HELP!!16 years old Immigrant from Hong Kong to US.

Dear all,
Three months ago my family and I immigrated to the United States from Hong Kong( China) ; I was therefore the new student in my school during the second semester of junior year. In this rather complicated situation I sincerely beseech to receive answers for my college application:

  1. Due to my lack of time in staying at US, I was only considered as a resident in US but not a US citizen. So when the time comes do I have to apply as an international student? Or being a US resident would allow me to apply as a local resident student (cheaper tuition)? What is the role of identity I hold in the application process?
  2. Hong Kong education system is notorious for its difficulty and intricacy in examination. A student in Hong Kong rarely get an A or even a B in a subject of matter. It would be unfair to use a USA education GPA scale to assess a hong kong student’s ability. However when I arrived my new school in US the counsellor took my academic result in Hong Kong and converted it into a 2.9 GPA, which is a travesty of my true academic ability and served as an injustice to me. After the three months i got As but they only rise my GPA to 3.2, which obviously is not a competitive number. It would be a relief if I would be put into the pool of international students because then my GPA wouldn’t hurt me that badly as I believe college/university would examine my GPA in an international student scale. Yet if I’m put along with local US students, my GPA could hurt me very badly.
  3. As I’m an immigrant from Hong Kong, my counsellor requires me to take a mixture of courses ranged from Freshman class to Junior class to finish my high school education. I have English CP6, modern history 1( freshman class), Cont world his (sophomore class) and so on. But then i realize college would assess the “rigor of classes” in the application. Would me taking a course of Freshman class (i.e. modern history) hurts me in the process??
    Everyone who kindly read this post, in this special circumstance I desperately need someone to answer me. Please, please tell me what would university/college administrators handle with immigrants in this situation…I would really, really appreciate if you could spare a few minutes in shedding light over a baffled teen in this darkest hour. Thank you so so so so so much =]

Firstly welcome to the U.S. Secondly, relax and enjoy your school years. My advice is not to get caught up in the Ivy league rat race, but if you must, I understand and wish you luck.

I think your residency status will depend of your parents visa designation. But I’m not sure.

Lastly, a lot of rising students have forgotten that America is about business and entrepreneurship, not IB courses and taking the SAT three times. The country sorely needs innovative businessmen who can build companies and create jobs. That is the real brass ring. I hope you grab it.

GL