UPDATE: My National Alevel grades are out and I have 13/15
A= 5 points
B= 4 points
C= 3 points, etc.
I have a 5 and two 4s(an A and 2 Bs).
It’s the best result in my school but it wasn’t what I expected to be honest–my predicted grades were 14/15 i.e two As and 1B but anywho.
Do you think I can get into selective colleges with this?
What is my GPA range/estimate? I read somewhere that Alevel Bs are higher than that of normal school Bs. Is this true?
Any suggestions on colleges for a broke international who is a strong writer?
You asked this question back in August, and ALL of the advice was the same: DO NOT try to convert!!
Unless the school specifically asks for it (and then it will be through an intermediary), let them do it. That you were first in your school will count, so make sure it is in your letter of recommendation; if you know and have a good rank in your region, include that.
You have to stop trying to estimate your chances based on comparisons with US students. For a start, you are not competing with them: you are competing with the other international students, and in particular the other international students who need aid. The main thing, though, that you need to do is focus on you and your path. Research colleges relentlessly. Consider schools that you have never heard of - b/c the competition with other internationals who need aid will be less.
So according to those your GPA would be about 3.53 but really don’t convert it yourself. Just keep them as they are.
Broke international? Join the club Strong writer? Kill the essays and supplements
Colleges? Ivies, LACs and MACs(Merit Aid Colleges but I borrowed this term from another thread lol).
Unsolicited tip? Kill the standardized tests too
Universities which meet 100% need (so many versions of this list so take it with a grain of salt) or give great aid to internationals (my version)
Tufts
Pomona
Colgate
Colby
Williams
Bryn Mawr
Kenyon
Swarthmore
Duke
Dartmouth
Amherst
Skidmore
Wellesley
Middlebury
Columbia
Upenn
Franklin & Marshall
Macalester
Stanford
Uchicago
Mount Holyoke
Princeton
Smith
Bates
Brandeis
Harvard
NYU AD
Yale
Hamilton
MIT
Vassar
Dickinson
Denison
Grinnell
Haverford
Emory
Northwestern
Vanderbilt
URichmond
Trinity college
Wesleyan
Oberlin
Uni of Notre Dame
Bowdoin
Union college
Barnard
Claremont Mckenna
Connecticut college
Reed
Davidson
Yale NUS
College of the Holy Cross
Johns Hopkins
Harvey Mudd
Pitzer
Georgetown
Cornell
Carleton
Lafayette
Rice
For merit, you might consider
App State
LMU
Centre college
Agnes Scott
There are many schools for merit aid btw, but they’re not my focus
Then there’s
College of the atlantic
Berea
There may probably be several others, but manage these. Really, I spent months on them.
Any suggestions on colleges for a broke international who is a strong writer?
This depends on what you may actually want to focus on beyond the further development of your writing skills, but some of these colleges might be particularly suitable for someone who’s already comfortable with words:
Well, depends on your country and the full scale, but aren’t there A*? Is it A-G or A-E or??? What percentage students in your country get 13 points (sounds quite good)?
DO make SURE your guidance counselor indicates those are the best results for your school this year.
Don’t count A’s or B’s, indicate 13/15.
@collegemom371, I apologize if it seemed like I was disregarding previous advice. I just needed a personal estimate to allay my fears and help in selecting not-so-reach schools. Does anyone know of non-tippy-top colleges with great merit aid?
@MYOS1634 Alright, thank you! I don’t know who will be submitting my scores yet: doing Alevels at a Uni has great disadvantages because no one really cares but I’m thinking the director of the program (we used to be quite close) but then he’d need written authorization from a superior to do so and the university really wants me to return for my sophomore year there so they might not help out! There’s no A*, only A-F.
Statistics aren’t available yet(and probably never will be, I’ll ask the Board when I collect my certificate–but most results I’ve heard of fall within the 0-11 points(FDF/DCD seems to be prominent) so far. However, I know one STEM kid in another state with 15 points(best result in his school) and then another in my state also with 13 points(best in her school too!) but hers was AAC!. Apparently, if you get a pass in the three courses, you get a +1 added so I have a 14 weighted
Most of my mates in economics didn’t do so well and I feel so guilty ( I tutored the class!) but a few did though thankfully. External exams can be so frustrating unless you read the whole syllabus
The Fulbright equivalency chart seems a bit harsh. About 25% of A-level results are A*/A. My sense is that more than 25% of grades awarded to college-bound American high school students are As.
I didn’t do British Alevels. There’s no A* here, the curve is brutal here. A 5 (an A) is really hard to get. That chart seems really harsh! I hope colleges don’t use that for non-British Alevels!
Our Alevel curriculum is more jam-packed than the British Alevels and we must complete it in 9 months (Oct-June)!
I mean, we had people with As in UFP and the likes getting Cs in our Econs
Or one chick with an A in WASSCE Accounting (About the same level as AS Accounting judging from the PQs and syllabus and is extremely hard to get, trust me) getting an E in our Accounting Alevels.
A 3.3 for a B which is extra hard to get?? No way.
Omg, so @gigichuck was right? 3.533? Does that even qualify me for any college with scholarships?
I’m sorry if it seems like I am whining. I just feel…
@Controlla like everyone says, don’t convert it. The fact that it’s the best in your school is good, and adcoms will probably consider your curriculum as well. Chill.
Give an indication of what percentage in your school, city, province, and nationally get this type of scores. NATIONALLY is very important.
You can also add requirements for entrance in your country’s most prestigious university (e.g., “11/15 qualifies a student for University of …, which is the top-ranked university in the country”)
Oh thank you @MYOS1634. I’ll be sure to add it! I qualify for “merit admission” for all but one course at the top-ranked universities! If I applied for medicine in the number one, I might not get in under merit: Medicine only accepted 15-16/15 weighted last year and I have 14/15 weighted. (Do I omit this?).
I think another trip to the exam board’s office is necessary. Just as I suspected, they’re not releasing statistics.
Strong writer? Kill the essays and supplements
