None of OP’s posts explains why the grade drop. Or how it relates to racism.
Seems the prior 3.5 included bonus points for honors classes, which the new school doesn’t count or calculates on a different scale. Very common.
Even if this had stayed a 3.5, it isnt competitive for colleges which expect higher, which get thousands of apps from 4.0 kids- including many who went through tough challenges, worked, have great ECs.
How interesting!
^yes, these languages have been identified by the DoD as critical to our nation’s defense and economic growth.
OP needs to realize that even if he gets into “ivy/top 20” he can’t go because it’s too expensive. Just go to CC then transfer to a 4 yr public
^actually, for a lower income student, top colleges are free (and cheaper than public universities).
For a top student going to a CC first means foregoing thousands of dollars in merit scholarships that their flagship could have given them.
I don’t think it’s Ivy or community college. There are a lot of really good schools that would gladly take a student of the OP’s caliber.
Although OP, you really need to work on your writing skills.
So here is some information I would like for all of you to know, in terms of Languages, I speak English, fluent Arabic, fluent German, fluent French, and good at Latin.
I have spoken to my counselor today about my issue today, and she told me a great deal of things. Firstly, my GPA, they did not recognize my Honors classes as Honors which weighed far more than regular classes, secondly, the passing grade grade in Texas is a 70, and where I came from, it was a 50, thus, achieving an 80 would be like achieving a high 90 in an AP class here, so, most of my grades are 80s and few 90s which is considered average here but extremely excellent in my past school, and the school I have attended was private and I was given a Merit scholarship to attend it. She said she is ‘really sorry’ and there’s nothing she can do, that’s after my blood was explicitly boiling, my GPA would be about 4.8 Weighted as all of my classes were high Honors but they did not recognize them so I am left with a 3.2-3.3 unweighted GPA. I had every chance of getting into a top school before coming to this state, and the past state I lived in had me at 4.7 Weighted/4.0, but this is not relevant anymore, I am in a situation that I wish for nobody to be in, I feel that my hard work simply went down the drain. I’ll try the most AP exams in may to convince them of my academic strength, and I will try to make my essay a winning one, but please, all of you should remember I came here and did not know how to utter English, and I was placed in regular classes that were somehow above my level as I did not understand, but have gone through without any disasters, my first year here, which was last year, I have achieved almost all As, 2 Bs, and one C, A=90, B=80, C=70, passing scale was 60 and it was quite intimidating. Anyhow, your help would be appreciated from you all as I basically have a useless counselor and all of you are my counselor
OK maybe someone knows the answers. Won’t colleges look at the OPs transcript and recalculate accordingly. It won’t make a difference for Texas schools that use rank, but when applying, schools typically look at their own caluations, right?
Also could OP get a recommendation from his GC at his original school that would explain the grades?
Agree with LKnomad^ if you went to two different schools you will be able to send two different transcripts and colleges will look at it accordingly (aside from the Texas schools that base it out of rank then you’re out of luck). But for privates and anywhere else they will look at your different transcript from your two different schools and calculate accordingly.
But on a side note, in what school is 50%(i’m assuming) is a passing grade? Even top notch boarding schools (harder and prestigious than most private school) the passing grade is a 70. Heck if 80’s was a high 90 I would’ve had a 4.8+ also in high school. Just curious.
The schooling system at the school I attended in the Middle East was 50%, the whole system in the country was like that, so they have followed the general grading system, an 80% is extremely high as our exams were university level and written by university professors at a national university there and were very hard.
Two B’s and one C. It doesn’t matter if someone says the gpa dropped because the new school calculates differently. And most private colleges on the level OP seems to want will not recalculate. Adcoms will look at the transcript.
OP can ask his foreign hs to provide an official, translated transcript of the time there. But the higher the level of college he/she wants the more they do get apps from A students in the Middle East. The competition is fierce.
So OP, somehow you knew Arabic, German, French and Latin, but “came to the US with little to almost to no English?” That seems unusual.
Indeed, I was taught French by my mother, my mother is partly french and Algerian, Arabic because I lived in the ME obviously, German was offered in my school, and I have learned English in my school, but it was very weak honestly and not as rigorous as students are not dependent upon it for studying, it was taught because it was mandatory, and I had to learn slight Latin for choir. I hope this explains it.
As someone who taught English in the Middle East, I don’t find that unusual at all. OP’s language skills probably assisted significantly in his ability to pick up English quickly.
OP, you have a terrific GPA and transcript, even at the level its at now. Are you a junior? You have the rest of this year to bring that GPA up a bit, and have so many great options for college. I’m not sure why you are so upset. Top 30 colleges are not the end all be all to life. I know SO many, so many successful people that went to state colleges. This is American, not the Middle East. You can do anything here if you work hard. And you will succeed if you believe in yourself, focus on your studies, help your family and not stress about this. You have great options, believe me!
But we had been speaking of competitive colleges.
