Couple of Items

Question

Hi Jon,

Appreciate your help on these boards. Have a couple of items myself I’d like to get your take on.

Item 1:

I am a dual citizen of the United States and Spain. Do I or the schools make the determination of whether I am a domestic or international applicant? Are my admissions chances positively influenced by my Spanish nationality? Does it make a difference that I was raised and educated in the US? I do fortunately have work experience on both continents and speak the language conversantly but I wouldn’t say I easily “pass” as Spanish.

Item 2:

I took four courses at the local university when I was in high school some fifteen years ago. When I later enrolled in my degree-granting college I received credit for three of the four courses. My assumption is that schools are going to want to see this minor transcript regardless of how unrepresentative it may be.

The grades I received in the three courses were not factored into the bachelor (degree) GPA evident on my official transcript. My transcript does, however, read “credit from University of  ” for each of these courses.

My degree GPA is higher than that of the three courses such that if the three courses were factored into my GPA the result would be lower than my degree GPA.

This is also the case for the fourth course for which I did not receive transfer credit. I received a very poor grade in that class and it would further serve to reduce my overall GPA.

To my question, which GPA are committees going to primarily consider (and which must they report)?

1) Degree GPA (116 credits at degree-granting institution);
2) No. 1 above + GPA of 12 credits of courses applied toward degree from University of  
3) No. 2 above + GPA of 4 credits not applied toward degree from University of

Thank you for your time and assistance.

Regards,

Hugh

Admissionado · Answer

Hey Hugh,
Good to hear from you.

Item 1: You are better off applying as an American. Americans make up anywhere between 60-80% of the students in most top B-schools, so your chances would be better there, plus you would have more funding options.

Item 2: This actually depends on your undergrad university. For the most part in Us bachelors degrees when they take credits from high school course they take them in as pass/fail courses so they do not affect your GPA, but again this is dependent only on your undergraduate school. The transcript that you will send to the AdComs is whatever your school provides them, and that is what will be officially considered.

Hope this helps!!!

Apfelsine · Answer

Hi Jon,

Thanks for your response. Just to verify my understanding, are you saying committees will only care about the GPA number listed on the transcript of my degree-granting institution? Law schools, for example, will take the grade of every course completed at all post-secondary institutions, whether said grade applied to one's degree or not, and use this number in the admissions process. My concern is that I believe I am going to have to furnish the transcript of the university I attended during high school and this transcript will also have a GPA listed. In my case, the difference between 1) and 3) in my first post is considerable, ~.15 GPA points.

I realize GPA is only one factor of many that go into the assessment but I want to make sure I am at least in range for my target schools.

Finally, there is no diversity boost being from a lesser-represented nation?

Regards,

Hugh

Admissionado · Answer

Hugh,
To answer your first question: it is exactly as you have laid it out. If your university counts the credits solely without carrying over the grade, then that will not count in your GPA of your UG institution. If they carry over the grade, then it will count. And no one will ask you to provide high school transcripts.

As for item 2, there is not really an advantage to applying as an international if you are an American, except when the double-nationality is a part of your goals. So for example, say you come from Peru, and part of your long-term goal is to go to Peru and set up an Education non-profit, then it becomes a very relevant part of your story. Otherwise, just coming from a "unique country" is not better than applying as an American (although if you were international it would be better than applying from an overrepresented country).

Hope this helps you out,

Apfelsine · Answer

Great. Thanks Jon.

Hugh

Admissionado · Answer

You got it,
Good luck!
And thanks for the kudos.

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