<p>Hello everyone. I'm a future international undergrad student from Europe, and the main reason I am opening this thread is that my GPA is very low for U.S. standards, and our schools don't record class ranks, so I am a little depressed.</p>
<p>My GPA is 3.24/4 UW, but let me tell you that it is basically IMPOSSIBLE to attain a GPA higher than 3.6 in my country. Teachers' opinions of you have direct impact on your grades and our educational system, and I am definitely sure of this, is much,much harder than the U.S. educational system.</p>
<p>Basically our high schools are like colleges in the U.S. - you aren't expected to keep a high GPA because it simply is not possible, and it does not affect your chances of getting in a domestic university.</p>
<p>I'm not intending to apply for financial aid, so this might increase my chances a little bit compared to other internationals.</p>
<p>Also one last thing before I jump onto my stats, our schools are very limited on extracurricular activities.</p>
<p>Here are my stats:</p>
<p>ACADEMICS </p>
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<p>Intended Major - Computer Science, not fully decided though
SAT - 690CR 800M 740W(Expected, may go up but not lower, taking on Oct 5)
SAT II - 750~ Math 2, 750~ World History
GPA - 3.24 UW, school doesn't rank/weigh</p>
<p>EXTRACURRICULARS</p>
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<ul>
<li>I don't know if this is a good hook or totally unnecessary, but I develop apps for Android as a hobby. I don't really want to elaborate on this topic here, but I have coded a voice assistant for my own usage that works all over my house with speakers that is on all the time. Kind of like Jarvis from Iron Man, though please don't compare it to Siri - they are two very different apps. But it's definitely getting better, after my SAT I'll mainly focus on this and within a few months it should be better.</li>
</ul>
<p>-Varsity basketball in my school. We were 2nd in a tournament, but all I have is pictures of the team.</p>
<p>-I worked with my dad for 4 months in his company, which specializes on building/selling houses.</p>
<p>EXTRA INFO</p>
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<p>-I come from a country that has SEVERE troubles with English; therefore I consider learning English this fluently a huge success. </p>
<p>-My parents are divorced since I was 3, and I didn't see my dad for 6 years; between ages 9-15.</p>
<p>-My family has way above average income, and I'm not getting any kind of financial aid so this might increase my chances.</p>
<p>-I will go to the U.S. around January and attend interviews for all of the schools I applied to. It will be some kind of vacation all over the U.S. too.</p>
<p>The only thing that is discouraging me is my GPA. I'm sure U.S. colleges know about my country's educational system, but it still looks bad.</p>
<p>Schools (excluding safeties)</p>
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<p>All Ivies
Stanford
NYU
University of Chicago
UCLA
UC Berkeley
UC Riverside
UC Davis
USC
University of Virginia
Johns Hopkins
Caltech</p>
<p>After learning about U.S. GPAs I'm not really expecting anything from that list... But oh well, nothing to lose from trying.</p>
<p>Thanks for reading, and sorry for the long post.</p>