Chance for UPenn (Wharton), Stern, Georgetown, Brown, UCB, Dartmouth, Emory, T15s? (Class of 2021)

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hey guys! I am starting my college application next year and want to know where do I currently stand. I am applying to Wharton ED 1, Stern or Georgetown ED2. Thanks!

Academics:
SAT: 1550 (770 R+W, 780 M) (Superscored and retaking on March 14th)
IB: Full IB Diploma candidate, IB History HL, IB English Language and Literature HL, IB Economics HL, IB French HL, IB Biology SL, IB Math SL (Accelerated) (current course load)
AP: AP Economics: 5 (Micro), 4 (Macro) (self-taught)
GPA: 91.8/100 (My school doesn’t use the GPA system but my weighted GPA is somewhere around 4.8 according to most GPA calculation websites)
Rank: N/A

Leadership:
Fridays for Future NYC (Lead Organizer, Head of Media, Core Committee member)
-Organized the biggest climate strike in American history (315,000+ participants, September 20th) after putting in hundreds upon hundreds of hours of hard work (acquiring police permits, lobbying the NY DoE to grant students amnesty citywide, press outreach efforts, logistics of the strikes, celebrity outreach, strike promotion, security, etc.)
-Maintains close working relationships with major international media outlets such as the NYT, NHK, CNN, Wash Post, NBC, etc.
-Was invited to CNN Climate Presidential Townhall, Conference of Youth 15, Conference of Parties 25 (Madrid), etc.
-Hosted a climate roundtable with Democratic Party presidential candidate Tom Steyer. Future confirmed roundtable with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
-Currently organizing the global strike in April (aiming for 500,000+ participants)

Canadian Youth Alliance for Climate Action (Founder, CEO, Member of Board of Directors)
-Founded and currently heads a non-profit climate corporation registered with the Government of Canada to pass climate-related legislations at a municipal, provincial, and ultimately federal level.
-Currently involved in negotiating with the Vancouver City Council to establish a Youth Climate Commission that will oversee Vancouver’s efforts of its combat against climate change while offering the youths a platform for their voices to be heard.
-Endorsed and personally campaigned with the Green Party of Canada in the 2019 Federal Election.

Green Party of Canada (Invited to campaign)

  • Was invited and campaigned with the Green Party of Canada in the 2019 Canadian Federal Election that saw a drastic increase in their vote share percentage
  • Talked to voters personally on how climate change was a personal issue to me and why they should vote for the Greens
  • First Chinese-Canadian youth climate leader to join them for campaigning
  • Did canvassing at a national level

Bloomberg 2020 (Youth Campaign Leader, Member of Bloomberg Climate Team)

  • Campaigned for Michael Bloomberg for 2020 Democratic Presidential Nominee
  • Co-founded the largest student-led Bloomberg campaign account
  • Was invited to join and joined Bloomberg’s climate team

Fridays for Future USA (National Media Coordinator, National International Relations Co-Coordinator Member of the FFF USA-Italy Jumelage Project)

  • Devises press strategies and leads press outreach efforts for Fridays for Future USA
  • Develops and maintains close working relationships with international Fridays for Future partners and colleagues
    -Working closely with international partners to develop national strategic partnerships.

Fridays for Future International (Member of International Structures WG, International Date and Polling WG, Network WG)
-Working closely with colleagues at an international level to set up a permanent yet democratic and non-hierarchial structure for FFF.
-Working closely with international colleagues to resolve transnational conflicts as well as for deciding the dates for future global strikes.

Fridays for Future (in my school) (President)
-Coordinate within the school to ensure students and faculties are well informed of the upcoming climate strikes.
-Negotiate with the school administration to grant students amnesty for attending the climate strikes and to streamline such a process to ensure the accessibility of the strikes.
-Working closely with the school administration to promote environmentally-related school projects accessible to both faculties and students (Currently working on Earth Week/Climate Education Week 2020)
-Working with grade reps of each grade to ensure maximum interest and turnout in the climate strikes schoolwide.

Awards and Achievements/ Extracurriculars
International History Olympiad/International Geography Olympiad
-Member of Team Canada; ranked #3 in Canada at the Olympiad in Berlin; medallist
-Ranked #4 in history and #3 in geography in Canada at the National Finals
-Champion of JV/Varsity Division in history and geography in Montréal
-#1 in Greater Asia for two consecutive seasons with my team

World Scholar’s Cup
-#1 in Toronto region for total points in writing, debate, and Scholar’s Challenge (a multiple-choice exam based on the 7 subjects (arts, politics, science, music, etc.) the competition cover)
-#20 globally (2016 season, did not participate after due to lack of time) for writing. #78 for debate. Consisently top 20 for individual subject areas in the Scholar’s Challenge. #3 for Bowl (buzzer based competition similar to the Scholar’s Challenge).
-Qualified for Tournament of Champions at Yale University. Placed top 50.

