noojoo

Hi I go to a UK school; I got 10A* GCSEs, and am most probably going to get all As for my A-levels (Maths, Further Maths, Physics, Economics, History).. My expected SAT scores are probably 2200+, and 730+s on SAT II

Unfortunately my transcript really bites; it's riddled with As, Bs, Cs, and even some Ds O.O *gasp*..
The comments are all basically like this --> "Andrew remains an enigma.. His academic results are second to none... It is unfortunate that it is so hard for Andrew to participate in class discussion... blablabla.. he needs to put more effort into ..."

(Haha i'll tell you something funny. I got a A progress and D/A effort; because 1/2 way in the middle of the term i "turned around"... Hahaha D/a...)

Yea well, this is the UK, the teachers are evil and thus my desire to escape this ghastly country... p.s. the weather sucks too

Anyway,
I was wondering, how much does my sucky transcript really matter?
Also, Im not really participating in student activities such as club presidents, sports captains.. blabla... I'm in a few societies and doing some sports (not any of them varsity)


Will adcoms in like e.g. Princeton, Amherst, Pomona.. so on so on... understand my situation???

Obviously being an (american-accented & influenced) Asian in a British country with cynical, evil, depressing, obnoxious SoBs, and no-one to relate to, has caused my grades to suck!

isnwta

Your transcipt doesnot suck at all,, you got all A's as you mentioned. If the worse grades are from your midterms and/or other exams that your HS conducted..then still you got better grades in your finals.. A levels are internationally recognised courses. You are showing an improvement and with your course load (its further maths..come on) you will do fine. I guess you can improve on your extracurricular, if, more importantly, you are interested and time allows...........me thinks!!!

b@r!um

I am not sure about your grades, but your documented lack of involvement will hurt your chances a lot. American colleges are above all looking for students who will contribute to the college community, both inside and outside the classroom.

Princeton, Amherst, Pomona etc are small colleges with many interactive discussion-based classes that you are expected to participate in actively. (I am at a small college too and participation counts for up to 1/3 of the final grade in each of my classes!) If you are uncomfortable participating, maybe you should aim at larger universities where the vast majority of classes are lecture-style.

loathed

yes, barium is spot on. american colleges actually do care about things aside from academics!

GoBlue81

Your GCSE result trumps your transcript. To counter the unfavorable comments, pick teachers who really know and like you for recommendations. Engage your school counselor early and get to know him/her.

gagilord

Make sure you become more involved in class and if necessary you may have to suck up a little so that teachers change their attitude towards you

hewey

Dude. There's a class called Further Maths? That's awesome. We get Maths Extension 1 & 2. Boring.

missil3

The top college look at your entire academic record. Also as others have suggested you need to be more involved in extra curricular activities.

moizuhk

Not to discourage but I know a guy who had exactly the same situation 11 A* in his GCSE's, 4 Alevel A's and a 2210. His HS transcript like your was riddled with some A's, B's C's and D's. He applied to top colleges like Princeton, stanford chicago, williams and all and got rejected from ALL of them. Hell he only managed to get into one safety that too without any aid! His essays were good, he didnt have a lot of EC's and I believe his recommendations were OK.

Not to discourage you but the point is when it comes to the top colleges EVERYTHING matters especially your high school record. When the Harvard Princeton people came to our school, they said they want consistent people through HS not people who only study for their O A levels.

Just keep your fingers crossed.Good luck

ctownes

Just wondering, what grades are you talking about?

I'm a senior at a UK school and my transcript only included my GCSE, AS, and predicted A level results.

weasleyisourking

i took the GCSE and A levels too. you dont have to send in your transcript riddled with bad grades, cos i didnt. they only need GCSE and predicted A level grades.

but honestly, this is a really lousy excuse: Obviously being an (american-accented & influenced) Asian in a British country with cynical, evil, depressing, obnoxious SoBs, and no-one to relate to, has caused my grades to suck!

sefago

Hey,
I took Further Maths too and very similar classes. I took a system similar to yours and I had a spectrum of As, Bs and Cs though no Ds. i had like in 10 subjects- 6As 2B 1C (typical grade distribution). My friend had a similar transcript but with a very high SAT score and he goes to MIT. To make things worse an A in my school was 75 so a C was in the low 60s. The class I got a C in was Geography and I was ranked like 8th in a class of 400. I don't even want to think what other people got. Not every country is as grade inflated.

moizuhk

I think you HAVE to send in your school record i.e. all your school mid terms and finals (mocks) in your transcript for like 10th to 13th grade or something. And thats what he probably is referring to.

ctownes

None of the six colleges I applied to this year received anything other than my public exam results and predicted A levels- I'm just pointing this out because it would be better for him not to have to send all of the other grades (which is not necessary).

If your school thinks that this is mandatory, explain to your university supervisor that it is not. Also point out that it will improve your chances not to mention grades other than official scores.