Chances? I'm thinking way low...

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I'm a junior. So, here's where you get to depress me. and the following information may be very depressing.</p>

<p>Race: Asian Male (<em>dies</em>)
Country: Canada
Targets:
Harvard, Princeton, MIT, Stanford (and if not, I stay in Canada...)</p>

<p>So, now that I've got all that terrible stuff all said, here's some information about me:</p>

<p>SAT I: 2280 (perfect math and reading, 680 writing)
rewrote this, probably gonna raise writing up to 720+
SAT II: 800 Math II
gonna take physics and french (physics gonna be 800, french 750+)</p>

<p>Grades:
IB Courses (the "asian 6pack", most rigorous at our school)
should have 7's in higher math, chem, and physics, 6's in standard eng, french, and econ (possibly a 7 in econ)</p>

<p>School:
best private school in Canada, class size around 120-150.
I'd be top 5% easily.
we consistently get many students into HPYS every year.</p>

<p>EC's:
Programming (I have programmed games that are hosted on my own website, and placed 8th in provincials in a big programming competition)
Chess Team (my passion, spend 10+ hours a week XD)
Wind Ensemble (1st clarinet, probably principal next year)
Rugby (but quit this year =/)
Soccer (also quit)
Cross-country (new)
Piano (not likely gonna help, everyone does it -__-)
Tutoring inner-city children (4 year commitment)
Summer job</p>

<p>Awards (you may have never heard of them):
countless math contest awards (the list looks pretty impressive actually)
academic tie recipient and general proficiency award (top 5% of class)
math award gr 9-12 (top math student in class)
french award gr 9 (again, means top in class)
computers award gr 10</p>

<p>So, tell me the truth. Not much chance huh? Did you give up after reading "international student" + "asian male"?</p>

2

<p>Besides the semi-cocky attitude. I'd say that you have a good shot at HYP. Good luck! Btw, no GPA?</p>

3

<p>bleh, not intentional >.< tried to appear "confident". anyhow, I feel anything but confident.</p>

<p>anyways, do you really think so? how much effect does the "international" part have?</p>

<p>no GPA cuz we use the IB at our school. dunno how the grades would translate...</p>

4

<p>I'm not sure about the IB scale, but I'm looking at your SAT scores which give me a good approximation of your performance. Are you applying for financial aid? And yeah, if you go to a really really good private school in Canada, I think you have a reasonably good shot at HYP - as good as a shot as anyone else.</p>

5

<p>no financial aid... probably.</p>

<p>my grades <em>should</em> be good enough. my EC's are actually what I'm more worried about.</p>

<p>yeah, it's a good private school, with some good results. I had a friend who got into Princeton last year, and I've been pestering him about admissions details ever since XDD</p>

<p>I guess if you think I have a reasonably good chance, then I'll leave the rest up to luck and the admissions gods.</p>

6

<p>Yep. If you really push your dedication of your ECs, it would work in your benefit. Colleges don't like EC laundry lists. Rather they want to see dedication - for you, chess. Write an essay on war and draw an analogy to chess. Make sure other people chance you as well (they might have a different take on things)</p>

7

<p>You certainly have a shot but I won't lie to you. There are many, many students like you with similar stats and similar EC's that are in the US so the fact that you are an international applying for contested spots that are even more limited due to the fact that you are an internationa( and an asian one at that) severely limits your chances. There are many other internationals- from all over the world- with compelling stories of poverty and other obstacles and many( if you've read the Korean article floating around CC) that are just impossible to beat academically- so your ECs are your chance to really beat the odds and sometimes, against a white kid from South Africa, it's just really hard. Not to mention, the schools that you are applying for are just, in general, not only really hard to get into but also quite arbitrary. There are kids who get into Harvard, Stanford, Princeton but get rejected from Yale; kids who get into HYPS but get rejected from Brown. There are just so many quirky factors that are beyond one's reach that even if you are a "match" you could very likely be rejected. The ivies- especially the select ones you and twenty thousand others have in mind- need a class that is most perfectly acclimated to their need in terms of diversity, strength, etc., You are a good student and you have good ECs- but it's such a luck of draw and again, like I had said, there are many others who are similar stat wise to you and because they are from the US, they will be given preference. Focus on developing your EC's because academically, there is too much for you to compete with and it's just not worth it. There are too many perfect gpa, perfect test score kids to get accepted. </p>

