<p>I'm a South Asian female (1st gen immigrant from India, if this matters) from Canada.
My school is very, very, VERY competitive. It's public, easily the largest in the city and it has the hardest courses/teachers BY FAR. I'm taking the most challenging course load available so I hope this will count for something. </p>
<p>ALSO, I went to a really small, really bad school in grade 9 (there wasn't even a single club, other than band which people were forced to take) so I switched in grade 10.
I skipped a grade in math, so this year I'm taking grade 12 math (Calc & Adv. Functions) at the advanced level while I'm in grade 11.
When I came to my new school, I enrolled in the advanced math class and this school is KNOWN for its math program. So I got an 80% in grade 11 math last year :(... it was hard and I was unfamiliar with a lot of the material so I had to catch up. Will this hurt me A LOT? It's my lowest mark.</p>
<p>OBJECTIVE:</p>
<p>GPA: Not sure of the conversion to 4-point scale, but the average of my grade 9 and 10 marks was 93%. If I had 95% in 9th and 91% in 10th, will they care about the individual averages? Also, the reason for the drop is my switch from a really easy school to a challenging one where I'm also enrolled in all of the advanced classes. This counts for something, right? D: SO WORRIED. I've taken the most challenging courses possible too.
SAT I: 2270 (avg of my practice tests lol)
SAT II: not yet written, but I'm going to write Bio M, Chem and French</p>
<p>IN GRADE 12 (next year), I'm thinking of taking a university math course since I'll be done high school math. Do you think this would be a good idea? Will it help me get in? But either way, I really like calculus. :P</p>
<p>AP COURSES: there are only 5 available at my school, you can only take them in gr 12 but I'm going Calc this year in gr 11
-----> Calc BC, Biology, Chemistry, Physics (maybe), English, French</p>
<p>SUBJECTIVE:</p>
<p>Volunteer at local library in the children's section (gr 9, 50+ hours) --> organized events, held an art show, just kept the section neat, some tutoring/reading help, etc... general stuff
Volunteer tutor (9th-present) --> not sure how many hours I have, but I do it about twice a week and right now I'm actually looking into starting a group for this because it's been helpful for a lot of students
Teach language (reading, writing, speaking) at my local place of worship (9th-present)
Hospital volunteer (10th-present), about 90 hours and counting
I've led and participated in several events at my place of worship as well (9th-present) </p>
<p>Diversity Day Leader (9th)
Multicultural Night volunteer (10th), leader (11th)
Fashion Show volunteer (10th)
Band (9th, 10th) --> piano, trumpet, tenor sax (self-taught for all)
Volunteer in university research lab (started this year)
Certified Lifesaver (was thinking about getting my lifeguard certification, but now I have no time... maybe I'll do it this summer lol)
Public Speaking: Sikh Youth Symposium, 2nd place in regional competition (9th, 10th, probably this year too); later chosen to give a speech about a religious issue concerning youth
Participated in mentorship program for high school students w/ med school students (10th)... trying to see if I can start a club for this because more students are doing it this year, but the med students haven't replied yet >.></p>
<p>Science Club (10th, 11th), regional competitions and stuff
International Issues Club, member (10th), leader (11th)... I'm trying to get the club to focus more on action rather than discussion with more community initiatives (in the past we've organized can drives, raised $$ for clean water in Africa, multicultural initiatives, etc. etc.)</p>
<p>Used book drive at local elementary school (11th)</p>
<p>Founder of Canadian Cancer Society's youth chapter at my school (11)... leadership stuff and volunteerism, raising funds + awareness for cancer prevention/treatment, etc...
Speaking of which, please watch this video! McGill</a> Dances for Cancer Research Lipdub - YouTube Every hit means more funds towards fighting cancer!! Plus it's just cool!</p>
<p>Founder of a service club at school (11); it operates under the guidance of a UN-affiliated NPO. My friend and I know one of the directors, so this is how we got it started. More of a community outreach thing, and it's related to international aid. </p>
<p>Thinking of starting a volunteer-based tutoring group for elementary school students that joins them with opportunities to volunteer in the community and stay away from bad influences (needed downtown) (11)... depends on how much support I can gather</p>
<hr>
<p>ALSO I'm a little concerned about my ECs... because of the whole moving schools thing and because my school in grade 9 didn't offer any ECs at all, I couldn't really have any leadership opportunities until grade 11, which is this year. So is that too late, or is that when most people start leading?? I'm really worried about this. Please help, I'd really appreciate it. AND also I don't really have any prestigious summer programs... is that really bad? I'm going to apply for some this year, but I couldn't before. Is this going to hurt me?</p>
<p>THANK YOU SO MUCH if you took the time to read this! :) I'm really anxious to hear what you guys have to say and I'm super duper worried... lol. Maybe I shouldn't be, since it's not good to get so hung up on such a selective school! D: Anyways, thanks. Please let me know if there's anything I can improve that will help. I know my grades are bad. :(</p>
And with the most challenging courses possible?