Student Visa: The Weight of HS Transcripts

[AlexanderLivius]

Heyo!

 

My classmate/roommate and I were just accepted to a year-long exchange program in Shanghai. This is awesome. 

Now we are going through the application process. One of the things being requested is our highschool transcripts.

That request has us worried. Despite the fact that we got normal diplomas, completed three years of college, and were accepted into this program, is there any chance that we will be denied the visa on account of poor HS grades?

 

I hovered around 3.0 all of HS and dropped chem my junior year. My roommate is lucky to have passed altogether. Has anyone here received a visa with similar circumstances?

[vellocet]

I doubt it, the transcripts are just a checkbox on a list they need.  X visas are pretty easy to get.  

[Lu]

If the program accepted you, I don't think the visa office will care in the least what your high school grades were. I'm actually surprised they're asking for it at all, I can only assume the grades are to prove that you indeed went to high school.

[Angelina]

I know it happens the other way around: if a Chinese student wants to study in Germany, they need to pass an exam administered by some German government office. People have failed it and were not allowed to study even though they had been admitted by the school.

 

Never heard about any such checks being done to people who want to study in China. 

 

Is this something new? Or it depends on the embassy? 

[dandmcd]

I have experience with this. Basically, they HS transcripts are used to have verification that you indeed finished high school. It's a normal procedure at most major Chinese universities. A diploma can very easily be photoshopped and faked, but transcripts provide more proof you had 3 or 4 years in a Senior high school. I had a good friend that worked in the international office of the Unviersity, and they didn't even look at the grades at all, since the scoring systems are completely different. Thank goodness since I sucked at high school studies. Most countries would likely have you take an exam to get admitted, but China doesn't require such a thing (except for the rare instance you want to get a degree in something where only Chinese is used, than you must take the HSK exam).

[陳德聰]

Yeah, sounds like a school requirement and not a visa requirement, but if the school is the one providing you the invitation letter I guess they can have whatever requirements they want. If it helps at all, I went on exchange to Fudan with a 2.75 in university haha, I don't think your grades will matter at all.

[AlexanderLivius]

Thanks, y'all!

I will proceed without hesitation.