This is really urgent !

Parents Forum
1

<p>I am an international student . My school does not have a counselor currently . I need to explain to the AdComs the reason my grades dipped during Grade 11 and Since I do not have a counselor , my class teacher who knows me from 4 years has agreed to write a letter . Since she is not good with English or any writing skills , she has told me to write a letter and the she will read it and sign it only if she approves of it . </p>

<p>This letter is the only chance of me getting in to a good college and only a very good letter would convince the adcoms to give me a second chance . </p>

<p>I have a tremendous upward trend in my grade 12 . </p>

<p>The reasons for poor grades were a mixture of : -</p>

<p>1)Sister's marriage
2)Grandmother's death
3)Chicken pox
4)Grade Deflation </p>

<p>To prove all this I only have an attendance rate of 68% . </p>

<p>Can someone write it for me ? . I really need help from you people (please don;t say NO , as I am counting on you people !) </p>

<p>Unweighted GPA - 3.06 (Grades 9-11)</p>

<p>Grades -</p>

<p>Grade 9 :-
English - A-
Hindi - A+
Maths - A-
Science with practicals - A+
Social science - A+</p>

<p>Grade 10 :-
English - B-
Hindi - B+
Maths - B+
Science with practicals - A+
Social science - B+</p>

<p>Grade 11 :-
English - B-
Maths - D+
Physics - C+
Chemistry - D+
Economics - B-</p>

<p>Grade 12 (worked my ass off , all A+ in mid term exams ) :-
English - A+
Maths - A+
Physics with practical - A+
Chemistry with practical - A+
Economics - A+</p>

<p>E.C - Prefect Grade 11 , Did 50 hrs community service , computer club , vice captain badminton team , a few debate competitions , Model United nations , a disciplined and well behaved student . </p>

<p>It would be really helpful if some one would help me out !</p>

2

<p>Frankly, this is not something that is appropriate to ask people on a forum to write for you. I would suggest, however, that you not include grade deflation as a reason for the dip in your grades. It really sounds like you’re being too defensive by mentioning this as well. For that matter, your sister’s marriage is also not a valid reason. If you’re that distracted by something like this, it doesn’t reflect well on your ability to perform as a college student.</p>

3

<p>I do that it is not appropriate , but I think it is worth a shot . CC always has a few very well qualified group of Parents , students and counselors . I hope some a sample letter will do (It would be great if some one wrote it , though it is not going to be final , as my teacher will have to sign it , I just don’t want to take any chances !)</p>

4

<p>Why don’t you write it?</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Though the letter might be very helpful, I would caution you against seeing this letter as your only chance.</p>

5

<p>P_K -</p>

<p>You need to make an appointment with the advising center of [International</a> Students - EducationUSA](<a href=“http://www.educationusa.state.gov/]International”>http://www.educationusa.state.gov/) that is located closest to you. The counselors there will be able to help you figure out how to present yourself best to colleges/universities in the US. This is what they do every single day of the year. They are the best experts on helping students in your country get into colleges/universities here.</p>

6

<p>The letter doesn’t have to be in perfect English. It looks to me like your English is good enough to come up with something for your teacher to sign. I agree though - Grade deflation is not going to explain D’s. In fact none of your excuses look very convincing to me.</p>

7

<p>It would be disappointing if someone on CC would write the letter for you. </p>

<p>Of course, there are essay services that will write it for you. There are also college counselors who will edit your essay (some will do many edits) for you. </p>

<p>If you can afford US colleges with no financial aid, why didn’t you take a SAT prep class (saw your SAT scores on another thread) and consult a college counselor? </p>

<p>Why would your sister’s marriage be an excuse for bad grades in 11th grade? (I don’t think the other excuses are valid, either – my children’s grandfather died last year, and I wouldn’t dream of using this as an excuse for academic performance.)</p>

8

<p>A death in the family is definitely a valid excuse for poor performance. Different people are affected differently by grief. I know my D’s grades plummeted when we had a death in the family.</p>

