Canadian student!

Colleges and Universities A-Z Massachusetts Institute of Technology
1

<p>Hey guys,</p>

<p>I'm fairly new here, although I've been lurking around this particular section of the CC forum.</p>

<p>I have a very simple question to ask:</p>

<p>Right now I am in Grade 11 and I attend a Canadian High school. I believe Grade 11 is the US's junior year? If so, then these marks matter the most; they are what universities in Canada look at when admitting students, although grade 12 marks really determine if you are admitted or not. (I think...)</p>

<p>ANYWAY, my question is this: will a mark between 80-89% affect my chances of being a competitive student in the international applicant pool for MIT? I do have some EC's but I wish not to post them on the forum. I also know that MIT does not look ONLY at the numbers but also the person as a whole.</p>

<p>Plain and simple; will a mark in that range be competitive <em>enough</em> for a chance at MIT given my Recs, ECs and such are "stellar"?</p>

<p>Sorry if there are other threads on this, I just wanted one directed and me, a Canadian student :)</p>

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<p>I’m not sure about that, since I’m not Canadian. Besides GPA, there are class rank and test scores. So just a number cannot say anything :slight_smile: Give us more information about how hard it is when studying in Canada, how much effort to get that GPA, etc. That is what it means by “as a whole”.</p>

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<p>Also, a good indication is to see if any other people from your school have gotten into top schools.</p>

<p>Compare their stats to yours, and you can see your chances.</p>

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<p>If 80-89% maps to a B in a U.S. system, you’re fine. If it maps to a C, your high school sounds really hard.</p>

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<p>IIRC the grading system in Canada is much harsher than in most US schools. Grade inflation at US high schools is pretty rampant. Not so in Canada. Most provinces set an 80%+ to be an A. What province are you in?</p>

<p>80-89% could be competitive depending on what kind of classes you have taken. Could you show a sampling of the most difficult classes you’ve taken?</p>

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<p>The short answer here is that nobody knows. MIT will definitely consider your application in context. In many schools in my region a grade of 74/100 is a strong A, earned by less than 4% of applicants, a 76/100 is just ridiculously good. Hopefully, in your school report, your school will explain to MIT how to interpret your grades. Your interview report will also help explain the context.</p>

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<p>All right, I think I should name the classes I am taking in grade 11 (Junior year)</p>

<p>My school is semestered and has the AP program integrated into it.</p>

<p>These are some of the most difficult classes in the school in grade 11. Sucks how I had all 3 sciences in the same semester :(</p>

<p>Semester 1:
AP Chemistry
AP Physics
AP Biology
Some Open course because I took my grade 11 AP Functions class back in grade 10</p>

<p>Semester 2:
AP English (I was in the academic curriculum in grade 9 and 10 and figured I wanted a challenge)
AP Physics 12 (just because I enjoy Physics, I am taking it a year ahead. Also, it’s good preparation for the SAT Subject test for Physics.)
AP World History
Computer Science</p>

<p>The way the AP classes works is this: You go through the normal curriculum excerpt the teachers challenge you more. The tests and quizes are much harder than the academic tests. Then, near the end of the semester or throughout the semester, the AP teacher gives out “AP Material” which we work on. Out of all the marks for the AP material, we get a % out of 5. This is then added on to our final mark after examinations at midterm and the end of the school year. People look upon this as grade inflation but believe me, the teachers challenge the AP students more on tests and quizzes. For example, my AP Biology tests are much more detailed compared to the academic Biology tests. Again, this can rely on the teacher teaching the course, too.</p>

<p>For the grading system, I live in Ontario and this is the breakdown:
[Grade</a> (education) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“Grade - Wikipedia”>Grade - Wikipedia)
According to this, which might be inaccurate, 80-100 is considered an A.
I don’t know how this compares to the grading system in the states.</p>

<p>My school doesn’t do GPA. They do rankings but apparent it is confidential information.</p>

<p>Oh and also, according to a teacher who has been teaching at my school eversince the school opened, no one student has gone directly to a top school straight out of highschool. My school is one of the top schools in the Toronto area, so I heard. Also, students from my school go to top schools in the Toronto area. </p>

