Chance Me Please (Final College List)

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Schools Applying To:</p>

<p>USA:
1.)Duke
2.)Harvard
3.)Yale
4.)Princeton
5.)California-Berkeley
6.)Chicago
7.)Cornell
8.)Columbia
9.)Stanford</p>

<p>CANADA:
1.)McGill
2.)Toronto
3.)British Columbia
4.)Queens
5.)Calgary</p>

<p>General Information:</p>

<p>Year: Senior this Fall.
Age entering college: 17
Ethnicity: African-Canadian (Born in Nigeria, West Africa)
Location: Canada (I go to the top public school in Western Canada)
Class Rank: School doesn't rank, I would probably gaurantee top 5%
SAT: Not taken yet (When answering, assume a 2250+ score, I never score lower on practice tests. Will be taking it in October)
SAT II: Math II and Chemistry (Will be taking these in November on the same day, expect a 750+ based on practice)
Family Income: $150000-$200000 (Not something we talk about lol)</p>

<p>Grades</p>

<ul>
<li>Freshman Year Grades: N/A, these are not put on transcripts where I live (Alberta) because high school starts in grade 10.</li>
<li>Sophomore Year: Essentially straight As, marks ranged from high to mid 90s.</li>
<li>Junior Year: First semester I basically had straight As, with one 89% (we do percentage GPAs here) and one 87%. Second semester I fell off a bit, with all my grades in the high 80s; which is why I'm making this thread haha. </li>
<li>Senior Year: Unknown so far, I'm going to work WAY harder than I did in the second half of my junior year and shoot for straight As.
-Cumulative GPA: 3.8 UW (I THINK), well over 4.0 W</li>
</ul>

<p>Honor Level Courses: I'm in the IB Certificate program because I had a teacher in grade 9 for Humanities who decided not to give me a recommendation for Social or English IB despite having high 90s in both her classes. The IB Classes I do take are:</p>

<p>IB French A (IB 10, 20, 30)
Pre-IB Science (Pre-IB 10)
IB Biology SL (No HL offered) (IB 20, 30)
IB Physics SL (No HL Offered) (IB 20, 30)
IB Math SL (Couldn't fit HL into my schedule because I'm taking all 3 sciences) (IB 20, 30, 31)
IB Chemistry HL (IB 20, 25, 35, 30)</p>

<p>I only started taking IB exams this May so I don't know any of my scores out of 7 yet, I felt good when writing them though so I expect to do well.</p>

<p>Extra-Curriculars</p>

<ul>
<li>Club Basketball for about 5 years (Equivalent of AAU in the USA)</li>
<li>Varsity Football (Sophomore and Junior years, will likely play as a Senior)
Community Basketball (9 years)</li>
<li>Royal Canadian Air Cadets (For 3 years, attained the rank of Flight Corporal, Cadets is a great leadership program)</li>
<li>Patti Falconer Acting/Modelling Agency (Received many scholarships to acting schools outside Alberta, that I was unable to attend because we won't move. I also received an offer of a lead role in Like Mike 2 the movie; but was unable to participate because my parent's were not around for me to go to Vancouver for the casting. I was 12 or 13 iirc.)</li>
<li>Debate Club, never won anything significant </li>
</ul>

<p>Awards:</p>

<ul>
<li>Honor Society (All of High School)</li>
<li>Alexander Rutherford Scholarship (National Scholarship for Academic Acheivement, received for all of high school)</li>
<li>Northern Basketball Camp All-Star x3</li>
</ul>

<p>Work/Volunteer Experience:</p>

<ul>
<li>Refereed basketball for 2 years. Paid about $13 per game.</li>
<li>Calgary Women's Show: Packing gift bags for thousands of attendees</li>
<li>Helped paint a bridge and do a garage sale for a Women's Shelter in Okotoks</li>
<li>Vacation Bible School Crew Leader at Church for 2 years</li>
<li>Volunteering every Sunday at church for 6 years as a youth leader, teaching younger kids</li>
<li>Tech Management Leader at Church</li>
<li>Miscellaneous other things that I could bring up if I had my resume handy haha.</li>
</ul>

<p>The last thing I want to say is that I'm well respected around the school by teachers, and I'm a good writer so the essay and teacher recommendations shouldn't be a problem. </p>

<p>In regards to the essay, I'm still debating between writing about how travel (I've lived in Scotland, Norway, USA, Canada, Nigeria) has affected my output on life, and writing something race-related. Input on that would be appreciated.</p>

<hr>

<p>When chancing me, take my black URM status into account so it's more like what would happen with the real admissions officer.</p>

2

<p>Your academics are fine, especially if you do manage to get that 2250. Although, remember that there is a big discrepancy between practice test scores and actual SAT scores, which is why it’s really not a good idea to only leave yourself with one opportunity to take the test. Good luck, though.</p>

<p>But back to your chances, your extracurriculars are definitely interesting, especially that Falconer thing, but these aren’t necessarily going to be big assets for HYPMS. Work experience, unless you started some major company and had to file for taxes etc., is never really that helpful. I would argue that your lack of ECs are the only faults on an otherwise untarnished application.</p>

<p>However, the biggest problem that you will face is that you are an international applicant, from Canada nonetheless, where the competition is equivalent to that of China and India. Like you have been told every single time you posted a chance thread, being an international applicant means that it’s 10X harder to get into a good American school.</p>

3

<p>So what are my chances of getting in then? High-Reach? Reach? Low-Reach? Match?</p>

<p>For each of the schools, I just want an opinion.</p>

4

<p>HYPS are reaches like they are for everyone. Duke, and Columbia are slightly lower reaches. Cornell and Chicago are low reaches and/or high matches, and Berkeley is a match. I can’t make an educated guess for the Canadian schools, though.</p>

5

<p>Okay thanks for the input. Anyone else?</p>

6

<p>Forgot to mention I’m applying to Duke ED.</p>

7

<p>Bump 10char.</p>

8

<p>Bump 10char. PLEASE RESPOND.</p>

9

<p>It will be harder that you are international, especially from Canada. Ill comment on Duke since that is your first choice. </p>

<p>The fact that you will only be taking the SAT once worries me, better study hard! (Taken the ACT?) This could completely make of break you chances at top universities. But no pressure or anything :)</p>

<p>It also worries me that your grades slowly declined in Junior Year, about the opposite from what top colleges want to see. You curriculum is challenging though, and a 3.8 is by no means bad. Wont the the death of you.</p>

<p>Your good on the EC front I believe. Write some good essays and get some good recs and you will have a shot! So hard to judge for a school like Duke, everyone applying is such a qualified student…</p>

10

<p>Thanks, I really want to get in.</p>

<p>Anyone else?</p>

11

<p>I second (or rather, third) what the others have said so far. Your chances as an international applicant do drop, and more than enough to cancel out your URM status. Your ECs are fine, and your grades seem good. However, the lack of actual SAT/SAT II scores is troublesome. The issue with practice tests is this: they tend to over-estimate or under-estimate. So yes, it’s hard to know which. If you are in the former category, then your odds will have decreased quite substantially. If you are in the latter category, then your odds will have improved. Personally, I got a 2340, but practice tests sort of freaked me out with scores of around 2000-2100. But on the other hand, I could have done worse. Best of luck.</p>

12

<p>bump bump bump. Sadly my GPA is around 3.6 or 3.7 :(</p>