So those of you who do the British system would know that GCSEs are a two year course from year 10 to year 11 (which is grade 9 to grade 10- freshman and sophomore years). So when we first start the course, we are assessed at the same level we would be in two years time, and for those two years we work towards a single exam. During those two years, I received a considerable number of As and Bs (and even a couple of Cs at the start), however, this was quite early on in the course and all of these grades did not involve coursework. In my final exam, 6/10 of my subjects involved coursework. In the actual GCSEs therefore, I got 9A*s and 1A. I want to apply to Stanford, but I was wondering if my transcript would disadvantage me alot?
My school transcripts are based entirely on internal exams, while GCSE is a public qualification, and I ended up doing better in those. Would GCSEs be weighted as more than my school transcript since they are public exams and well recognised, while school exams are internal?
Also, do they count As and A*s differently?
Thanks.
Foe students in British patterned schools, you don’t need to send internal examinations since they obey different rules. What colleges need is
- official GCSE results
- official As level results
- predicted A Level results
My school sends everything, but my GCSE, AS and A level predictions are quite good! If everything is sent, will they mostly only consider those?
My school sends everything, but my GCSE, AS and A level predictions are quite good! If everything is sent, will they mostly only consider those?
They’ll consider everything so you need your GC to explain exactly how they scale intermediate evaluations - eg., some schools consider that since you’ve studied only 30% of the material by evaluation 1, the highest grade is 30%… This type of thing has to be indicated. It’s because schools do things so oddly and differently one from the other with regard to intermediate GCSE evaluations that colleges would rather dispense with them and just look at GCSE results. BUT if your school sends everything it has to explain how they do things.
The typical college will look at GCSE for evidence of well-roundedness and continued excellence but actual potential more through actual AS results and predicted A Levels.
I got mostly As and Bs, but my GC will explain that those grades are marked with different grade boundaries to the actual exam, and none of them includes coursework marks. Also, in a few subjects, the highest achievable grade in the first year was a B. And in the first term they give a broad indication- e.g. A-B.
My GC is happy to explain this, but if I have strong grades in AS, GCSE and predicted grades, and good SAT and subject SATs, which are external exams, will they look past a few Bs on my transcript, especially if they are explained?
Yes as long as the explanation is included you’re fine.
Remember to include a mix of colleges since admissions don’t just try to have scholarships but a community of people who will each contribute to life on campus.