I appreciate all the replies. I’m going to reply specifically to some things then I’ll do a recap at the end. To do a quick tl;dr: the argument that my chances are extremely, extremely small doesn’t discourage me from using this strategy. Any school that isn’t on that list wouldn’t be worth it for me and my family. Say I got into a really good school like Villanova. I would have to move countries, spend 5x the amount I would if I were to go to Canada, and would not be excited for my experience. It’s not worth it. What is worth it is one of these schools, which I can apply to because I have safeties and reaches in Canada and I have the money and time to apply.
“So this “shoot for the stars” approach is hardly an epiphany as you suggest.”
I can see how it seems like that, but this is a totally different list than when I said that. I believe you were quoting a thread where my list included schools like Northeastern, Chapman, Lehigh, Bucknell, and others in more of a target area. This list removes them altogether.
“You seem to believe that applying to 20, 5% acceptance rate schools will yield 1 acceptance. Reality is they are not independent results.”
I do not. It’s just the dream that I know is really unlikely. I would challenge you on the independent results-- I think that’s a bit of stretch and contradicts a lot of what I’ve researched-- but that’d just dig me deeper in the hole of “argues and never accepts reality.”
“Why put yourself through all of that?”
Because these schools can offer me an experience that I don’t think I can get as well anywhere else. I have strict criteria and there are extremely few options in Canada that meet them, so I have the time and money to seek out more options in the states. Because I know there is a lot to applications apart from what I can share on some forum, so listening to a handful of strangers say it’s completely impossible isn’t a huge deterrent for me. I know that the chances for me to get in to any are extremely, extremely slim, but I don’t understand why I shouldn’t just try. I really enjoy writing, I have the time, I have the money, and I think stress will be even less of an issue because I’m not concerned with low reach or target. My expectations are to go to school in Canada, this is just a dream.
“Your “strategy” ignores the numerous great opportunities in the US if you were to recalibrate your expectations to the realities of your credentials.”
I’ve put hundreds of hours into college searching and my previous list consisted of target/low reach in the ranges of Villanova, UDub, Lehigh, Bucknell, Northeastern, and some others. I’ve toured a ton of schools, I’ve researched all the schools like crazy, and I have absolutely no drive, no motivation to go to any of these schools. I hope you can understand. I would have to move across the country away from my family and pay 400,000 CAD instead of staying near home and paying <100k. Where’s the incentive from these schools to get me to apply there?
“It would be foolish to throw away your future because you didn’t get into a brand name college”
It’s not specifically that I want a name-brand college, it’s that these are the schools that can support me in what I am trying to do. I’m not applying to MIT, CalTech, Harvard, Princeton, CMU or many others like it because they don’t offer me anything special or aren’t a fit. Furthermore, most of the schools on my list have counterparts with much bigger names and prestige. You put Brown’s acceptance rate at 60% and I’m still going to go there if I get accepted. The schools on my list are ones that can support me and my goals to the point where I can justify spending the money and time. I am applying to around five schools in Canada, including some really good schools.
“Having an above average GPA because you spent 2 years completing 9th grade pass/fail and were able to finish the rest of your academics at your leisure through online programs may not compare favorably to students who have stellar stats”
That’s on me for my description of online school and how I worked on school. It took me 3 years to finish my last 3 years of high school, which included summer school to make up for some mistakes from g9. It was before that when I had problems. To those not familiar, this is absolutely not a “leisure through” type of schooling. I can accept that everything everyone is saying here is true. My chances at top schools are microscopic. I should look forward, not back. There are many applicants more qualified for me, so why would they ever want to admit someone with a worse score and no ECs? I get that stuff, but the online school reputation is honestly insulting. It’s the same workload, but you essentially have to teach yourself the material. Have a question? You need to work through it yourself and figure it out. There’s no accountability with this same workload, which means almost all students fall behind and most pay for extensions, but I didn’t. I’ve been the architect behind all my academic success, as there has been nobody helping me, teaching me, showing me, or telling me about how to do this. *This in no way qualifies me for top schools, *I know that, but I just wanted to explain because “leisure through” online school implies that it’s easier and it’s less work. Absolutely not the case and, if anything, it’s harder. To be fair, there is less time spent on work because the lessons don’t take as long and there isn’t the scheduling of food and pe and that stuff, so it should be expected that online students do more for ECs, which I definitely haven’t.
Let me make things clear here because my little qualifiers put throughout the text seem to tell a different story.
I agree with almost everything you guys are saying, but you can say that chance of acceptance is more like 1%, and I will still pursue this. The reason? The move to college in the states requires a lot out of my family. This move is simply not worth it unless it’s a school that I feel excited about and that can support me specifically. I am applying to many schools in Canada, some that are just as good as something like Northeastern or Villanova and others that are safeties.
I have to say, I’m not really discouraged from pursuing my strategy. My chances are extremely extremely extremely low, I know that. But the reality is, nobody can evaluate my application in its entirety and nobody knows what these schools are specifically looking for in their 2024 class. Over half my application is not shared in these threads, so I’m not going to take a “you have 0% chance” reply and drop all my applications. That isn’t to say I came into this with a closed mind and am only seeking approval…I came onto these forums thinking my chances at any school in the US were 0%, then thought my chances at Ivies was something like 30%, then I was brought to reality where my chances at the schools on my list are extremely, very very small. I appreciate the feedback, but ‘your chances are so small that I need a microscope just to see them’ isn’t really a reason why I shouldn’t do this.