How can I improve my chances? (Studied during 9th grade abroad)

Chance Me / Match Me
1

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>I am a junior in high school and since I am going to be applying to Early Action and Rolling enrollment colleges around October/November I don’t really have that much time to improve my application before next year so I was wondering whether anyone could suggest something that I could possibly manage to sign up for or do before I apply to college so that I could make my college applications stronger?</p>

<p>Here’s what my application will look like so far:
• Caucasian male
• From the age of 2 through 9th grade I lived and went to school in Latvia (small country in Europe)
• Primary Language is Latvian, very fluent in English (ofc ^^), taking Japanese at school, know a little bit of Russian, some German
• Cumulative GPA: 3.17 <– This is my biggest pitfall, the reason my GPA is so low is because when my high school in Washington State translated my 9th grade grades from Latvia the way they were converted gave me a very low GPA for the 12 classes I had to take there, I was also enrolled in one of the most competitive schools in the country
• GPA of Sophomore Year: 3.5 <– Had some Language barrier issues
• GPA of 1st semester Junior year: 3.28 <– that’s including AP classes and I had some family troubles so I had a very rough month which attributed to my low grades
• Expected GPA of 2nd semester Junior year: 3.62 (if all goes well then might be as high as a 3.72)
• SAT: 1910; W 650, R: 660, M: 600 (I will be taking it for a 2nd time in June and I hope of improving my grade, especially in math, won’t make any predictions yet but I think I will get a higher score than this)</p>

<p>ECs:
Sophomore year:
• Junior State of America</p>

<p>Junior year:
• Interact Club (Community Service Club)
• Global Wellness (Community Service Club)
• Leadership team for a community service project called “March Gladness” that lasted through all of March
• Over summer I am going to be visiting my family and will get an internship at the National Television Channel thanks to my mom who works there</p>

<p>Sports:
No school sports but I do Speed Skating and Alpine Skiing. Back in Latvia I was the winner of the Latvian cup in speed skating in 2006 and vice champion in 2005, I do realize however that college most likely doesn’t care about that</p>

<p>Some important facts I’ll mention in my essay:
I am a citizen of the United States because I am lucky enough to have been born here. My parents however still live in Latvia with my two younger sisters but because I felt like Latvia was too small for me and I have always dreamed big I decided to come to the States to live with my grandmother (Living here since August 2007, was 15 years old when I moved here).
I was hoping that college might like what this shows about my character, that I am an achiever and have a strong will.</p>

<p>Freshman Year Classes:
14 total classes including Biology, Chemistry, Physics, German, Latvian Literature, World History, Geography, Math etc. etc.</p>

<p>Sophomore Year classes:
• Japanese I
• Pre-AP Biology
• Video Productions I
• Algebra II
• Honors American Studies II (had two periods of it since it counts as an English and also social studies credit)</p>

<p>Junior Year classes:
• Video Productions II (Will get college credit for this through dual credit)
• AP Psychology
• Japanese II
• AP Jr. English Language and Composition
• Physics
• Pre-Calculus</p>

<p>Senior Year Classes that I’ve signed up for:
• Leadership (includes planning assemblies, pep rallies, dances etc.)
• Business and Marketing I (Will get college credit for this through dual credit)
• AP Calculus AB
• AP World History
• AP English Literature and Composition
• AP US Government and Politics</p>

<p>Notes: I am proud of the fact that I took AP English even though I technically could’ve gotten away with taking English as a Second Language haha, even taking regular English would be something I’d technically deserve a pat on the back but I decided that I wanted to challenge myself :)</p>

<p>Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated :slight_smile:
Oh and I also realize that I should’ve done a better job with my GPA here in the states but I did have some language barrier problems at first and had to adopt to the new life thousands of miles away from my home and family.</p>

<p>I could brush up on my language skills by taking courses over the summer and say that I am fluent in Russian or German or even start learning another language, I am good with languages :)</p>

<p>Kind Regards,
Henry</p>

<p>P.S. Sorry if it’s still kind of a chaotic post, I couldn’t make the headings bold for some reason :/</p>

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<p>wow a Latvian! I studied abroad in Latvia a couple years ago for a couple months. great country, but pretty much nobody here knows where it is. I loved it there though.</p>

<p>anyways, your GPA is a little low but I guess there’s not too much you can do about that other than do your best next year. You might also want to explain the issues you had with your GPA and why it is low. A positive grade trend is good.</p>

<p>Your SAT isn’t too bad for your first time. you should be able to improve writing and math a bit. CR is the toughest to improve on (at least it was for me). Are you taking any SAT subject tests? </p>

<p>I don’t know where you want to go to school, but I’d imagine UW and WSU would love to have you (considering you’re instate).</p>

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<p>Hey! Wow you’ve not only heard of it but have actually been there? That’s a shock to me! :smiley: Nice to hear that you enjoyed your time there from what I understand, otherwise you wouldn’t say it’s a great country but I imagine you’re just being polite ^^</p>

<p>I was thinking about SAT Subject tests for a while but most likely not… If I will then Ill take one in September.</p>

<p>I’ll be applying for both UW and WSU but UW has become very very competitive :frowning:
Do you think if I’d get an SAT score of 2000+ that would help offset my low GPA a bit?</p>

<p>And thanks for the reply! :)</p>

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<p>No, Latvia is an amazing country. i really enjoyed my time there.</p>

<p>Yes, UW has become more competitive lately. I am out of state but was accepted this year and will be starting there in the fall. can’t wait. I had only a 1940 SAT and was accepted OOS. I think since you’re instate you could probably get in with your current score but it’s probably safer to retake it just in case.</p>

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<p>Hmm… I’m rather pessimistic about my chances to get into the UW. I think I would need a really good SAT score to get in there. But thanks for the vote of confidence :)</p>

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<p>spaceneedle was quite helpful but I thought maybe someone has something more to add? :)</p>

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<p>Would taking a school sports help my application or should I just focus on my grades and the ECs I already have instead?</p>

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<p>Guess I’m just gonna stick with I’m doing already and work on those grades :)</p>

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<p>If you’re already a junior, I don’t think joining a sport at this point will help a whole lot. Just keep the grades up, increase your GPA, and keep going with those clubs and I think you’ll be fine.</p>

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<p>Henry, I can totally relate to your situation.
I studied abroad in a really competitive international school in France, but when they translated my grades here in the US it screwed up my GPA, even though I took college-level classes. Which is ridiculous and annoying, since I studied a lot that year, but oh well.
And my sophomore year (my 1st year in the US)? Yeah, I had some great language issues. I only knew how to say “yes” “no” and “ketchup, please” LOL
(I’m really good at learning languages, so I learned english in no time :wink: )</p>

<p>I hope colleges will get more…uhm…personal with our situations and try to understand. But with your strong will and character, I think you wont have problems at all.
Just keep focusing on your EC’s and grades, and challenge yourself. Your SAT isn’t too bad, but I’d suggest you to take it again and try to improve.</p>

<p>PS: Alpine Skiing? I LOVE skiing!</p>

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<p>Thanks spaceneedle!</p>

<p>@mbl, haha our situations are very very similar it seems because sophomore years was also my first one in the US lol. And yes, I probably need to improve my SAT score, thanks for the advice :)</p>

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<p>I have a question, do you think colleges will take in consideration my special circumstances regarding 9th grade?</p>

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<p>I don’t see why they wouldn’t consider it.</p>