How would colleges look at your Grades and application if your an international student but attended school in the US?

Answered

Hi @forever_silent,

Good question.

I think this depends on how long you have been a student in the US.

If you just came to the US for your senior year as an exchange student, I think they will give you some leeway for having to assimilate to US High school curricula and culture.

If you have attended most of your high school from 9th-12th in the US, well then you do not get any accommodation for not being a native citizen of the US. They will evaluate your application on a holistic approach based on all the data points in your application including your family background, demographics, etc. But you are not going to get some bonus for being an Int'l Student studying in the US.

I think part of the answer has to do with the original intention. If you moved to the US for the sole purpose to attend an American HS or your parents relocated to the US for work and pulled you along, the intent is evident that you were not disadvantaged or marginalized for being an Int'l student studying in the US. But rather, you had an inherent advantage over other students from your country of origin because you are studying American curricula.

On the flip side, if you are an American citizen studying in Asia or South America, or Africa because your parents had to move there for work, I think you'd be seen as a disadvantaged American unless you were attending a top private boarding school in that country. But if you had to matriculate into a typical Korean HS and learn the language and keep up with the coursework, your grades would definitely suffer. In that case, American colleges would give you some flexibility because you had no choice in the matter but nevertheless made the best effort you could to survive.

Hopefully, my answer makes some sense to you.