Applying To US-Universities - Care To Help An International?

Applying to College
1

Hey everyone,

this post is going to be rather long, so if you’re in a hurry or just don’t feel like reading it altogehter - feel free to skip it. :slight_smile:

Those of you who are brazen enough to continue, suit yourself for a story filled with teen-angst,the desperate try to overcome cultural barriers and the feeling of absolute helplessness.
Yes, this is my story. The story of an international applying to US-Universities! :smiley:

But first things first, so here we go:

I’m a german student, currently enjoying the 12th year of my secondary school experience, meaning that I still have to live through a “13th” year, since the german system requires you to attend school for 13 (actually 12 1/2) years…
This means that I won’t be finished with school until June 2006, and I’m going to apply for the fall semester of 2006. And here comes my first question (Ready? Then go!)

*1. My senior secondary leaving exam results (Abitur) won’t be available until June 2006. This is far too late to be taken into consideration by the admissions people. Therefore, my teacher is asked to predict the results of my Abitur in the “School Report”. But let’s just say he/she predicts that I get a 1.2 (on a 1.0; best - 4.0; worst scale) and my actual results deviate from this prediction… up until what point can they deviate? E.g: Is a - let’s say- 1.5 or 1.7 or even 2.0 still acceptable, or are they going to revoke the admission if it comes down to that? *

Next question:

2. I am well aware of the fact that I have to hand in teacher evaluations. One from my guidance counselor, and two from other teachers. So far so good. Since I am the very first from my school to EVER apply to an american university, they’re rather unsure of what to write or what not to write in order to present their opinions about me. Can the teacher recs be rather personal, or are they supposed to be formal? Are they supposed to explain the grading system? What is worth mentioning?

Yet another to come:

3. Apart from my activities at school (founded the school newspaper, lacrosse, student government, tutoring and various minor clubs) I also have a range of other outside activites - especially because german student are not as involved with their school, as americans are. I’ve been working as a semi-professional actor, wrote my own play (which got published),annually hold various international seminars (about obtaining leadership qualities), won language competitions and so forth. I feel like my teachers, who are nice, but not that interested in me (or any other student for that matter) really don’t know enough about me. That is why I’d like to hand in various other letters of recommendations (from my seminars, official certificates of my awards, evaluations from my acting coach etc.) … to what extent is that possible? I know that academics are a key factor, but I also think that, since everyone applying to american universites has great academics, should try to make oneself stand out in some way, correct?

And … :

*4. Concerning my grades: I have absolutely no idea how to convert my grades to your GPA system. What is a weighted and unweighted GPA? And I’m not even sure if it’s necessary? Our school does rank though and I understand that the rank is of importance to colleges, so I should include it into my school report, right? *

Still not done, but - relax- it’s a short one:

*5. Throughout my time spent floating through the threads of this excellent message board, I stumbled upon terms and abbreviations I never quite understood:

Par exemple:
URM -
LAC -
DODDS -
deferred -
valedictorian-
saludictorian- *

That is all (for now) ;). Please forgive me for overwhelming y’all with this huge amount of questions. But every answer will be greatly appreciated! And even if you’re unable/unwilling to answer any question, the effort you’ve made in order to fight yourself through this post, will never be forgotten :slight_smile:

Thank you very much for listening,

have a great day, everyone

Yours,

SeeYa Thomas :stuck_out_tongue:

2

<p>Hi Thomas!</p>

<p>Okay, question no. 1 - I can't really say what would happen if your actual grades did deviate from your predicted ones. It's up to each individual university to see fit to that. If you're worried about a deviation, then you'd better make sure you get the BEST grades possible to prevent that from happening!</p>

<ol>
<li><p>The teachers ought to write in a style that they are most comfortable with. The best advice I can give you is to tell them to include a few anecdotes, as these are often a superb way of painting a portrait of your character in an entertaining manner. Tell them to write about why they think you're special, the way you work and think in class, your commitment to the subject they teach. I really don't know much about recs because I never read the ones my teachers wrote for me. </p></li>
<li><p>Most universities accept extra letters of recommendation, but don't send too many. One or two should suffice; in fact, ask the university first before you send any - if you send too many papers, you'll irritate them - and you don't want to irritate an admissions officer!! ;)</p></li>
<li><p>Forget about converting your grades into a GPA, it's completely unnecessary :) Your external exam results or predictions + your transcript is enough. Do include your rank though, if the colleges specify it.</p></li>
<li><p>URM - Underrepresented Minority - usually a Black American or Mexican - someone who's not from a major ethnic group, I suppose - eg Caucasians, Asians.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>LAC- Liberal Arts College, usually a small college that specialises in the liberal arts. eg Middlebury, Swarthmore, Williams, Amherst.</p>

<p>Deferred - Someone who applied Early Decision to a university but whose application was neither accepted or rejected - that is, his or her app. has
been moved to the Regular Decision pool for further evaluation.</p>

<p>Valedictorian - in American High schools, I think this is the one who ranks first in his or her graduating class. Vals have to give a speech at their graduating ceremony. The salutatorian is the second highest graduate.</p>

<p>Whew, I hope this is okay. Good luck with the application process! Which schools are you applying to, by the way?</p>

