Chances at Harvard EA and other schools

Student Lounge International Students
1

<p>South Korean studying in Canada (no canadian citizenship)
IB Diploma Candidate at one of the best IB schools in the world (school's IB average is usually 5.7~5.9 I think)</p>

<p>GPA: 99% (but this is using our school criteria, which requires us to use only 5 top marks; if I average everything, its 97%)
Rank: 1/130 or so
SAT: 2240 (M 800 R 710 W 730)</p>

<p>Work Experience
• Heritage Youth Researcher Summer (HYRS) Program – July 2006 ~ August 2006
- One of the 20 high school summer research students at the University of Alberta (very competitive)
- Area of research: Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation / Neuroscience: the changes in motor cortical excitability caused by transcranial magnetic stimulation are studied
- must deal with patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
• Tutoring – September 2004 ~ Present
- Help a grade 10 student with all subject areas
- Help a grade 9 student with mathematics and science
- Helped elementary and junior high English as a Second Language (ESL) students with English
• Translation – April 2006 ~ May 2006
- translating English to Korean for a publication of Alberta Economic Development</p>

<p>Volunteer Experience
• Canadian Blood Services Youth Committee – June 2005 ~ Present
- ambassador
- volunteered at various booths
• Northern Alberta Brain Injury Society (NABIS) Youth Committee – April 2006 ~ Present
- act as the School Liaison between NABIS and volunteers at Old Scona
- call in-school meetings, supervise all volunteers and help them with their tasks, take minutes, and communicate with the President of the NABIS Youth Committee
- helped organize the ‘70’s Night Fever’ Roller Disco Event
• Edmonton Korean Roman Catholic Church – January 2003 ~ June 2004
- served as an altar boy
- helped the priest with the mass
• Many other school volunteer opportunities such as the Open House and the Registration, as well as various walks and runs such as the MS Walk</p>

<p>Leadership Experiences
• Canadian Blood Services Youth Committee - Vice President of Operations
• School Liaison of the NABIS Youth Committee – April 2006 ~ Present
- described previously
• Co-founder/Vice-President of the School Mathematics Club– September 2005 ~ Present
- registered students to mathematics competitions, organized mathematics club meetings where I taught students basic mathematics skills helpful for mathematics competitions
• APEGGA Edmonton Science Olympics team leader – April 2006 ~ May 2006
- organized team meetings
• School Representative at the Alberta IB Conference – October 2005
- attended seminars and participated in discussions about pros and cons of the IB program in Alberta as a representative of Old Scona</p>

<p>Other Extracurricular Activities
• School Varsity Basketball Team – 2003 Season ~ Present
- starting point guard (one of my biggest EC's)
• School Instrumental Band – September 2001 ~ Present
- 1st trumpet
• School Drama Production Orchestra – January 2005 ~ Present
- 1st trumpet
• School Newspaper “The Criers” Reporter – October 2005 ~ Present
• School Debate Club – September 2004 ~ Present
• Edmonton Mock Trials – April 2006
• Gala Français French Competition – April 2006
- Old Scona's representative
• School Awards Committee Member – October 2005</p>

<p>Honors / Awards
Grade 9
- 2004 Edmonton Junior High Mathematics Competition Invitational – 2nd place
- 2004 Science Olympics – 2nd place in Edmonton (1 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze)
- 2004 Kumon Math Challenge – 4th in Canada
- 2004 Stop Racism Poster Competition – 3rd in Edmonton
- 2004 School awards (Honours, Top 5 Academic Award, Art Award, Wellness Award)</p>

<p>Grade 10
- Alberta High School Mathematics Competition Part I – Top 50 (invited to Part II)
- Canadian Open Mathematics Competition – Top 25%
- Gr. 12 Euclid Math Competition – Top 25%
- Gr. 11 Fermat Math Competition – Top 25%
- Gr. 11 Hypatia Math Competition – Bronze Standard
- National Michael Smith Science Challenge – 1st in Alberta
- APEGGA Science Olympics – 2nd in Edmonton (1 gold, 1 silver)
- School awards (First Class Honours; Highest Achievement Awards in Biology 15B, Chemistry 25B, French 20B, Mathematics 20B, Science 10B)</p>

<p>Grade 11
- Alberta High School Mathematics Competition Part I – Top 50
- Alberta High School Mathematics Competition Part II – 13th in Alberta
- Canadian Open Mathematics Competition – Top 25%
- Gr. 12 Euclid Math Competition – Top 25%
- Gr. 11 Fermat Math Competition – Top 25%
- AIME Qualifier
- APEGGA Science Olympics – 1 gold
- Basketball Tournmanet Team Allstar
- School awards (First Class Honours; Highest Achievement Awards in Art 20, Chemistry 20B, French 30B, Mathematics 30B, Physics 20B, Social Studies 20B)</p>

<p>Other Abilities
Trilingual – Korean, English, French
- fluent in both speaking and writing with Korean and English</p>

<p>I am thinking of applying to
Harvard - EA
Caltech
MIT
Stanford
Princeton
Cornell
University of Toronto
McGill University
University of Waterloo</p>

<p>I will probably end up applying for fin.aid to schools that claim to be need-blind (Harvard, MIT, Stanford, and Princeton). </p>

<p>So, what are my chances considering that I am south korean?</p>

<p>Thank you in advance for replying. =)</p>

2

<p>you are really strong as you know, but I don think you r strong enough to get in all of them, and you most likely will get in one or two of HMSP</p>

