<p>I want to apply Early Decision for Harvard or MIT and Early Action for Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Caltech, Georgia Tech, Dartmouth, Brown, Cornell, Columbia, University of Pennsylvania </p>
<p>Background: Born in East Africa, lived in the United States until I was 10 and moved
back to East Africa. Since coming back I have lived in East Africa for nearly 8 years
(5th grade up to 11th grade so far). For seven years I have studied under the
East African Curriculum. I am now in my third school since I began high school. Currently,
I am a junior taking the IB Diploma Program. I wish I could have taken AP but , sadly,
there are no schools on this side of the African continent that offer AP. I've never written
and essay or a lab report before until this year. I've never had job experience because no
one hires children under 18 </p>
<p>Gender: Male
Ethnicity: African
Age: Age
Grade: 11</p>
<p>Cirriculums:</p>
<p>-East African Curriculum: Comprises of English , Math, Chemistry, Biology, Physics, PE,
Geography, and History, Computer Science,Music and French. No school-offered
extracurriculars are available and no such thing as Honors, AP, IB, etc.</p>
<p>-International Baccaluareate</p>
<p>Here are my stats:</p>
<p>-9th grade (these grades are from both my first and second school, and they are both the same) :</p>
<p>English (entirely grammar, little to no essay writing): A
Math (combination of Algebra 1 , some Geometry, some Algebra II): A
Chemistry (no lab experiments: A
Physics (no introduction to nuclear physics or quantum mechanics, no lab experiments): A
Biology (no lab experiments):
PE (soccer, soccer, soccer, and the most bigoted coach ever): B+
Geography (no essays) : A
History (no US History or European History, except for things like the Industrial Revolution
,the US Civil War, the Revolutionary War, etc. but there was a good deal of World and
African History, no essays): A
French (super-elementary, and super-redundant French, they have repeated the same
topics from the same level every single year since I came to East Africa.): A
Art (I learned new things from this class,and what I was taught was remarkable): A
Music( silliest course ever, all we did was listen to Micheal Jackson): A
Computer Science (learning how to operate MS Word, MS Excel, etc.): A</p>
<p>GPA for the year: 3.98 (I HATE my coach)</p>
<p>Note: In all the subjects I got A's , I actually A+'s , but my second school didn't uphold
the concept of giving an A+, hence I have A's on my report card, without any numbers
to show.</p>
<p>10th grade: (still in my second school, and the curriculum was reformed by the Ministry of
Education, and I also had an end-of-year National Exam )</p>
<p>English (entirely grammar, little to no essay writing): A
Math (combination of Algebra 1 , some Geometry, some Algebra II): A
Chemistry (no lab experiments, still) : A
Physics (no introduction to nuclear physics or quantum mechanics, no lab experiments): A
Biology (no lab experiments):
PE (soccer, soccer, soccer, and another bigoted coach): B+
Geography (no essays) : A
History (no US History or European History, except for things like the Industrial Revolution,
the US Civil War, the Revolutionary War, etc. but there was a good deal of World and
African History, no essays): A
Computer Science (learning how to operate MS Word, MS Excel, etc.): A</p>
<p>Note: Art, French and Music were removed due to the National Exam, and so were replaced
by more Math and English classes</p>
<p>11th Grade (so far) :</p>
<p>Semester 1:</p>
<p>Quarter 1 Progress Report (NOT recorded on my transcript):</p>
<p>IB English SL: 4
IB Math HL: 6
IB Chemistry HL: 5
IB Spanish Ab intio: 6
G11 Seminar : Pass (doesn't count for points) (didn't start TOK until the 3rd Quarter)
IB Physics HL: 4
IB History SL: 4
US History: 6 (took it because I wanted a credit in US History, not part of IB, I took it in
place of my Study Hall) </p>
<p>Total Points (not including US History): 24 out of 42</p>
<p>Quarter 2 Report (Semester 1 grades, these are recorded in my transcript)</p>
<p>IB English SL: 5
IB Math HL: 7
IB Chemistry HL: 5
IB Spanish Ab intio SL: 4 (I know, ouch!)
