Should I explain in my UCLA Application that my school didn't provide opportunity to choose which subjects I can take in my secondary school?

Applying to College
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I live in a underdeveloped country in South America and I went to an American international school. And unlike american high schools, I wasn’t able to choose which classes to take. ? Would explaining this in the additional info section help my application or will it have an adverse effect on my application? And I am not sure how to explain this in a way that doesn’t sound like wining or like giving “faulting the surrounding” vibes. Do you get what I mean pls. Thank you

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Why do you feel the need to explain this?

You have UCLA and UCB tagged. Are these the colleges you are inquiring about. Did you not meet their A-G requirements?

Also, as an FYI, they will cost you $75,000 a year to attend, so keep that in mind.

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The application is your opportunity to explain what you did do, not what you didn’t do.

For 99.99% of 17 year olds, whatever you write will sound like whining or making excuses

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You could ask the counselor to briefly note that your HS has a set curriculum in his/her letter of recommendation.

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UC does not accept counselor recommendations with the application, but some departments may request them later.

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Thanks…didn’t know that.

If there is space, perhaps the OP can add one line to the application noting that all students in the HS follow a set curriculum.

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yeah, that’s proibably what I woudl so, something to the effect: ‘all students at International Prep take a set curriculum, of which I took the most rigorous schedule available.’

That said, probably won’t; much matter.

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I’m a little unclear about what the OP means. They said:

Does this mean they were assigned classes based on someone else’s determination….or does this mean that all students took the exact same courses.

There IS a difference.

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That is true.

If the OP wants to add a line, the comment should simply note the fact situation briefly.

Agree that any such statement is unlikely to move the needle in terms of admissions. Also agree that if the OP’s family is unable to pay about $80k/year it is not worth applying to UCs.

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I don’t think it hurts to explain your school’s curriculum. I would stay positive and point out what you DID do at YOUR school rather than what you were not able to do compared to some other school.

@worriedmomucb is good at coming up with positive, to-the-point, wording.

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I agree that for something like this a fact-based statement is best. Just state the school’s policy.

If you want to editorialize it a bit, you can state something like “As a resident of (city, country), I was fortunate to attend (school) which offers a rigorous, pre-set curriculum. While this doesn’t allow for individual choice of classes, it ensures that all students meet the highest standards while receiving a broad educational experience in all core areas.” Or something to that effect.

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The other thing I wonder, though, is whether the school can provide a school profile to the UC which will explain all of this without the student even needing to make any such statement.

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The OP’s concern may be that the curriculum is not rigorous enough…we just don’t have enough information.

OP - feel free to provide additional details if you would like more specific advice.

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Which of these will you not meet?

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