Hey everyone. I am a french immigrant that moved to the United States 4 years ago, and going into senior year in a pretty competitive public high school. I was wondering what my chances are for schools like UToronto, McGill, NYU, UMichigan and UPenn. Here are my stats:
-GPA
Weighted: 3.95
Unweighted: ?
SAT
1500 superscore (1470 first try, 1480 second try)
SAT II
Math II: 800
Physics: 780
French: 800
-APs
Sophomore year:
French - 5
Junior year:
Statistics - 5
Computer Science A - 5
Senior year (APs I plan on taking):
Literature
Microeconomics
Macroeconomics
Psychology
Physics C Mechanics
Physics C EM
Calculus BC
European History
And Maybe:
Computer Science Principles
I plan on applying to the universities above in subjects related to mathematics. What SAT score should I aim for to improve my application and it is worth it to take this many APs my senior year?
Any AP that you are self-studying won’t help in admissions at all.
For UMi & UPenn you apply as a general student and just indicate a proposed major (you won’t declare until at least the end of the 1st year, more often during the 2nd year), and you will have a number of Gen Ed requirements.
What is your UW GPA? (you can figure it out by taking out the weightings). Are you in the top tier of your class? Your SAT puts you at the low end of the middle 50% of admitted students for UPenn.
You don’t need that many AP classes. Drop AP psych and AP CS principles unless you’re passionate about either one, and take English honors. An alternative would be to take either AP econ or AP psych.
Apply to McGill, Concordia, UdeM, UQaM.
@kiwi351 As you are currently a permanent resident/green card holder, you are probably aware of the clearly defined US residency requirements, in order to maintain status - otherwise, please make sure to google “USCIS Maintaining Permanent Residence” etc. 4 years of undergraduate studies in Canada would not only put on hold any US citizenship process but, even worse, put you in serious risk of abandoning your US permanent resident status, ultimately resulting in a loss of your green card.
@kiwi351 Unfortunately this strategy will likely not work out for you. The risk is that, after three or four semesters and related extensive absences from the US, as noted on your US entry and departure records, you will be referred by the Department of Homeland Security to an immigration judge who will decide about your immigration status and respective green card retention. You could cover an extended absence with USCIS through Advance Parole, yet hardly undergraduate studies over four years or more. I would therefore strongly advise to seek counsel with an experienced immigration lawyer before following this course. Best of luck!
@hpcsa Thanks for the heads up I will definitely keep that in mind. However right now my focus is on getting accepted to these schools. So do you know what my chances are to get into either McGill and Utoronto?
@kiwi351 You are welcome. Sorry, can’t help you on Canada specific topics, in view of US residency requirements for permanent residents/green card holders we decided early on not to look into college options abroad. As permanent residents are being considered domestic for application and financial aid purposes, this did not cause any issues for us. Best of luck, whatever you decide.
You should be fine for U of T and McGill as long as you keep your GPA up and assuming that your SAT scores are at least 710 in Reading and Writing and 700 in Math and you have taken chemistry or biology. Keep Calculus BC, but I agree, drop some of the senior classes. U of T and McGill won’t care too much about the number of AP classes you have. They will care, very much, about your GPA in the classes you take. McGill tuition would be a real bargain for you. You won’t get the same deal at U of T.
McGill is a good match.
Colleges that appreciate international diversity such as Dickinson, Macalester, or Middlebury, may be good additions.
Try to calculate your unweighted: there’s a huge difference depending on whether you mostly have A’s or mostly B’s.
And for Penn and Mich, it depends on what classes got less than an A. What surprises me, for those two, expecially Penn, is how you’ve loaded so many AP into senior year, where APscores won’t show (and only first semester grades.) For a math major, why stats in jr year? Why no humanities AP before Sr year? No AP bio or chem? Is this a school limitation?
Also, for those two, what are the ECs, what’s related to math or sci? It matters. Your post gives the impression you haven’t looked into what these colleges expect, what they look for.