Chances to Stanford?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Stanford University
1

<p>Hey all, currently I am about 3/4 through grade 11... I'll be doing early application to Stanford near the end of this year...</p>

<p>I thought I might as well post here and get more opinions.</p>

<p>Average: 92.3/100 for 1st term, google tells me converting canadian percentile average to GPA is unreliable.</p>

<p>Courses this year: physics university, math university, bio u, chem u, eng u, gr 12 physics u, world history mixed, communications tech mixed... I'm confident to get over 90% in all these...</p>

<p>dunno courses for next year</p>

<p>Rank: top 5% out of ~300
High school - in ottawa, counselor told me no one has gone out of canada for university in a few years... so uncompetitive i guess?</p>

<p>I'm taking the SAT I in May, I'm confident for a 2000+
I don't know if I'll take the SAT subject test, they aren't a req, but would you recommend them?</p>

<p>both my parents are immigrants, I was born in canada, first language is Estonian, though i'm fluent in french and english - lived in france for two years, lived in australia last year (so I skipped a year of school, I'm 15, turning 16 in september)..</p>

<p>ECs: attended Canda wide sci fair in 06, 3rd prize in my cat, lots of lab work @ uottawa
last summer worked as an editor and did a few character details for Dave Smith (character animator for Happy Feet, lead for Rogue, character anim for Ice Age)...
pianist for 11 years, I guess I'm most proud of playing well every Moussorgsky's Paintings at an exhibition....
i've got a few tracks out, electronic music producer, mainly electro house/dub
worked as a club DJ last summer, planning on doing it agian this summer, real fun.
also in winter I manage the local hockey rink, put in about 20 hours a week
played for club basketball team, placed 3rd in ontario
school senior and junior volleyball team, top in ontario last year</p>

<p>Give me an honest opinion, do I stand a fighting chance of getting into Stanford?</p>

2

<p>Academics:</p>

<p>Top 5% is good, although at a less than competitive school it isn't as impressive. It is difficult to convert Canadian to American gpa but -- based on my Canadian friends -- it sounds like your gpa is good, not outstanding. I recommend studying A LOT for the SAT so that you get 2200+ if you want to have a better shot (2000+ is at the low end of students). I would take the subject tests too; based upon your classes take practice Math IIC/Chem/Bio/World History tests and take whatever you do well on. If you can't get an 800 on Math IIc with some practice, I wouldn't bother taking that one because the 90th percentile is an 800 (unlike the other SAT subject tests).</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
The music producer/dg thing (along with pianist) and animator thing sound really cool and somewhat unique; I'd focus on that in your application and how you really enjoy it. It sounds like you may have taken some initiative to follow something you find really fun (regardless of whether it would look "good" on your college app) and that is a big plus in my book... your job at a local hockey rink is cool too...</p>

<p>The lab work is nice, although hard to tell unless you describe awards won and/or published work (Siemens/Intel etc make the American "scientist" nerds get in but it is harder for me to distinguish Canadians...). Athletics are also a plus, but only help a lot when you are a recruited athlete. I would recommend running for leadership positions (i.e. "captain") next year if you want it to help even more.</p>

<p>Overall:
Keep up the grades but I would work REALLY HARD to do well on SATs. It is hard to compare international grading systems, but SATs are a way to "equalize" everyone's chances and can help you stand out (it is easier to overlook lower gpa than very low SAT). Your ECs are very interesting -- seem far less canned/generic than normal applicants (e.g. the typical Sci Fi club, Honor club, etc) -- and I think that if you show your "initiative"/"passion" ("passion" is so overused in college admissions it makes me choke but I had to say it) you have a good chance at admissions. You don't really have a "hook" like founding a charity and winning major awards (besides that sci fair thing that may or may not be well respected...). However, I would say overall you look like a good/strong applicant. Stanford is still a "reach" school but it is that way for almost everyone. Work on those SATs and your chances will improve significantly (it would be much harder to deny you if you had very high SATs)...</p>