GPA and school system disparities

<p>I recently moved from Canada to the US in my sophomore year. In Canada, there were no honors or AP classes offered. However, the workload was not that much different than what you'd get in a 9th grade honors level class. So although I got all A's in my freshman year, the absence of honors/AP weighting from grade 9 currently kills my GPA, despite that I am taking many AP/honors classes this year (one of the most in the school). I think this is unfair because one school's grading system should not carry over to another's when a student switches schools, especially if it's internationally, and especially if there is no basis for comparison. I simply had no opportunity to take those classes that everyone else in my current school took. I am really concerned about my GPA because of this. I mean, my GPA is fine, for normal standards. But I feel pretty ripped off that I'm doing all this work and yet my GPA stays low because of the transfer. </p>

<p>Has anyone been in this situation before? Should I tell my counselor that I'd like my 9th grade record to be crossed out? Is this even heard of?</p>

<p>No, you should be fine. Just request your counselor write a note clarifying that you were not given the same opportunities at the other school as in this school, etc. send transcripts from the other school as well.</p>

<p>Columbia -and i imagine most top schools-actually look at what's behind one raw number.</p>

<p>Oh, by the way, by "crossed out" I mean excluded just for purposes of calculating GPA... not actually destroyed from my high school transcript or anything.. haha</p>