Do colleges look at high school grades for transfer students?

I'm thinking of transferring to a new college, and I'm worried about my high school grades. Do colleges still consider high school GPA when evaluating transfer student applications, or do they focus more on college performance?

It's great that you're putting careful thought into your transfer application. The answer to your question can vary from college to college, but generally, your college performance takes precedence over your high school grades when you're applying as a transfer student.

For most schools, if you've completed a significant amount of college coursework—typically around a year or more—the admission officers will primarily weigh your college GPA and courses taken. They are interested in seeing how well you can handle college-level coursework, especially in your intended major. This means your high school transcript takes a backseat and may even become largely irrelevant as you accumulate more college credits.

However, some schools might still want to review your high school transcript alongside your college record, particularly if you're a freshman applying as a sophomore transfer or if you've completed less than a year's worth of college credits. In these instances, high school grades can become a larger factor in the admissions decision.

Also worth noting is the consideration colleges give to the rigor of the courses you've taken in college, your reason for transferring, and any extracurriculars and work experiences you might have had since starting college.

In summary, the importance of high school grades can vary, but they are generally less important than your college grades when applying to transfer. It's always a good idea to check the transfer admission requirements of your target institutions to get specific guidelines.