Dilemma about grades for an international student whose professor just changed .

Applying to College
1

My math teacher just changed and he is one of the best in my country (Romania) . The problem is that he is VERY though .
I mean , even the national olimpycs at mathematics have low grades at him . He made an “elite” group within my class that gets much harder tests (think of problems from past national competitions at math) while the rest of the class gets easier ones . This means that admission officers will see that I have lower grades than many of my class mates but they won’t know my situation . Until now I have increased my grades at math every year , but this year (I am in 12th grade) they might drop dramatically . What should I do ? Can I explain this to admission officers ? I mean , they will still see that I got perfect scores on every standardized exam that relates to math , but the grades will look bad .

2

You can put this information in the common app “Additional information” section.

3

^^^^^ I wouldn’t put that as the student. It sounds like you are whining. If that was somehow included in a recommendation letter, that would be different. The last thing you want to admit to is that when the math got hard, you couldn’t do it. Would this teacher write a good recommendation letter for you? That may be an option. Otherwise I think you have to try to get your guidance counselor to write it.

4

Agree with @Eeyore123 Complaining about how hard a teacher is will not reflect well on your or your application. If the class has been broken into two sections with one being more advanced then you can ask your guidance counselor to note that in his/her recommendation.

5

Well, it is all in how you spin it. I think a kid could write a very convincing (not whining) paragraph about how great it was to be taught by this giant in Romanian mathmatic circles and how it was a privilege to be recognized as good enough to be one of the students selected to get the hardest of the work in the class. And how even though it was a privilege, the grades may have been depressed but it was all worth it in the end because of the knowledge gained!

6

100% this ^