A Really...Different Situation?

<p>So basically I attended the first two years of high school in California (freshman and sophomore year), and I averaged a 3.5UW/4.0W gpa.</p>

<p>However, after sophomore year, my family and I moved to Pakistan, where I am doing Cambridge International A-levels (They take two years total).</p>

<p>Subjects I'm taking:
Mathematics
Physics
Chemistry
Computing
English (General Paper)</p>

<p>So anyways my main concern is, how exactly will admissions to the US work for me? Would I be considered an international or a domestic applicant (I AM a U.S. citizen)?
And how much would my chances be affected seeing as I took A-levels instead of the normal junior/senior years of high school?</p>

<p>You are a US applicant because you are a US citizen.</p>

<p>Lots of US citizens abroad take the A-levels, and so do many international applicants. Don’t worry about this. The colleges and universities know how to interpret A-level exams.</p>

<p>The difficulty in your case, is that you may now be out-of-state for all public colleges and universities in the US. Look up the rules for in-state residence in the last state where you lived and/or in the state(s) where your parents own property. When you talk with your parents about how they expect you to pay for your education, find out how much they can contribute each year. That will help determine which places should be on your list.</p>

<p>For more ideas, pay a visit to the closest office of EducationUSA. There are several in Pakistan: [EducationUSA</a> - Find an Advising Center](<a href=“http://www.educationusa.info/Pakistan]EducationUSA”>http://www.educationusa.info/Pakistan) If the counselors in that office haven’t worked with a US citizen lately, they certainly have colleagues in other offices who have. </p>

<p>Wishing you all the best.</p>

<p>Thanks!
And for the residency part, my family still owns a residence in California, except that we just don’t live there. Would that be considered as an in-state residency?</p>

<p>You are going to have to investigate the situation in California. If your family expects to move back to CA at about the time that you would be starting college, and you can commute to one of the CA CCs from there, it might make that particular CC a financial safety for you. Even if your family doesn’t move with you, if you can live there on your own, and get a job so that you can support yourself, it may make it possible for you to re-establish in-state residence.</p>

<p>o_O you’re taking FIVE A-levels</p>

<p>Yeah, I’m taking five A-levels!
And I’m probably getting A’s in them as well, looking at the way exams are going so far.</p>

<p>The main thing I’m worried about is the fact that I have A levels but do not have O levels. In place of O-levels I have 9th/10th grade of high school.</p>

<p>you’re fine. the whole point anyone does O-levels is to cover job qualifications or to get to A-levels. not having O- levels won’t be a problem. just make sure you have your 9th and 10th grade transcripts.
but I still can’t believe you’re managing so many A-levels. just…wow</p>

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</p>

<p>5 A-levels is pretty common stuff here in Pakistan. I’m worried my 4 A’s might be too less, but I’ll have more by january. Haven’t you heard of the guy who got 22 A’s in A-levels (not that I respect him for that)?</p>

<p>By the way, how many alevel A’s does a 4.0 gpa translate into?</p>

<p>a 4.0 GPA is A-average. it just means that you get all A’s, it doesn’t matter how many A- evels you take. anyways, just get A’s in your A- levels and you should be off well enough. don’t wory about translating it to GPA</p>