I’m currently a freshman and I will be applying for 18 fall, i.e. the next cycle to schools such as Choate, Hkiss, Andover… etc
My English teacher who is Singaporean Chinese (not trying to be racist - but this should explain what I’m going to say later on, I’m in the American system ofc so most of my other teachers are American) grades extremely harshly and as a result my current english grade is even worse than those in EAL (the english support program)
yes, im an international student so im really worried about this showing up on my transcript which probably will affect my chances -
but does anyone have experiences like this? how do I communicate this to the AO’s or how do I let them know?
I will definitely be attending interviews in person, but as you all know theres no way I could say ‘oh hey my english teacher grades extremely harshly’ to the AO’s - im rly worried about this pls help
Some schools ask for a sample paper, graded. Those schools will see the caliber of your work and the grade assigned and will make their own judgment as to whether they think you deserved higher marks or not.
I agree with @CaliMex . I know of a friend that was actually worried about the same thing, but the school asked her to hand in an essay of hers. Good luck with your search!
My son flunked his geometry final in 7th grade, and this showed up on his transcript. He applied to selective boarding schools in 8th grade, and was accepted to all of them: Andover, Exeter, Deerfield, Choate, Taft, Etc.
So schools understand this. A single bad grade won’t kill you.
I wouldn’t mention it. It’s not exactly sending the message that you’d think it would. It might make it look like you can’t handle pressure (definitely not what happened – I’ve been in your situation) or that you don’t trust your teacher’s judgement and aren’t open to feedback, which would both be issues if they were true. They don’t know you or your character, so your words would be open to interpretation–you’re a total stranger to them and they also don’t know your teacher. Again, they wouldn’t be right in these judgements, but they do come to mind. I know exactly how you feel. This year applying to boarding schools, I had an awful math grade. The teacher literally hated me so I was pretty worried. I also thought about the same problem you have right now. In the end, it all worked out. It always does. We’ve all had horrible harsh teachers but I don’t think that mentioning it would be in your favor. You’ll end up where you need to end up, and I wouldn’t worry too much about one grade if they’re considering more than eight (over 6th and 7th grades). I mean, don’t be worried, at all. There’s nothing to really worry about. They’re not going to not admit you just because you have one bad grade or because you said that a teacher was harsh. This situation is difficult but the overall effect on your application won’t be as detrimental as you think. If all of your other grades and recommendations are good, they probably will get the feeling that your other teacher is an actual harsh grader; moreso than if you tell them. Good luck on your application. Have a great summer and I hope you get in where you apply!
If you have a low grade in that class you may want to ask your GC or whoever will write your recommendation from the school admin. to note the class average or grade distribution for this class. That way, if you got a C but no one got above a B it will be understood that this class was graded harshly and that your C was more like a B in an average class.
I would not broach the topic yourself if you can get someone else to do so. You won’t want to look like a whiner who blames poor grades on external factors.
