<p>So I applied to the University of California system two weeks back. I have excellent SATs, SATIIs, ECs, etc.</p>
<p>At my school, we have a full-term based grading system (instead of having teachers give us semester-based grades, we have an examination conducted at the end of the year by an external examination board which decides our final grade for that year). </p>
<p>However, one month before the actual exam, our school conducts a "practice" exam session. Also, there are mid-year exams, but the general thoughts is that these school exams don't really matter, as our final end-of-year exams solely decide our actual grades.</p>
<p>When I applied to the UC system, my counselor told me to only put in the grades I received in the external end-of year exams. However, as I apply to my common app schools, my counselor has informed me that my transcript will consist of the school-based exam grades ONLY, and the final external exam grades will be listed "separately" (not on the school transcript).</p>
<p>So has my counselor essentially screwed me over? When I do get accepted to a UC, will my admission be rescinded because of the fact that I did not list the grades on my "official transcript?"</p>
<p>Thing is, my school is an international school, and only one other person besides me has applied to UC. So I’m not sure if the adcoms would understand this. I’m just worried about the fact that I did not put down all of the grades on my transcript onto the application. Those grades are really bad in comparison to my official grades, so I’m thinking that the adcoms won’t take that very lightly.</p>
<p>Which counselor? Is this someone at your school, or someone in the advising office at EducationUSA? [EducationUSA</a> | Study Abroad, Student Visa, University Fairs, College Applications and Study in the U.S. / America](<a href=“http://www.educationusa.info/]EducationUSA”>http://www.educationusa.info/)</p>
<p>It is OK for you to email the international admissions officers at the universities that you are interested in, and ask them how you should report your grades. They are the experts on this topic.</p>
<p>I’m not positive that I’m understanding you, but for the UC system you are not required to send your transcript until you have actually accepted the offer to a UC school (they only require the transcript to enroll). My S was accepted to UCSC and UCSB and he didn’t have to send transcripts, only self-reporting unless he accepted the slots. I don’t think it would be different for an international student. So, UC decisions come out in March and April, right? I think you can accept a slot in May 1 (?) but still have a bit of time to send your transcript. You may be able to accept a slot and just wait to send the transcript until the actual end of the year. Will your transcript be ok by May or June? Post this question in the CA forums too and see if this is correct though. I’m just going from my memory last year which dates could be off.</p>
<p>I stand corrected, it is different for international students. I see why the panic. They do ask for copies, …your counselor should have known this :(. You could send the optional Statement of Explanation? See below…</p>
<p>From UC international application instructions page:</p>
<p>Academic records</p>
<p>Sometimes it takes a significant amount of time for us to receive records from schools abroad. To help speed consideration of your application, we recommend that you make legible photocopies of your official academic records. After you submit your undergraduate application, you may be requested to send your copies to the Office of Undergraduate Admissions at each campus to which you have applied.</p>
<p>If you are admitted, we must receive an official academic record directly from each institution you attended, beginning with grade nine and up to and including the school or college/university you currently attend. Each academic record must list the:</p>
<p>dates you attended the institution;
titles of courses and examinations you completed;
grades (marks) you received;
credit, hours or units earned;
any degree or diploma you may have received. Diplomas or certificates you received for completing government and university examinations must show the subjects you passed and the grades received.
Statement of explanation</p>
<p>Occasionally, prospective students aren’t able to provide adequate records, have unexplained absences in their records or have been out of school for a significant length of time. In those instances, we ask that you help us understand your situation by detailing it in a Statement of Explanation.</p>