<p>Hello everyone,</p>
<p>I am currently a freshman student at McGill University in the Biological, Biomedical, Life Sciences department. I originally came here because I thought I wanted to be a doctor, and commonly held wisdom in Canada is that medicine hopefuls got to McGill. I recently decided to transfer, for two reason. One is that I no longer much want to do medicine (or any life sciences program) and outside of life sciences McGill is quite weak. The other is that I am very unhappy here. There is (to my mind, anyway) an absolutely insane amount of partying that goes on here, and I simply don't fit in. </p>
<p>I would like to (hopefully) do a major in math or physics at a (hopefully) fairly well-regarded US university, then go on to graduate school and research somewhere. I realize that transferring to an Ivy League school from a four-year institution is practically impossible, but I am clinging to the hope that I can get into a decent school ranked somewhere in the mid 20s or 30s (Maybe even creeping into top 20?). </p>
<p>My first choice right now would be University of Michigan, but I realize that might be a bit of a stretch. If worst comes to worst, my plan is to transfer to the University of Alberta or the University of Toronto and try to stand out there, then go on to a good grad school. I would really appreciate if those of you with experience of the process could provide some input on my chances with Michigan, and even more grateful if you could recommend other schools that I should be applying to, based on my stats. I plan to have applications out by Jan. 1st (likely earlier), at least for Michigan. </p>
<p>So, stats: </p>
<p>High School GPA (unweighted, 10-12): 3.9, 3.9, 3.83. I realize the downward trend is unfortunate, but I went to Alberta, home of the dreaded Diploma Exams. I am given to understand that the Alberta curriculum is considered quite rigorous, and I was ranked 1 in my class (of ~200), and was awarded the Governor General's Medal (for highest average over four years of high school), so I am hoping that those facts might mitigate the damage.</p>
<p>ACT: 34, I took this in my senior year without thinking about it too much, since I never really intended to apply to any US universities, and ACT/SAT is optional for McGill. Unfortunately, now I have this score floating around that Michigan requires me to submit.</p>
<p>SAT: As with ACT, didn't pay too much attention to it and scored a ~2150, which Michigan now requires me to submit. I think this may be one of my major stumbling blocks. It would be much better if I could just submit the ACT (I'm fairly certain a 34 on the ACT looks better than a 2150 on the SAT) but I don't know if that's allowed.</p>
<p>College GPA: Anywhere between 3.93 and 4.0 depending on how one of my final exams goes. Assume worst case scenario of 3.93.</p>
<p>Essays: Not completed yet (finals got in the way) but I am quite a good writer (probably not obvious from this wall of text) and I am confident I can do well on these. Assume good, but not stupendous.</p>
<p>Letters of reference from High School teachers: Both excellent, but unfortunately (since I want to do math) they are from my English teacher and my FLA teacher (my school went through science/math teachers quite quickly, so I didn't get much of a chance to form strong bonds with any of them).</p>
<p>Letters of reference from College Profs: I don't think Michigan asks for these, but for other schools, they would basically be of the generic, "this student is in my class, this student got an A" variety. As I mentioned, I am a first semester freshman, and I haven't gotten to know any of my profs too well.</p>
<p>Awards: Mounds of "subject awards" (for highest average in specific subjects) from high school, Governor General's Award for highest average over four years of high school, 100% Achievement Club Award (for 100% on the Math 30 (i.e., grade 12 level) Diploma Exam). Shell Jumping Pound Award for highest average in sciences and math (not sure how much this would be worth, but I figure I may as well list it).</p>
<p>EC's: I have a black belt in karate and a fair amount of teaching experience built up training younger kids/lower belts (not always the same people). I also have 5 years + experience in Muay-Thai kickboxing and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, though it's harder to place myself in a hierarchy with these. Most of my free time in high school was consumed by martial arts, so they constitute the bulk of my EC's (will this be good because it shows dedication, or bad because it shows lack of diversity?). Unfortunately, I had to give these up once I left Calgary for Montreal, but my old teachers would be willing to vouch for me in the form of letters or anything else. I also had some experience with the school environmental club, but not to any great extent. In Montreal, I have been volunteering at a local hospital four hours a week.</p>
<p>Other: Fluent, read and write well in French (french immersion grades 1-12).</p>
<p>I think that's everything, but if you need more information please say so. Again, I really appreciate any input you guys might have, especially as regards other schools that I should be considering. Sorry for the wall of text and any poor grammar--this whole process has me quite anxious, to be honest.</p>