Follow these steps to manually complete your STARS Record accurately and completely.
Before You Begin
- Have a copy of your high school transcript or online grade report.
- Do not complete your STARS Record from memory.
High School Information
- List each high school you’ve attended.
- Enter the date you started 9th grade (e.g., 08/2022).
- Enter the last month and year of high school (e.g., 05/2026)
- Enter your graduation month and year (e.g., 05/2026).
Grade Scale
Select the Grade Scale used at your school:
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- Letter Grades
- Number Grades
- Letter & Number Grades
- Decimal Grades
Alert: If you select Number Grades, Letter & Number Grades, or Decimal Grades, you may be prompted to complete a Number-to-Letter Grade Scale Conversion on the Enter Coursework screen.
GPA and Class Rank
- Complete the Cumulative GPA and Class Rank field for each high school listed in your STARS Record.
- Enter the cumulative GPA and class rank exactly as shown on your transcript. Do not round, average, or convert values.
Tip: What If My Transcript Does Not List My Cumulative GPA Or Class Rank?
- Choose the appropriate rank format (e.g. numeric, percentile, etc.) to record your rank as it is shown on your transcript. There are options to indicate if you are home educated or if no rank is available.
Enter Coursework
- Click Enter Coursework to start entering your courses and grades.
- Record every course and grade (from grades 9 to 11) shown on your transcript or online grade report.
- Record your 12th grade courses and select IP - In Progress - if you have not received a final grade and even if you have not yet started the course.
- Record courses from which you withdrew and repeated courses.
- Record college courses (e.g., dual enrollment courses) shown on your high school transcript.
- How to select a course length in STARS
Enter Exam Scores
Some universities may ask you to report exam scores such as AP, ACT, SAT through STARS. If you are logged into a university-branded STARS site and the Exams page is not shown then the university does not collect exam scores in STARS.
Check School Requirements:
- Visit the Steps to Applying section for each university.
- Check whether exam scores are required and which types to report.
Tip: If you're unsure whether to enter a score, check with the university’s admissions office or their STARS instructions.
What to Do:
- Go to the Enter Exams page in your STARS account.
- Enter only the exam scores required by the universities you're applying to.
If you're submitting STARS to multiple universities:
- If logged into a university-branded STARS site: use the Test-Optional Preferences section on the Enter Exams screen to select which scores to send to that school.
- If logged into the main STARS website: click “Show details for…” for each university to manage which scores to send. The test-optional preferences section is only shown for a selected university if they are collecting exam scores on STARS.
Submit and Link
- Click Submit once you’ve entered all your information.
- Be sure to link your STARS Record to each university and allow 1-3 days for each university to acknowledge receipt of your STARS Record.