Hey everyone! I am an 11th grader in the french system.
I plan on starting my undergraduate studies in computer engineering in the US in fall 2020, so I should start applying to universities this year. However, I’m not sure how universities in the US consider our grades which are on a scale of 20, since pretty much all US schools use the GPA system. I was wondering whether I had a shot at getting into a top school in the United States. Here are some of my stats:
-Série S
-I got an average between 17 and 18 on almost all trimesters (except 2 on which I got a 16.75) between 9th grade and the second trimester of 11th grade.
(I still didn’t finish the 3rd trimester of my 11th grade year so I don’t know what I’ll get in my final trimester or in my bac)
- I have a 1250(640 in english and 610 in maths) on my SAT but I plan on improving my score since I didn’t really get to study for it.
-I didn’t take a TOEFL yet but I plan on taking it this summer.
- I speak 3 languages fluently and I’m taking optional spanish courses at school as a 4th language (I don’t know if this can increase my chances)
- I do some other activities like playing the violin and I’m in my school’s female soccer team.
Thanks a lot and I hope all of you have an amazing day!
Every single AO at a major US university knows the French grading system.You report your grades on the 20 point scale- don’t convert.
No
Your grades are great, but your SAT is far too low; you really need to be closer to 700/700 (ideally 750/750) to be competitive. Also, you don’t say if you need financial aid. If you do, that will limit your choices somewhat. Even still, the acceptance rate for international applicants at many top schools is roughly half the overall rate.
I’m assuming you are also exploring the many excellent options in France.
Okay, I’ll try to practice for the SAT as much as I can to get the best possible score. Thank you so much for your answer, it was very helpful!
Please talk to your parents now about what they are willing to pay for US college. It is a very confusing system (even for us) and very expensive.
US colleges know the French grading system. Basically anything 14+ is an A and while the Top 25 hope for a mention TB they don’t just focus on this. They want your class rank (basically, if you’re aiming for a top 25 university/LAC you better be the best student they’ve had in years, or be at least the best in your whole filière).
But what matters MORE than 14. v. 15. 17 is what you do in your limited free time. You can’t just be at home doing homework. You should be out changing the world, making a positive impact in your town or neighborhood, training to be the best in a sport or a musical instrument or chess…
Take the ACT, French students tend to do better on this (the questions are more straightforward and the questions match the French curriculum a bit better).
Typically, French students are trained at analyzing elegantly and the SAT/ACT ask you to check something quickly, so they often do very badly compared to what their French grades would let one expect. Overcoming that handicap is going to take hard work. If you score below 1400 many meet need colleges won’t be within reach, nor merit scholarships.
Being at the end of 1e, you’re already “late”, in that the students I work with tend to start working toward their goal in 2e. Most of your activities are already set so if you haven’t spontaneously done something extraordinary on your own, it’s going to be tough.
Get a Princeton Review’s Best Colleges. This book contains roughly the top 10% of colleges. Start reading.
There are 3,700 colleges in the US, so Top 100 National Universities and Top 125 National LACs + Top 10-15 Regional universities in each region are excellent (from above Grande Ecole to Grande Ecole to excellent IUT/Ecole/Prepa).