Very, very idiosyncratic case...

Applying to College
1

<p>First, let me give a bit of information about my unusual circumstance. I just went from a foreign H.S. to the US last year, and started sophomore year in a US top 100 HS. Because there were no "Honors" or "APs" classes in foreign HS, all my classes on my transcript (9th grade) were counted as "academic." Besides, I had to repeat a bunch of courses (like PE, bio pre-ap, etc...) because of my counselor. Because of this, my Weighted GPA really sucks although I have a 4.0 UW GPA and I have a hard time to fit all the challenging courses I want to take. Besides, even if I get straight A's in the junior and senior year, I will never be able to be top 10%. Nevertheless, I'm finally going to be able to take 4 APs junior year+2 pre-APs, and maybe 6 APs senior year. </p>

<p>Supposing that I do well junior and senior year, how much would college penalize me for my foreign year without "honors" classes provided they didn't exist in the foreign HS (which was a top 2-3 HS in the country)?</p>

<p>Is freshman year counted seriously by colleges? I've heard junior year is more important. Is it true? Though I take only 4 APs junior year, the courseload will be VERY heavy since I have 2 additional "Pre-AP" classes to take (due to transcript error), which will make me work like crazy on homeworks (3 science courses in a single year). Do you think college could understand this?</p>

<p>Do you know if I can express my dilemma to the college so that they know my "special" situation? If so, how?</p>

<p>I'm really clueless on this, and any advices are more than welcome! Thanks for reading.</p>

2

<p>Maybe your counselor could mention your situation in their recommendation.</p>

<p>Also, some colleges re-calculate GPA discluding freshman year. These incluse: Stanford, UMich, and the UCs.</p>

3

<p>You should not sweat this too much. Ask your counselor to explain it, and use all "additional information" fields in the online applications to provide the proper context. If you do great junior year and the first semester of senior year, most colleges will take your situation into account.</p>

4

<p>"Maybe your counselor could mention your situation in their recommendation"
Hopefully, she will, but for the moment, she's kind of hostile toward me.</p>

5

<p>Dear W & C: If you can repair this relationship (bring her Starbucks) do so. I wouldn't worry about the situation you describe too much.</p>

6

<p>Watson&Crick: The solution is very, very simple. You say that you attended a very strong foreign school. Tell colleges that. Tell them that the school doesn't offer APs (Some of the schools you're applying to probably have heard of that school and already know about your situation). </p>

<p>Attach a letter to your application that includes an explanation. It's easy! And if you feel queasy about it, call the schools you're considering and explain. But most important is the letter.</p>