<p>Just some information to chew on:</p>
<p>[Oberlin</a> Blogs | Blog Entry: “What’s in a GPA?”](<a href=“http://blogs.oberlin.edu/applying/selection_process/whats_in_a_gpa.shtml]Oberlin”>http://blogs.oberlin.edu/applying/selection_process/whats_in_a_gpa.shtml)</p>
<p>[Oberlin</a> Blogs | Blog Entry: “Calculating GPAs for International Students”](<a href=“http://blogs.oberlin.edu/applying/international/calculating_gpa.shtml]Oberlin”>http://blogs.oberlin.edu/applying/international/calculating_gpa.shtml)</p>
<p>Your high school was also asked to submit an International School form when it sent in your transcript. This helps the colleges “translate” your GPA experience to the U.S. experience. Anything that your counselor can write to explain the grading system at your school would assist the colleges in performing this “translation.”</p>
<p>The problem you’re describing is not specific to a penurious international grading scale…as you were perfectly capable of pulling up your grades once you applied yourself. Your earlier, lower grades seem to be the product of a lack of initiative and too much willingness to go with the flow (which, yes, may be an environment created largely by culture). This sort of malaise afflicts American high school students as much as it does students from abroad.</p>
<p>I would not suggest trying to get too much of a boost from the argument that you were being slack because everyone around you was being slack. Instead, I might try to get my counselor or teachers to communicate the idea that your performance this year is truly indicative of the kind of student you are and that the corner you turned is not just a phase – or a short sprint or a last gasp or a final hurrah – but it is the kind of effort AND performance that colleges can expect of you throughout your college career, even when there’s no outside force that’s lighting a fire under your posterior (assuming they can honestly make that case on your behalf). That will be a tough sell, but I think that’s the sort of position that they need to take to give you your best shot.</p>