<p>I'm new to this forum so I'm not sure if I'll be doing this right. Questions are welcome by all means if more info's needed.</p>
<p>Before I begin, please bear the following in mind. I'm under very strange circumstances in terms of how I got to where I am today (if that makes any sense). What's happened is:
- born and raised in Canada, skipped a grade in elementary school
- moved to Hong Kong in 2001; they had no openings in the higher grade so I went back to be with people my age
- moved BACK to canada this summer (it's a long story) and they've let me skip the grade again so I'm currently in Gr12 but I'm only 16 therefore I should be in Gr11
- in a sense I've skipped my junior year of high school so I'm taking all my SATs this fall/winter, SAT I was in Oct and Math and Physics will be in Dec.</p>
<p>So if you see things missing from Gr11 it's because I didn't technically have a Gr11 year.</p>
<p>As you can see I spent all of middle school and most of high school in Hong Kong so certain things like GPAs, AP classes and Honor Rolls ceased to exist so I can't really provide that sort of info. </p>
<p>Info:
Current High School: Don Mills Collegiate Institute - relatively well known among Canadian/Ontario universities, most grads go to Canadian unis but a lot have also gone to top schools in the US eg. Cornell
Ethnicity: Chinese Canadian
Gender: Female</p>
<p>Intended Major: Architecture</p>
<p>Test Scores:
SAT I - CR: 620, M: 680, W: 570, Total: 1870
SAT II - Chinese: 750, Physics and Math 1 or 2 in Dec.
Please don't scrutinize thinking I'm a native speaker; my first language is English. In fact I could barely speak Chinese and couldn't read or write at all before living in Hong Kong.</p>
<p>Grades:
Took standardized British exams - GCSE's - in Gr10 year. Results: 8 A*s, 3 As
In school I probably averaged between 85-90% across the board.
Class Rank: My old school (in Hong Kong) didn't formally rank students but in general I think I sat in the top 15/~170 which translates to something like the top 7-10%.
I have no idea how I rank currently at my new school in Canada. </p>
<p>Courses:
- Accelerated math in Gr9-10, took the exam 7 mths early
- Accelerated science (9-10)
- Gr12: English, Advanced Functions, Calculus and Vectors, Physics, Tech Design, Canadian and World Politics, Financial Securities</p>
<br>
<blockquote> <p>last two are results of timetable/scheduling conflicts; nothing else was available</p> </blockquote>
<br>
<p>ECs:
Basketball (Gr6 till now, on Varsity team at new school)
Track & Field (9, 10, plan to join track in the spring season)
Cathay Pacific "I Can Fly" program (10) - made it through application process, approx 800 people selected from pool of 5000+
HKAYP Bronze (Duke of Edinburgh's)
Took piano lessons, started learning guitar approx 6 mths ago on my own</p>
<p>Honors/Awards:
HKAYP Bronze Award (called the Duke of Edinburgh here in Canada, not sure about the US)
Teacher's Commendations (9, 10) - school issued certificates for excellent achievement in class
Member of 2007-2008 Regional Championship Basketball Team (starter)
Member of 2007-2008 Regional Championship 4x100m Relay Team
Gr 5 Piano Certificate & Gr 5 Music Theory</p>
<p>I'm not entirely sure if sporting achievements constitute as honors/awards but otherwise I can't think of any others off the top of my head. I have a folder of certificates/awards but that's still being shipped here to Canada with all my stuff.</p>
<p>Community Service:
Regular Volunteer at UNICEF Hong Kong (Summer 07 & 08)
Stride for A Cure - Walk for Hong Kong Cancer Fund (once a year, for 3 yrs)
Visits to Elderly Who Live Alone (9, 10) - weekend visits to chat with elderly people living alone in small apartments to keep them company
Volunteer at current school's guidance office</p>
<p>Work Experience:
Recently employed for the Xmas season at a department store</p>
<p>Schools:
UIUC
Rice
USC
IIT (Illinois Institute of Technology)
Cal Poly SLO
Carnegie Mellon (probably a far reach with my scores and all...)</p>
<p>Also, how heavily do they weigh in your grades from Gr12? I have all my tough academic subjects this semester whilst I'm still trying to settle in and adjust to the different curriculum so my grades have sort of slipped compared to last year. </p>
<p>Please be honest, I really need everyone's help here. I did worse than expected on my SATs (the essay screwed me over) so I probably need to revamp my applications list. I was actually originally planning on applying to Cornell too but I probably won't bother with that any more. If anyone has any other ideas of possible matches for schools I'm open to suggestions. </p>
<p>Thanks a lot and feel free to ask any more questions if you might want more info to chance properly. :)</p>