<p>My worry is that your school list is a very generic dream list. Apply to some more US schools- there are thousands and thousands and many that are quite prestigious beyond the HYPS label. There are other ivies to apply to; what do you want to major in? Research schools that would serve that field of interest well. If you are concerned about prestige, take a look at US News or some other list that nationally ranks US colleges so you can get a more hollistic view of US colleges instead of a name-based perception. I don't mean this comments as disparagemnt but simply that because you are from Canada, you may not be as familiar with US colleges in general. I am just afraid that you will get rejected from all these colleges and then you will have no alternative..International transfer rates will be affected next year because the US awaits the largest class in history ever for college admits. Consider applying to more colleges. College admits is just so random sometimes.</p>

8

<p>hmm, yeah, that's what I was afraid of.
I'll try focusing on EC's, but I really don't know what I can at this point.</p>

<p>I have plenty of Canadian alternatives. all of them would be safeties though. it's really easy for me to go to any Canadian school of my choice; that's the way our education system works. Waterloo and University of Toronto are actually really good universities even out of the Canadian context, it's just that I would want to take a shot at the best: HYPS. I guess it's sort of a family dream for me to go to Harvard or Princeton. I could almost be one of those "poverty" cases except my dad ruined it by going to Oxford XD</p>

9

<p>I know exactly what you mean. You seem like a very humble guy who just wants to fulfill a dream- I want this to work out for you.</p>

<p>I would really implore you to reach out to other Ivies- Cornell, Dartmouth, Columbia,etc. Also reach out to other top tier schools( look up USNEWS national rankings) and college websites-actually check out college websites, get a feel for their majors, their environment, their facilities,etc.</p>

<p>I don't want to make this a "get into the best brand name school" post but I would suggest you look at other 'selective' schools that boast academic excellence- schools like Duke, JHU, Carnegie- again, coming from Canada may give you an inflated sense of schools with schools like Harvard, Princeton, and the like standing out because of what you hear and such. If you truly research US schools and make a sincere, honest effort to really reach out to a variety of well-thought out institutions, your endeavor will appear more sincere- to your self and that will come out in college apps. Unfortunately, your dream is shared throughout the world- from one end of the village to a bustling city in Chicago- you need to make your search and your apps more realistic, more true to yourself. By that, it's not that you're not capable of Harvard but more what schools are capable of you? What other wonderful schools that are prestigious and well acclimated to you are there out there?</p>

<p>I think now, in addition to applying Harvard and Princeton, you also need to make a larger, more comprehensive list of schools in the US. You know you can get into Canadian schools- so reach out to more US schools. And keep in mind that while it may be extraordinarily easy for, say me, to get into a UC( given that I am a Californian with decent grades), it will much harder for you. That idea, not meant to weigh you down, should be with you as you apply to universities.</p>

10

<p>haha, yeah, I used to live in California too. now I regret moving XD jk</p>

<p>well yeah, other than the HYPS, I was looking at Carnegie, UPenn, and Columbia. for majors, I would probably go computer science, some sort of engineering, or finance. but really, I'm not quite sure.</p>

11

<p>oh yeah, and how would I include this in an application? I took a honors geometry course when I was in grade 6 and an honors intermediate algebra course in grade 7 while I was in California. I think it's worth mentioning.</p>

12

<p>No offense, but I don't think it's worth mentioning you took an honors geometry/algebra course in elementary/middle school to Harvard, Princeton or any college for that matter.</p>

<p>It just isn't relevent. Unless you won an award or did something with it, there's no room and no use for that information. Many students take honors math classes pre-high school( I took the same classes as you, in fact!). Unless you took Calculus in middle school, it's not worth mentioning at all. In fact, if you do mention or try to mention these classes, you willl come off sounding a fool. You could try to weave it in an essay to show perhaps your interest in mathematics or learning( from the moment I was in 6th grade...) but there really isn't anywhere else to put information like that- frankly, it's just not impressive.</p>