Can You Please Chance Me for a Few Top 10 American Schools?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hi there! I am an applicant from Alberta, Canada. I was wondering if you can chance me for Dartmouth, Columbia, Brown, UChicago, and Northwestern?

My Application:

My school runs a grade scale:

80-100: A
65-79: B
50-64: C
40-50: D
0-39: F

I am Asian (Indian). I applied to global/public health.

GPA: 93.27%
For my GPA, my case is kind of different. For example, I got an 81 in grade 10 English, but my teacher stated in his recommendation that I finished at the top of the curriculum and was his best student in all his years of teaching that he has come across. Same with grade 11 chemistry, in which I got a 98. At my school, it is pretty rough in terms of GPA.

Test-Optional.

I took max rigor at school (2 AP’s). To compensate, I took 3 senior-level classes in my junior year and I am taking applied ecology at my local university.

I’d like to think that my essays were quite amazing.

Extracurricular’s were strong (started online business 17k+ revenue, head volunteer at many tutoring facilities, work with special needs children at daycare fundraised thousands, internships as the director in which I was leading people 10 years older than me, created advertisements which got over 200k views, leader for medical clubs at my school, Taekwondo I placed third provincially, published author, worked with Make A Difference to fundraise in India and to provide an education to underprivileged communities, captain of the soccer team at school, etc.

Teacher letters of rec said I was the best student they had ever come across in all their years of teaching over 5000 students.

Employer’s letter of rec was really really really good. Peer rec was strong for Dartmouth but not sure if they even read it although they highly recommend it.

I did not apply for financial aid.

My interview with Columbia went good, and my interview with Dartmouth went amazing.

I’m concerned that I won’t get past the first round of applicants due to my GPA. For grades 10, 11, and 12 English, I got 81, 80, and 90 respectively. For Math, it was 90, 90, 95. For the different sciences, I had 88, 95, 94, 98. For my other courses, it was a mix of low to high 90s. By the way, high school starts in grade 10 in Alberta. By the way, I was rejected from ED 2 at JHU.

Please be brutally honest. Thanks!

2

That GPA of 93%, where does it put you in class rank? It’s difficult to assess your GPA without a class rank/percentile. Did you have to send 9th grade grades, too, even though high school where you are doesn’t officially start until 10th? If so, what were they? Your extracurriculars sound unbelievable. Your recommendations will definitely help.

I think that applicants from schools that the admissions committees are unfamiliar with, are hurt by being test-optional. It’s one thing when someone applies with high credentials from a known school - then the committee knows that they will do well, whether they were unable to get tested, or did poorly on the test and didn’t submit. But when someone is applying from an unfamiliar school, a standardized test score really helps. In any event, if your GPA of 93% puts you in the top 5% or better of your high school, I think that they will see that and that the actual number won’t hurt you. But if it puts you in less than the 10th% of your class, I’m not sure you have a chance.

Are you accepted to any safeties yet? Did you apply to any Canadian schools?

3

Hi there. Thank you for your prompt response. Unfortunately, my school does not rank, so my teachers included a rank instead, indicating that I got the highest mark awarded in their class in the past 5 years, with another teacher saying I was in the top 0.5% of students he has come across (top 20 out of over 4000 students he has met). My SAT testing location was closed for the past 6 months, so I had no score to submit. I was accepted to all of the top 10 Canadian Schools with pretty good scholarships.

My primary concern is that, although I think my EC’s and letters of rec are good, will the admissions officers even read my application and see that a 93 is a good grade after filtering out kids with low GPAs?

I did not have to send my 9th grades.

4

From what you wrote elsewhere, you are a senior and have already submitted your applications. In all honesty, obsessing over your chances now is an absolute waste of your time and energy.

You have given it your best shot, and there is nothing more you can do to help your applications.

Do yourself and your nervous system a favor and find more productive ways to occupy your time besides obsessing over whether you will be accepted to this, that, or the other college.

Good luck, and hopefully you will be accepted to a college which you will love, and which you can afford.,

3 Likes
5

Really needed this. I’m currently writing my second book to occupy my time, but I keep stressing. Thanks for your advise, I really needed it.

6

Schools that don’t rank usually send a letter with some sort of guidance about where the student stands in relationship to the rest of the class. Something like: Class size is 500. 10 students had 95% or above. 50 students had 90-95%, 100 students had 85-90%, and so on. Does your school do something like that? If they do not include this information with the counselor letter, it is NOT too late to approach the school principal and ask that they compile this inforamation and send it to the colleges that you applied to. They should be sending it out for every student. If your 93% is in the very top of your class, this is important information for the admissions committees at the schools you’ve applied to. It is not too late to give this information to them. In the US, an A minus average is not considered outstanding, but it sounds as if at your school in Alberta, it is.