Advising for High School Students

You have the option to be degree or non-degree seeking while in high school by choosing your program of study on your admissions application or through speaking with an advisor. Regardless of your degree status, if you attend a Kansas high school, you will be assigned to an academic advisor who you are encouraged to work with for assistance choosing classes.

Effective Fall 2026, high school students taking Excel in CTE classes must choose a major in order to get their classes tuition-free.  The major and course must align for funding to be added to the student's account.  If you didn't choose a major when you applied for admission, or if you need to choose a different major than you originally picked, please complete this survey: Excel in CTE Major Change

If you have advising questions or plan to complete a degree or certificate with Barton, contact Advisement.  Please tell us you are a high school student, where you go to high school, and when you plan to graduate so we can give you the most relevant information to your college and career goals.

Questions?  Please contact advisement@bartonccc.edu. 

You’re busy!  Carefully think about your time and commitments before enrolling in a college class or classes.  Understand that college classes take time and plan to work on your class for two to three hours per credit hour, per week.

Online classes seem to be easier and less time consuming, but it’s an illusion!  Weekly deadlines still open and close for online classes, and you must still manage your time well.  For face-to-face classes, you see your teacher in a classroom as many as five times per week, and he or she speaks about at least a portion of the content to you during that time. 

In online classes, you are accountable for 100% of the material that you are required to learn—meaning the videos, readings, and all other activities are up to you to complete.  This requires time, energy, and commitment to signing in and completing your work.  Online classes have weekly deadlines, and it’s easy—if you fall behind—to avoid signing in.  This leads to getting even further behind and puts your grade in jeopardy.  Online learning isn’t for everyone, and that’s okay!  Choose classes according to what works for you!

Low or failing grades in college classes affect your overall GPA, which can affect your eligibility for federal financial aid, scholarships, and future college program acceptance.  In short, for the duration of their college career, students must maintain a 2.0 GPA and 67% completion rate of classes.  Enrolling in classes and later withdrawing or failing affects this percentage rate.  Each incoming freshman’s cumulative college GPA is evaluated at the start of his or her freshman year.  For the full Satisfactory Academic Progress policy, refer to the college catalog and student handbook.

Your college academic record begins the moment you enroll in a class, for dual credit or otherwise.  Whether or not you took the class in high school and whether you paid out of pocket, used the Boost Scholarship, or took advantage of Excel in CTE Initiative (SB155), the class is a part of your college academic record.  Some colleges require that you transfer in all or none of your classes from previous college work.  Some colleges do not require that you submit other colleges’ transcripts.  Check with the college where you intend to transfer to see what they expect.

Be honest with your advisor; he or she wants to help you be successful, whether that means retaking a class or pursuing a different class based on your strengths and weaknesses.

Transcript request information can be found on our website.  If you are ordering an official transcript, carefully choose whether you’d like the transcript sent now or after the semester ends.  If you are currently enrolled in classes and send a transcript immediately, the transcript will list the class you are currently taking as “In Progress” and will not list a grade.  The only way to have your current class’s grade on your transcript is to have the transcript sent at the conclusion of the class, after your instructor has officially posted grades.

There are two types of transcripts that you can order from any higher education institution—unofficial and official—and you can save time and money by knowing the difference.

Unofficial transcripts list the courses you’ve taken and the grades you’ve earned.  Unofficial transcripts are typically used for scholarship applications and meetings with advisors to explore the transfer of credits.  Scholarship applications will specifically list whether you need “official” or “unofficial” transcripts for application.  You have access to unofficial transcripts in PAWS (inside your MyBarton Portal).  You can print as many copies of this document as you’d like, and it’s free.

Official transcripts list the courses you’ve taken and the grades you’ve earned.  Official transcripts are tyipcally used for more “official” purposes, like when you need to transfer your courses from Barton to another community college or university.  The “official” reason behind this type of transcript is to authorize the transfer institution to print the college credits you’ve earned with Barton Community College on the transcript of the college where you’re transferring. 

Since these credits go toward the final goal, the degree you’re earning, the document must be official and come directly from the Office of the Registrar.  You will not see this document at any point because it travels directly from institution to institution.

You can—until a certain point in the semester.  The drop dates to exit the class and still receive a refund vary, depending on the length of the class.  Contact the Director of Early College Opportunities to learn this date.  It never hurts to double-check! 

The withdrawal date, the last date in the semester on which you can remove yourself from the class and still earn a W grade on your transcript, varies from semester to semester and can be confirmed by checking the Academic Calendars webpage.

Unless you have received an email, or another form of communicaiton, specifically telling you that you have been dropped, do not assume that you have automatically been dropped or withdrawn from a class.  Drops and withdrawals are not done automatically.  The student must take action to drop or withdraw, even if moving schools during the school year. 

Speak to your counselor and work with the Director of Early College Opportunities to officially drop or withdraw from a class.

Always, always, always communicate with your instructor with as much advance warning as possible.  Extensions, deadlines, and any other form of exceptions come from your instructor and your instructor alone.  In extreme cases, an Incomplete grade (I) may be given by the instructor. This gives the student more time to finish the class.  The student and teacher must agree upon new deadlines for the coursework and complete a contract.

College staff and faculty cannot speak to anyone unless you, the student, tell us we can.  Regardless of who paid for the class or your age, your academic records are confidential.  You can release your records (including giving permission for us to have phone and email conversations without you) to anyone you wish. 

You can get a copy of the Parent Consent and FERPA release form here and return to Karly Little at littlek@bartonccc.edu.  The FERPA release at the bottom of the page releases your information to the person/people you include for the academic year.

A Third Party Release of Information is also avaiable in the MyBarton Portal.  Sign in, look for the Popular Student Links card, and Click Proxy Access (Third Party Release).  Click +Add New and include as many or as few people as you’d like to have access to your records.

College can be confusing!  We are here to help.  If you would rather not complete the Third Party Release but want your parent’s help, sit down and call us together, draft an email to us and cc them on it, or make an appointment and visit campus together.  Please keep in mind that without that Third Party Release, we are not able to have conversations about your academic records with anyone but the student. 

For more information about the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act or 1974 (FERPA), visit the FERPA webpage.

Visit our website and browse our Programs of Study.  Use the buttons on this page to request information, visit campus, or apply to Barton.  Contact information for each program is listed on the program pages, or you may contact the Advisement Center via email at advisement@bartonccc.edu. 

Please tell us you are a high school student, where you go to high school, and when you plan to graduate so we can give you the most relevant information to your college and career goals.

Visit the Admissions webpage to view important announcements, upcoming events, and the Getting Started checklist. 

To contact our Admissions team and schedule a campus visit, call (620) 792-9286.