@SJ2727 Yeah scored top score in maths
The second option will be in Europe but outside of France if possible. The thing is that, they dont accept high school graduated student directly…
“Yeah scored top score in maths”
And the English R/W section?
^ OP means ‘in French exms’, which are very very different from the SAT math. He’s not taken the sat yet.
@ilvermornyisolt :
I know that French teachers have no compunction about berating a student in every possible way. American universities may not, or may not care. The idea of publicly humiliating a student " to kick their backside into being/doing better" is opposite to American teaching protocols and hard to believe for many Americans. Harassment and bullying by teachers has to be handled carefully, not posted the way you did.
I’m trying to HELP you.
For now, practice your English (read books as well as news articles, watch TV series and TV news as well as crash course videos); practice the SAT; register for the May or June SAT to see how it goes; keep going to your job and think about a defining moment in your recent life for your essay.
I thought he was responding to the question about practice SATs.
Even with an 800 math, he’d need 750 English section to get his target 1550. From my understanding that is 98-99th percentile which is just not anywhere near what is suggested by his posts here. I really don’t want to come across as too negative … I’m just trying to be realistic, rather than give false hope and set someone up for disappointment.
Add to this the fact French students are trained in a totally different way so that standardized testing is very hard for them. For instance, they’re used to proof-based math; their grade depends on the elegance of the proof. As you know, the SAT couldn’t care less about your proof or its elegance.
And SAT English is really hard for non native speakers because many questions are oblique. (The ACT, with its more straightforward questions, especially in the “English” section, is easier to master for non native speakers).
As a result, even strong French students have trouble reaching high scores.
OP you should keep your head cold and make more decisions based on reason rather than feelings. Expand your options, seek for opportunities outside of france and the US ,research about the universities abroad and the benefits of going to those places (taking prices and scholarships into account).
You are not the first dreamer in this world and certainly you won’t be the last one either, which means that you should be aware of the possibilites that lie in front on you and learn to accept that there are certain things that can’t be changed no matter how much heart you put into it. Grounded actions (academical or behavioral ones) and the results from them are the things that your community and the several institutions around the world will see and that’s how they’ll define you. Of course the most important thing is to define yourself first and be a good person, then you can work on achieveing your objectives.
Despite my backround and thanks to the chances of life I’m in a place that very few people can get into, now my problem is getting throught it under herculean efforts and confronting huge academic and language dificulties but I chose that fate and I’ve learnt to take it and accept that there are thousands who can outpace me. I just want to say to y ou that if you happen to get into a top institution or try to do great on anything, you will go throught lots and lots of dissapointments, stressful moments with some despair here and there (most people can’t take that amount of pressure), but you can always see the glass half-full and that always makes it worth it.
I hope this message clears your mind, best of luck.
Thanks guys! I love this community even if some answers are rough i always have an answer to my questions. I know that it can be frustrating as an average student to be refused in top universities but i have to try it . If you guys ask whyit’s because my personnality is like this, i have to be sure that im refused to get this idea out of my brain! Beside of this, i have to train english. As our friend explained very well, french education isnt similar to American Education, it’s unfair. If you guys ask why, we do not learn with pleasure, in the united states ( my exchange students friends ) told me that they are going to school by theirselves, learning by theirselves it’s not like a drudgery! i keep in mind all of your answers, comments ! It’s a very hard decision, im scared of coming back to France and have 0 jobs. If i go to the USA thats the plan
FALL 2020 > Classes
after 4 year, with my graduation i will come back to France and integrate an ‘’ école de commerce ‘’ which is a business school, to take my master degree. ( total 6years) and after this i will try to earn work experience!
It will be very sad to not go to the usa, i hate french education you can’t imagine. Im sorry the way that i exposed my harassment by my teachers, but it was a very hard moment of my life and i cant explain it through out a polite way
If you study for the SAT, take a first test in May or June, work on your essays in the summer, apply to several universities, and retake the SAT in October, you WILL have choices.
I understand getting bullied is horrible and leaves marks and scars. But you have to handle it in the right way when you are applying to college.
I have no idea how admissions committees will look at your GPA, but I do know that French schools grade on a much harder scale than American ones do. For this reason, they might translate your French GPA to a higher one.
My daughter studied in France for a year. She was appalled when the first paper she got back had a 16 on it (out of 20). She went to her professor to ask how she could improve on the next paper and he told her that anything above 15 was excellent. Grade inflation is much, much less common in France than in the US.
^Yes. A 12/20 is very good and a 12 overall in the baccalaureate leads to a distinction; a 14 means a national level distinction. A 10 is like a B. In many classes, 1/3 get above 11-12, 1/3 are in the 9-11 range, and 1/3 are below 9.
The scale is totally different from in the US.
