Chance me for McGill as an American applicant, please!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1
  • Hispanic male high school senior in New Jersey
  • 1460 SAT; 720 R&W, 740 M
  • 23 out of 24 essay; 8-7-8
  • 3.16 weighted GPA; top 75% (only better than 1/4 of students at my school; I know it's bad!)
  • Pretty good extra-curriculars; studied abroad for a year in New Zealand, did an exchange program in Japan for a summer, taught myself Japanese, interned at an art gallery in Japan, worked part-time etc.
  • Essay is very good. It is about my struggles with my Tourette's Syndrome in New Zealand, and how I was bullied by my host mother there. I then talk about how my friends there helped me get over her, and how I took those experiences into my life back in the US.
  • Teacher recommendations are mediocre and are from senior year as I was in New Zealand during my junior year
  • I have taken 7 AP-level courses, but only 2 were official AP classes, the rest being high-honors (weighted equally)

I know that my GPA is bad, but I was hoping my test scores and upwards grade trend as well as my year abroad would help my cause.

Not sure if it makes a difference, but I was thinking of applying to the following schools as reaches:

  • Rice University (early decision); mom is alumnus, planning to interview, have visited at multiple fairs and at school
  • McGill University in Canada; top choice school
  • Università Bocconi in Italy; thinking of applying because it's great for what I want to do and my friend is going
  • UCLA; second choice, aunt is a director there but refuses to advocate on myself or my cousin's behalf for some reason
  • Tulane University (early action)
  • University of Toronto in Canada

If you want to let me know whether these options are realistic reaches for me that’d be helpful, but once again this post is mainly about McGill. Thanks in advance!

2

Your SAT is good. However, your GPA is not sufficient. I would guess that your chances for McGill are close to zero. If you are serious about Canada I would suggest that you apply to some schools that are not quite as highly ranked as McGill and Toronto.

I am not sure whether you would have a chance at Concordia (which is right up the street from McGill), or at York or Ryerson (in Toronto, not all that far from U of T). There are other universities in Canada where your chances would be very good but I am probably not the right person to know which ones. Admissions staff at various universities should be able to help you.

3

@DadTwoGirls Thanks for the insight, even if it sucks to hear. I was thinking of applying to UBC in Vancouver; do you think I could get in there?

Also, what about the other schools I listed? Do you think any of them are realistic reaches?

4

Here are the minimum requirements for American applicants, they vary considerably by program:
http://www.mcgill.ca/applying/requirements/minima/usa
McGill uses unweighted GPA. EC’s etc. are irrelevant.

5

Just FYI, Canadian universities do not care about extracurriculars and pretty much none of them ask for application essays or recommendation letters. Everything rests on your grades.