Attended HS w/o letter grades for freshman year (due to COVID), now IBDP candidate. How do I explain this on my applications?

Applying to College
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Hi there,

Background:
I attended a private high school during 9th grade that did not give formal letter grades and instead graded on a narrative scale that was “no credit” to “high accomplished”.

Why on earth did I do this?
After initially planning to attend the public high school that I now attend again, my family made the decision that it would be best for me to attend a smaller school in an effort to prioritize academics during COVID and health (reduced risk of COVID-19 transmission in smaller school environment, this school was better suited for virtual instruction and when we were in person they had better social distancing measures and safer learning experience). I returned (re-committed) as planned to the public HS for 2021-22 school year after COVID-19 transmission was more controlled.

The Issue
When I transferred to my current public high school, they had to somehow convert my grades to letters so that they could appear on my transcript. The private school has no scale for how they convert them (they determine a GPA for students when they graduate that is “holistic” and not just based on the narrative grades- I don’t understand how this works and I’m glad I left this school). I ended up with 14 As and 1 B+. They also decided to enter 7 out of these 15 courses as 4.5 weighted “honors” classes (my current school is a 5.0 weighted scale). I disagree with how my new school interpreted the grades (they should be all honors 4.5 weighted and 14 A+ and 1 A- in my opinion) but there’s not much I can do because it’s subjective. The main issue with this is that I am now disadvantaged in terms of class rank. I am ranked roughly 40 out of 370 despite the fact that I have almost straight As and am in IB Diploma Candidate taking all 5.0 weighted classes junior/senior year

The question
How can I explain this to college admissions officers? I believe I am a highly competitive candidate for admission to top schools but I worry that if they filter by GPA out of 5.0 or class rank percentile, I would just be dropped from consideration. If you take out my freshman year, I am top 5% class rank and a 4.6/5 GPA (which is almost the max given that there are 8 mandatory 4.0 weighted classes) instead of 4.45. Can I somehow submit a school profile from my first school that explains that it’s kinda arbitrary? Does any school actually filter their applicants and just reject anyone without a class rank in the top x% or is that fictional?

Edit to say: Thanks in advance!

2

I would see if your guidance counselor can mention the situation briefly in your LOR. That way it doesn’t seem like you are complaining.

Colleges should get both transcripts and both school profiles.

FWIW my D had a combination of grades and narritive evaluations in her HS transcript and it was no issue.

3 Likes
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I don’t think this is an issue.

You’re making assumptions about what AOs will see or understand - and we really don’t know.

But if you’re that concerned, pick a top school, call an AO and explain the situation and get their guidance.

4

Are you applying to Texas public universities?

However, even Texas public universities do say that they consider those below the automatic admission rank thresholds, although admission is less likely and less transparent in that case.

5

Talk with your GC.
The 2 transcripts (narrative and traditional) should be included - ask whether it’ll be the case. In addition, write it down for the brag sheet you’ll give your GC at the beginning of senior year.
Your IBD transcript will trump your covid-year transcript for AOs and outside of specific cases where being top 20% or top 6% (Iowa, Texas) leads to automatic admissions, there are no specific cutoffs (if your HS is low performing you may need to be top 10, if your HS is a topnotch IBD or exam-based school they could see anyone in the top 30% as meeting their basic cutoff, etc… plus, most schools do not rank.).
However, anyone can pick top schools. Do you have 2 safeties you like and can afford?

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