Confused International Student - Please Read.

Applying to College
1

Alright, my questions are regarding American high schools, particularly the grading system and class level distribution.

I’m originally from Russia, but I have been living in Thailand most of my life. I studied at the Russian Embassy in Bangkok, which is a small, private school. My classes never had more than 10 people and it was basically 1 on 1 tutoring with teachers and professors from Russia. We have a 5 point grading scale, ranging from 1 (worst) to 5 (best) without +'s or -'s, whereas the American system uses A,B,C,D,F on a 4 point scale including +'s and -'s. American high schools have various levels for classes, such as Honors, Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate courses.

My school never had “levels” or even optional classes. In my senior year I took 18 classes, all of which were part of the curriculum: Algebra, Geometry, Geography, Literature, Russian, English, Technology, Physics, Chemistry, Ecology, PE, Sociology, World History, Russian History, Biology, and some others. Thus, I don’t know if I should count classes on a weighted or unweighted scale, especially considering the fact that I was part of an accelerated learning program for gifted students, so my classes were extra hard and I had to do more work, but I graduated high school when I was 15. I can’t compare the rigor of my classes to those in America, but I know students from very expensive and highly regarded international schools based on the American system, and the classes that they were taking in the 12th grade - I was taking in 8th (11 in total in Russia). Should I count them as honor level? Because, if I do, my GPA comes out as 4.08, but if I do normal unweighted it’s around 3.77.

Right now I’m studying at the only American univeristy in southeast Asia - Webster University (main campus in St.Louis). Most of the introductory classes have things that I’ve already studied or at least briefly touched upon in high school, especially college-level Calculus. It’s a pretty good university, but there’s simply not enough variety and funding. It doesn’t require standardized test scores, so you meet all sorts of students here - from utter stoners who only care about getting a passing grade and, ultimately, a degree VS. people very few people like me who are willing to study hard, but don’t have a choice of Universities (Thai ones are horrible). I’m planning to do ACT’s in December/January, expecting a 33+ composite score.

Anyway, how do I calculate my courses and academic achievement? If I do get a good ACT score, do I have a chance of going to, say, Brown University if I apply ED as a freshman and also get fantastic recommendations (both high school and university) + marvelous essay?

Thanks for reading! I appreciate any comments.

2

<p>Depending on the Number of credits you have you may not be able to aply as a freshman, you may have to apply as a transfer student.</p>

<p>You already know that the international pool of applicants is a very competitive one. Should you need Financial aid, remember that aid is very limited to International students, so you need to apply for aid when you apply for admissions because if you do not you will not be eligible for aid in subsequent years.</p>

<p>I would suggest that you thouroughly read Browns booklet for International students to better help you understand their admission process.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.brown.edu/Administration/Admission/applyingtobrown/BR_INTL.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.brown.edu/Administration/Admission/applyingtobrown/BR_INTL.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>You already know that you must take the ACT with writing in addition to the TOEFL</p>

<p>In addition to yur application you will have to send your transcripts high school and college. have people from your high school ever attended college in the u.s. ? I am sure that the teacher or the administrator would give a write-up explaining your educational system which would be included with your transcript and recommendations.</p>

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<p>Well, as far credits, I'm willing to give them up in order to receive financial aid. There aren't any college prep programs in Thailand, so I decided to do the next best thing and just study at an American university. Most universities don't give financial aid to international transfer students or, even worse, don't accept them.</p>

<p>Thanks for the booklet link, but I've already read it. I've done a fair amount of research about colleges in America, especially top ones.</p>

<p>Do I have to take take the TOEFL if I get a high score on the English/Writing part of the ACT? Because for the SAT, if you get over a 600 - you don't have to, don't know if it applies to the ACT.</p>

<p>As far as my high school teachers attending colleges in the U.S. - no, but my professors at Webster are mostly American, perhaps a collaborative project? I have very good relationships with my professors, so I'm planning to get some recommendations from them, as well as the university rector who also teaches some graduate classes.</p>

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<p>Pavel,</p>

<p>You are making contradictory statements. IF you have attended college in Thailand, you really don't have the "option of giving up your credits" the college ulitimately decides if your credits are equivalent to their credits. </p>

<p>Have you completed more less than 2 years of study? </p>

<p>Because of the number of credits you have accumulated, you may be a transfer student because you are an international student attending a U.S.. university. </p>

<p>I'm sorry I meant to ask did you have students at your high school who applied to colleges in the U.S.? I am quite sure that the teachers and administrators at the high school and at your current college are familiar with the process.</p>

<p>Since the process only makes reference to the SAT and you are not taking the SAT, but the ACT you would most likely still have to take the TOEFL (better to be safe than sorry).</p>

<p>The big question is will you need a lot of aid because Brown is not need blind to international students so your ability to pay will be a factor in the admissions process.</p>

5

<p>No, I've been in college for half a year. The main reasons why I wanted to go an American college would be to familiarize myself with the American system and see if I could manage college level classes, since admissions staff at Webster were skeptical about a 15 year old student. I don't want my age to be a factor when applying to colleges in the US, so I can prove I'm ready by not only getting good grades in a Russian high school, but in an American college as well. </p>

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"you really don't have the "option of giving up your credits" the college ulitimately decides if your credits are equivalent to their credits."

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</p>

<p>True, but I want to apply as a freshman, not as a transfer student. I want a full, 4 year, undergraduate experience from a top school in America. I always have the option of getting my undergraduate and masters degrees at Webster, but I want to see if I at least have a chance at a top school abroad.</p>

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[quote]
I'm sorry I meant to ask did you have students at your high school who applied to colleges in the U.S.?

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<p>No, most students went back to Russia. We simply don't have any guidance counselors or people who are familiar with the American system in our school. Besides, most students aren't qualified enough to go to America, since their English is not that good or they simply didn't study hard enough. I would probably be the first in my school braking the boundary.</p>

<p>
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Since the process only makes reference to the SAT and you are not taking the SAT, but the ACT you would most likely still have to take the TOEFL (better to be safe than sorry).

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</p>

<p>Yeah, I'll probably have to, but I'm not worried about it. My English is fairly good and I had to take an English as Second Language test (very similiar to TOEFL) to get into Webster.</p>

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The big question is will you need a lot of aid because Brown is not need blind to international students so your ability to pay will be a factor in the admissions process.

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</p>

<p>My family is not rich and Thailand is a very cheap country, especially when it comes to living costs, but my parents are willing to pay up to 30-50% of the costs, so the more aid - the better. That's why I want to apply early, especially since Brown received a hefty 100 million dollar donation recently and is going to spend it on aid.</p>

6

<p>The majority of that 100 million dollars worth of aid is most likely going to U.S. citizens/permanent residents in the form of a revamp FA process for low income students that will eliminate some of the loans, the increased grants to remove the work study obligation for freshmen student and to better meet the 100% demonstrated need for admitted u.s. citizens.</p>

<p>You already know that yo have to have less than 2 years to be considered a freshman. will this be a problem should you have to sit out the next term inorder to meet the requirements for freshman admissions?</p>

<p>But anyway toss your hat in the ring and see what pans out because if you don't apply you have a 100% chance of not be accepted. all the best ot you with the process.</p>

7

<p>Good point and thanks for the advice.</p>

<p>But I still don't know how I should calculate my grades and whatnot...</p>

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<p>My gpa is very low and my sat is high though , i also have my own non profit that is collaborating with a high school in my neighborhood. what are chances of getting into UF. Im also applying out of state.</p>