Confused international student!

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - GENERAL
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<p>Hi! As a somewhat confused international student, I was wondering if anyone could answer some questions for me regarding the A-G requirements and the UC GPA!</p>

<p>1) Does the a-g requirements apply to international students as well, and what happens if I’m not able to fulfill some of the requirements? As a Norwegian student, US History is not a part of my curriculum at all, and neither is visual and performing arts. However, I play in a orchestra/concert band, and have done so for 10 years - could this in any way be able to compensate for the lack of this requirement? </p>

<p>2) Could anyone point out if there are any other requirements that I’m missing? Since I’m a rising senior, at least I still have some time to get things straight… Oh, and btw, there is no such thing as honors or AP courses in Norway. </p>

<p>VG1 (year 1 out of 3):

  • Norwegian: Oral, written and new Norwegian (5,5,5)*
  • English (5)
  • French (5)*
  • PE (4)*
  • Mathematics T1 (5)
  • Geography (5)
  • Natural Sciences (kind of an introduction to chemistry, biology and physics) (5)
  • Social Sciences (5)</p>

<p>VG2:

  • Norwegian (same as above) (5,4,4)*
  • International English: oral and written (2 separate grades) (5,5)
  • French (5)
  • PE (4)*
  • History (6)*
  • Mathematics S1 (5)
  • Psychology (5) + oral exam (seperate grade, also 5)
  • Chemistry 1 (5)</p>

<p>Planned schedule for VG3:

  • Norwegian (same as above)
  • English: social studies (also two grades)
  • History
  • PE
  • Mathematics S2
  • Religion and ethics
  • Chemistry 2</p>

<p>3) One of the things that confuses me the most, is how I’m supposed to convert and calculate my grades into the UC GPA. So far, I’ve gotten the grades listed above. (6 and 5=A, 4=B, 3=C, 2=D, 1=F). The grades marked with * are not terminal grades, and can still be changed. This makes my cumulative GPA so far 4.0 (or 3.82 if you count the courses that aren’t finished yet.) How does the UC GPA differ from the “regular” one? </p>

<p>I’m just realizing how long and boring this post is, and I should probably stop now before I bore someone to death…</p>

<p>I would be SUPER grateful if anyone could help me out!</p>

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<p>Hejsan! I am not sure if the a-g requirements apply in full to international students because they require US History, which you can’t expect internationals to take. But you look like you have most of them anyway, with really good grades. There is a fine art requirement, but you said you’re in Orchestra, which would cover it in America so I assume you are covered.</p>

<p>As for UC GPA: I dont know if you’re familiar with US grading, but it goes like this: You can get A,B,C,D, or F in classes. You can also get a + or - attached to either; i.e. an A+ is better than an A is better than an A-. So, the UC GPA takes those into account. So basically an A or A+ is a 4.0, an A- is 3.7, a B+ is 3.3, a B is 3.0, a B- is 2.7, A C+ is 2.3, a C is 2.0, a C- is 1.7, A D+ is 1.3, a D is 1.0, and a D- and F are both 0.0. So I don’t know if you’d be able to calculate + or - with the Norwegian style of grading, so you could have a 4.0–which would be amazing.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>