<p>OP, write the letter yourself. Then maybe you can ask someone with better English skills to edit it for you before submitting it to Math Teacher for signature.</p>

9

<p>Maybe coming to America to go to college is not the best choice for you at this time. In addition to the academics involved there are intangibles and nonacademic issues that you may not have fully appreciated (touching on ethics and behavioral norms). It just sounds from your post as though you will be getting into a situation that you may not be prepared for and might do better at least initially to pursue further education in a more familiar setting closer to home. This may seem harsh and unwelcoming but I am often surprised by the (to put it kindly) naivete that is sometimes expressed by international students on this forum.</p>

10

<p>I don’t doubt that the top 3 things on your list may have caused you some trouble and the slip up in grades, but I don’t see how your teacher could be the one to explain those things to AdCom. Unless your teacher has special relationship with you, how could you in good faith write or find someone else to write a letter to explain what has transpired as if the explanation comes from the teacher. I think the explanation should come from you, maybe this should be your common application essay.</p>

11

<p>I’m not sure what level of school you’re applying to, and it can’t hurt to write this letter, but I’m not sure it is going to help a lot for a couple reasons -
First, if you are talking about a really high level school, your grades in 10th are not even that stellar.</p>

<p>Second, although I’m sorry for your loss and your problems, unless it is something extraordinarily out of the ordinary, and not likely to happen again, I’m not sure it is going to help much.</p>

<p>The adcoms have to evaluate your ability to handle the school along with whatever happens in your life. It may be unfair that these things happened to you (although sister’s marriage I don’t get - I wouldn’t include that as an excuse myself). But unfair things happen to everyone, and they might also happen in college. Are you going to flunk out then? All the kids with perfect grades probably had problems and tragedies that happened to them as well, and they had to deal with them and be evaluated based on that.</p>

<p>And for kids who ha everything go their way or who have no problems with grief, well that’s just another thing that’s based on luck, like your IQ, whether you have parents who love you, etc.</p>

<p>But it’s worth a shot.</p>

12

<p>I am sorry, but I do not see a sisters marriage as being an excuse. Afterall, it was your sister that got married, how did it affect you for an entire yr personally when it came to your education?</p>

<p>Also, chicken pox…I had at the age of 33, it lasts for about 1 week, not an entire yr. Unless, you had complications that caused you to miss a lot more of school and be hospitalized, I think it is not going to pass the sniff test.</p>

<p>Your grandmothers death, as sad as it might be, unless you can explain how you were personally affected it is not a valid excuse. For example, she lived with you and was your 2nd mother. Or that due to religious reasons you missed school for her last days. </p>

<p>To miss 1/3 of the school yr as an excuse will make the admissions office worry, because what will you do while you are here in the states? Are you going to ask for a pass for your other sisters’ wedding or if your grandfather dies? They are just not viable excuses to offset the gpa and the absences in an admission scenario.</p>

<p>In VA they changed the grade scale. If they deflated the scale that does not change your academic ability. In other words, your stats were inflated.</p>

<p>To ask total strangers to help is not assisting you at all. We will not be there to write your term papers next yr.</p>

<p>I know all of this sounds harsh, but in this day and age, US colleges are very very competitive. There are kids with all APs, high SATs and extraordinary circumstances that get rejected due to the competition for OOS state universities. Personally, I do not know where you are applying to, but if it his reknown schools, even the letter will not help you. </p>

<p>A disciplined and well behave student is not an EC.</p>

<p>Curiosity it seems as if you have a discrepancy regarding grade 11. Please explain

</p>

<p>How can you have perfect grade 11 with those grades and the fact that you stated you were absent 32% of the time?</p>

13

<p>Your teacher is essentially giving you a free hand in your own rec, and you want us to do it? I say you should do it… In fact, being able to write your own letter is a big thing in and of itself–when the teacher signs the letter it means it was written in his/her confidence.</p>

