My daughter has moved between VA and South Korea because of my husband’s job transfer (8-9th:VA, 10th and 1st semester of 11th:ROK, 2nd semester of 11th:VA). The Grades have been in upward trend and the latest grade (VA) was more than excellent. Her school is public but is one of the top in VA. Her EC is reasonably nice. She is thinking of applying for liberal arts colleges of 20-50 ranking range.
But a private counselor says those colleges do not want such fragmented transcripts (study and extracurricular) and it is not likely they take risk to admit students like her.
When she talked with some admission offices, most of them told that they would not penalize her for things beyond her control, and would appreciate her adaptability if she manages everything. But looking at the selectivity for international students of those schools, the bitter argument seems more plausible.
Do colleges see this sort of kids risky? Is that the case even if she finishes the 12th with perfect game? Also, is it realistic for her to take test-optional?
Thanks for your comment. I thought that the advice from admission offices matches a sort of common sense in educational scene, but as you mentioned, the selectivity for intl students is really a big problem. But I appreciate your inputs.
Adcoms absolutely know how to read a set of transcripts. Or the sort of EC patterns that come with school changes. Lots of families move.
Many US hs will incorporate all her hs grades into their senior transcripts (noting which schools/which semesters; this is common.) Have you asked the high school what they do?
What does this counselor think you’re supposed to do? Give up?
As you said, the current school incorporated all her credits and grades into their transcripts.
The current school did their best, but there were inevitably adjustments which are unfavorable to her: some credits weren’t accepted, the rigor of the school in her home country was disregarded, etc.
Thus, current GPA looks lower than a mathematical average of all the grades she has earned.
Fortunately, all the colleges she reached out say they will accept original transcripts from former schools as well.
It’s really good to know that they are familiar with the move of students.
The counselor warns us and suggests her to apply for much easier schools or to go back to ROK.
As an FYI, how/if a school incorporates grades for transfer students is totally up to the school. My own HS listed past courses as having received credit, but did not list the grades. The GPA was only calculated based on courses taken at that HS. But again, AOs are used to this.
That’s standard.I’m not aware of any college that would not allow this.
I’d find a new counselor. No reason to keep throwing away money for someone who gives you crappy and inaccurate advice.
Thanks again for your comment. Your case was better than ours, but I trust AOs will look into the whole picture.
As for the counselor, yeah, I would love to do so… she will count on him for limited purposes like essay editing…
My daughter went to one school 9-10 grades with 0-100 grading. Then she went to another and did an IB Diploma for 11-12 grades which is 0-7. Never knew what her 4.0 scale GPA was…colleges figure it out. The only time there was an issue was for our State Flagship which auto-awards scholarships based on GPAs , but a quick email sorted that out. So send your transcripts and the college will figure it out.
It isn’t her fault that she moved around…Colleges will see her grades, sat/act and what courses she is taking now and they will be able to get a good ide of her.
Re: essay…google “Hacking the college essay 2017” for some terrific tips on how she can write “only the essay she could write”
OP, I hope you realize many of us parents guided our own kids throught this. Some kids figure it out on their own, but many, many parents help them with this app process. They’ve never experienced anything like this before. You may need to, as bopper also suggests, look into some of what makes a good essay or good app. We can help you translate some of what the colleges say.
Thanks a lot for encouraging. Will look the website about the essay. It is certain she has a lot of unique experiences which might be good elements of her essays.
Yeah, I have already been in this country for 10 years, but this is the first time to learn how the college application works. It is encouraging to know that there are many, many parents who also struggles in such an opaque process. Our case is even more complicated, but we will keep looking forward.
I think you private counselor is completely wrong and is saying this just to “cover him or herself” and prepare you for rejections. You won’t be a happy consumer if your daughter gets rejected but if you apply to more match and safety schools you’re more likely to be a happy customer of the private counselor’s services.
Personally I think your daughter’s path will make her a more attractive candidate. It’s different and unique. Remember, schools want to round out their classes with a variety of students and with students who can bring different things to the table. My suggestion is to find a way to write about living in South Korea or changing schools is her essay for the common application. Make sure you paint her experience as a positive one (which I’m sure it was) that helped her learn, grow, and become the person she is.
Look at that…all that CC for free. Fire that counselor!
Empireapple Your points totally make sense. Thank you for encouraging us.
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When I first learned that American colleges, especially LACs, want to have diverse student body and they would not penalize students like her for circumstances out of their control, I really admired the great American education culture.
At the same time, I was aware of her week points as well, because I am from one of the most test-focused, stats-focused country.
The counselor’s arguments were discouraging but were not surprising at all, because we had already perfectly known and had struggled enough with all the points he made: fragmented academic/EC carrier, not well-rounded grades until the first semester of 11th (her ROK school was not an American school, so the primary language was different), lack of AP-like credits, lack of hook, lack of time for SAT/ACT preparation, etc.
She is now making every efforts to show her capacity by taking the most rigorous courses this year. The school counselor is extremely supportive.
She has been rejected by a couple of fly-in programs, but I am saying her that getting in those programs is tougher than getting in actual admission and that the priority is to be given to kids who have never visited the schools. (She has already visited all of them.)
My only hope is that she can keep her motivation throughout the year.
