<p>My grades are not USA-perfect. I’m from Brazil and my school is very difficult. It’s impossible to get more than 95 out of 100 in regular classes, plus we don’t have Honors or AP or any of that fancy stuff.
My schedule is also mostly fixed since freshman year. The system doesn’t allow us to choose our classes at all. I’ve taken three years of Math, History, Geography, Chemistry, Biology, Physics, Portuguese, English, Philosophy, Social Studies, Literature and PE; two years of Latin and Spanish; and one year of Art History and something along the lines of “Essay Writing”
So, if my average is 90%, but I’m top 10% of my year, how do schools see that it’s better than it looks like? Should I tell them that, and if so, where? How do I explain that my schedule may seem average or poor when in fact I had no power over that (and believe me, I wish I’d had).</p>
<p>A lot of applications ask for class rank I think, so if you’re highly ranked they’ll understand that your grades are very good for your school</p>
<p>Each hs usually sends a profile, describing rigor, requirements, scheduling, something about grading and the sorts of things you mention. Your advisor also has a chance to write about you- and they usually include a note about context. It’s part of the Common App. You can actually see a sample of this “School Report” on the CA web site. Btw, the better your hs- and the better the level of colleges you are applying to- the better the chances adcoms already know something about the school and its rep. Even in Brazil.</p>
<p>Thanks. Though I highly doubt someone might know my school, considering it’s less than twenty years old and it’s in one of the lesser known capitals.</p>