<p>Second of all–while your reasons may have been extraordinary, I do not see how a letter summing the problems (three of which have no substantial bearing) would provide you a much better chance.</p>

14

<p>Asking others to write for you is not only inappropriate but borders on plagiarism if taken too far. Others will not be writing your college papers for you.</p>

15

<p>In defense of the OP, I’d like to point out that Indian weddings can often be lavish affairs that sometimes go on for about three weeks at a time. If it’s set during exams, it can definitely be very distracting - unlike in the US, most high schools in India base the entire grade for the semester (I’m talking 100 percent) on that one set of fortnight-long exams instead of tests and homework and quizzes and what-not taken throughout the year.</p>

<p>Also, I had chicken pox when I was 12, and it lasted about a month - I was quarantined for 2 or 3 weeks as far as I can remember.</p>

<p>I’m not trying to make excuses for the OP, I’m simply making a couple of clarifications. However, Priyanka, the responses of the poster above me should give you an idea of how adcoms could possibly respond to your situation.</p>

16

<p>bullet, I agree with everything you say, but just a small point - the OP is saying she was a PREFECT in 11th grade, not that she had a perfect 11th grade. I’m not sure if there is a US equivalent, but in the UK at least a prefect is a highly-regarded student who aids the teachers in keeping discipline among the younger kids. Depending on the school, it can be a very high-profile position.</p>

<p>All that said - it seems unethical to me to get someone else to write this letter then pass it off as coming from a teacher. Either the teacher should write it or the OP should write an essay about her experiences.</p>

17

<p>My advice is not to misrepresent yourself and try to overreach and be realistic with your choice of schools that you apply to. Obviously the good competitive schools are out of your range, but if you can get a really good SAT score, you might be able to find bigger schools in the US that are more focus on test score than GPA. Work hard at the new school and you might be able to transfer to a better school later on, that is if you are willing to keep on working hard for it. The name of schools on your diploma is not a be all end all proposition, it is what you do afterwards with what you know and how you keep on expanding on it. It seems that you can be a high achiever when you put your mind to it. Write your heartfelt essay and get a couple of good recommendations (written by teachers) plus good SAT score and go from there.</p>

18

<p>ok, I looked at your school choices on the other page and although some are a stretch, some might be doable (ASU for instance).</p>

<p>Especially if you can get that SAT up a little.</p>

<p>Other than that, I’d just write up a good essay and include your excuses (but be very careful to explain why they affected your performance). Your writing skill is what it is, but you can be clear in getting your point across.</p>

19

<p>well you got the three right quasi- but Hindu weddings don’t go on for three weeks, but they will go on for three days.
Do you really think Indians can afford to host such a shindig for three * weeks?*
[Indian</a> wedding - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_wedding]Indian”>Weddings in India - Wikipedia)
Preparations go on for quite a while before hand, but it wasn’t my impression male children are required to take time away from their studies for that.
( however if the OP is female it is probable that she was required to do so)</p>

20

<p>I think the OP should stay away from this issue. Adcoms aren’t going to make exceptions for weddings, grandparent’s deaths, etc. Virtually every high school student in the world has a family wedding, grandparents’ death, relocation move, parents’ divorce or some other thing that “shakes up” a kids’ life. The issue is the length of time. An entire year’s grades should not be that affected by such things. And, therefore, it won’t be believable to any admissions officer.</p>

<p>If I were an Adcom, and I got such an explanation, I would be thinking…“next”…and then I’d move on to the next app.</p>

<p>If I’m remembering the OP correctly, she’s upset that her stats don’t qualify her to really have a good chance at the same top ranked schools that her friends are applying to. So, it’s kind of a ego and peer pressure thing. </p>

<p>The OP needs to just make lemonade out of lemons. She needs to apply and do well at whatever good school will accept her. She can always excel for a couple years and transfer to a “top name” school, or graduate and then go to a top name school for grad school.</p>