<p>BTW what is your major?</p>

3

<p>Thank you for your reply =)</p>

<p>I think I want to major in something related to math/physics, probably engineering. But I am also considering biomedical engineering..haha I'll have to see what happens in college.</p>

4

<p>I think you have a pretty good chance as you already know :) I'm not gonna say - YOU ARE SO IN!!!!!!!!, because:
1. I'm a senior just like you so i dont have the experience
2. those top schools' admissions are pretty much lottery</p>

<p>I think it's nice how you took time to write detailed descriptions about what specific volunteering/awards/leadership/blahblah were about.
It shows that you actually did it of interest and the indepth importance of each role, rather than laundry-list-ing. (you know what i mean right?)</p>

5

<p>BTW, if you wanna secure I think you better get 2X800 in relevant SAT IIs, and a good essay</p>

6

<p>Thank you liangshengtm and NoFX for your reply. I've taken the SAT I twice, and I want to take it again to raise my verbal and writing score to 750+. Should I do it? </p>

<p>Also, I am planning to take Math 2c, Physics, and Chemistry SAT II's. Is that okay, or do I have to take a test in humanities?</p>

7

<p>no need to take too many SAT II, I think 3 IIs is good</p>

8

<p>Thank you for your reply. Anyone else want to rate my chances?</p>

<p>Also, I have some essay topics that I am considering writing about, and it'd be great if you guys could tell me what is a pretty/unique topic. You can also suggest good general topics for an essay =)</p>

<ol>
<li><p>essay on the impact that volunteering at NABIS has had on me (how much I've learned about leadership and about the value of helping those in need)</p></li>
<li><p>essay on the impact that participating in the Heritage Youth Researcher Program has had on me (it has taught me about my hidden passion, my future career goals, etc.)</p></li>
<li><p>unusual family situation (my dad was once accused, though completely innocent in reality, of usurpation and had a criminal record. this obstacle caused a lot of pain in our family, but it also helped us bond together stronger. he has been cleared of the accusations now btw)</p></li>
</ol>

9

<p>Do you have a korean citizenship? If so, that makes it a lot more competitive because a lot of Koreans applying to HYPSM have almost perfect SAT scores and a lot of prestigious awards. As for SAT IIs, all you need is 3. The three you plan to take are fine. Just score above 750 and it's fine. The fact that you have a 99% from a Canadian school system is impressive though, and the fact that you're 1/130 helps, but keep in mind that half the applicants to HYPSM are valedictorians and I would think most of the international applicants are also valedictorians, or close to it, and less than 10% of them are selected.</p>

<p>Euclid and Fermat results are impressive but keep in mind that these schools pick the TOP students in each country. Just curious, but what did you score in AIME? </p>

<p>Remember, you're competing for one in about 150 slots for HYP and they only pick the brightest students in the world. Overall, I'd say your chances are slightly above average. You look like an average CC international applicant and I think you'll get into at least one of the US schools. (The Canadian schools are a joke when it comes to admissions)</p>

<p>A lot of international applicants have almost perfect SATs and GPAs so what it comes down to are your ECs and especially the essay. ECs look solid, but just don't make the essay cliche (whichever topic you end up picking). Make it unique, powerful, interesting, and memorable.</p>

<p>If you want to do engineering, I would say to go for MIT and Stanford (which I don't think is need-blind)</p>

10

<p>
[quote]
Do you have a korean citizenship? If so, that makes it a lot more competitive because a lot of Koreans applying to HYPSM have almost perfect SAT scores and a lot of prestigious awards.

[/quote]

uhh i dont think that's true. Adcoms wont compare coolness-rookie with koreans living in korea - they will compare him/her to other canadian citizens. It' just that if coolness needs money at a needblind-to-US-and-canadian-citizens-school, he'll be disadvantaged there..</p>

11

<p>hm but nonetheless I'm sure they have quotas about how many people they can let in from each country. Korea is such a smaller country than Canada, so I would think schools would accept more Canadians than Koreans. He/She may be compared with other Canadians, but he/she is nonetheless still a Korean citizen and subject to the quota for Koreans.</p>

<p>Here's another way to look at it. I'm a Canadian citizen living in the US, but when I applied, most schools compared me with American students, but I was subject to the quota for Canadians. I think Penn had 30 spots for Canadians or something, so I may have been above average when compared with American students, but I had to be one of the top 30 when compared with Canadian students to be accepted.</p>

12

<p>It also depends on how you define "bright"</p>

13

<p>bright meaning smart, not meaning giving off light</p>

14

<p>I had better stats than you (both EC and score-wise) but I was rejected. I was also a Korean citizen living in Canada.</p>

<p>It all comes down to your essays... good luck! And some schools will evaluate you against other Korean citizens, while others will evaluate you from your region.</p>

15

<p>Strong Scores,Strong ECs does somehow means you're a strong applicant, but what AO really want is to look into you, if there is no interview ( like Stanford ) your Essay must be very personalised so that they appreciate the inner you... Others, work on your essays,show the trueself of you, interview is definitely the major thing you should stress on to impress the AO,by being yourself!! because you're not gonna be happy in a top school if you dun fit into the culture! My friends "abandoned" Yale and Princeton for U.Texas Austin, you might think he's nuts, but he's smarter than average, coz he chose the one that fits him! Education is not about fame, more like a journey so fun that you would never leave it till you die...<br>
ps. Do not waste time repeating you SAT1, it's good enuff, afterall taking many times somehow give the impression of over-perfectionists...moreover SAT is more like aptitude,rather than learning ability... : )</p>