What are my French grads worth ?

<p>Hello,</p>

<p>I am applying to US colleges this fall (Ivies and good LAC) and I was wondering how are they going to evaluate my school transcript. </p>

<p>I got 15/20 at the French Bac and my GPA was 13-14. I'm just worried because every semester I got two or three 10-12.</p>

<p>If anyone took the French Bac here, I would be grateful if he or she could tell me what were his or her grades and which schools he or she got into.</p>

<p>Thank you very much !!!</p>

<p>PS : Is calling colleges and asking them a good idea ?
PPS : I meant "grades", sorry.</p>

<p>It s very difficult to tell because French grades are just so different compared to the US. You can t really take your grades and try to convert them into a GPA as basically it is usually impossible to get an A in France and excellent students would get only what would be a B, something like 16 out of, 20. </p>

<p>You should take the SAT and that would give you a better idea. If u can score above 2100 then you might have a change a most schools with some good essays, ECs and recommendations from your teacher. (But french teachers are not used to writing recommendations and most of the time they would look like nothing compared to what they write in the US…). </p>

<p>If you dont have stellar ECs then that would be a real problem though.</p>

<p>Your chances at Ivies are very low though, if not impossible. Might want to focus on second tier schools.</p>

<p>The Franco-American Commission in Paris (rue Chardin in the 16th) can help you with US grade equivalents for French grades. You can find them on Google. Recruiters from good American universities understand how rigorous the French system is, so don’t get discouraged. A 15/20 on the Bac means a lot!</p>

<p>OK, thanks for your answers !!</p>

<p>My daughter attended a French-American private school for many years. I decided to pull her out because it became clear that following the French system would not give her the transcripts for top-tier schools. (I don’t really care where she goes to school, as long she is happy and studying what she wants at a school that is a good fit for her and her major of choice. But it seemed unnecessary to hinder her options later for no real reason, she can still learn French through other courses and by visiting her family there. </p>

<p>Anyway, the rigors of the French system may or may not be recognized (I don’t think they are anymore, not as much as they used to be).</p>

<p>I suggest calling several schools of varying levels and learning directly from the source how your grades will be translated and what your 15/20 scores means within the context of American schools.</p>