I’m currently a senior at a selective high school in Australia and am planning on applying early to Yale at the end of this year. Throughout high-school I’ve received (almost) straight As and very positive teacher comments. This year I chose to take the highest level of mathematics (also the hardest subject available) which consists of two courses - ext.1 and ext.2. There’s a trap that many students who do this level fall into in focusing all of their energy into the harder course (ext.2) and neglecting the easier, and less fun, ext.1. I fell into this trap. Hard. while I received an A in ext.2 and ranked quite well (20/60something, top class/bracket at a selective, maths-focused school), I received a C in ext. 1. My teacher comment says that I’m incredibly diligent in class and hardworking, and because of that my ext.1 result is disappointing. Will admissions officers disregard my application because of this? Or consider it a blip and try to understand? I am hopeful that because of my academic history, attitude, and success in the harder course they will consider it a weird outlier, but others I’ve asked haven’t been as optimistic given the competitive and fast-paced nature of the application process. If it will impact my application, will bringing my grade up to a higher C/B for my final grade (I plan to do this anyway) improve my chances? With how each exam is scaled, unfortunately an A is not possible.
For context, I am very humanities based with a focus on writing, visual arts, and music, with very strong extracurriculars (president of 3 student groups, founder of 2 - student run magazine and poetry club, ‘Honour Blue’ - the highest school academic achievement award, 4 musical ensembles, 3 instruments, public speaking and environmental awards, position on editing team and publication in literary anthology, professional graphic design and illustration work, exhibition in regional art gallery etc.). I take maths for fun so it is by no means my applications ‘spike.’
All input is appreciated,
Thanks so much! 
Understand first that being an international student already puts you at a disadvantage in applying to any elite US university where the admissions rate for US students is already single digit. That being said, these schools apply “holistic” admissions standards so 1 bad grade can be overcome with an otherwise stellar application. I would be much more concerned that your rank is 20/60 if I understand your post correctly. If your goal is to study in the US, you need to match your academic record (grades and test scores) against the published standards of entering freshmen for the schools you are interested in. Google “Common Data Set xyz [college]”. Also visit the schools’ webpages to see their policy towards international students, including the availability of financial aid. Yale is “need blind” for international students, but many universities are not.
Thank you so much for the speedy response!
I’m glad they take a holistic approach
At our school we don’t receive a cumulative rank, only ranks for each subject. 20/60 (160 in the grade) is my rank in the hardest maths course at a selective school (top 10%) so is not as dire as a raw 20 seems. I’ll check out the common data set.
I’m a dual citizen so am hoping to bypass the toll of being “needs blind” for international students on the acceptance rate, but still having an overseas upbringing and experience.
Your final grade is what matters, or if you have several grades on your report card the last one must show an upward trend.
That info said, adcoms know that an Australian C is not an American C. They WILL need a description of each “ext” class (discrete math? Multivariable calculus? Linear algebra??).
Finally, regardless of your record, you’re competing against the best students in the world - ie., Students like yourself everywhere - so find more colleges to apply to. Get a Fiske guide and start reading. Divide acceptance rates in two to have an idea of the international selectivity.