Those living in the US how have exams for 16 year olds been impacted?

[Av0cetSi3sta]

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There aren't exams in the US that are really the equivalent of GCSEs

Here's what the AP exams were like this year: apstudents.collegeboard.org/exam-calendar but not all students take these exams

My son was hoping to apply to US unis, his GCSEs maybe up shit creek due to CV, he’s really worried they will cost him uni offers. He should do v well in SATs which he’s sitting in Sep and Alevels. Was applying to competitive unis and knows those with complete 9s will be applying. Will they be sympathetic, do they focus on gcse level grades?

They dinit have them. They just continue the normal curriculum until they graduate (in my school you had a certain amount of electives so you could take art for example and someone else might choose history). There are SATs in math and English but not that you study for, and boards, again in areas of interest but not the end of a course. But you don't take them at 16 but at 17.

Can’t you take them when you like and repeat if you like. He’s hoping to do them in Sep to get them out of the way, will be nearly 17.

I presume he knows that the colleges he's interested in will most likely have target SAT/ACT scores on their websites somewhere and that these can change (mainly upwards) from year to year?

It's really common to take the exams once to get a benchmark score and then at least once again to try and improve on your weaker areas.

Contact the universities and find out there entry requirements for overseas students. They also take a more holistic approach - it's not all about the grades but extracurricular activities, teacher recommendations, personal statement, other achievements.

I dunno answers to OP's situation, but I do know the USA is opening up hugely faster than Britain. The different states introduced Lockdown in late March mostly, some into April, and things are so close to normal there. Yes many cities require face coverings or stores do. But they can go to restaurants, my relative (in California) got a root canal 10 days ago, my other relative will get open heart surgery soon. I see videos from the news outlets of big crowds at outdoor festivals. My cousin is back at Uni in face to face lectures. People can sunbathe again on the beaches, the boardwalk is finally reopening. They say their curves have mostly flatlined.

They are much closer to 'normal' than Britain.

As a PP said, there's no equivalent of GCSE's here so I doubt that particular set of exams will impact his application. All the end-of-year exams were cancelled at DD's high school and a PP mentioned what happened with the AP exams.

My 16 year old took 2 APs, but instead of being 3 hours long and in a testing centre they were 45 minutes long and done at home.

She's been trying to take the SAT but it keeps being cancelled. They're talking about possibly doing them September at this point I think? Usually you get to take it more than once with the goal of improving your score, but they probably won't have time for that this year.

As a result a lot of universities are not requiring SAT or ACT scores this year.

Their school class grades were done on a pass/fail basis this quarter, so their GPA has been calculated based on the quarters that they did before they went online.

It sounds like your son will be applying next year rather than this year, so things will probably all be different by then.

I wouldn't worry too much about GCSE grades - they know everyone's in a tough situation this year.

If he wants to get into a top university he should prep very well for his SAT, make sure he has excellent recommendations, be able to show lots of grit, show passion for his hobbies, have spent some time volunteering, and ideally done something like arrange an event or done something that will improve the world in some way to demonstrate leadership and imagination.

He'll also need to write essays with several of his applications so it's worth looking at the sort of thing they're likely to ask and thinking about how he might answer.

Has he taken any practice SATs? What score did he get?

He got 100% in the Eng, he’s better at maths as his subject but hasn’t done a whole paper. Gets full marks in the practise questions. Has that masseeeeve book from the company. His GCSEs will be shocking and nowhere near what they should be as he has had a horrendous year( not his fault) then CV stopped him sitting the exams which he would have done well
in. They’re calculating the scores on the past year so won’t be good.Not sure sending a note in explaining that on application forms to top us unis will cut it. Alevels in 2 years should be fine/ v good as subjects he enjoys.

Don’t the ivys expect top grades in everything?

Hmm I honestly don't know how they'll consider GCSEs taken this year, given that the exams never actually happened. Schools and colleges are saying very clearly that transcripts for this period will have notes on them pointing out that there was a pandemic underway though.

Having said that, in normal circumstances they would be looking for excellent GCSEs, and predicted A/A*s at A level. It sounds like he'll ace the SAT which will help, but he'll be up against lots of other kids who have also aced it. He should also plan to take some SAT subject tests - DD1 took Physics, Math 2 and English.

You can contact the admissions office of anywhere he's interested in, and ask them. They're usually well-staffed and fairly responsive, although as most of them are working from home it's worth emailing rather than calling.

His out-of-school life is also really important. This page is good to see the kind of thing the Ivies are looking for
www.harvard-ukadmissions.co.uk/applying-from-the-uk/

"The US system in general, and Harvard in particular, look for a wider range of interests and pursuits in an applicant than the British system, whether activities that you have been involved in to a high level for some time, or new interests that have recently caught your fancy and that you have put time into. In some cases it may be a sport that you have taken to advanced level, or developing your talents in the arts, music or theatre. You may have been learning a language just for fun, or working in a community service activity.

You may have won prizes for Science competitions or tutored primary school kids in Maths. You may even have started up a small business and shown genuine entrepreneurial spirit. All these things are part of ‘who you are’ as a person, and US unis look at the whole person when they make their decisions, not just your academic grades. So when in Year 11 and Lower VI, take time to focus on what you have accomplished so far, and think about what aspects of yourself you’d like to highlight. It may help you decide what extracurricular activities you decide to keep up and develop further, whether during the school year or in the holidays."

For people living in USA, it's a lot higher standard than "Learning a language for fun." or "time spent working for a charity." Ivy League wants Leaders of the future. They want "Started a charity, managed 3 other staff, oversaw accounts, raised $20k and ran a committee how to spend it while getting articles in newspapers & appearing on the evening news to promote it" level. As a bare minimum.

lljkk - yes, it's quite scary what kids need to achieve to get into the Harvards and Stanfords. 20 kids going for every place, and they've all met the academic requirements.

OP - once your son knows which colleges he wants to apply for, it's good to join the College Confidential forums for those colleges to chat to others who are also applying. It's pretty depressing though, seeing all these kids with amazing grades and personal attributes getting rejected.

Is there any point applying? 😩 Are MIT and Caltech the same? It’s interesting as during a talk by admissions at MIT they were the most sensible I’ve heard and saying exactly the opposite ie what they’re looking for is your passions even if it was playing computer games all day. But MIT must be the hardest of the lot.

MIT is looking for a specific type of students - not necessarily someone who has set up a charity or run an event, but someone who has demonstrated a passion and adeptness for problem-solving and analytical thinking. I doubt they'd prioritise someone who'd played computer games all day, but if you'd coded a computer game they'd be interested in you.

MIT's admission rate is 7.2%, Harvard is 5.2%, Caltech is 7.7%. It's just very very competitive. They've got to accept some students, and you can apply to as many as you like, so it's worth giving it a go if you have the grades, but be ready for a lot of rejections.

Does MIT it Caltech do a suitability entrance test at all.

For people living in USA, it's a lot higher standard than "Learning a language for fun." or "time spent working for a charity." Ivy League wants Leaders of the future. They want "Started a charity, managed 3 other staff, oversaw accounts, raised $20k and ran a committee how to spend it while getting articles in newspapers & appearing on the evening news to promote it" level. As a bare minimum.

Which is of course just there way of ensuring their biases remain so as to select the most privileged, in the UK of course, the private school system would be the same selector. Although it is at least improving here.

Which is of course just there way of ensuring their biases remain so as to select the most privileged

Yes - although they do try to account for privilege in the admissions systems but they have a long way to go.

And of course there are still far too many places given to legacy students and those whose families make large donations. A friend's daughter got a place at Yale last year after her grandfather made a phone call...