<p>Hello everyone,</p>
<p>Can I interest you in a thread for European high school students (or their parents like myself) interested in studying in the United States? I see threads for international students, but I have a feeling we have our specific concerns here in Europe. </p>
<p>How to deal with GPA for instance, when most European schools don't do curves. How to ask teachers for recommendation letters when they are not used to writing them at all etc. </p>
<p>I went through this 2 years ago for my daughter, and I'm getting ready to do the same for my son, a high school junior. </p>
<p>Any tips from former applicants/parents most welcome.</p>
<p>Perseverance,</p>
<p>Have you found the International Students Forum yet? Here is the link: [International</a> Students - College Confidential](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/international-students/]International”>International Students - College Confidential Forums)</p>
<p>The best help to be had for a European student is at your own local office of EducationUSA. The counselors there are expert at helping students from your country find good places to study in the US. Start by reading through the entire website: [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/) Then click on “Find an Advising Center” and follow the links to locate a center close to where you live.</p>
<p>Some colleges and universities are familiar with the grading system in your country. If the ones on your list aren’t, they will probably ask that you get a formal evaluation of the secondary school transcript. There are a number of companies that do this. One that is accepted by most colleges and universities in the US is [World</a> Education Services - International Education Intelligence](<a href=“http://www.wes.org/]World”>http://www.wes.org/)</p>
<p>I do agree that it might be nice to have a sub-forum or permanent sticky-thread in the International Forum specifically for European students. If you scroll down to the bottom of the International Forum, you will find the forum’s moderators. Click on those names to send a message to them with your specific suggestion.</p>
<p>Good luck with everything!</p>
<p>Hi Perseverance, Good advice from Happymomof1. </p>
<p>For letters of recommendation I found a great resource on the MIT website </p>
<p>[MIT</a> Admissions | Info For Schools & Counselors: Writing Evaluations](<a href=“http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/schools/writing_evaluations/index.shtml]MIT”>http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/schools/writing_evaluations/index.shtml)</p>
<p>Its information for schools and counselors on writing recommendations. I made copies for my childrens teachers and explained to them that for American Universities the letters of recommendations needed to be more about the type of person my child was, rather than how they are in class (a much more European approach). This site gives example letters and tells why they are good or bad.<br>
I think most schools are able to convert European marking schemes and the schools are supposed to send a transcript table to help the University convert grades. Just make sure you keep on top of the counselor at your school to insure that the proper forms and proper information is being sent.
As you probably know EC’s are very important for acceptance into American Universities as is the Essay. The Essay is not a Personal Statement (such as UK Uni’s want) but an Essay that reveals to the adcoms something about your child that they might now know from transcripts, SAT’s or letters of Recs. A good book that we used quite often was
“On Writing the College Application Essay: The Key to Acceptance and the College of your Choice” by Harry Bauld
It’s an easy read and gives you an idea of what the Adcoms are looking for in an Essay or more importantly the process they go through reading them and why yours should be interesting!</p>
<p>Hope that helps, I will keep thinking of other stuff to help out, maybe some other readers have some advice. Good Luck!</p>