What do US colleges look at when applying?

[Ameliaaa]

Hi! I plan on applying to a US college with my IB score, and I was wondering if anyone with experience knows what the college sees when you apply? Will they just see the IB score, or does your general grade/class transcript get sent in as well. My IB score is looking decent, but my actual class grades are pretty bad, so will the colleges see those grades? Thanks in advance for any help.

[Joe109]

If I am not mistaken, everything from your four years of high school. You should also note, however, that universities in the U.S. also look at extracurriculars and standardised test grades, in contrast to other places, such as the U.K.

[kristinamontinola]

Most colleges here are pretty attentive on top percentages (like, if you were top 30% of your grade by the end of senior year) and especially on extracurricular activities, such as clubs, organization participation, sports, music, etc. Many colleges really like consistency as well, like if you chose a certain sport or music one year and continued with that all through high school. Also, IB students (for the most part) have higher chances of acceptance, I think. GPA is important too. Most colleges will accept 4.0 or higher. They look at your standardized testing scores as well. I think more prestigious colleges (Ivy League) go for top 1% of the school and above 4.5. I'm not too sure about Ivy Leagues, though. I'm not particularly aiming that high. In terms of grades, colleges try not to base acceptance on grades too much. American colleges try to be "fair" oftentimes in acceptance, and in my opinion are pretty lenient. Some colleges also tend to accept ethnically diverse students and foreign students to raise some appeal to the school. As long as you're an active member of the community and are trying, colleges here will put careful consideration to your acceptance

Edited January 12, 2016 by kristinamontinola