G11 Seminar: Pass (does count for points)
IB Physics HL: 5
IB History SL: 5
US History:6 (still doesn't count) </p>
<p>Total Points (not including US History): 31 points out of 42</p>
<p>Semester 2:</p>
<p>Quarter 3 Progress Reports (not recorded on my transcript)</p>
<p>IB English SL: 4
IB Math HL :6
IB Chemistry HL: 5
IB Spanish Ab intio: 7 (Question: If I get a 7 on my actual report card, does it replace that
4 I got in the previous semester?)
TOK: 6 (which actually counts as a 1 or a 1.5 out of a total of 45 points, so I'mm counting
it )
IB Physics HL : 5
IB History SL : 4</p>
<p>Total Points (not including TOK): 31 out of 42 points</p>
<p>Semster 2 ( Quarter 4): yet to come....</p>
<p>EC's: Self-Taught Programming (Visual Basic 6.0, Java, C++) (7th -present),
Self-Taught French (9th - present), Self-taught Pre-Calculus and Calculus (10th - present)
Self-Taught Trigonometry (9th - 10th), Self Taught Algebra II (9th - 10th ), Self-Taught
College Physics (9th- Present), Model United Nations (11th Grade)</p>
<ul>
<li>What I mean by Self-Taught is that I have bought some old textbooks on these things
and started to learn them on my own. I have no idea if these can be considered as
extracirriculars. And Yes, I don't have any sport. Unfortunately, there are only two choices
in Africa (Basketball and soccer both of which I tried time and again with an open heart but
to this day still despise). If I were to choose a sport, I would try fencing or archery both of
which I've seen on TV, read online manuals of for the past two years and wanted to try for
myself.</li>
</ul>
<p>Achievements: 1st Place in the High School Spelling Bee (9th and 10th Grade)
1st Place in the High School Science Fair (10th Grade)
2nd Place in the High School History Exhibition (9th Grade)
Began and led a fundraiser and obtained over $10,000 in supplies and
cash for an orphanage (10th Grade)</p>
<p>Languages: English (Fluent in speaking and writing, all my professors, including the 11th grade, say that I have an excellent command of language, but my writing needs work. Its not that I can't write but that I don't really understand the mechanics of it), Swahili (conversational), French (conversational...I think), Spanish (almost 1 year)</p>
<p>Interests: Computer Programming, Physics (especially Theoretical Physcis, I could go on and on), Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Math, Philosophy, Trivia, Literature, Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune, Scrabble, Etymology, Ancient History, Modern History, Political Administration, Economy, Tolkien, Extraterrestrials, Aviation, and that's about it.</p>
<p>Possible things that would be talked about on reccomendation letters: My determination to do the best I possibly can, my intellect (I'm not bragging; even my Physics professor, who gave me a 4 said that and its because he understands my background but is impressed by the theoretical knowledge I've amassed from my own readings), my ambition, my love of science, the effort I put into my work, etc., my excellent discipline and respect etc.</p>
<p>Punishments/Suspensions/Expulsions: None (not even a single detention ... ever!)</p>
<p>Standardized Tests:</p>
<p>ACT : Not yet
SAT : Not yet
SAT II : Not yet
PSAT: 176 (I took it in my junior year only because my third school offered it)
AP's: None
IB's: I'll take them in Senior Year
National Exam: A's in every subject (4.0 - perfect score)</p>
<p>I know what I haven't done: Not enough community service, No research for Harvard/MIT, no sport, no international event (IMO, IPO, Intel, IIO) to show what I'm worth, No AP's, Nothing special about myself to write about, No standardized tests, etc.</p>
<p>So what you guys think ? And do you have any suggestions?
(and here's how you should label each post:</p>
<p>-for opinions , please type OPINION (yes, in capitals) at the top of your posts or re-posts
-for suggestions, please type SUGGESTION at the top of your posts or re-posts
-for expert opinions (opinions from people who are college refs, people who have been to
Harvard/MIT/all the other schools I've mentioned,etc., type XOPINION at the top of your
posts or re-posts</p>
<p>And it is possible to use more than one of these labels in your posts.</p>
<p>Thank You)</p>