<p>As the title says, I'm a US citizen. I even went to high school freshman year in NJ. Then I moved to Serbia & Montenegro (thats one country).</p>
<p>I'd like to know how I'm supposed to go about sending school grade info and letters of recommendation from here, since they're not in the same format and/or language as the scores/letters from US high schools.</p>
<p>I've heard that some collages have a set conversion formula for countries, but the thing is, I went to a school where most of the classes are harder than any AP level classes of the same type in the US. I don't know if the college will be informed of this. I've talked to my guidance counselor but she did not give me all the information I needed.</p>
<p>I'm obviously not applying as an international student but I'd like to hear from even those of you who are about what you did with your grades/letters of recommendation.</p>
<p>Please, it's fairly urgent. Any info you can give me will be useful.</p>
<p>I'm a US citizen also living abroad- as my info says in Germany. </p>
<p>The letters of recommendations are generally the same. You ask the teachers you want to write them- they should fill out the form and write a letter. There is no difference. They should know what to include in it. </p>
<p>Your grades are obviously different and they will not be just transferred to a US scale. In your application, in addition to the school report, your GC should include a separate letter, a booklet about your school- describing the grades. It should include the grade ranges, what they represent, about how many students get what grades. What colleges students go to. What their exam results are. It will include most information about what classes are available and how difficult your course load is. It is much more in depth than what an American school will send in. </p>
<p>From this school report the college should be able to judge your grades fairly well- they have to look in the context of your school not compared to American grades. </p>
<p>If anything is in a different language you will need an official translation. </p>
<p>I would suggest applying online and have the school send their information separately. The only real thing you should worry about it what your GC sends in. The teacher recs will be normal. </p>
<p>I think I answered everything. Hope that helps.</p>
<p>I'm in Serbia so I guess I'll need translations. I have an important question relating to this:</p>
<p>Do I then have to send these translations and whatever else through physical mail? Or can I scan it and send it online, or what? If I send it via physical mail it's gonna double the cost of my applications and I'll probably apply to for fewer schools simply because my family doesn't have enough money.</p>
<p>Also, what if my teacher isn't able to understand some of the items on the form they need to fill out?</p>
<p>Finally, I asked my GC (or the equivalent, no such thing as a GC really) and they said it works like this:</p>
<p>They give me the grades and everything, and I have to get them translated. After they've given me my grades and recs and whatever else it's outta their hands.</p>
<p>o_0</p>
<p>What the hell do I do now? There's no way anyone here will send in booklets and stuff like that... I really have no idea where to start being my school s basically saying 'you figure it out'.</p>
<p>To think how many ppl from my school got into MIT and such I'm amazed that they still have and have had such a thouroughly crappy system.</p>
<p>What's your advice? I figure I'll have to do everything myself, but like, where can I find the standards for grade conversion from my country? I heard yesterday such things exist.</p>
<p>What I'm most interested in is if I can send the translations online or do I have to use physical mail.</p>
<ol>
<li>E-mail the colleges you are interested in and ask them your questions.</li>
<li>E-mail the students from your school who got into American colleges and asked them your questions.</li>
</ol>
<p>Firstly. I suggest you contact all the schools you plan on applying to by email, get the name of an admissions officer you can keep in contact with, who can help you with the process. </p>
<p>Whether or not you need to mail translations or scan them will depend on the university, you would have to ask them. But I think it would be okay to scan it, especially considering the distance. </p>
<p>For the things for your teachers. Make a list of what the colleges will require. A simple list and give it to your teacher that should tell them exactly what to do. </p>
<p>About the school that could be a problem. I'm assuming you attend a local school? If you do, I would contact whoever is in charge of the school system, or the US consulate/embassy. I'm sure they could give you information about the school and grading system to include. </p>
<p>I'm sorry things are rough for you. But the best suggestion I have is to email the schools and to talk to other students at your school.</p>
<p>As mentioned above, you really need to be in contact with the colleges you are interested in. (And some of these issues may be covered on their websites.) Consider youself VERY lucky that email exists so that you can start a dialogue. Obviously, any large, public university that relies mostly on numbers could be more of a challenge for you - they are not set to to analyze apps deeply.</p>