<p>COUNTRY
COLLEGES YOU WANT TO APPLY TO
SAT I & II SCORES (IF AVAILABLE)
ECS
AND YOUR ASSERTIONS ON THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS:</p>
<li><p>Do you think that the admission comitees acknowledge the fact that the European schools are (no offence) harder than the common American ones? Will they evaluate our grades (which are normally not perfect, even if one is a top student with a high rank) in terms of these circumstances?</p></li>
<li><p>What do you think about honors/ecs? Do you feel capable of competing with American students who have tons of comittments, awards and ECS? It is common knowledge that European schools do not have as many clubs and opportunities as American ones do. Do you think this aspect will be considered by the comitees? </p></li>
</ol>
<p>Americans, please feel free to let us know your assertions.
Looking forward to your opinions.</p>
<p>My D is an American who applied this year from Europe (where she grew up).</p>
<p>AdComs know that European courses are harder and grading is tougher--they have at least one person who specializes in the International Apps and is familiar with the European educational systems in at least a few countries. They also know that opportunities for ECs and awards are more limited. If you apply from a country where they have several applicants, they will compare you with them and try to take the best one or two (or more--depending on size of the college's entering class). If you are the only one to apply from a country that they consider "exotic" that increases your chances too.</p>
<p>I applied to USC, UVA, Brown, UCB and now going to Berkeley.
European courses such as language courses are much tougher, and americans don't know it. Just write a killer essay!!!</p>
<p>I am from Austria and I am starting at Smith College this Fall. I needed a lot of financial aid(my parents can only afford around 8000 a year). </p>
<ol>
<li>I don't think it is impossible to have perfect grades. I went to a very academic High School and the teachers expected a lot but it was possible to get perfect grades if you learn a lot and attend classes. The top students of my class go to schools like Cambridge, LSE, Paris06...and they all had perfect grades.</li>
</ol>
<p>2.It all depends on the person. I think if you want to have the EC and honors you can get them(a least in austria). I held several leadership positions, started my own clubs, played on sportsteams on national level...It is harder to do than in the US but possible...I don't know how much admission officers consider that...</p>
<p>My school has a 75% failure rate (meaning out of everyone who starts as a freshman only 25% finish in 4 years, the others either drop out or have to retake one or two years)</p>
<p>I also have an extra year of high school.</p>
<p>My grading system is out of 6 (6 being the best - perfect - impossible to get). An honour grade is a 5. Under 4 is failing.</p>
<p>You're allowed to fail up to 3 classes by a certain margin because it's virtually impossible not to.</p>
<p>BY THE WAY - The #1 person in my year has a 5.5 average. That's the absolute highest. Basically an A++</p>
<p>American schools don't give Swiss students credit for the extra year they take unless they get 5 or over on their certificate. I think that's rediculous as they give credit to UK students who get down to an E on the A-Levels!</p>
<p>So yeah, I'm applying ED to George Washington U, and a bunch of others...</p>
<p>I'm from Switzerland, and I will attend Wellesley this fall (I also applied to Bryn Mawr, Smith, Mt Holyoke, Princeton and Wesleyan College in GA).</p>
<p>As newfoundgirlie said, it is really quite impossible to get perfect grades here, and I felt that it was taken into consideration. When I had my interview, my interviewer seemed to know the Swiss gymnasium/lycee system, and knew that it isn't possible to get a 6 average. However, you should never forget that at least attending a gymnasium in Switzerland (at least in the canton of Zurich) basically means that you are automatically in the top 15 or so % of your age group.</p>
<p>I agree with usjo2 that it is still possible to have a number of ECs here, even though it might be harder to maintain. Also, I felt as if being passionate about one or two things might be more appreciated by colleges than doing 20 ECs at the time. </p>
<p>Apart from those two factors where Europeans might seem slightly disadvantaged, I feel that we also have some huge benefits, like usually knowing three or four languages, more exposure to cultural diversity etc.</p>
<p>Well, I don't know, of course. I just felt that the people who interviewed me seemed quite impressed with it. But, after all, who really knows what colleges really want?</p>
<p>However, you should never forget that at least attending a gymnasium in Switzerland (at least in the canton of Zurich) basically means that you are automatically in the top 15 or so % of your age group.</p>
<p>Really? That's cool, but I know that schools only gave my brother credit for the extra year of high school (in Geneva we have until 13th grade) if he got 5 or more on the maturit</p>
<p>I'm a diplomat kid from Sweden living in Washington, DC. I go to an international school and take a full IB Diploma courseload, so I can't really comment on European grading scales. My SAT I score is a 2270<a href="800CR,%20760M,%20710W">/b</a>; I have a **750 on the Literature SAT II and an 800 in French. I'm the photography editor and news and features editor of my school paper, ride horses, do black and white photography and other miscellaneous art, write, volunteer at a local hospital, that sort of thing. I'm academically "undecided" and am just as likely to major in anthropology as in neuroscience.</p>
<p>I haven't narrowed down my list yet, but schools I'm interested in--in alphabetical order, because I'm anal like that--are Bates, Bowdoin, Brown, Bryn Mawr, Carleton, Colby, Colgate, University of Chicago, Dartmouth, Grinnell, Kenyon, Macalester, Middlebury, MIT, Oberlin, Pomona, Princeton, Scripps, Stanford, Swarthmore, Wellesley, and Williams.</p>
<p>I feel like a bit of an impostor here considering I don't actually live in Europe anymore, but I do get the "international" stamp in admissions and all the grief that comes with it. Nice to "meet" you! :p</p>