@T26E4 @Tperry1982 @gibby I appreciate your input, but I’ll have to respectfully disagree. The reason I ‘slacked off’ on exams is due to the fact that in my country, internal school exams are given virtually no importance and we are encouraged to think of them as mere ‘practice tests’ for the real thing. In fact, at my most recent school they did not even keep a record of mid-term or mock exam scores, a problem I’m still trying to get past in my counselor’s report.
Even so, please believe me when I say I’ve worked as hard as I could these past few years, and have managed to attain more A-Levels than regular students do, and international recognition in the field I am most interested in. Which is why I would hate for my official transcript to set me back, especially because I was told they did not need it from a country with a curriculum such as mine.
As for the teacher recommendations, I’m sure they are going to be excellent, as they all know me well and are proud of my achievements. I’ve had a few pull me aside specifically and tell me that, as well as a few that talk about me to their other classes praisingly, so I know they hold me in high esteem.
I am aware that my chances are not high, but then again, the admission rates are so low, it’s practically impossible to tell whose chances ARE high.
@JHS Thank you for your reply. You are right in assuming that I was raised in a system where internal grades were meaningless. Yale has seemed so perfect in so many ways, and I’d hate to not even be given a shot based on something I wasn’t even aware mattered. I was under the impression that all I needed were brilliant board exam grades, which I have. I will try and make the rest of my application shine, however, and hope for the best.