Hey everyone. As you probably figured by the title of this thread, I am an international student (from Israel) and currently in the midst of the application process (mainly trying to finish up my essays).
I’ve got two major questions regarding of the process and I’d be more than happy if some of you could help with them -
- I never got to understand whether submitting my high school transcripts through the Common Application for my school of choice is enough. Do I need to somehow send my transcripts in some other way in addition? (as in the case of TOEFL and SAT scores, for example)
- Recommendation letters. While the entire Common Application thing is rather infused within the American high school culture of future undergrads, it is not quite so around where I live. Getting my teachers to write me letters of recommendation was hard as it is (not because I'm not worthy of any, but because it's not really a thing you do over here), I can't even imagine to explain them how they should submit them through an on-line application in a foreign language. Does anyone know of a way to overcome this barrier? In other words, is there a way in which I could submit the letters -for them- (without being considered illegitimate, morally or legally, of course)?
Thanks everyone!
1: no, if your transcripts are uploaded, you're fine. Make sure there's a school profile (ie., success at the bagrout school-wide, any special characteristics such as magnet program or Kibbutz School, for instance), what percentage get which grade, whether this is considered equal to hat they can expect on Bagrout (or, if you typically get 10 points at school, you can expect 13 points for the Bagrout, or whatever distortion there may be) and any other information that would help with context.
For #2: many international students translate the letters in front of their teachers, who then review them for accuracy. The student “invites” the teacher by registering them and their professional email into commonapp. CommonApp sends an “invitation” to the teacher’s mailbox. Then the teacher uploads it -once- onto the CommonApp. Explain that they can upload it once, or… send in by mail as many times as there are universities. Uploading is MUCh easier.
https://educationusa.state.gov/centers/us-israel-educational-foundation
Pick up the phone. Call the counselors. They are the experts on your particular set of issues.
@MYOS1634 Thanks for your helpful comment! So you’re saying it’s actually a lot easier than it seems. I though at first to actually have a sit down with them and upload it for them through their personal computers, but I’m going to take your word for how simple it is.