If you change your unofficial transcript can your recommender find out?

[pinkfuzz]

My recommender has asked to see an unofficial transcript and since my cgpa is low and I have deferred an examination for a recent course for which a failed grade shows up currently on my transcript...I am tempted to change it! My recommender is an assistant professor who is currently working outside the university. Would she have access to my other course grades or transcript? Or would she mention my grades or cgpa in the letter and when the admission committee see it they would think I lied to her? HELP!!

[BDav]

I don't know if she would find out, but it's a really bad idea. They want to see your transcript so they can see where you excelled and what kind of classes you took. They aren't going to mention the bad grades. If I were you, I'd give them to her with a clipped page explaining what you told us.

[Pitangus]

I'm not sure I understand what you mean by "change it." Do you mean that you currently have an F on your transcript for the course and you want to change it to an incomplete "I" because you deferred an exam?

Sorry if I am misunderstanding your question, but obviously I wouldn't recommend changing any grades on a transcript yourself, even if you have permission from the professor to make up an exam. You should take it up with him/her about getting the grade changed to an I, if that is your intent.

[gellert]

I second the above, plus think about it this way -- if you have a low cGPA etc., your recommender can probably address that in her letter and try to spin it into less of a negative. Because if you're ashamed of your LOR writer seeing it, wouldn't you be equally nervous about having schools see the cGPA? It'll be a much bigger deal with adcomms than it will be with your LOR writer. So give the letter writer a chance to talk about how your grades don't reflect your true potential.

[pinkfuzz]

Thank you for the advice. I will write up an explanation for the grade.

[Resendes8909]

Isn't that sort of activity illegal?

[emmm]

The recommender might never find out, but that is still an incredibly stupid thing to consider doing. Your LOR writers are supposed to be on your side. If your record is so bad that you have to hide parts of it, that doesn't bode well for your application (where you can't hide grades, since they get sent directly from your schools). One of the best ways to explain deficiencies is to have your LOR writers put as positive a spin on them as possible. That aside, it's also downright dishonest, and I wouldn't want to be in a program with someone who did something like that.

[helloall]

Isn't that sort of activity illegal?

It seems like this is illegal. If it isn't, you "sign" each application saying the information is true to the best of your knowledge (meaning the school should have your actual GPA), and if the recommender mentioned the GPA you modified, you would look pretty stupid.

[orangeMan]

I think it's wrong to report a false grade, but it's not wrong not to report it.

[emmm]

It IS wrong to not report it if the transcript is being represented as being accurate and COMPLETE. Besides, as I said earlier, if the people who are supposed to be HELPING you don't know the truth, how are they going to be able to give good advice? How will they be able to mitigate the negative effect of any deficiencies if they don't even know about them? Be honest with your recommenders and ask for help. If they are not willing to help you, they probably do not think highly enough of you to be good recommenders anyway. Wouldn't you rather know this upfront?

[fuzzylogician]

Suppose you gave your recommender a "changed" transcript and she mentions a part of it in her letter? It'll come out and you'll be disqualified for cheating. As should happen, because what you are suggesting is exactly that -- plain cheating. Both tampering with grades and leaving out lower grades IS wrong.

[Resendes8909]

No, I am pretty sure it IS illegal, especially if you are applying for any sort of financial aid.

[Quant_Liz_Lemon]

I had a problem similar to that one. I took an incomplete in a grad course. In my school, you have 1 year to complete any incomplete IF it's a grad level course, but only 1 semester if it's an undergrad course. As an undergrad, my school automatically changed my I to an F before the prof updated my grade.

When I showed my recommender my temp transcript, I just explained the situation to him (he needed to see the transcript for something else). He was very understanding about the entire situation. He didn't think less of me for it.

Edited November 18, 2012 by Quant_Liz_Lemon