Canadian Student for Ivy League

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hello all, hope y’all having a wonderful day,
This is my first post, sorry if it’s a bit long,
I’m currently in Grade 10 in a public school in Richmond, BC, and I was wondering what are my chances to get into a school such as Princeton or Stanford.

Most of you are probably thinking, “Why so early?” Well, as you all know, getting into Ivy Schools take a ton of preparation, and I’d hate for me to miss something and ruin my chances for getting into a American University.

I’ve taken the old SAT, with a score of 2300 : ~770 for each subject.
My marks aren’t great right now, averaging ~92% across all subjects, with Science and Math in the 96s and English and Socials Studies (History) bringing my average down.
However, I am doing a Dual-Language Diploma, and will be graduating with a “Dogwood Certificate” (French and English)
I’m involved a fair bit in the community, with my First Aid certification allowing me to volunteer for tons of events.
I also am involved with MUN, and I am currently the Co-President of our school’s Robotics Club.
Extra-Curricular wise, I’m the lead Tenor of my school’s Jazz band, a member of our badminton team and I’m about to take my level 10 RCM Piano test.

As for AP, I’m learning Statistics right now, and plan to take Physics, French, and Calculus as my other ones. SSATs, I’m planning to take Math and Physics.

Currently, if I continue with my volunteering and extra-curricular, how are my chances to get into, say, Princeton?
To be frank, I’m aiming for Princeton as they have generous Student Financial Aid, even to Canadian Students. I’m very interested in Engineering, either Biomedical or Aerospace.

Also, I’ve heard stories where people have amassed hundreds of thousands of Extra-Curricular Hours, is that the norm?

Thank you for your time,
Kelvin

Tl;Dr : I have an SAT score of 2300, about 92% average and I participate in a wide variety of extra curricular things. How are my chances, and what do can I do to help my chances for Princeton?

2

You seem to be on the right track. A 92% average isnt the best but assuming a 90-93%(A-) that means you have about a 3.8-3.9(not sure how accurate) out of a 4.0 relatively which isnt too shabby at all.

I think you just have to find your interests and passion because as of now your ec seem to be all over the place. Find your 2-3 interests persue them, keep up the grades and I think you have a good shot as anyone else applying.

3

I second what @thecoolboy1234 has said. Your marks seem fine…I don’t see much to worry about in terms of academics. But instead of dabbling in so many extra curricular activities, just focus on those activities that you are really interested in. It is the quality of your work and not quantity that would matter in the end.

4

You will need to be in the top couple students at your school. As well as British Columbia.

5

@EthanMill @thecoolboy1234
Thank you for your advice! I’ve always thought 90-95 was 3.70ish, which would always destroy my chances on those calculators where you input SAT score and GPA and stuff.

@ClarinetDad16
Thank you for your advice as well! However, could you clarify “top students in British Columbia?” Is it in terms of academics, as other aspecrs can’t be really mesured? I go to a fairly average public school, a school that can’t really compete with the masses of private schools we have in BC.

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SAT scores look good. However the bigger problem for you is lack of distinguishing ECs. your extracurriculars look fairly generic. You will need to come up with something that shows potential on an international level.

Going for thousands of EC hours without any clear focus in mind is not a good idea. Also note that there are only a handful of schools which are need blind for internationals (Princeton fortunately is). For other schools besides princeton you may be able to increase your chances if you don’t need financial aid.

7

I live in Ontario. Here, a 92% would be a straight A (not A-) average. Not sure how the grading works in BC.

Your stats look fine. One thing that I wish I had thought of for my daughter is the Math II subject test tests knowledge of precalculus - which is a grade 12 subject here. If she had taken precalculus (aka Functions) the summer before grade 12, she would have been able to get a good score on the Math II subject test in time for all of her applications. As it was, she finished precalculus in January, took the SAT II and got a very good score. The scores she got in October and November were miserable. The January score was too late for most of the “techy” schools, including Stanford. She had to drop schools from consideration because of her mediocre subject test scores. You’ve got a great SAT I score - work on the subject tests between now and fall of your senior year.

Another aspect you should consider is your extracurriculars. They are all fine, but they don’t show achievement on a regional or national or international level. Think of some way that you can enter national or international competitions or perform outside of school.

Consider doing something impressive with your summers.

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@sgopal2
Thank you for your advice as well! I’m planning to take my EMR (same as paramedics I think) soon, and I’ll be able to volenteer with the paramedics. If I’m interested in STEM, what would be a good distingusing EC? My councillor suggest that I volenteer at my local University (UBC) in their nuclear physics program. I’m really interested in this, but I may not have the time if I need to concentrate on other things. Would this program br a good idea?

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Schools like Princeton are not looking for students who are concentrating on many different things. They’re looking for students who are impressive in some way - nuclear physics, Model UN, best badminton player or impressive pianist. Do what you like to do and do it really really well.

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@bouders
Thank you for your advice! I’m planning to take AP Calc in my grade 11 year, as I want to rush it a but because my math isn’t great compared to others of simular percentage (they all seem to have 800 in SAT Math) as a fellow Canadian, what do you think of the Encounters Canada program?

11

I haven’t heard of the Encounters Canada program. I couldn’t get a good feel for it from its website either.

Have a look at Shad Valley - it’s aimed at the intersection between tech and business/entrepreneurship.

Also look for summer programs at universities. U of T has YSP for law and medicine as well as DEEP for engineering. I couldn’t find something similar for UBC. A lot of US universities have similar programs, but they’re very expensive.

My first choice for you would be to pursue that nuclear physics program though. It’s best to stand out in some way rather than pursue opportunities that hundreds or thousands of other students have.

12

I know as a 10th grader, its hard to decide what you might be interested in. Doing both EMR and astrophysics research to you may sound like a good idea. But an admissions person might see this as someone without clear focus.

Try to pick one academic interest area and then line up as much as you can in the same sphere. For example if you are interested in pre-med then going for paramedic training looks good. Add in volunteer work at a hospital, or research in a lab.

The main thing is to avoid looking like a cookie-cutter applicant. For a taste of this, go to your favorite ivy sub-forum here. Then look for the thread that shows Class of XXXX Stats. Read through this thread and pay attention. If you see the same ECs over and over, and get tired of reading it, then so will admissions people.

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@bouders @sgopal2
I’m kinda torn now, between Areospace enginnering and Biomedical Engingering, so should I try and focus on only these two, drop everything else (MUN, etc) or do I have to make a desicion Pronto?

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I think you’re missing the point. Figure out what your passion is first. Then channel all your energy into it. Don’t make a decision based on what might or might not look good on a college application.

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@sgopal2
Ah, yeah, that makes a bit more sense. Thanks everyone for the help!