<p>i dont want to sound mean, but the first thing that every school assesses is "is this person going to be able to handle the academic work?"
if they dont see a good reason to think so, they will not even consider an application.
I am not saying that SAT scores are a good measure of your intelligence or potential to learn, but thats the only thing colleges can rely on. i dont think that even stellar essays and ECs can offset two SATs under 500. </p>
<p>"why not give it a try? You don't lose anything!"
this isn't very realistic... by applying to a school like cornell you do lose a lot - your money and the opportunity to apply to some other school, where you'll have a much better chance of being admitted. </p>
<p>i hope this doesnt come across as too straightforward, i'm only trying to give you a more realistic perspective..</p>
<p>Thanks for being honest frolik and I realize that u're right but frankly,I don't give a ****.I'll just because my scores are already sent to Cornell.And about the sat,well it's obvious that I haven't study for it and that's the reason for the low results and I guess the admission oficers won't consider my sat2 scores enough to forget about the CR and W but it's Cornell afterall.Whatever,long live to the Queen :)</p>
<p>Hey I wanted to use this post to ask you guys a question about the secondary school report. Did you sent a translation of your diploma or you just got your grades rom the principal's office. I am applying as a transfer student, so I kinda forgot how it was preferred the first time I did it.
Thank you!</p>
<p>frolik, when the colleges ask themselves "is this person going to be able to handle the academic work?" most of them look for an answer in the secondary school report because it shows how hard the applicant has worked through the years, how they have challenged themselves with rigorous classes (all Bulgarians take rigorous classes...). Then they look at the SAT scores which show how hard the applicant has worked through about 4 hours. But it's all so subjective! For some colleges the SAT scores are very important, for others they're just important and some only consider them.
Btw, I'm still agonizing over Amherst's supplement essay. The prompts are...</p>
<p>Swetko, I'm from Rousse.</p>
<p>Buhi, I'm keeping my fingers crossed!</p>
<p>Nasko, lol:) I know it sounds strange but I haven't made up my mind about Northwestern yet:o The school is GREAT but they don't use the common application, so I'm not sure if I'll be able to complete theirs on time (yeah, bad time management). And I'm still mad at their policy of not waiving the application fee for international students applying for financial aid!</p>
<p>martinibluex, I don't have a diploma since I haven't graduated yet. I'm sending a translated "akademichna spravka" but I think as a transfer student you have to send in your diploma. If you can't find this information on their website email them.</p>
<p>Dear smiley face, the meaning of the SATs is way beyond that. The SATs are meant to rescale your GPA. 6.00 + 13xx on the SAT=means that your grades are useless as an indicator when judging your true academic status. There are many schools and the admission's offices cannot know the rigorousness of the courses and level of grade inflation at you particular little school 10 000 miles away. So they let you take the SAT. The SAT and the GPA should support each other.</p>
<p>Thanks for the ansewr to my question and sorry if I seem rough.</p>
<p>Also, part of the problem is that when you send your grades all they see is
MATH.........6.00 like 4 times. But is this Calculus and Analytic Geometry II, is it Linear Algebra, is it Solid Geometry? They can't know and that often hurts your chances. I took chemistry for 4 yearsand my DARS report from school now says that I came with a preparation equivalent to 1 year of chemistry.</p>
<p>European Languages School or simply "Ruskata". Nice to meet another "rusenec" here:)</p>
<p>Yeah, that's the purpose of the SATs (they are supposed to have one, otherwise they wouldn't be invented, right?) - to compare an applicant's knowledge and ability acquired at school with those of other applicants and to suggest if there has been any grade inflation/deflation during their high school career. But a secondary school transcript shows much more - if you have taken rigorous classes (I'm sure Geography&Economics, Physics&Astronomy, World&Personality, Hisrory&Civilizations, 3 foreign languages and so on seem rigorous enough to the them) and have the highest possible grades on them you are obviously intellectually curious and able to challenge yourself. Good grades earned through the years show persistence and determination. If you have no academic interests, if you want to get away with as little studying as possible, and if you're not motivated, you would hardly make it through graduation from college. The SAT on the other hand shows your ability to learn 3000 words and apply them as well as to solve a few problems in math. And if you don't like neither Math, nor English, then the exam doesn't really show your academic potential (in college you would take classes you like and therefore have good grades). That's why SATs are used to help adcoms judge one's academic ability. But on no college website can you read that SATs are more important than SSR. </p>
<p>You can explain what part of Math you studied each semester either on the additional information part of the application or on a separate sheet of paper. But does it really matter? Should I also explain that?</p>
<p>who are you kidding. since when do you pick your classes in bulgaria? you simply handled the "rigorous" curriculum as it was imposed on you.
also, 99.999sjfhs672642% of all [BG] intels applying to the IVIES have 6.0, and I know from experience that the courses aren't rigorous and ARE taken with a grain of salt by admission. grade inflation is rampant in BG and the curve system is nonexistant. when you get accepted, which i am sure that you might, you will be subjected to a new type of grading, which (according to my humble opinion) is much more realistic. the top 12% of the class will get an A, the next 20% will get a B, the subsequent 40% will get a C, followed by 20% D and 8%F. This is the so called bell curve and it represents an approximation to what is called "natural distribution". So you might get a 91% but if 35% of the smart ivy kids get 92 and above, you are stuck with a C. THIS IS REAL COMPETITION.</p>
<p>also, many if not all college sites have a disclaimer that says sth like "it is clear to us that many students who will clearly succeed at [insert ivy] will not be offered admissions due to the egregiously competitive nature of our admissions. so sorry about that." simply "handling the schoolwork" [to roughly quote you], just like that, is not what drove the ivies to the top and kept them there. that would be simply mediocre.</p>
<p>P.S. bulgarian schools that used to be exceptions to the abovementioned generalization about lack of rigorousness, back in the day when i was there were : It's majesty the ACS, SMG, NPMG, and maybe 1st english language school sofia, but not really.</p>
<p>I heard that the IB thing is being implemented in BG. Why didn't you take those? They greatly increase your chances.</p>
<p>EDIT: To the third paragraph from the bottom ("due to the egregiously competitive nature of our admissions"), you can also add "and the 30,000 freshman-wanna-be's banging on our door as we speak".</p>
<p>Don't take me too seriously tho. I like scaring kids so they'd work harder on their standardized test, which is what it takes ;]</p>
<p>Martinibluex, the grading system you're talking about compares one student to the others but doesn't really asses your knowledge, which I believe is the purpose of grades. And we don't pick our classes but we do take them. Thanks for scaring us little kids though. My butt for example needs a lot of kicking to sit down and study hard;)</p>