Hey guys! I am a U.S. Citizen A-level student from India. I have a doubt regarding the significance of internal grades. In the A-level system, we usually give importance to our board grades(if available) and predicted grades. However, through my research of the US college process, I have found that American universities calculate GPA of all exams throughout high school, including internal examinations, since they don’t have a system of board examinations. Now I am particularly concerned with this because my IGCSE grades(5A* 4A) are great and I expect my Predicted(A*, A*, A, A) and AS(A*, A*, A, A, B, B or A*, A*, A, A, A, B if I am lucky) grades to be on par with Ivies too, but my internal grades, though, are, I am afraid, not up to the mark. I have many B’s in the school’s internal examinations due to harsh grading, and in fact, even one C in my mocks. So, realistically, assuming I have sufficient essays, LORs, awards, and ECs, are my grades alone enough to be put in the “considered pile” at most T25s? Like I am planning to either ED Dartmouth, Cornell, Vanderbilt or Tufts.
@HappyPerson123 if this is your real name, please change it asap. Here is how:
@skieurope might be able to explain how your grades will be used when applying to colleges here
Which of the above schools do you like the most, and feel you would be happy to attend for four years. And are they all affordable for your family?
Also, you have “international student” tagged. You are a U.S. citizen living abroad. You are not an international student…but I believe your application for admission might be reviewed with others living in your region.
It absolutely will be reviewed by the AO handling India. Your academics and activities are viewed in that context, but you are not subject to international caps and are eligible for federal aid
Your external results plus predicted scores are considered more.
so based on academic situation what should be my T25 ED pick be so as to not waste it? I really like dartmouth but I’m afraid my stats aren’t good enough.
Your ED pick should be YOUR top choice college…no one else can answer that question but you.
I can’t answer the question or give advice based on info provided. First step is to follow Thumper’s lead
That should be the answer. There’s no magical way to take the system, so ED to your top choice affordable school
AFAIK in the UK system internal grades aren’t even reported so you would report your official IGCSE results, any AS result, and predicted A Level results.
IF your school does offer a transcript with internal grades on top of the above, they will be considered but official results carry more weight.
Note that the results are just the first cut: after that, what you bring to the university/their institutional priorities decide. And as an international ultimately what you can afford will be the biggest decision factor.
This student is a U.S. citizen living abroad. So for financial aid purposes, he is a U.S. citizen…and will be subject to the guidelines for financial aid for U.S. citizens.
Oops, good catch - sorry!
In that case, the last factor doesn’t apply to you @HappyPerson123, apologies (it was clearly stated right at the beginning, my bad 
)
The rest does apply - for ED choose your favorite and remember these are reaxh for everyone, aka, lottery schools, so create a list with enough matches and safeties 
Thanks everyone for the help! This thread has solved a lot of my confusions!
thanks for this! I was not able to find the pencil symbol next to my username so I have mailed the admin regarding that.
Emailing the CC admin about your screen name change is the right thing. That was in the directions. You joined a long while ago, and that’s the way to get this resolved.
And good luck to you on your college search. Folks here are more than happy to help with college ideas…if you give a lot of information. You might want to do a chance me/match me post and answer all those fields.