<p>First of all, some things about me so you get an idea, if these will be suitable for me or now.</p>
<p>I'm an Indian student. I'm 17 year old now (March 2011) and I'll be completing my class XII (high school) in March 2012. So, I'm looking for a Sep 2012 intake.. I'm looking to apply somewhere around August 2011. So, my first question is can I do this? I mean, by the time I apply, my schooling wouldn't be complete.</p>
<p>Here are my class scores from last 3 years.
Class IX = 85%
Class X = 86%
Class XI = 79%</p>
<p>Also, I've been an active in badminton and have represented my school in numerous (50+) badminton tournaments, and won majority of them. I've played badminton at National level for 3 consecutive years..</p>
<p>Other than sports, I've been to other various competitions, and won them.</p>
<p>Next up is my SAT. It was pretty low: 1700. Should I take the SAT again?</p>
<p>Also, some people told me that TOEFL is required, some told only SAT is enough. So, should I take the TOEFL, too?</p>
<p>Well, to answer your first question (if I understand it correctly): If it works out like it did for the class of 2015, you’ll be able to apply in October because that’s when the application for seniors goes live.</p>
<p>It’s hard to tell how your scores are because we usually measure that based on GPA, which is typically on a 4 point scale. However, if those grades are like averages, so the 79% is like a C+ and such, then I would say get your grades up.</p>
<p>“However, if those grades are like averages, so the 79% is like a C+”</p>
<p>the educational system in every country is different. when an international student wants to study at the US, his grades in his country are not converted according to the American system. it varies between the countries. the ministry of education has a guideline for evaluation that most higher education institutes follow.</p>
<p>regardless your chances, you should give it a try. i am not sure about how the conversion of grades from India is done here, but you can always contact the universities that you are willing to apply to. Also, you can get the help of your high school or the ministry of education in your country.</p>
<p>i faced the same situation. I am from Israel, and the education is more hard than the USA. and sometimes, there is no such a thing like As in classes such as philosophy, lit, etc.
when i checked the conversion table (from my country), 89% was A.</p>
<p>i will try to find you a table later on today.</p>
<p>It looks like if you’re scoring 79-80s range, that would be equivalent to an A in the United States.</p>
<p>So looking at this, I’d say your grades are strong. You should retake the SAT though, or try the ACT. This is a generalization with people I know, but I found that … Asian Americans I know (not all, but those I know) do significantly better in the ACT than SAT. I have some ideas on why, but that’s not very important.</p>
<p>EDIT: Also, since you’re an international student, I suggest totally beasting the essay. You’re growing in up a different culture than Americans, and you can really bring ‘diversity’ and different cultural views to the university.</p>
<p>I agree with speedsolver on maybe trying the ACT if you can’t get at least 2000 on the SAT, as well as the diversity stuff in the essay. Also, its getting easier for international students to get in because of the current budget crisis.</p>
<p>Is the ACT for International students? And since I have already taken the SAT, I am pretty much aware of its pattern, so maybe I will improve my scores…</p>
<p>I have heard of people doing terrible on the SAT and excellent on the ACT and visa versa. If I understand correctly, the ACT is more of a straight fact knowledge test and the SAT is more of a logic knowledge test so the questions can be more tricky and not as straight forward. My son did great on the SAT as I knew he would after reading how the both worked but if he would not have done good, he would have took the ACT to see if that would give him better scores.</p>
<p>You can take the ACT if you’re not an international student. From my understanding, it’s more common on the East Coast of the US for students to take the ACT, and vice versa with West Coast/SAT. I may be mistaken with that fact though.</p>
<p>Personally, I did a lot better on the ACT than SAT (on a converted to SAT chart, around 300 points higher?). It just depends on the person.</p>