Hey, I was traveling with my parents so I never went to a school in those two years. But now I’m in an eliteish private school and my grades n’ stuff are pretty nice so I’m go to apply to Ivies mostly. But here’s my problem, what do I put as my grade 9 and 10 transcripts? What do I do? Am I f***ed? Will I have to go to a community college?
This is a question to take to the guidance office at your own school. They will be able to advise you about the best way to present your academic and life experiences.
To begin with, don’t put down community college. Have some respect for those who aren’t as gifted as others or those who choose to save money by going to community college and then transferring.
Talk to an expert, your guidance counselor or perhaps one of the admission officers at one of the Ivy schools after the application reading season. They’ll tell you how to explain your situation, which you will most likely do in the extra information available at the end of the Common App. They’ll most likely understand your situation.
@happymomof1
I have no idea why but my counselor is the most unhelpful person that exists. I’ve asked her but she just “I don’t know”.
@wencito
Sorry, I made a joke in poor taste. Sorry.
But wouldn’t that weigh me down a lot? Most colleges I like have acceptance rates under 10%. I think they’ll just toss my application once they see that there’s only one year’s transcript in it. Is that true?
What does “travelling with my parents” mean? Were you on a boat going around the world or something? Or just in a van camping or something? You MIGHT be able to parlay those two years into something of an advantage (maybe), especially if you did something out of the ordinary and can maybe show in your essays what impact it had on you. And suck up to the unhelpful GC, you really, really need her help with this. Even if she ‘doesn’t know’ how colleges will treat it (and I bet most GCs wouldn’t), you need her to give a strong recommendation for your time at your current school and to be able to field questions if the colleges call her. And the attitude coming through in your post really can’t come through in your apps – you sound privileged, arrogant, and a bit spoiled to be honest. That will be the kiss of death on your apps even if missing those two years isn’t.
I would say that given your unusual circumstances, you definitely need to add some matches and safeties that aren’t Ivies. Anyone can find reach schools they want – but it takes elbow grease and focus to find lower ranked schools you would still want to attend. I would suggest you get a copy of the Fiske Guide to Colleges and spend some time with it. You will want to explain your circumstances in the Additional Information section of your application or a separate letter, and ask your GC to do the same.
What do your test scores and current GPA look like?
@intparent
Ahh, no. I just traveled between 2 places a lot and didn’t have the luxury to go to give the finals so I don’t have grades. I just have a ton of “granted” grades on my transcript. I will have to suck up to the unhelpful GC.
Why do I come across as privileged, arrogant and spoiled? Is it because of the community college joke or something else? I do have a few colleges on my mind that have a much higher acceptance rates but I’d still love to attend them but not as much as I’d love to attend more elite schools.
I don’t really have a official GPA or SAT score yet but on my first report card. I got a 4 on a 4 scale. I’ve gave tons of SAT and SAT subject mock tests and my writing hovers around a 700 and my reading and math are consistently 800. My Math II, Physics, Biology and Chemistry mocks also are consistently 800.
Then I would say you have a bigger problem that your parents didn’t seem to want to keep you in one place long enough for you to complete your education for 2 years. 
You seem to feel that you are somehow bound for an “elite” school. Just the fact that you are using that phrase and worrying about the prestige of the school does not bode well for your college search in general.
@intparent
Exactly, that is the big problem. It’s sort of the whole subject of this thread…
I’m not worrying about the prestige of the school. If I was, I would just take the “USNews” college ranking list and just apply to the first dozen, like what I see many people here doing. It’s just that the my favorite 4 are usually grouped in the Ivy/elite group, even though only one of them is actually an Ivy.
Also, why do I come off as arrogant, spoiled and privileged?
So… that is a terrible way to pick school. Stop looking at the rankings. Get a copy of the Fiske Guide to Colleges and read about them. Run net price calculators with your parents. Get your standardized testing done so you have some real scores in hand, not mock scores. Do some visits, and not just to reach schools.
And if you aren’t worried about the prestige of the school, why in the world would you just take the top dozen schools and apply to them? Actually do some research beyond USNWR.
@intparent
I think you didn’t understand by previous reply so I’ll try to be clearer:
I am NOT worried about the school’s prestige. The 4 schools that I really like just happen to be categorized as Ivy/elite schools. If I cared about prestige, I’d do what I see many people in this forum do; apply to the first dozen schools on USNWR then wounder why they got rejected from all of them. The reason I chose the four schools I chose is because I have researched about them A LOT and I know I’ll be a good fit there.
Ah. Okay, I understand that. What about the 4 matches and 2 safeties you should add to that list? How are you doing on researching and visiting those?
@intparent
Unfortunately I can only visit one of them because the other two are on the other side of the country. I really like that they have a strong emphasis on the sciences and they do not distort it by forcefully injecting too much liberal arts into the mix. They also have many opportunities for internships. And most importantly, all four of them are strong in all the sciences, not just one. Therefore, I have the luxury to experiment and ultimately decide which field of science I like the most, a decision that I have yet to make.
The four schools are MIT, CalTech, Stanford and UCB by the way.
Just curious, can you afford all of them? Have you run the net price calculators and discussed the cost with your parents? If you can’t afford to travel to see them, then can you actually afford to attend?
And I think you are (possibly intentionally) dodging the question of whether you have looked for schools that might be matches and safeties for you as well as the four reach schools you have listed.
@intparent
I have talked to my parents before and they can afford it. It’s not that I can’t afford to visit them, it’s that I just simply don’t have the time to do so. I can’t compromise my internships to just visit a college in person. And yes, I have looked at colleges that satisfy my requirements but aren’t so hard to get into.
But that’s not what I’m aiming for, I’m aiming for those four schools. My extra-curriculars are superior to nearly all the people that say they have gotten admissions.
I made this thread to how much my lack of grade nine and ten marks will weigh me down.
I mean I made this thread to find out about how much my la…
Your guidance counsellor should have documentation to show how you placed into grade 11. Ask them about where you are in terms of filling your high school graduation requirements. Ask them to show you your transcript. If you are graduating, the high school is responsible for demonstrating that you have completed the necessary coursework.
@ILikeEatingLemon
“But that’s not what I’m aiming for, I’m aiming for those four schools. My extra-curriculars are superior to nearly all the people that say they have gotten admissions.”
Please, please, please don’t count on acceptances from these schools. CalTech, MIT, and Stanford have some of the lowest admission rates in the country (not sure about UCB). At that level of competition, none can be counted as safeties or even matches. Check threads from last years application cycle - they turn away thousands of perfectly qualified students per year, just because there isn’t enough class space.
Please take the advice of people here and apply to a safety school or two as well.
@bouders
I just have “granted” marks, no actual ones.
@ARandomGeek
Yes, of course! All I’m saying is that I’m aiming for them. Hell, I think I’m even overdoing being safe, I’m applying to three schools with acceptance rates in the 90s.
By “But that’s not what I’m aiming for, I’m aiming for those four schools. My extra-curriculars are superior to nearly all the people that say they have gotten admissions.” I’m trying to redirect the thread to it’s original intent; a discussion about how much not having grade 9 and 10 grades would impact acceptance.
You really should pick your matches & safeties from schools you would actually want to attend (in case you end up at them). It actually takes a lot more work to find those schools than to find reach schools. One thing you will find is that no one can actually answer your question, as it is a very unusual situation and honestly, your explanation for it isn’t all that compelling. You can only count on your high school and GC to help communicate the situation. And as it may hurt your chances, all the more reason why you should make sure you have some matches and safeties you would want to attend. I would not say “hope is lost” as your title so dramatically puts it. But you would be very prudent to make alternate plans you can live with.