Do GCSEs Matter?

Student Lounge International Students
1

<p>Hi all,</p>

<p>I just got my GCSE results and will be taking the IB next year.</p>

<p>So I got 10 A* and an A in my GCSEs, which I'm happy with, but I'm curious to know whether they make any difference whatsoever to the college applications. I know that they do for the UK, but I wanted to know if it will affect my GPA or anything like that, or if it will even be acknowledged by US colleges.</p>

<p>Just to make it clear, I took the IGCSEs, which is the international GCSEs, since I don't live in the UK...</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

2

<p>I don't know about the top universities, but our guidance counselor says that we pretty much apply just on our GCSEs and all we have to do is finish our A levels. Our predicted A levels apparently don't count for much seeing as they're only predicted - I'm not sure about IB though. And then he stressed that the SAT will be valued more than our GCSEs. Have you tried asking your counselor?</p>

3

<p>I haven't asked yet because my school hasn't started yet, but I'll definitely make an inquiry when I get back to school. Thanks for the info, miraboo!</p>

4

<p>No problem. :) Oh, by the way, I read something about this on the college admissions board:</p>

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<p>Now I know you don't do A levels, but you get predicted IB grades right? They might play the same role as our AS grades/predicted A2 grades.</p>

5

<p>wow you took…11 IGCSE subjects in one year…?</p>

6

<p>Yes and no. You can use them to calculate your GPA but if you are offering A Levels, they would probably just look at them to see what grades you got etc. The truth is that, they only want SATs. US students only provide SATs, however they expect you to have gcses since you do them in your country.</p>

<p>If you look at most colleges they say GCSE and SATs. Only top places like HYP will want IB / A Level. I am applying with GCSE only this year and seeing how it goes - wish me luck.</p>

7

<p>thats not even true. US students provide not only SATs, but their HS GPA + AP results. saying schools “only want SATs” is VERY misleading.</p>

8

<p>It’s not misleading for internationals - schools like grinnell specifically state that if you are offering GCSEs then they expect you to also offer A Levels. Some schools state that they want GCSEs and SATs, others state that the requirements are the same as US students, but of course the only thing internationals have in common with US students are SATs.</p>

9

<p>I’ve done really bad on my IGCSEs D: Will that affect my chances even if I get mid-high 30s in IB?</p>