Advice for a Canadian international student trying to get into a competitive US university?

Student Lounge International Students
1

So I hope to attend a university in the US and here are the ones that I like so far (I’m still looking for options so suggestions are welcome and highly appreciated!):

  • UCLA
  • MIT
  • Columbia

However, all three of these are highly competitive schools and I don’t think I’m good enough to get in. I am in grade 10, I have a 4.0 gpa (I think, I’m not entirely sure how this thing works), my average is 94%, and I am in an enrichment program in my school (however this program only goes till gr10 and covers only socials, science, and english). For extra curriculars I help make the set for the play (this usually spans from October to February), am part of the spring theatre production, track and field, and I’ve been playing the piano since I was a child. I also volunteer quite a bit. For awards I’ve been on the honour roll every term (my school has a three term system, apparently in America it’s not like that? Each school year is made up of three terms, term 1 is Sept to Dec, term 2 is Jan to March, term 3 is April to June), got the highest achieving award for socials in grade 9 (this is for when you have the highest average), and took part in an international science contest called exploravisions and was an honourable mention (so close yet so far) in grade 8.
I am aiming for electrical engineering but I worry I’m not good enough since there’s nothing really special about me. Any advice on raising my chances of getting into a competitive school?

Additional info you may find helpful:
-my school is not high ranked or prestigious in any way. It’s public and actually quite ratchet…
-I don’t know my class rank since I’m only at the half point of gr10 but in gr9 I missed the top 5% mark by a tiny bit, I was so sad… (But my average is higher this year so I have high hopes!!!)
-yes I am able to pay for the tuition

Anyways thank you for any of the advice I receive!!! :slight_smile:
(Also if I put this in the wrong forum, sorry. I was unsure whether to put this in college admission or international students…)

2

First, as an OOS student, can your parents pay full cost at UCLA, about US$60,000/year? No financial aid for OOS or international students. If not, take UCLA or any UC, off your list.

3

Admission to the top private US universities is a crap-shot, even for the most highly qualified applicants.

The impression I got from talking to a few former (!) admissions staff and spending time on a few private college campuses, is that most students who get accepted have a strong academic record plus something. That something could be a noteworthy extracurricular achievement, above-and-beyond academic progress (there are US high school students who have completed graduate-level coursework), overcoming a particularly disadvantaged background, or a wealthy or well-connected family background.

Please don’t let me deter you from applying, but don’t get your hopes up too high. Make sure to have a good back-up option elsewhere.

4

If you are applying to schools like MIT, you will need to take SATII exams either at the end of grade 11 or grade 12. The material for these exams, especially in the maths and sciences, is generally not covered until grade 12, so I would recommend taking a couple of academic grade 12 courses in grade 11 or the summer before grade 12. I would also recommend taking AP classes and exams, in grade 11.

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@TomSrOfBoston yes i can afford them, i looked at the tuitions of the schools i’m interested in and am able to pay for the international tuition

@b@r!um thank you for that, yeah i’ve heard about that something stuff from other people and it’s really freaking me out, my back up plan is to just stay in canada

@bouders i’m aware about the sat exams and such but my school offers no ap classes except for ap calculus in gr12, however I am a year ahead for math so would that help me for the math exams? also would independent study for those subjects be a good idea? some people say yes some people say no so i’m not sure if i should

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@liliths If you can finish pre-calculus/advanced functions in grade 11, you will be in a good position to write the SATII Math 2 exam at the end of grade 11/beginning of grade 12. For MIT (not sure above the others, but it couldn’t hurt), you will need a science SATII as well. Can you take grade 12 biology/chemistry/physics either in grade 11 or the summer between grade 11 and 12? Aim for 750+ on those exams.

You can certainly self study for AP exams.

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Self-study for AP exams is doable, but finding a test site can be a problem. So check that your school will either order AP tests for you or will work with another school to get you access. SAT subject tests are much easier to find a spot to take, and colleges will understand that you only took the one AP your school offered.

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For a Canadian studying in the US, after graduation getting a job in Canada may be more difficult because of multiple issues: You probably will not have any Canadian recruiters come to campus, you can’t get local interviews with Canadian companies, and some personnel staff might see you are from a US university and assume that you are American (and not Canadian). I have heard that Canadian companies generally feel that they can do very well recruiting at Canadian universities. Also, getting a job in the US might not be possible because of the difficulty getting a work visa.

Also, if there is any chance that you will want to go to graduate school, a Masters degree is typically two years (and in some cases can be one year). It is far more economical for a Canadian to get a Bachelor’s in Canada and a Masters in the US rather than the other way around.

