How do colleges view transfer students' high school grades?

As a transfer applicant, should I be concerned about how my high school grades might affect my chances at another college? Or is my current college performance more important in their decision process?

When reviewing transfer applications, colleges typically place more weight on your college performance. This is because your college coursework is often more rigorous and more similar to the work you'll be doing at the school you're transferring to, providing a better indicator of how you might perform there.

However, this doesn't mean that your high school transcript will be completely ignored. Generally, admissions officers will still take your high school achievements, including your grades, into account. This is especially true if you're applying as an underclassman, when you don't yet have many college courses under your belt.

Additionally, your high school performance may be looked at more closely if your college doesn't have a grading system that easily translates to the traditional A-F scale, or if the courses you've taken so far in college aren't relevant to your intended major.

As an example, if you're applying as a Physics major, and you've only taken liberal arts courses so far in college, admissions might treat your high school grades, particularly in physics and math, as more indicative of your potential academic success in their Physics program.

Ultimately, it's important to strive for high achievement in both high school and college, but rest assured that your most recent academic performance will generally hold more weight, especially if you have a year or more of college experience.