Few questions.

Student Lounge International Students
1

Hello, this is my second thread here and I want to say this forum is very helpful. I am a student from Poland (white, male) currently in my freshmen year), my parents earnings in dollars are 24.000$. Here are the questions:

In my previous thread I asked what extracurricular activities could I do since I had no idea what did I wanted to do. I was advised to join sport club, volunteer, work etc. So I decided I will:

Work in summer holidays, join an archery club, join drawing classes. When I go to high school (I know I said I am freshmen and I would be if I would live in US but in my country HS lasts 3 years) I want to join school newspaper (write it), and try to join student’s council and some club (idk what yet preferably something related to art).

I kind of don’t like volunteering (sorry if that makes me a bad person :P), but if that makes my college admission chances higher I guess I COULD do it… So, first question - are those extracurricular activities that good? Should I add something? Should I volunteer :c?

In my city there is no school that offers either IB or AP classes, will it hurt my application? Is there a way I can take AP or IB tests on my own? If so, should I?

For my aim (is that what you call it?) college I’ve chosen Trinity College, it has 33% admission rate so it’s not that bad, but do you know how hard it is to get in? Does it offer enough financial aid for me? Do you know some other nice colleges I could apply to? My dream college is Nortwestern University buuut… it’s extremely competitive and I don’t know if it offers enough financial aid. I will still apply though, nothing to lose :).

GPA in Poland is different too - Those are the grades:

1 (like F - 0-49%)
2 (like D - 50-59%)
3 (like C - 60-69%)
4 (like B - 70-79%)
5 (like A - 80-95/100%)
6 (like A+ I think… you get it when you have 100%, sometimes to get it you need to (in addition to having 100%) do super-hard extra exercise on test, or it’s not possible and you can get it for doing something extra in the subject, like winning chemistry olympics or something… depends on the teacher).

These grades and percentiles may vary from teacher and subject though. In Poland there are no + or - on the report cards (I think it’s called like that in US I’m not sure though). So for example you can get 4+ on the test but you can’t have 4+ on the end of the year report card. My GPA (in polish grades) is currently 4.87. I don’t know if that’s good enough. I will try to get it up too 5.0 but my physics teacher is harsh and I might end up with 4 from it, though I had 5 in the end of the semester.

One last question: there are two high schools that I’m thinking about - one is more competitive and overall harder and the other is a little less. I would like to pick the more competitive one but I don’t know if I can study for two big tests (one is SAT and the other is Polish high school ending test called “Matura” [from the word mature ;)] it’s a little harder from SAT I think) and TOEFL while maintaining 5.0 GPA and doing extracurricular activities and achieving something in the fields related to them. Unless I won’t sleep at night but I’m short and I want to grow some more and sleeping is necessary for it :stuck_out_tongue: So should I pick the easier one? It’s also closer to my home and I heard people there are nicer. It’s still has a good level of education it’s just not as rigor as the other one. Which one do you think I should choose?

Also do I need to take a lot of science subjects in high school? Like math, biology, chemistry, physics, geography. I can cope with math, biology and geography but I’m not so sure about the others. I will have them all in my first high school year since it’s like that in Poland so I thought it may be ok, or do I need to take all of them in all years?

OK if you have read all of that and will answer I want to thank you SOOO much I really appreciate it. I don’t really have anyone to ask those questions so my hope’s in you ;P. Sorry for any grammar mistakes if I missed any.

2

First, no one can predict your chances of getting in anywhere without your SAT or ACT score. That’s a very, very important factor and without it, it’s useless to speculate.

Second, your big problem won’t be getting in – but getting in WITH ENOUGH FINANCIAL AID to attend.

To be competitive for significant financial aid you have to have excellent grades, excellent SAT, ACT score, good ECs and – be lucky! For example, your chances are better if there aren’t any other Polish/Central European students applying the same year you are. Or if the school has no other Polish/Central European students.

I DOUBT that admissions committees in the US will be familiar enough with schools in your region to know you’re at the easier/harder school. What will be more important is your ranking at the school. You should be in the top 10% at least. Deciding to take easier courses could count against you: American schools make it clear that ‘rigor’ of classes is important, especially if you’re competing for financial aid money. In your position, I would pick the easier school, but take the most rigorous classes.

