I was grown up in China and I moved to US in my high school freshmen year (after the school already started). I found out it is very difficult to catch up academically because of my language-problem. In addition my counselor chose very easy class for me at the begging so I need to take a lot of extra courses. I tried very hard and take as many and hard classes as I can. Will college ever consider my difficulties and make a little bit easier for my admission? How big the difference is between different colleges?
Do you have US permanent residency or citizenship? That is the biggest direct factor.
Indirect factors could be things like your skill in English and another language.
I’m a US citizen
Not the most selective colleges, no. After all, their classes won’t be made easier if you attend.
The ACT will begin allowing English learners additional time in testing. That should be huge for you because it is very had to get up to native speaker speed. http://www.act.org/content/act/en/newsroom/act-to-provide-supports-for-english-learners-on-the-act-test-.html
I believe any of the colleges that practice holistic admissions will take it into account.
(In my experience, selective colleges absolutely do not make any allowances to help lower-fluency applicants. Quite the opposite. Source: I’ve been teaching in Asia for 15 years.)
@marvin100 is right; although i’m sure some schools are willing to consider your circumstances, most schools have tons of fluent international students applying each year and they are, in my experience as an international student, unwilling to make exceptions or special considerations for students who aren’t as fluent in english. in fact, i’ve seen many students get denied from top schools because they had taken ESL courses, and international students are often told not to take easier courses for this reason. you may find admission to a tippy-top college to be very difficult; however, look at schools with a large international student population (drexel university / some UCs / penn state / arizona state are prime examples) because they are usually quite willing to overlook weaknesses.
Fluency they probably won’t be too forgiving about but if you do well on TOEFL senior year they* absolutely will cut you slack on earlier bad grades
*i.e. colleges that practice holistic admission like the most selective schools do
The most selective schools need kids ready to hit the ground running. What we can’t tell from OP’s post is just how much he/she has now caught up. If the record has improved significantly (other than freshman year,) he has knocked himself out and achieved at top levels, that’s one thing. If he is still lagging, it doesn’t suggest actual competitiveness in the college classroom at a most selective college.
And there can be some issue when the TOEFL is good, but actual written skills in the app aren’t. Or if LoRs, eg, mention a lang issue.
So OP, you need to tell us more. GPA, rigor, scores, activities? What sort of college would you like? There are many colleges where you can continue to be challenged and grow. What you can afford will also be an issue.
New SAT score: 1420
Math: 780
Reading&writting: 640
SAT subject math 2: 800
SAT subject physics: 800
Weighted GPA: 3.98
Unweighted GPA: 3.76
—Freshman----
ALGEBRA II HON------------A+
EARTH SCIENCE I-----------A+
ENGL SECOND LANG III-- B+
ENGLISH 9 (College Prep) B+
HEALTH and PE 9 ------------A
HS ADV BAND ---------------A
WH AND G I (College Prep) B-
—sophmore—
A: biology, advanced band, marching band, precalculus honor, tech drawing
A-: chemistry honor, english 10, french 1
—junior—
A/A+: AP calc AB, AP physics 1, Economic, health and PE, advanced band, marching band,
A-: advanced engineering honor, english 11, french 2
B+: US history
B: US government
—Senior—
AP physics 2, AP calculus BC, AP computer science A, AP statistics, advanced band, jazz band, english 12, french 3, marching band
I have guranteed A for all AP classes this year except statistics, which will at least be a B+; I also have B in French 3); other classes are likely to become A(-).
I got 2 second prize and 2 third prize award in Chinese national airplane model competition in elementary school and I have done some material science research in James Madison University (this opportunity didn’t come from a high school program). I also got in district band in my junior year. My marching band got some descent awards including a 16th-ish place in a 3-state competition (WBA) when I was in it.
Applying to Virginia Tech, Penn State, UC Berkeley and I’m thinking about MIT (but I feel I shouldn’t try at all)