You will have to take the SAT for a foreign student coming to the US. For the math part of the test that should be okay and you mentioned that you are good in Math. For the English part it may be a bit more difficult to do well due to very minor subtle differences in either Canadian versus American English, or perhaps different teaching methods between the two countries. SAT preparation can be very helpful. Many US students take SAT preparation classes or tutoring or both here in the US, and you will be competing with them.

I suspect that $60,000 per year might be optimistic. I would figure on something like US $280,000 for four years in the US. In Canadian dollars this comes to about C$375,000. This is a lot of money, and is about C$300,000 more than a dual citizen (US/Canada) that I know is about to pay for a very good university in Canada. Due to this cost difference, in the US you will want to actually graduate in 4 years, so things like a very late change in major could get expensive.

In terms of how to compute GPA: For unweighted GPA, a 4.0 means that the lowest grade that you have ever gotten in any class in high school is an A. For weighted GPA, how this is computed varies enormously between different high schools so that I am not sure that a good comparison is even possible.

In terms of the universities that you are looking at: The three that you listed are very good. Stanford is also good, but even harder to get into. The University of California Berkeley is also very good in general and for EE. Expect any of these to be a LOT of work, but probably not any more work that McGill or Toronto.

The crime rate is higher in the US than in Canada. When I was at MIT two people that I knew were assaulted. One had a black belt in two different martial arts and simultaneously beat up both of the two large men who attacked him. The other had his wallet and pants stolen (apparently the pants part was to discourage him from running after the robber). I was pickpocketed (had my wallet stolen). I also had a winter coat stolen. However, crime rates have gone down since I was in university (which was a LONG time ago).

One thing that I am not sure of: US universities care a lot about diversity. In principle one possible aspect of this is geographic diversity. I have wondered whether the high cost of US universities would discourage Canadian applicants, and if so if this would make is easier for you to get in. I honestly don’t know the answer to this.

Definitely have a backup plan in Canada. There are a lot of very good universities up there.

9

“It is far more economical for a Canadian to get a Bachelor’s in Canada and a Masters in the US rather than the other way around.”

Actually, if you are sure that you are going to get a master’s, I might have mis-spoken.

Computing everything in US dollars: A bachelors in the USA might cost $280,000, and a Master’s in Canada, at least in my limited experience, is likely to be free. Total cost of US$280,000.

Again in US dollars: A Bachelor’s in Canada might cost US$60,000. Let’s assume that you are full pay in the US, that costs continue to increase at 4% per year, and that you take a two year masters. Doing this four years later implies a 16% increase in price, which puts a US school very roughly around about $80,000. Two years for the Master’s in the USA comes to very roughly $160,000. Total price of both degrees might be about $220,000. Not really all that different.

A possible advantage of the Masters in Canada: when looking for work you will be at a Canadian university, with Canadian companies recruiting there and convenient to local interviews.

Thus if you were certain that you wanted to do a Bachelor’s in one country and a Master’s in the other (something that is probably hard to be sure of at this point), you could mix them in either order.

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@DadTwoGirls: There are many 1-year “professional” masters in the US.

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" There are many 1-year “professional” masters in the US."

Certainly true. Some of these can be quite valuable also. This would tilt the cost factor back in favor of a Canadian Bachelors and American Masters.

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@bouders yeah, completing bio/physics/chem in the summer is possible so I’ll consider that, thanks!

@AroundHere I know of a school near mine that offers AP tests in the subjects I’m interested in and are willing to test students outside of their school, the only problem I have is that the fee to take the tests are really expensive ($200 per test, yikes) so I’m not so sure anymore, I’ll probably only do the sat tests instead, thanks though!

@DadTwoGirls I wasn’t planning on staying in Canada in the future but am aware that studying outside of a country that isn’t my own will present problems. I am planning on going to graduate school so if I don’t get into any of the US schools for undergraduate I plan on applying there for graduate. Also, I’m aware of the problems for me with the SAT and am trying to find a solution for that. I plan on consulting my relatives in the US to help me prepare since they’ll be more familiar with the content.
And for the crime rate, yeah… A lot of people I talked to about my plan to study in the US have warned me about the violence and all the conflict happening recently and I hope it get’s better by the time I graduate but I really doubt it. Hopefully I don’t encounter any problems if I do end up going there…
The jump of tuition between international and domestic students in my city is big too, I think the tuition for the major university in my city is about $5k but if you’re international it jumps to about $30k, it’s also like that in the other countries I’ve looked at like the UK so I don’t think it’s to discourage… But that’s just my opinion. Thank you for the long response!

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OP, if you are hesitating to take AP exams because of the $200 fee, how are you possibly in a position to attend one of these universities full-pay?