How Getting Bs Can Help Your Application

Colleges and Universities A-Z Yale University
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<p>Hello CC,
The title above ^seems somewhat "out-of-the-box" and atypical.
Please finish reading this entire thread, and I would love to hear your opinions.</p>

<p>The story:</p>

<p>I am an international student, in the Asian pool.
Now I know that this is a very competitive pool to top 25 universities in the US, since there is certainly an abundance of "highly" to "very-highly" qualified applicants.</p>

<p>Yes, by that, I mean:
4.0, 2350+, and 2400 (800,800,800) on subject tests.
This is only academics.</p>

<p>But of course, those top prep schools and foreign language high schools (FLHS) in Korea, and The College Preparatory School (TCPS) in China do a decent job, which allows the students to pursue a variety of extracurricular activities.</p>

<p>I highly respect that.
With a stringload of their APs, and near-to-perfect test scores, those applicants deserve to go to prestigious universities, for example HYPS, Caltech, MIT, ...etc. </p>

<p>This article, however, opened my eyes.
Ivy-League</a> bound, by fair means or foul : National : Home</p>

<p>**Ivy-League bound, by fair means or foul</p>

<p>For Korean students, study abroad programs at their schools will do anything to secure them a U.S. university spot.**</p>

<p>Let me quote the gist of this article:</p>

<p>
[quote]
"Every high school transcript we forward to U.S. universities contains only A grades. This is most certainly unethical by U.S. standards."</p>

<p>So said one study-abroad academy employee, who paid a visit to Hankyoreh21 bearing a hefty folder. The documents he exhibited to us were those sent to U.S. universities by one foreign language high school in Korea.</p>

<p>Recent English language transcripts, containing marks for dozens of classes each, were swathed exclusively in A grades.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>
[quote]
The "Resolution of Parents of Hanyoung Foreign Language High School Overseas Studies Program Students" contained the following items among others: reduce the quota of standard curriculum high school classes and increase the time devoted to English language and Advanced Placement (AP) instruction, discontinue the Cash Management System (CMS) transferal method by which funds are transferred automatically to teachers' accounts each month, and also to enable the students' parents' association to voluntarily make direct payments of "lecture fees" to the teachers.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>
[quote]

According to the e-mail sent by Song to nine PSA members on July 2, he had received the following guarantees from the principal: (1) letter grades are to be assigned only in those classes which are absolutely necessary for entrance into U.S. colleges, and all other classes are to be evaluated on a pass/fail basis, (2) in graded classes, all students are given a baseline score of 60 percent for course completion, and if the score exceeds 70 percent after factoring in scores from tests and class work, then students are to receive an A, (3) standard curriculum classes are to be taught in the morning hours, whereas English language and AP classes are to be taught in the afternoon, as there is more class time in the afternoon than in the morning.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>
[quote]
According to Song's email, the senior theacher's reason for opposition was the "excess of A grades" and that adjustment was necessary. Yet Song and his followers in the SPA were staunchly opposed to the differentiation of A grades into A-, A and A+. "Despite his jabbering on about 'restoring confidence in our transcripts,'" they declared "reforming the system such that report cards are pervaded by grades of A- and B will not help the students in the slightest."

[/quote]
</p>

<p>
[quote]
The commotion at Ha<em>-</em>**** Foreign Language High School blatantly shows the inflation of grades in favor of students in the overseas study track. Though all students at the school take the same tests, the report cards differ depending on the track that the student belongs to. Whereas the Korean language report card would show a score of 70 as a "mi" [equivalent to a grade of C], the English language report card sent to U.S. universities would record the same score as an A.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Now this is how the Ministry of education of Korea finds this highly controversial issue:</p>

<p>
[quote]
The Ministry of Education in turn has declared such inflated transcripts to be unacceptable. "All transcripts must be written in accordance with the appropriate directives," said Jang Mi-suk, an official involved with primary education policies in the Ministry of Education. "The Ministry of Education has laid down decrees regarding English language transcripts. They must be created using the very same means of notation that are used in the Korean language transcripts.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>
[quote]
According to Ministry of Education standards, English language transcripts are to list the student's grade for each subject as well as his class standing as measured in noviles (divided into ninths). In the case of graduating students, grades of A (90-100), B (80-89), C (70-79), D(60-69) and F (60 and below) are to be printed alongside their novile class standing.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Thank you for your time.
I am only a rising senior. I am Asian, but I am applying from a different side of the globe.
I did not have the opportunity to attend a FLHS in Korea.</p>

<p>My grades are mediocre, in a highly competitive school, often ranked the best in our country.</p>

<p>With a stringload of B+s, I have recently found out that the teachers in our school have set up a quota for giving out As- 5%-10% of the class receives As, and the rest receives Bs and Cs and Ds. </p>