OP, will you be considered an international or domestic student?
Pretty sure domestic, I was born here, and I will graduate school from here.
Oh, right. Forgot. Sorry.
OP, please get help with your writing skills. You are wanting to go Ivy League. Your writing is not up to snuff for that. If you are truly sincere about your desire to be accepted to that kind of school, and you are presenting yourself as a domestic student, you need remediation. I’m not saying you don’t have the potential to get into a great school, but this is a striking area of weakness imo. You need to look specifically at your tendency to use commas excessively and inappropriately.
I would never mention that normally. But you are shooting for the top schools in the nation. It has to be said.
Absolutely! That’s why I’m in AP English Literature studying very hard in order to improve my writing skills, and I do realize what caliber these universities are and what writing skills they expect, I believe, by the time of application, I will be very good at writing.
First, your counselor telling s/he can’t “do anything about it” is WRONG.
It’s his/her job to make sure your credits are properly transcribed on your transcript.
ALL ICGSE’s are “honors”, unless you were in “Foundation” classes (= standard). Foundation would be written on your transcript. You can’t assume your GC would know that but you need to bring
OF COURSE when there’s a mistake on the transcript it has to be changed. This is really important because right now your story won’t be read, you’ll be cut
(If you were in a British-patterned school, your current GPA is equivalent to a C. If you were in a French-patterned school, your current average is equivalent to about 10.)
Why weren’t you placed in ESL classes since you were an ELL? Your school is REQUIRED by law to offer you adequate accomodations. Dumping you in a regular classroom when you didn’t speak the language is against the law, unless you specifically requested it. All schools are supposed to have ESL classes to help ELLs get acquainted with the language before they start in regular classes.
And people who think getting anything but an F is a class where you don’t speak the language is “normal”, clearly haven’t been dumped in a foreign classroom. That you accomplished to learn English that quickly and get passing grades is amazing. But it doesn’t change the fact that unless your transcript is correct
You’ll have to get notarized copies of you IGCSE’s and any other results you got, and send them alongside your HS transcript. Keep in mind that some universities will admit you on the basis of IGCSE’s alone, some will wants IGCSE’s and upper secondary school national/board exams.
Your former school is likely British, right, since you did IGCSE’s? Or did you find a term for your end-of-compulsory-secondary-school-exam that’d be likely recognized and use IGCSE?
TO explain “grade equivalency” you can use this from the Fullbright commission:
http://www.fulbright.org.uk/study-in-the-usa/undergraduate-study/applying/admissions-criteria#performance
and this to explain IGCSE’s:
http://www.cie.org.uk/images/149712-destination-usa.pdf
Or this, which covers most of the world:
http://www.unco.edu/international/studyabroad/Documents/Grade%20Equivalencies.pdf
If you used to study in a French-patterned system, for instance, a 14/20 would place you in the top 20% in the country. Most students would pass with results in the 8 to 11 range. A 10 in a French-patterned system is a B.
IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO CONVERT NUMERICALLY.
For Americans, there’s no difference between 8/20 and 11/20, whereas in a French-patterned school the difference is huge (roughly C to B/B+ - from a student who’ll attend the equivalent of community college at 8, to a student who’ll attend the flagship at 11). Numbers are tied to specific meanings and percentages of achievement - this is also easy if you compare US percentages and Canadian percentages per province, with Quebec grading closer to the French and British Columbia grading closer to the Americans.
If your school isn’t used to foreign grading systems, you need to use the documents above and request -very politely but firlmy - that your transcript be done correctly. A British B (on a scale that goes to G) is an American A-/B+ and a British C is a B…
Ignorant people (who are sure they’re right because they never bothered checking information that’s a bit outside their usual) or being treated poorly due to misunderstanding/misinformation can be infuriating but you HAVE TO stay calm.
You may have to “lawyer up”, ie, bring a parent who will calmly explain to your GC that considering
1° you weren’t placed in ESL as is your right in the US AND
2° egregious mistakes were made when evaluating your transcript PLUS
3° despite several requests nothing was done to correct the mistakes
and 4° you suffered from racist bullying in their school,
they’re going to the principal and if nothing’s done quickly, they’ll hear from your lawyer. ( If it comes to that: Hire a lawyer for a couple hours and have him/her call the principal. It’ll cost about $300 but if your actual GPA is put back to what it used to be, it may mean thousands in savings at the college level when you get scholarships).
Your issue right now is that unless your GPA is brought back to normal (ie., proper evaluation of IGCSE results and recognition that non-foundation = honors classes) your application won’t be read. In addition, public universities in Texas only care about rank. You do need to get official copies of your IGCSE’s and other foreign results so that your colleges can read them.
If you like LACs, there are LOTS of possibilities, especially if you’re not dedicated to the idea of staying in Texas. Hendrix really is a good possibility, check it out - perhaps go visit. They’re used to international transcripts and may be able to give you a “read”.