Question from Canadian about averages...

Student Lounge International Students
1

<p>Hey,</p>

<p>I'm a junior in Toronto, and I had a question about admission averages since we don't exactly have GPA's here (not in my school anyway). Is there a certain range that American universities expect...I mean, here we have cut-offs, but most American ones don't seem to have specific number cut-offs. At my school, anything 80%+ is considered an A, which from what I'm hearing isn't exactly the norm. I know that they use a holistic approach and that everything is taken into consideration, but would an 88%-ish average (junior year) completely bar me admission at some places?</p>

<p>Oh, and one more thing. My school doesn't have AP classes or an IB program, so would that be looked upon unfavourably? I think I'm taking some of the harder classes at my school (Math, Bio, Chem, Physics...), but they're all just University-prep which is the highest level that we have.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>The fact that your school does not offer AP or IB will not be held against you; colleges will evaluate you in the context of what your school does offer. If you're taking the hardest courses available to you, then that will be good.</p>

<p>As for admissions averages, generally I'd say for top schools, aim for 90-95+. That said, I don't think an 88% will be an automatic reject, although other aspects of your application, such as test scores and ECs should be stronger to balance it out.</p>