Chances at Canadian Universities

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I am currently a junior attending an American International school. I have spanish nationality, although "biologically" I'm half italian as well. I studied in a french "lycee" from 6th to 9th grade (ignoring primary school), and I've been studying in an American system since 10th grade. Overall, I speak fluently spanish, italian, french, and english. If you haven't guessed already, I'm ethnically "white". I was born in Paris, but I have lived in France, Spain, Russia, and now Pakistan (I don't know if colleges will be interested in me being truly "international").</p>

<p>School records:
My 9th grade record was messed up, as I was in a french system (completely different from the US system), and I switched schools as I moved to Pakistan, so I'm ignoring it.</p>

<p>10th grade: I got an overall A- average (3.7 GPA), and I was VERY VERY involved with the school's bands and music programs, and travelled to India with the band. I was also in the Swimming team, and we travelled to Karachi (a city in southern Pakistan) for a competition. I also participated in many fundraising activities and concerts for the 2005 Kashmir Earthquake. I took one AP course, AP French, and I got a 5 in the exam (duh, no surprise there).</p>

<p>11th grade: Averaging the 3 quarters so far I have a B+ average (3.3 GPA), (hoping to bring it up a little on the 4th quarter). I have also been involved with the school's music programs, although not as much as in 10th grade. I participated in an Model UN conference in Doha, Qatar, and even got an award (out of like 1000 participants, maybe even more, I got the "best by-the-book" award). I'm taking two AP courses, AP Euro and AP World (predicting scores of 5 on both), and two additional AP exams, AP Spanish and AP Italian (if I don't get a 5 on both of these I swear I'll kill myself).
I got a 169 on my PSAT, but hoping for a 1900-2000 on my SAT (taking it now in May, and taking it again in senior year).</p>

<p>In 12th grade I'm planning to travel again for Model UN to Doha. As for AP courses, I'm planning to take the courses for AP English Language, AP Econ (Micro and Macro), AP Statistics, and self-study AP Comp. Gov't & Pol. By the end of 12th grade I will have taken 10 AP exams, and obtained an AP International Diploma.</p>

<p>Plans for University:
I want to major in International Relations (the name of the program might differ in different universities). I'm going to apply to Northwestern Europe, and Eastern North America, but in this thread I'm only asking about Canada.</p>

<p>What chances do you think at universities like McGill University, University of Western Ontario, Universite de Montreal, University of Toronto, and Queen's University?</p>

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<p>hate to do this, but BUMP!</p>

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<p>pleaseeeeee...</p>

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<p>When applying to Canadian schools, you should know:</p>

<p>Your nationality is irrelevant.
The places you have lived are, in 99% of cases, irrelevant.
Your race is irrelevant.
The number of languages you speak is irrelevant.
Other than at the business programs of Western and Queens, your extra-curricular activities are irrelevant.</p>

<p>That said, you will get into every Canadian school you apply to. Why? Because you have a decent GPA and decent SAT score. We Canadians are simple folk...</p>

<p>Where in Europe are you planning to apply? What countries and what schools?</p>

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<p>Oh ok, I didn't know that, I thought Canadian Universities were like American universities, where they basically look at EVERYTHING. Good thing to know, Canada seems to be much more like Europe in many aspects than like its southern neighbour.</p>

<p>In Europe I am going to apply to :</p>

<p>France:Sciences-Po (Iberoamerican program in Poitiers)
Belgium: Catholic University of Louvain
Switzerland: University of Geneva
England: London School of Economics
Scotland: University of St Andrews, University of Edinburgh
Wales: University of Wales Aberystwyth
Ireland: Might apply to Trinity College Dublin</p>

<p>Might apply to a few more in England, but this is what I have so far.</p>

<p>Just a curiosity: I speak French French (as in French from France), would I have a lot of difficulty understanding the French spoken in Quebec if I went to Montreal?</p>

<p>Thanks a lot for your reply.</p>

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<p>Just gotta agree with nauru. Cdn universities don't really care about anything other than your marks. While EC's and recommendations are great, most schools don't require/look at them.</p>

<p>I don't think you'll have a lot of difficulty understanding the french spoken in Quebec. Quebecois french should be pretty fluent.</p>

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<p>London School of Economics is the only so called "difficult" school to get into in your case..</p>

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<p>St Andrews, Edinburgh and Sciences-Po won't be easy to get into either. But LSE will indeed probably be the toughest of the lot.</p>

<p>I also speak French, but I learned Quebec French since I was about 5 years old. When I was 19 and moved to Europe I found it very difficult to understand France French, and it took me roughly a year and a half to get fully used to it. Now Quebec French sounds weird, and I speak France French. Mind you, the transition may be quicker for others who are better with languages. I'm a native speaker of english and I had a very difficult time understanding people when I visited Leamington Spa and Warwick (central England). Even dating a girl who had a London accent forced me to concentrate on understanding, every time we had a conversation.</p>

<p>"Quebecois French should be pretty fluent"? I have no idea what that means. You're either fluent or you're not. And of course Quebecois speak French fluently, because it's the language they grew up in.</p>

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<p>Oxford, Cambridge, and St Andrews are the three most difficult politics/international relations courses to gain admittance in the UK, according to the published admissions statistics. The LSE is fourth, so perhaps this should be considered when gauging your chances.</p>

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<p>Thanks you all for your responses.
The Sciences-Po I'm talking about is not the so-called "real" Sciences-Po in Paris, what I'm interested in is this program in Poitiers that focuses on Iberoamerican studies (the politics and history of Spain, Portugal, and Latin America) <a href="http://www"&gt;www&lt;/a>. iberoamerica. sciences-po. fr if you're interested. You spend two years in Poitiers, a third year studying abroad or doing an internship of some kind, and the last two years you do your Master's Degree in Paris, specializing in whatever you want. I realize it will still be pretty hard to get into, although not as much as the main campus in Paris, but Sciences-Po doesn't look at EC's, GPA, or SAT's, they only care about the AP's (they recognize the AP Int'l Diploma as a "final exam", kind of like the Bac), and I think I'm pretty well set with those, so I might be fine.</p>

<p>If you've read my first post, I'm pretty good with languages, so hopefully I'll get used to Quebec French. </p>

<p>Do any of you know the process of getting into a French-speaking university in Quebec from an American system? On the UdeMontreal website they said that in order to enter the university as a freshman you need a HS diploma + 1 year of university, and I find that hard to believe (that must be without any AP's) I sent them an e-mail yesterday, and I'm still waiting for a response. I hope that my AP's can make up for that extra year...</p>