TEDx

  • Currently organizing a TEDx event schoolwide under the theme of “What’s Next?”.
  • Founded the initiative and currently holds a TEDx event hosting license.
  • Has invited a variety of experts in their field including the most prominent plastic surgeon in the country to discuss the future of beauty and plastic surgery.

Varsity Swim

  • Top 10 for 4*50m freestyle at OFSAA Provincial Finals (Ontario, Canada)
  • Top 8 for 50m freestyle and #3 for 50m butterfly at citywide YRAA Championships

Varsity Rugby
-Flanker in the school team that is placed at D II of the League. Plays competitively against other DII schools.
-Played competitive rugby at West Point in the summer of 2019.

School Concert Choir
-Performed within Toronto and across the province (Ontario Vocal Festival).

2

FYI Georgetown only does EA, so no ED2.

3

Asian American male
Private school
No financial aid needed

4

Thanks for the heads up!

5

You have a high chance anywhere, but don’t conflate this with guaranteed acceptance. Be sure to approach your essays very humbly and focus on how all your activism affected you and your personality.
It would be so easy for you to write an essay about attending the first strike you organized, with the wind blowing through your hair and the yells of thousands of students behind you, all fighting for change because climate change is so important and here’s why.
Just approach your essays delicately.

6

Uh, not so fast. A 91 in the US grading scheme would definitely not be a “high chance anywhere.”

Without class rank, as inputed by the school Profile, or knowledge of Canadian grading curves, it’s impossible to Chance. For example, is a 91 top decile? Top quintile?

7

You are a Canadian but campaigned for Bloomberg?

8

OP: It is not clear from your original post in this thread whether you are “for” or “against” climate change. Not really important, however, as it is clear that you are a one issue political activist.

As for your chances: Reach at Wharton ED but geographic diversity should help, full pay status should help at NYU & Georgetown, in at Berkeley.

9

“Maintains close working relationships with major international media outlets such as the NYT, NHK, CNN, Wash Post, NBC, etc.”

If you actually are the Greta Thunberg of Canada, or close to it, you’ll do well in US admissions, if you’re exaggerating any of this, then not so sure.

“Not really important, however, as it is clear that you are a one issue political activist.”

Which is totally fine and I think better than being superficially involved in a lot of things. Note that David Hogg, is also a one-issue activist, gun control, and he’s at Harvard.

10

Here’s my take on this.

  1. I googled "Canadian Youth Alliance for Climate Action" and found nothing that matched the name. I couldn't find a founder or a "CEO" for this.
  2. I also couldn't find a reliable website for "Fridays for the Future." Seems like a Facebook page is all there is, and the Facebook page doesn't get too much engagement. I feel like for an event you claim to organize that had 315,000 participants should get more hype than 20-30 likes on your group's respective Facebook page... I mean take a look at the website and judge for yourselves (https://www.fridaysforfuture.org/). It could be true, but the website looks a tad shoddy to be globally directing movements of hundreds of thousands of people.
  3. I couldn't find anything on you campaigning for the Green Party or being Bloomberg's youth campaign leader. I'd feel like if you were Bloomberg's youth campaign leader, there would be a few online references to you holding that position. As far as I know, Bloomberg also didn't have a dedicated "climate team." My question is, were you his youth campaign leader in your REGION?
  4. The International Olympiads and World Cup awards are very impressive! However, ranking #20th globally in 2016 means you did it as an 8th grader. Wouldn't count, but all the other awards are definitely super cool and very impressive.

I guess I’m just slightly skeptical. I feel like someone who claims to organize huge events of hundreds of thousands of people, place nationally/internationally, lead youth campaigns for major political figures and parties, etc would have more google-able credentials? Some of your ECs, after research, seem blown out of proportion.

Is your GPA a 91.8 unweighted? If that’s the case, that could be very harmful. As said above though, no one really knows how the Canadian grading curve works.

Very curious to see what’s going on here. If all these are true, you definitely have a great chance of getting in, but like some people above, we’re all a bit skeptical.