If you don’t want to volunteer, don’t. Concentrate on the ECs you mentioned.

By the way, Trinity College does accept many international students but many of them are internationally ranked squash players. Your search for schools should include ones that are located in areas less popular with international students: the south, the midwest, and central US. The popular east and west coast schools get thousands of qualified international applicants. Also, consider the lesser-known Catholic colleges and universities which may like that you’re from such a Catholic country.

3

You are a freshmen, so don’t worry. You have a plenty of time to plan. Just study hard.

  1. Colleges are aware that foreign students do not have as many EC opportunities as US students do.Do what you can and want. If AP/IB is not possible, can you take some kind of college credit class in Poland? Or, you can self teach something, like language or any other useful and fun skills. That is also EC. You don't have to be in some organizations or official groups to have EC.
  2. "I kind of don't like volunteering (sorry if that makes me a bad person ), but if that makes my college admission chances higher I guess I COULD do it.." -This is exactly what NOT to do. Officers are not clairvoyant but they can mostly tell if the applicants do stuff just for application filler. Focus on what you want to do.
  3. What do you want to study? Taking bunch of science/math classes doesn't get you in colleges. Again, take the classes you like, and make the best of them.
  4. TOEFL can be waived if your school is taught in English. Or, if you have certain Reading scores in SAT or ACT. The policies depend on each college, so you have to ask them individually. I would recommend ACT though.
  5. Money is No.1 issue for international students because in most of states, you wont be eligible of in state tuition(depends on visa though), and FA/scholarships for foreign students are limited. 24k per year is not enough at all. Your bet is to get the best GPA and high SAT or ACT scores for merit scholarship.
4

Thank you (again) for you response you are a really nice person :slight_smile: I’ll try to search for those schools you mentioned. However what do you think about my grades?

In polish educational system in sophomore year of high school you pick 2 to 4 ‘expanded’ subjects. Of course I will take 4. I thought about maths, biology, geography and history. Do you think that if I switch history for physics it will be better? I personally think it’s more variated with history. I’m not really sure though if I can ‘expand’ 4 or only 3. If only 3, is maths, biology and history good? I really don’t want physics… :c

5

How do your grades compare to other students at your school? If you’re in the top 10%, you should be OK.

As for the expanded subjects, pick what you’re interested in, and do very, very well in it.

6

To Katliamom - Well there is no such thing as school percent in Poland, but I think with 5.0 I will be in 10% of the students in my school. I am third in my class, there are 3 classes my age at my school so I should fit right in :P. However does the school rank matter only from last year of HS or all years? And if my school doesn’t provide such information how do I give it to college?

To Paul2752 - there is no such thing as college credit classes, sadly. I want to study media arts (computer graphics, drawing, art, movie making etc). And my school isn’t taught in english neither. About the SAT - I thought that international students can’t take ACT? Am I wrong? Thank you very much too I seem to start to understand how everything works. About the self teaching - how do I write it on college app - “100 hours on Duolingo”? :stuck_out_tongue: I like self teaching does but it really count as EC?

7

I don’t know what countries offer ACT, but ACT IS offered internationally with different dates.

Yes, EC is ANYTHING you do outside the school for your OWN ENRICHMENT.

Each country has different school ssytem so if you are like top 10%, then it is pretty good enough.
Also, you can provide rank IF YOU CAN. No one will penalize you for not having one.

8

I’m not sure that this is true. In the absence of a class rank or a distribution of GPAs, colleges have no idea how to interpret grades. If at all possible, your school report should state an approximate rank at least. “XXX was among the best students in his year.” or “XXX was an average student, probably half-way between our best and our worst students.” or something like that.

9

Oh, my statement was based on the assumption that the colleges understand Poland’s grading system, therefore can tell how academically better OP is compared to others. Won’t the colleges have such data?

10

Knowing how much grading standards vary between schools in Germany (even though everything is meant to be standardized) as well as the US (which doesn’t even pretend that an A means the same everywhere), I am doubtful that raw grades anywhere carry much meaning.

11

In certain countries, like mine, junior year finals are centralized (everybody takes the same [non multiple choice] test, and the tests are all graded by the same authority). Is that the case with Poland? If yes, then I doubt that ranks would be needed.

12

There is that sort of test. I take it this year and in senior year, so I don’t think it’s of any use.