Question about A Levels

I want to apply to Stanford REA. I do 5 A levels- English, History, Psychology, Biology and Maths.
My GCSES are 9A* and 1A.
In my A level transcript, we have only had internal school exams. In two of the subjects (English and History) my school does not give A’s until the second year of A levels (A levels are a linear course) and I am in the first year, therefore my only my first year grades go for early decision and two of my subjects show B’s in my transcript. (This was the highest achieved in those subjects by anyone my school). My school councillor and both subject teachers said they are happy to write in my reference and on my report that as a school policy, in these subjects, students cannot get higher than a B in their first year. Also, my predicted grades are all As and A*s, as we are expected to improve 1-2 grades by the time we actually take our A levels.

If this is all explained in my application, do you think I will be massively disadvantaged for my grades?

Also, how does GPA in A levels work?
I heard that a B in A levels is equal to between a 3.3-3.7, but a B in US schools is equal to a 3.0?

Also, I am a double legacy (sister and dad) at Stanford.

Thanks.

I have 2 kids who did A levels and applied to the USA. Don’t worry, Stanford is very experienced with kids applying from the UK. There is no GPA conversion on A levels. The schools will look primarily at your GCSEs, AS grades (if applicable) and predicted A2 grades plus ECs, recommendations, etc. Most U.K. Schools do not send internal exam grades.



Lastly, why are you taking 5 A levels?

That is a bit overkill and you will not get credit for the 5th one so long as you have 3 or 4 good grades. You may want to drop Psychology which is not considered one of the more rigorous A levels.

You don’t need to send internal reports. As Londondad said, US colleges only expect actual GCSE and AS results plus the A Level predicted results.

A British B is equivalent to a B+/A- because the letter scale is different , E= US C or so, and U/G= Us F. With the new 1-9 scale there won’t be such a confusion anymore (I hope).

No, you will not be at a disadvantage, but your counselor (or the administrator that fills out the GC form) should explain this, not you.

Thanks for your reply!! My school insists on sending all recent transcripts. Also, I want to major in psychology or history so can’t drop either of those- but Maths, English and biology are probably the most important subjects I take!!

I hope they mostly use GCSES and predicted grades because mine are quite good! I only took Maths and biology AS because the school makes us take Linear A levels in other subjects.

^ Does your school send many students to the USA every year? If they do, they will know how to complete the school and teacher recommendation. You may want to sit down with your head of Universities and ask them what information they send to US Unis. As others have pointed out, the great thing about the UK is that with the high number of National Exams, your school does NOT need to send any US Unis your interim or mock exam grades.