@Massmomm: the teacher was likely shocked too, since he’d likely not have given a 16 on a first paper to a French student and was trying to be supportive by giving a super high grade to encourage your daughter (something not many French teachers are willing to do), so he must not have expected her reaction! 
^Saw a similar thing at my UK university where the American students took a while to reconcile 70% with being a first class pass!
But the universities will all have grade conversion tabless, correct? University of Minnesota was the first college that came up in a google search. They note that no-one ever scores a 20 in France, and that grades above 16 are rare, but their conversion table is much more draconian than the figures suggested in the post just above, suggesting grades around 12 are equivalent to a C/C+.
http://cda.mrs.umn.edu/~buchansb/Grade%20Conversion%20Scales,%20Updated%202016.pdf
^Interesting. Perhaps the UMN students attend a college where their scale is different, since the “AB” distinction for top 10-15% mentioned in the document is normally given in France for scores of 12-13, and you wouldn’t equate “top 10-15%” with a C+ in the US.
Is scholaro reputable? They have 12-13.99 as a B.
I don’t think B is worthy of a distinction in the US either whereas a 12 is in France.
Mostly the problem is that 1) secondary scales change depending on school level (i.e., a 12 in 9th grade isn’t the same value as a 12 in 11th grade) and 2) scales are different between the school year and the baccalaureate depending on the school (lots of schools practice grade deflation but everybody who matters in France knows that a 9 from school Z will result in a 12 on the exam and is actually a decent grade, considering even the kids with 6s are awarded the bac. The value of the grade can be inferred by using the % who actually get their bac - if 60% in the class are 9 and below and 95% get their baccalaureate it means 55% were in the national 10 range actually.)
Another difficulty is there’s no clear ‘pass’ starting in the 10th grade. France is an implicit culture, so ‘pass’ is whatever the specific teacher says it is and no objective criteria or numbers are given, it’s provided if the teacher feels like it and orally during the class council. The US is an explicit culture, the concept of fluctuating grades and passes makes little sense.
Add to this the fact BAC grades, delivered in July, tend to function differently from the year grade even though teachers can devine predicted grades that can be unlike their own. And that for the bac, a 10 is a pass, although an 8 is a pass of sorts…
For the bac, you have three levels of awards: second groupe, premier groupe, mention.
Second groupe means that at the end of the oral and written exams taken in June, their average is an 8. If during the year an 8 can be sufficient, because the bac scale differs from the year scale, an 8 in the bac indicates a students who deserves to be awarded the degree but likely underperformed on two exams, so the system gives students the right to take more exams in two subjects of their choice. That comprises 25-30% students. (Beside the ones who failed by not reaching an 8). Reaching an 8 also means you get awarded a HS diploma but not the bac if you choose not to do the extra exams. (= everyone takes the extra exams).
Premier groupe is for students whose average ends up in the 10-11.7 band (kids in the 11.8-11.99 band tend to be switched to the 12 group during jury deliberation.) They don’t have to take any other exam. Roughly next 30-35%.
Mentions are for distinctions. The thresholds are 12,14,16. It’s MUCH easier to get a 12 in the bac than during the school year.
So… American schools tend to be pretty confused by the system 
“American schools tend to be pretty confused by the system”
I am certainly quite confused by the French system. It is very hard for most of us here on CC to know how to interpret grades from France, India, or most systems outside of North America. Even Canadian grades vary to some extent from US grades. It is most likely also difficult for people from France (or India) to know how to translate their grades into US grade equivalents.
However, I am pretty sure that admissions at large or well known US universities will know how to interpret grades from French schools. I am very sure that admissions at universities in Quebec (or the University of Ottawa, which is the largest bilingual university in Canada) will know how to interpret grades from French schools.
Universities used to French applicants have general guidelines - Penn State wants several 10+ coeff4, top universities/LACs look at 13+ and a predicted mention B or TB. Most Quebec universities want 11 on the bac (sometimes premier groupe only, sometimes premier/second groupe), Concordia typically wants 13 in math and either 11 or 13 overall, McGill receives so many applications their requirements also aim at limiting the numbers and they can ask for 15 or even higher (except the McDonald campus, where for some reason French students don’t apply, so an 11 is sufficient).
Guys, i have a serious question. After a long conversation with my parents, they suggested me to study in europe. The reason is that, they are very sad to give 170 000 euros for school… Even if we can it’s heartbreaking dont you agree? And a bachelor in 4 years in the usa, is converted into 3 years in europe which means i will loose 1 year… There are good schools in Europe, im definetely falling in love with vienna university… But i have a question. Will i recieve a similar education ( united states)? Or America’s one is better? The fact that i will study in europe ( austria ) instead of america will it be a failure? Or it will be good? Will i have the same opportunities with a degree at vienna rather than an american degree? I really dont want to loose opportunities … 175th best university i nthe world ( vienna)
I really hope that there is no bgi difference between ‘’ top universities ‘’ like penn state and normal universities like vienna’s one