<p>Hi everyone. I'm from Australia and will be a senior at the beginning of next year (we start earlier than you guys), and I'm hopeful to go to the US for college in 2014. Money isn't an issue luckily as my parents can support me if I get in. I'm hoping to do film (which is far bigger in the states than in aus), and although this is very early and a lot of my information is speculative, I'm really curious as to how you guys would chance me!</p>
<p>Applying (intended): USC, UCLA, UCSB, NYU, LMU, Chapman, Emerson, Drexel, Hofstra, Ithaca, SUNY Purchase</p>
<p>GPA
This is my biggest worry as we don't actually use a 4 point grading system in aus, and although we have letter grades, it seems pointless converting them as they don't take into account the difficulty of the courses (schooling is not even close to how standardised it is in the US). My 'GPA' from grades 9-11 is 3.7, though I go to the number 1 school in my state (academically selective) and do much harder coursework than other schools. On top of that, when it comes to Australian Uni entrance, the only grades that matter are your senior grades. We have something called an ATAR though which you get at the end of senior year and ranks you against the rest of the country for your year group. My predicted ranking from last year is in the top 1% of the country which goes to show how different grades work in Aus compared to the US.</p>
<p>Courses:
Highest level Maths, highest level English, highest level Literature, highest level Chemistry, Highest level Modern History (sorry if all this makes no sense to you. Essentially subjects in aus each have their own level of difficulty which you can choose and when it comes to your ATAR at the end of senior year they take difficulty into account when calculating your score)</p>
<p>SAT
From practice tests I'm predicting 2250-2400</p>
<p>Recs: Should be excellent</p>
<p>ECs: school news show (founder and producer), school radio show (founder), started own film production company (have won awards nationally for short films), produce school promotional videos, school fundraising club (founder), youth mental health charity (founder and president), participating in a young ambassadors program for local film festival next month,</p>
<p>Also 200 hours of community service, mainly from volunteering at State Library and local markets</p>
<p>Essays: My Lit teacher is actually an American who used to help kids with college apps and says that I'm a great writer and should do excellently :)</p>
<p>So what do you guys think? What are my chances for the schools I've listed? I know that the process for getting into the film major is portfolio and supplement based but what are my chances for the schools regardless of this?</p>
<p>Thank you!</p>