Hi! I’m from Mexico and I’m starting 9th grade this month. I am aware that in the U.S. high school starts on 9th grade, however the Mexican education system groups elementary, middle and high school differently. Elementary school is 1st grade through 6th grade, middle school is 7th grade through 9th grade, and high school is what in the U.S. would be 10th grade through 12th grade. Once I graduate from high school, I would like to attend college in the United States, so I was wondering if the universities I apply to will look at my grades and extracurricular activities from 9th grade. Will they?
No – they will look at your high school grades. (There ARE 3-year high schools in the U.S., too.)
how will colleges evaluate 3 year high school in US?
same way as 4 year…
like, which year is most important?
In evaluating HS? 9th is least important; in practice 11th most important.
For United States schools what they have is something called the G.P.A system (Grade Point Average). In this system they convert your grades into a scale of a 4.0, 4.0 is the highest. If you did relatively low in 9th grade you still have 10th,11th and 12th grade to boost your GPA. As for extra-circulars, many colleges understand that students are new to high school in 9th grade so they’ll probably be lenient. So in conclusion if you messed up in 9th grade then that’s not a big deal unless if it’s a HUGE mess up. As long as you did well in 10th, 11th and 12th grade years, then it won’t affect your applications much. Especially if 9th grade wasn’t considered as high school in your school.
By the way, you can NOT use simple mathematic comversion to convert your grade. Each country has their own gradingmethod.
For example , 70% in India is same as 90% in USA
Yes they will want your 9th grade record, and if some classes are “high school level"in the US some colleges also want them (each college operates independantly and may want different things). Examples of"high school level” classes may include Foreign Language (not Spanish or English but something like Portuguese, French, or Chinese), Algebra1, or Integrated Math 1 (that would include some Algebra,some Geometry, and perhaps some statistics), or Integrated Science 1 or 2 (that would include Physics, Chemistry, Geology…)
Overall, expect them to ask for your 9th grade records but for them to mean little. Just don’t mess up that year badly and you’re fine.
Make sure that you can afford the US schools.