they do. “The message that we, or at least I, had received about quarter grades was that they were simply a glorified progress report,” Senior Class President Janet Titzler said. “Something to fill our parents in on how we were doing so far and that they weren’t relevant in terms of college admissions.”

According to Registrar Tracy Douglas, Early Decision (ED) colleges can call the school and ask for students’ quarter grades if they need them. Senior Evy Vaughan was never informed that quarter grades do matter. “Everyone else said that quarter grades don’t count,” she said. “I feel like we should have known about this. It puts more pressure on us to do better. I’m kind of scared now.”

Douglas explained that first quarter grades do not show up on the transcript issued by Gunn but can be accessed by some schools who request they be sent. “They’re considered progress grades, so they don’t go on the transcript,” she said. “But if you are a senior applying to an ED school, there are some ED schools that want to see your quarter grades.”

Vaughan believes that knowing about the importance of quarter grades would have changed her academic performance. “They could have told all the seniors at the senior assembly that the quarter grades do matter,” Vaughan said. “I think knowing about quarter grades would have changed my school performance.”

According to Douglas, however, there have been fewer than five colleges that ask for quarter grades.