<p>I went to a high school in New Zealand and took A-Levels Bio, Chem, Physics, Maths and AS English Language. I got great CIE A-Levels results for the science subjects (3A*'s and 1A), OK-ish SAT 1 (2310), nice SAT 2 (800 Physics, 800 Math 2, 800 Chem), good IELTS and TOEFL scores (8.5 and 118 respectively). The thing is my high school transcript is full of terrible raw marks for school exams in science subjects even though I ranked high (1st or 2nd). My English grades are even more worrying; I even got 40% for one of the school exams as I went off the topic. In New Zealand, only A-Levels are considered for the university entrance. I'm not sure how U.S universities will look at this. Based on what people say transcript is the most important, I probably will get rejected instantly due to those raw marks, especially in English. Is it still worth trying to apply to elite schools?</p>
<p>You should not worry too much about it as long as your GC explains the tough grading system at your school. By any chance you know your class rank?</p>
<p>The fact that you say your a 2310 is ok-ish makes me not like you. That stuff makes people think you’re a dick. A 2400 won’t open any doors that a 2310 won’t. I speak from experience, I scored a 2330. </p>
<p>If your school ranks, and you really are first or second, then you have absolutely nothing to worry about. Especially if your school is big. If it does not rank, make sure you explain how difficult the grading system is. </p>
<p>Otherwise, spend time worrying about your essays and other parts of your application. </p>
<p>Perhaps OP use OK-ish to described 2310 in SAT as it is OverKill. ;)</p>
<p>@billcsho I ranked first or second for all of my science subjects but the counselor did not provide the ranking for the English class in the report. I think she did put in the exam mean though and I’m screwed up right there as the 40% is below the mean. She did put in my circumstances as studying next to native speakers and all that stuff.
@Esat936 Hi there, thank you for your input but please don’t call other people a dick.</p>
<p>@billcsho hahaha you are funny. Sorry for coming across as arrogant, the reason is that I took SAT classes at a centre and people there are super achievers. My score in comparison with theirs is good but nothing extraordinary so I am used to thinking of it that way.</p>
<p>Oh, I scored a B for my CIE AS English Language btw.</p>