<p>Coming from a very different culture, I have always believed that As are reserved for highly, and let me once again stress the word highly gifted students.
I have a decent mix of As and Bs, 5:3, I think?</p>

<p>Judging by my test scores, I am highly competitive applicant.
You can find my academics on the link on my location :-)
On (almost) every standardized exams, I have received a perfect score.
With the exception of one 4 in an AP class, haha.
I have always believed my grades to be decent, but an UW of 3.7 seems a little too low for any Ivies.</p>

<p>I do not know how the adcoms will think about my grades.
Will they be glad to see that I am the first international applicant from Asia without perfect grades?
This might show that my grades are not inflated.
My test scores show that I am a hard-working person.</p>

<p>I am an unique case.
Mostly, Asian students study in their home countries, or in the US.
I have rarely seen them apply from Europe, for example.</p>

<p>Can this be an asset to my application?</p>

<p>Thank you for reading this long post.
Start a post!
:)</p>

2

<p>Nope, it will not be an asset.</p>

3

<p>^Yeah, that is what I thought so too.
There are just so many highly qualified applicants.</p>

<p>Oh well, hey Alt_F4!!! OMG!</p>

4

<p>Regarding grades: my impression is that U.S. colleges and universities try to take into account the differences among high schools’ grading policies. They are mindful that some places provide easy As, whereas a few (fewer and fewer?) restrict As and award them only infrequently. Adcoms won’t know all high schools equally well, but it sounds like your prep school is prominent within the country and will probably be known to them. If adcoms are familiar with its strict grading policy (which I imagine is outlined in the letter that the school provides to colleges), they may take it into account when reading your application. Still, you will be read as part of a very (very) competitive pool, and in the end As do look better than Bs on a transcript… </p>

<p>Don’t be discouraged, though; write good essays that reflect you who are, and apply to a range of schools where you might be happy. In the end, you are likely to have a great college experience!</p>

5

<p>What a cleverly disguised “don’t try too hard at school <a href=“so%20I%20have%20a%20better%20chance,%20tehehehehe”>i</a>*” thread.</p>

6

<p>^Beatitudo- Okay, that is good news. My school had the best National Exam (stuff we do in Europe) in history of the National Exam (this was just last year)
However, if I apply from Europe, then would I be in the Asian pool?
I can see where the quotas are coming from, but Europe and Asia are two completely different places, different school system,…etc.</p>

<p>Bak0rz- Come to think about it, yes.
=)</p>

7

<p>I am in a similar position - my schools never give out As. In some classes half the class gets a D, one gets an A, there is absolutely no curving. The Literature course is known for never giving out an A. Ever. In the school’s known history. This would really be a big fuss to put into the counselor’s letter :P</p>

8

<p>^My counselor is mentioning it on her rec letter, that we have one of the strongest students around our country.</p>

9

<p>What is ‘the Asian pool’? In your mind, it seems to be a concrete thing. In admissions, I would guess that you are judged and compared, academically, to your classmates in your school, and in other schools in your country. By ‘your country’ I mean the country in which your school is located. The fact that your ethnicity is some form of Asian would not be a factor in how your academic performance is judged. But even if your academic performance is as fabulous as possible, it does will not account for 100% of the admissions decision process. </p>

<p>Are you ethnically Korean? Is that why you quote extensively from articles explaining how Korean private prep schools try to guarantee Ivy admissions for their students?</p>

<p>Also, what is ‘a stringload’?</p>

10

<p>Hey memake,

  1. Asian pool= I meant East Asian pool, Chinese, Korean, Japanese,…etc.
  2. Thank you.
  3. But even if your academic performance is as fabulous as possible, it does will not account for 100% of the admissions decision process.
    My ECs are the core of my application. My academics are pretty average.
  4. Yes.
  5. I have recently found out that the SAT testing centers in Korean prep schools are unreliable… Such as sharing answers,…etc
  6. Maybe that is a term that I coined. Stringload- a Lot? haha
    =)</p>
11

<p>Drelnis, the letter I mentioned is sometimes called the ‘school profile.’ My son’s guidance counselor told us that, as part of each student’s application to each college, the school will include a letter that explains its general composition, teaching & grading philosophies, and grade distribution. It wasn’t clear to me whether this is part of the school’s recommendation or a separate document. At any rate, it’s not a whole lot of work for the school; the counselors can draft the language describing the school once, and then they use it for all students applying that year. In turn, this affords colleges and universities the opportunity to understand the larger context for a student’s performance. I don’t know for a fact that all schools provide this information, but it makes sense to do so, and perhaps some (or many) follow this practice? If your school has a very strict grading policy, it may be worth asking your guidance counselor if your school makes that information available to colleges.</p>