<p>Thanks for the replies guys. Very helpful. C:</p>

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<p>Did you take AP Physics B or C?</p>

<p>What is the highest math course you have completed?</p>

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<p>This is only grade 11 so no one writes the AP exams this year; AP exams are written after grade 12. My school doesn’t offer Physics C because no teacher is “qualified” to teach the calc based physics. I believe the physics taught at my school is Physics B? Sorry for the uncertainty. The most math I have completed is grade 11 AP Functions. I don’t know what this course parallels in the other school systems. In grade 12, we do AP advanced functions then AP Calculus.</p>

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<p>bumpity bump.</p>

<p>Any more sound advice? :slight_smile: </p>

<p>I’m still worried the grade range I’m in is not as great as other grading systems / competitive enough for the international applicant pool.</p>

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<p>I’m int’l too, so I don’t understand much about the US system as well as yours. But you know what, what really attracts my attention is the lines you explained about the AP classes. And this is what I’ve learned about MIT: the aspect they compare one applicant to another is how much this guy takes the most advantage of his conditions to challenge himself and paint his life to be a journey of joy. Of course, there is a huge difference between an A and a D in the transcript; however, as long as the grades look good, whether you should kill yourself to earn an A+ or sleep well and get an A won’t concern much. Now to you, it’s about the attitude.
In conclusion: you have an opportunity to get the acceptance letter from MIT, so hold it tight.
And read these:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/massachusetts-institute-technology/770701-guide-chancing.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/massachusetts-institute-technology/770701-guide-chancing.html&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://mitadmissions.org/topics/pulse/the_match_between_you_and_mit/index.shtml[/url]”>http://mitadmissions.org/topics/pulse/the_match_between_you_and_mit/index.shtml&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Hey! I’m from Canada too, and am a 2014 applicant.</p>

<p>So before you get into whether your marks are good enough or not, consider this: MIT puts Canadians in the international pool. MIT usually takes about 100 international kids and usually gets 2500-3500 applicants. Last I heard, this translates into about 9-12 Canadians being accepted per year.</p>

<p>Think about this. What this means is that the city that I live in usually has about 40 MIT interviews, and usually accepts one student. This is insane. I know someone who had not an 89%, but a 99% average in grade 11, and who was a brilliant musician and very talented athlete, who was rejected from MIT. The school that I go to regularly sends people to Ivys, and has only gotten one person into MIT ever.</p>

<p>So either MIT picks kids at random, has a very unorthodox evaluating process, or you have to be one of the 9-12 best students IN CANADA in your graduating class to get in. Don’t not apply because you’re scared of rejection, but please understand that as far as I can see, NO ONE is good enough for MIT not to be a very serious reach. A 3% acceptance rate, from only kids who aren’t scared away by a 3% acceptance rate, really means something. But even for Americans, it’s a very long shot: I know someone with many APs who had published research, serious artistic talent, had written a novel, was an incredible athlete and nice person, etc etc who was deferred.</p>

<p>Also, please understand that because of USNWR, if you are not in the top 10% in your class by rank, you’ll need something absolutely incredible to balance that out. Unfortunately, accepting kids below that mark dents their national rankings, and with so many applicants, they can easily find 9-12 people who are in the top 10% of their class.</p>

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<p>@unitofobscurity:
“So either MIT picks kids at random, has a very unorthodox evaluating process, or you have to be one of the 9-12 best students IN CANADA in your graduating class to get in.”</p>

<p>What do you mean by “best”? You are underestimating the other top schools.
Yes, MIT’s evaluating process is unorthodox, but that doesn’t mean they choose the best students who are in the top 10% of their class.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the reply, unitofobscurity. I have a few questions. I always see people saying “top xyz% of their class”. My questions are: </p>

<p>1) Top 10 % as in out of lets say 300 students, their average is… within the highest 10%? Sorry, I am kinda lost with this :frowning: Please explain. C:</p>

<p>2) Which percentage are we looking at when you say: “if you are not in the top 10% in your class by rank”? grade 12 average or grade 11 average?</p>

<p>I really appreciate your insight on this :).</p>

<p>What school do you go to? Regularly send students to ivies, wow…</p>

<p>Good luck on your application, eh!</p>