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[Video] What Grades Do Colleges Look At?

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Tova Tolman

Written by Tova Javetzon November 1st, 2021

I began my career as both a tour guide and senior interviewer at my alma mater, Barnard, where I later joined the admissions team and read and reviewed applications from students applying from the northeastern, midwestern, and western regions of the United States, as well as Canada. A few years later, while pursuing my master’s degree, I briefly left admissions to be the director of student life at the Jewish Theological Seminary. Realizing I missed working closely with students on the high school side of college counseling, I joined the admissions team at Fordham University where I recruited and reviewed applicants applying to Fordham’s liberal arts and business colleges. My most recent experience at Montclair State helped me understand what the application process looks like outside of highly selective colleges and how to help students who may not be fully prepared for college-level work. One of my favorite past experiences was managing the athletic recruitment process at Fordham as well as a number of sports at Barnard. Understanding the inner workings of both the Ivy and Patriot athletic leagues meant I was able to guide students to find the best athletic matches as part of their college search.
Learn More About Tova
For most students, the high school transcript is going to be the most important part of their college application. But what are college admissions officers actually looking for when they review a transcript?  Former Fordham, Barnard, and Montclair State admissions officer, Tova Tolman, explains how she would approach transcript review—what grades were important to her and what grades she ignored—in this installment of the our video series, Ask the College Admissions Expert. Check out Tova’s insight in “Which High School Grades Count for College? And don’t forget to subscribe to the College Coach YouTube Channel to keep up-to-date on all the latest college planning tips from our college admissions and finance experts.

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