<p>I am an international applicant and this is really urgent... </p>
<p>I was wondering how MIT looks at my grades in the context of my school and country? My school does not calculate GPA, and although I rank in the top 5% of my class from a really prestigious school, my grades do not <em>look</em> stellar on a 100-point scale (there are plenty of 70s and 80s in maths and sciences, pretty much no 90s) because the school does not put a lot of effort into calculating final grades (you're fine as long as you pass with a 60, so that's all they really care about.) This is the way the educational system is in my country...it's kind of confusing. And there are a lot of differences between schools and even your teachers, too. How does MIT use my grades?</p>
<p>Should I tell my school to convert into GPA or whatever...? Because if they do, I have about 2.8... My teacher has already told me that she will mention my ranking and overall performance in her rec, but will that be enough?</p>
<p>Please help!! Thank you so much in advance.</p>
<p>MIT knows that different countries have different grading systems, and is not going to penalize you because yours doesn't equate to the US system. You may want your guidance counselor and/or teacher recommenders to explain your system.</p>
<p>If you want to know what, exactly, to put in the relevant field on the application, I'd suggest contacting the admissions office (Matt McGann is probably the best person for this, since he's the international admissions guy) and asking them.</p>
<p>If you explain things you should be alright.</p>
<p>I have a similar issue, but for only one subject: our school has a ridiculous, ridiculous AP calculus BC class. kids who have aced math their entire lives come into it and get C's. you can get a C and be nearly guaranteed a 5 on the AP exam. meanwhile, there are kids applying from other schools who have A's in their AP calc classes and will get 2's on the exam.
Even though there are a lot of AP classes in my school that test you much harder than the exam, none of them take it nearly as far as BC calc. Me and one other girl in class have already done calculus, and even we think it's hard.
(Heh, if anyone from my school is reading this, they'll know exactly what I'm talking about).</p>
<p>So I really don't know what MIT will make of my B in calc. Oh well.</p>
<p>phymm: they will take your B in context. Also, I have said this before and I will say it again, a B is not the end of the world, or anything close to it. Don't even waste energy thinking about it.</p>