Chances for International Student

Longdistancemum
Mon, 20 Jun 2016 21:06:46 +0000

You might want to consider taking a gap year so you can apply based on actual IB scores, rather than predicted.

I would think that if you do as well as you expect that has a good chance of mitigating against your Grade 9 and 10 results. It seems to me that the reason GPA is so important for Americans is that there is no national qualifications framework on the U.S. This means that GPA plus SATs and APs have to serve as a proxy for your intellectual ability and worth ethic.

The IB is a rigorous qualification that takes steady work over a two year period. If you really get 44 or 45 the top U.S. universities will know what that means.

During that gap year you could work at a job - to show maturity and “stickability” as well as to get a broader perspective on life and save some money.

As others have said, there are no guarantees at the top U.S. universities. Having said that there are international students like you studying at these institutions - I know because my son (also an international but from a much smaller country) is studying alongside them.