The midyear report: what it is and when it's due

What the midyear report is

The midyear report is a Common App school form. Your counselor, or another school official, completes it and attaches a current transcript. Common App's form describes it this way: "The mid-year report shares your student's performance at the midpoint of the school year, usually represented by first semester or trimester grades."

The form also asks your counselor two questions: whether your senior courses have changed since the original school report, and whether they want to update their evaluation of you. So the midyear report shows your grades, any dropped or changed classes, and any new word from your counselor.

Common App's instructions to the school: "Submit this form as soon as mid-year grades are available. Please attach the student's current or most recent official transcript, including courses in progress and a transcript legend." Colleges with their own application, such as Georgetown, have their own version with the same purpose.

When the midyear report is due

Most colleges ask for it as soon as your first-semester grades are final, and give a February date as the latest. These are the dates on each college's own page, read on 9 November 2026. Most pages don't print a year, so confirm in your applicant portal.

Georgia Tech asks deferred early action applicants for a midyear transcript or self-reported grades by set dates. Its page still shows last year's dates, so this year's are not posted yet.

Who needs to send one

Regular decision applicants at most colleges that use the form. Common App puts it plainly: "not every college requires the mid-year report." Each college's requirements in Common App show whether it uses the form.

Deferred early applicants almost always. A deferral sends your file to the regular round, and your senior grades are the main new thing a college can read. Northeastern strongly encourages deferred ED I and EA applicants to send it by February 1, and Emory wants it by February 1 from deferred ED applicants. See what to do after a deferral.

Admitted early applicants are often asked for it too. MIT asks admitted early action students for its February form with midyear grades. Emory is an exception for early decision: it "does not require midyear reports and transcripts for Early Decision I applicants." Your ED acceptance letter will say what the college still needs.

Some colleges don't use it at all. The University of California has you report your own grades on the application and checks them later: "The information on the self-report will be verified when we receive admitted students' official transcripts." UC asks for no records at application time.

How to get it sent

1. In early December, email your counselor a list of every college that still needs the report, with each college's date, so nothing is missed in the January and February rush.
2. For Common App colleges, your counselor submits the form through Common App or the school's own platform, such as Naviance. For colleges with their own application, follow that college's instructions.
3. Two to three weeks after your grades post, check each college's applicant portal. If the report isn't showing, ask your counselor to resend it.
4. If you changed or dropped a senior class since you applied, tell the college before the report does. The form asks your counselor about course changes.

Still applying? Many deadlines fall after the new year: see the deadlines still open after January 1 and after January 15. The planner keeps every college's deadline on one list.

What a grade drop means

A small dip, like an A- to a B+ in one class, rarely changes a decision. A clear slide can. Every Common App applicant signs a statement that says "all offers of admission are conditional, pending receipt of final transcripts showing work comparable in quality to that upon which the offer was based."

Colleges spell out what counts. UCLA asks admitted students to report it "If you received two or more C grades, any D or F grades, or if your senior year unweighted GPA will fall below 3.00," and says "In some cases, your offer of admission can be withdrawn." Berkeley: "Every offer of admission is conditional."

If your grades fell for a reason, such as illness or a family problem, ask your counselor to explain it in the midyear report's comment section, or send the college a short note yourself. Admissions officers can weigh a lower grade only against what they're told about it.