3

<p>Thank you for answering my questions, nkay! :)</p>

<p>I'm planning to apply to Harvard, Yale, Brown, Stanford, Columbia, Princeton, Georgetown, Johns Hopkins ... I know, I know, they're all reaches for ANYONE, but if I won't make it into any of them, I'll stay in Germany and attend a german school.</p>

4

<ol>
<li><p>For most US schools, you need to apply fall 2005 for fall 2006 admission. Many colleges base their decision to admit on grades through junior year (or in your case through June of this year), many others require you to submit after you apply your mid-term senior grades (which I am guessing in your case would be the first semester next fall or whatever you would finish by December or mid-January) and those are also considered for admission. Once admitted, a college reserves the right to withdraw your admission if you screw up badly your last high school year and any decision as to that will not be made until you submit your final grades when you complete school in June 2006. I cannot tell from what you provide how your grade system actually works but you can assume that you can have a withdrawal issue if you blow off classes and your grades fall from being very good to "you have really fallen so far that I as a college admissions officer can tell that you decided to get extremely lazy and not do anything to keep your academics up."</p></li>
<li><p>Actually the majority of colleges in the US neither require nor want recommendation letters. Your highly ranked schools generally do. As to between being personal or formal and vacuous, the better is the personal touch, and basically the letter should set out why the teacher believes you are an excellent student and person; the explanation of the grading system will be helpful although that is something better provided by the high school administration as part of what it sends with your grade transcript or as part of your high school counselor's letter.</p></li>
<li><p>As to how many recommendation letters you can submit and from whom besides teachers, you should go to the web-site of each college to which you intend to apply and see what is requested for admissions because this varies among colleges that want recommendations -- some want two teacher letters and one from the your high school counselor and not another letter from anyone, some will accept letters from non-school related personnel, some have no real limit on number of letters to submit or from whom (although you should not overwhelm them with numbers because quality is the key). As to those non-school related activities, you can, depending on the format used by the particular college, usually list and describe them on the application, as a page attached to the application, or as part of a required personal essay. </p></li>
<li><p>I do not know how to convert your grades either. You should not even think about weighted and unweighted unless your high school actually does it. Though there are numerous complexities and variations among high schools in the US as to weighting, the simplified explanation is this: if the course you are taking is an AP (or IB) or, in many schools, is designated as an "honors" course, you get some bonus points added to the actual grade you got in the course. Class rank is important at many colleges, but also ignored by some, although if the college is having difficulty understanding your grading system having a rank gives them an aid in determining what your grades actually may mean. Your school should thus include your rank in the transcript of your grades that it sends. </p></li>
<li><p>I am not sure what DODDS is but others:</p></li>
</ol>

<p>URM -- means underrepresented minority at the college (racial or ethnic) and those may have a plus factor in consideration for admission -- internationals cannot possibly qualify for that status.</p>

<p>LAC: Liberal Arts College -- usually a fairly small college whose main program is liberal arts and sciences and usually does not have engineering, business, agricultural science, or other professional programs and very often does not even have any graduate (masters or PhD) programs, but then some considered as LAC's do have some additional programs.</p>

<p>Deferred: an admissions decision where you are neither admitted nor rejected -- usually refers to an early decision or early action admission decision where you are not admitted through it but they will reconsider you during the regular admission phase.</p>

<p>valedictorian: for many years, this meant the high school student that graduated ranking first in his or her class; at many schools it does not quite mean that anymore as they award the status to more than one student, like the top 1%.</p>

<p>salutatorian: the person ranked second in his or her high school class at time of graduation; this award is usually not given at those that now believe valedictorian means more than one.</p>

5

<p>Hey, no worries! Good luck with those schools! I got into Stanford and will be attending in the fall. Good luck again! :)</p>

6

<p>I heard Stanford is pretty tough when it comes to financial aid - any inside view on that, nkay?</p>

7

<p>I didn't apply for financial aid... my poor momma! I'll have to beg on the streets or something to pay for my tuition :p I was worried I'd be denied because Stanford isn't need blind when it comes to international student admissions.</p>

8

<p>Right - that's exactly what I heard! Well, if it comes to the worst, I'll have to send you a paycheck :D</p>

<p>Oh - does anyone know what the quota of german applicant to the Ivies is? Just out of curiosity?</p>

9

<p>Hallo,</p>

<p>Ich bin auch aus Deutschland und wurde jetzt im April in Stanford angenommen. Ich bin überzeugt, dass Stanford eine herausragende Schule und eine der drei besten Universitäten der Welt ist. Ich kann sie nur empfehlen. Ich fange im September in Stanford an, obwohl ich auch in Brown, Yale und Dartmouth genommen wurde. Das Wetter in Californien und die Lage in der Nähe des Sillicon Valley sind beeindruckend.</p>

10

<p>Abbreviations used on College Confidential</p>

<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=52585%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=52585&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

11

<p>DODDS is a Department of Defense Dependent School. Usually means a DoD school abroad or whatnot.</p>

12

<p>hey dietberd.....You're from Germany too?!?!?! That is sooo great! I am too and I have applied to Universities in California (UC's, USC, USD) and in New York (NYU, Columbia, Fordham....) and am now in the difficult situation to decide where to go. (btw I would write in German but I think my post would be deleted). How old are you and what are you going to major in? And what was your hook to get into Stanford? That is a GREAT GREAT university, I visited last year and was VERY impressed. I didnt even bother applying though because I knew I had no chance.</p>