An international's chance at the top schools

<p>South Korean studying in Canada (no canadian citizenship)
IB Diploma Candidate at one of the best IB schools in the world (or so they say...I don't believe them lol)</p>

<p>GPA: 99% (but this is using our school criteria, which requires us to use only 5 top marks; if I average everything, its 97%)
Rank: 1/130 or so
SAT: 2240 (M 800 R 710 W 730)</p>

<p>Work Experience
• Heritage Youth Researcher Summer (HYRS) Program – July 2006 ~ August 2006
- One of the 20 high school summer research students at the University of Alberta
- currently working in Dr. K. Ming Chan’s laboratory at the Heritage Medical Research Center
- Area of research: Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation / Neuroscience: the changes in motor cortical excitability caused by transcranial magnetic stimulation are studied
- must deal with patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
• Tutoring – September 2004 ~ Present
- Help a grade 10 student with all subject areas
- Help a grade 9 student with mathematics and science
- Helped elementary and junior high English as a Second Language (ESL) students with English
• Translation – April 2006 ~ May 2006
- translating English to Korean for a publication of Alberta Economic Development
Note: Being an international student studying in Canada, it is illegal for me to work at a public place. HYRS is an exception because it is considered a summer program.</p>

<p>Volunteer Experience
• Canadian Blood Services Youth Committee – June 2005 ~ Present
- ambassador
- volunteered at various booths
• Northern Alberta Brain Injury Society (NABIS) Youth Committee – April 2006 ~ Present
- act as the School Liaison between NABIS and volunteers at Old Scona
- call in-school meetings, supervise all volunteers and help them with their tasks, take minutes, and communicate with the President of the NABIS Youth Committee
- helped organize the ‘70’s Night Fever’ Roller Disco Event
• Edmonton Korean Roman Catholic Church – January 2003 ~ June 2004
- served as an altar boy
- helped the priest with the mass
• Edmonton Korean Language School – September 2002 ~ June 2003
- volunteered as an assistant teacher
- helped students with their homework assignments, helped mark exams, read to students, etc.
• Many other school volunteer opportunities such as the Open House and the Registration, as well as various walks and runs such as the MS Walk</p>

<p>Leadership Experiences
• Canadian Blood Services Youth Committee - Vice President of Operations
• School Liaison of the NABIS Youth Committee – April 2006 ~ Present
- described previously
• Co-founder/Vice-President of the School Mathematics Club– September 2005 ~ Present
- registered students to mathematics competitions, organized mathematics club meetings where I taught students basic mathematics skills helpful for mathematics competitions
• APEGGA Edmonton Science Olympics team leader – April 2006 ~ May 2006
- organized team meetings
• School Representative at the Alberta IB Conference – October 2005
- attended seminars and participated in discussions about pros and cons of the IB program in Alberta as a representative of Old Scona</p>

<p>Other Extracurricular Activities
• School Varsity Basketball Team – 2003 Season ~ Present
• School Instrumental Band – September 2001 ~ Present
• School Drama Production Orchestra – January 2005 ~ Present
• School Newspaper “The Criers” Grade 11 Reporter – October 2005 ~ Present
• School Debate Club – September 2004 ~ Present
• Edmonton Mock Trials – April 2006
• Gala Français French Competition – April 2006
• School Awards Committee Member – October 2005
• Various mathematics and sciences competitions</p>

<p>Honors / Awards
Grade 9
- 2004 Edmonton Junior High Mathematics Competition Invitational – 2nd place
- 2004 Science Olympics – 2nd place in Edmonton (1 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze)
- 2004 Kumon Math Challenge – 4th in Canada
- 2004 Stop Racism Poster Competition – 3rd in Edmonton
- 2004 School awards (Honours, Top 5 Academic Award, Art Award, Wellness Award)</p>

<p>Grade 10
- Alberta High School Mathematics Competition Part I – Top 50 (invited to Part II)
- Canadian Open Mathematics Competition – Top 25%
- Gr. 12 Euclid Math Competition – Top 25%
- Gr. 11 Fermat Math Competition – Top 25%
- Gr. 11 Hypatia Math Competition – Bronze Standard
- National Michael Smith Science Challenge – 1st in Alberta
- APEGGA Science Olympics – 2nd in Edmonton (1 gold, 1 silver)
- School awards (First Class Honours; Highest Achievement Awards in Biology 15B, Chemistry 25B, French 20B, Mathematics 20B, Science 10B)</p>

<p>Grade 11
- Alberta High School Mathematics Competition Part I – Top 50
- Alberta High School Mathematics Competition Part II – 13th in Alberta
- Canadian Open Mathematics Competition – Top 25%
- Gr. 12 Euclid Math Competition – Top 25%
- Gr. 11 Fermat Math Competition – Top 25%
- AIME Qualifier
- APEGGA Science Olympics – 1 gold
- Basketball Tournmanet Team Allstar
- School awards (First Class Honours; Highest Achievement Awards in Art 20, Chemistry 20B, French 30B, Mathematics 30B, Physics 20B, Social Studies 20B)</p>

<p>Other Abilities
Trilingual – Korean, English, French
- fluent in both speaking and writing with Korean and English</p>

<p>I am thinking of applying to
Harvard - ED
Caltech
MIT
Stanford
Princeton
Cornell
University of Toronto
McGill University
University of Waterloo</p>

<p>Thank you in advance for replying. =)</p>

<p>Will you need financial aid? Unfortunately, that could have a big impact at some of those schools.</p>

<p>I think I might need financial aid. I have to look into scholarships from Korea and stuff to make sure though.</p>

<p>I just want to know how my credentials, combined with my international status, will affect my chances..anybody else with an advice?</p>

<p>Harvard does not have ED. It's SCEA. you have great stats, but you need to research your schools before "ED"ing it</p>

<p>Oh sorry, my mistake =S. Thanks for your reply though. However, do you think I will still be able to make an impression on the admission officers as an international?</p>