I’m a rising senior, and as of right now, the only highly selective school I’m planning to apply to is Duke (which is extremely selective, hence the concern) Basically, after transferring to a new school from abroad junior year, most of my classes from my old school got counted as basic (non-honors/AP) classes in 9th and 10th grade on my transcript, thereby lowering my weighted GPA and rank, and leaving off an impression of relatively weak course rigor. I took the IGCSE (O-level) curriculum at my old school, but it isn’t mentioned on my transcript. At my new school, I took 4 AP/Dual Enrollment classes junior year (along with a few honors classes) and my senior year schedule is made up around 5- 6 AP’s. Would this lack of “rigor” 9th and 10th grade (and consequential low rank) have an a major impact on my chances? Any advice on how to deal with this?
I would explain the situation in the “additional information” section of the application, just to make it clear. TBH with you, it’s totally up to the school whether or not to take this information into consideration (ie: some schools w/ harsh, stat-based cut offs may not care), but it’s better to include it than not. I don’t think it’s a total dealbreaker that 9 & 10 look less rigorous, but it will tell a more logical, complete story if you include the note (ie; why you ostensibly went from “basic” courses to the most rigorous for 11 & 12).
Yes, you will be able to explain it on your application. You can also ask your guidance counselor if he/she would mention it in his/her recommendation letter. It shouldn’t be an insurmountable problem.
Duke will be familiar with O-levels. Note it, but a lot of explanation probably won’t be necessary.
Alright, I’ll make sure to mention it in the additional info part of my app. Other thoughts on the topic are greatly appreciated. I was worried since I read somewhere that Duke’s admission process includes dividing your application into five or six components and rank your class rigor, grades, testing, EC’s and essays on a scale of 1-5. I didn’t want to get like a 2 on course rigor and ruin my chances. Hopefully my simple explanation will suffice. Thanks everyone!