Chance me at low-tier Ivys/Duke/NYU/Columbia

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hi! I’m a Canadian citizen looking to go to school in the US next year! I was wondering what my chances were are at these schools!

Race: Chinese (2nd Generation - not that it matters)
Gender: Male
Country: Canada
School Type: Public
Unweighted GPA: 4.0 (we didn’t have AP classes so no weighted)
Class Rank: 1 out of 400+ (in Grade 11)
SAT: 1470 (New SAT) – 740 R/W, 730 Math
SAT Subject Tests: Taking in December, (World History and Literature) - Scoring around 700 on practice tests
Grade 11 Average: 95.5% (Ranging from 91-99)
High School Average: 94.1% (93.3/93.4/95.5)

Job Experience:

Kumon - Tutor
Youth Advisor at Hospital - Cancer prevention ambassador for youth
Canadian Tire- Part Time Sales Associate
Facepainter for our City

Volunteer Experience: (Over 400 hours)

Volunteer pianist for elderly home
Church Camp Volunteer
Link Crew (Key Club)
Expand the Reach Mental Health Conference Volunteer
Ontario Educational Leadership Camp- Youth Facilitator

Extracurriculars:

Student Council – Vice President (Next year-- Grade 11 Class Representative this year)
School Musical Pianist
Model UN Delegate
Mock Trial
Jazz Band (Pianist)
Cross-Country and Track
Volleyball – Bronze in Tier 2 in Ontario (rep volleyball), varsity volleyball at school
Ultimate Frisbee (Team Captain)
Kertamen

Awards and Distinctions:
– Zone Champion for Intermediate Math Competition (Waterloo) x2, Fryer, Galois and Cayley Math Competitions
–Honour Roll
–Ontario Principal’s Award for Student Leadership
–Nominee for high school athlete of the year
–Grade 9 RCM Piano Certificate (with Honours)

Schools I’m looking to apply to:
Dartmouth, Cornell, UPenn, NYU, Columbia, Duke, Carnegie Melon

Intended Major(s): Political Science or History

Sorry for the long post! Suggestions and anything would be awesome!
Thank you so much!

2

Dartmouth- Low reach
Cornell- reach
UPenn- reach/ high reach
NYU- low reach/ match
Columbia- reach/ high reach
Duke- reach
Carnegie Melon- not sure about their political science but overall a low reach

I would aim for a 750+ on the subject tests and start those essays asap.

3

How can your gpa be 4.0 yet you say you have a 94% highschool average? Isn’t your gpa your highschool average?

I’m not that familiar with the US educational system, but, according to what I have been reading , NYU seems a match. I would also say a better sat would give you pretty good chances at all schools you mentioned, apart from U Penn and Columbia.

Your ECs seem pretty good, but maybe a bit scattered? Perhaps focusing on some of them (if you think you still have time) would help set you apart.

4

@Watawata Some schools calculate GPA using percentages, like what your school most likely does. However, other schools like mine and probably @mrjeremister 's assign the overall grade in the class to a number: an A is a 4, a B is a 3, a C is a 2, etc. Then, you average those numbers to get a GPA. Therefore, a 90% is equivalent to an 100%, which is a double-edged sword because if you get a 90% in the class, it will not bring down your GPA, but this system does not remotely reward you for getting in the 95%-100% range.

5

I see. I’m actually from Portugal, where you’re evaluated on a 20 points scale (so a 5 could be either an 18, 19 or 20. This actually allowed me to dramatically improve my GPA in the 12th grade, as I managed to get a decent amount of 19s and 20s.

OP, congrats on the 4.0 then, I’m pretty sure GPA isn’t going to be a problem on your application.

Chance me back? http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1904867-chances-for-top-schools-international.html?new=1