<p>Hello everyone!</p>
<p>Since I'm not from USA (I'm from Poland) and my knowledge is based only on what I read on the internet I'd like to ask about admission process.</p>
<p>I know that grades (school transcripts) are only one part of the application but for sure they are very important. I will probably apply to aerospace engineering and here is the question. Do colleges care only of general GPA and class rank or they take it in more detail and consider my grades in maths and physics. I'm asking this question because generally I'm a very good student and will for sure apply to the top colleges but I didn't manage to get the highest grade in physics. I got 4 (which I think compareable to B in States).</p>
<p>The second question is about exams. If I for example take SAT exam now but will be applying in a years time, should I send my scores to the universities now or wait a little bit. If I wait I will lose the opportunity to send scores to 4 colleges without additional fees.</p>
<p>The last question is about letters of reccomendation. Because most of my teachers don't speak English I will have to have their letters translated by a certified translator. The problem crops up when they have to fill something in on a Common Application. How should I make them do it if only my English teacher speaks English?</p>
<p>Thank you for all your replies.</p>
<p>I don’t think your 4 in Physics will give you trouble. European schools don’t curve grades so your A student in the US may well have received a 4 but was still the best and got an A in his/her report card. US colleges will know how to evaluate your 4 in Physics. </p>
<p>About SAT’s, don’t try to save money by trying to take advantage of the 4 free mailings. It’s not worth it. Wait until you have the best possible scores and then send them to colleges. Some colleges allow you to choose your best scores (superscore) and not send anything else. Others want all your scores but still consider the best. So you win in any case if you wait until you have everything. It’s risky to send anything now. </p>
<p>Letters of recommendation: yes this is a tough one which we had to go through as well. My daughter was on good terms with her English teacher and asked him for help. He accompanied the non-English speaking professors with filling our forms and translated their letters into English. You can also print out the forms, translate them into Polish yourself so your professors know what is being asked, then have your English teacher go over the professors’ responses to make sure there is no misunderstanding. </p>
<p>My daughter made appointments with each professor and explained precisely what she was planning to do and why. This helps professors understand the situation better and they are more willing to help. Then she gave them notes which described what is expected of them, what they should emphasize, how it’s important to be specific, give examples etc. None of her professors had ever written a letter of recommendation for college admission before, and they appreciated this guidance.</p>
<p>Hope this helps. Good luck!</p>
<p>Thank you for your reply!</p>
<p>I have one more question. Since my school doesn’t offer a course consisting of maths, physics and chemistry in high level (which would be the best for me) I decided to choose a course with maths, chemistry and IT in high level and study physics on my own. As far as SAT subject tests are concerned I will take maths, physics and chemistry. The question is should I first learn from Polish books (there are more topics in Polish books than on SAT and Polish exams are totally different from SAT) thoroughly and than learn from for example books from Princeton Review or maybe just look through Polish books and than learn mainly from books for SAT. I read a lot of good opinions about books for SAT but I don’t know whether they are good for learning from scratch.
I ask this question not only about physics but about all subjects because I’ll have to take SAT Subject Tests before I take Polish exams.</p>
<p>I recommend that you study ONLY from books which cover subjects that will be in the SAT test, in other words, books like the Princeton Review or Barron’s or the College Board’s books. You are trying to improve your chances to get the highest possible score, not learn physics in general (unfortunate but true). </p>
<p>These books will keep you focused and teach you what you need to know in a given field. However if there is something you don’t understand, or if these books are not explaining very well, or you need more clarification on, then I think it would be a good idea to go to Polish books.</p>
<p>Thank you for your answers!</p>