I am a Canadian student who wants to get into a top U.S. school. Is there any hope left for me?

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Hello! I’m a sophomore at a medium-sized religious high school in Canada. We’re ranked in the 90th percentile provincially, according to the Fraser Institute. I am of east Asian descent and from a middle-class family.

It’s always been my dream to attend a top school in the United States, but I’d never given it serious thought until recently. Here are my stats so far:

Grades:

91-93% average, depending on how well I do on my exams this semester. I’ve taken 6 pre-AP courses so far, and our school has a 1.05 multiplier for each pre-AP course we take. These grades are after the multiplier. I have no idea how this converts to an American GPA. Maybe a 3.5 (unweighted)? I finished the 9th grade with an average of 91% (after the multiplier, I got 95% in my first semester and 87% in the second). I would say that this was mostly because I took a lot of the compulsory courses to get them over with, and they all happened to be in the second semester. Grade 10 has been going pretty well so far, since I have courses that I enjoy and do well in. I’m at 96% right now. I’ve had near-perfect grades in Math, Science, and History, though (before the multipliers), and I think a realistic final by the end of junior year is 95% (I plan on taking mostly science courses next year).

Test scores:

None so far. I was thinking of taking the SAT in March…would that be too early? Would I be prepared enough? I’ve done quite well on practice questions. I’m aiming for a 1350 or so as my initial score, and hope to improve it by taking it a few times over the next few years. Should I also take the ACT?

I have scored first place at my school in some of the Waterloo Math Contests (top 5% of all contestants?). I don’t know how well that translates into American standards. It’s probably not very impressive, and I really hope I can do better on this year’s contests.

Extra-curriculars:

This is where I think I’m the most lacking. I’m not very athletic, and don’t compete or otherwise engage in any sports outside of school. I’ve done quite a bit of swimming, and I’ve received all of the qualifications available to people my age (not an amazing feat, but it is something I’m proud of). I plan on taking the lifeguarding course when I turn 16 and volunteering or working around town. A lot of people in my family have some mild and unpredictable health conditions, and so I like the idea of being there for someone else in a similar situation.

I’m doing some peer tutoring after school right now, and while I do enjoy helping my peer and furthering my knowledge/understanding, I mostly signed up for it for the volunteer hours.

Last year, I did DECA (a business competition), and was a finalist at provincials, but I didn’t make it past the regional competition this year. I can’t say I’m very good at it, and I think the main reason I was even a finalist was because my category was for first-timers. I thought it really helped improve my problem-solving and oral presentation skills, though. I wanted to be an executive for my school’s business club this year, but I missed the meetings due to some other arrangements. I plan on being a part of it for the rest of high school, though, and hopefully take up an executive position next year.

I took a Civics course over the summer and have gotten interested in politics. I have signed up as a volunteer for a local political party, and they’ve contacted me to confirm my membership and tell me about the events and whatnot, but I don’t think we’ll actually be doing anything big for a few months.

I recently found out about the International Olympiad competitions, and would be interested in participating in the ones for physics, biology, chemistry, and math. My school doesn’t have a club or team for any of these, so I don’t really have a good idea of how to register or what to do for them. After doing some Googling, I found that the open math competition, the qualifier for the 2018 national math olympiad, took place back in November.

I’m thinking of starting a math club/team at my school, to help prepare people for contests and also have fun.

As for the physics, biology, and chemistry olympiads…I’m absolutely clueless on what to do. Anyone know anything?

I was also thinking of starting a debate club/team for some discussion on various world issues and whatnot. I’ve always wanted to do something like this, but have never had a real opportunity outside of the classroom.

I built my PC a few years ago, and ever since then I’ve wanted to learn more about computer science and engineering. My Dad’s a developer, but I’ve never gotten around to getting him to teach me how to code.

I know the basics, but haven’t taken any computer science courses in high school so far, mainly because I’ve been trying to get the courses I don’t enjoy over with.

I found a few courses online, from edX and Coursera, and I think these combined with tips from my Dad and the computer science course I’m taking next year in school will allow me to get a better grasp of what comp sci is really like. What do you guys know about edX?

Thanks.

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Not sure if this is the same in Canada but I am involved in an Olympiad competition called Science Olympiad. There’s several different events and some cover the categories that you’re looking for. I’m not sure if you have that in Canada or if your school has a team.

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My school doesn’t have a team or a club. So…is it like a regional competition, then the national, then the international?
I believe the dates and material are similar. Do you know if any of the olympiads have upcoming regional competitions?

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Three things:

First of all, it will be easier to predict your chances for top US schools after we have SAT results. It is very common for US students to do some kind of SAT preparation, and SAT preparation really does make a significant difference. Thus if you first do SAT preparation and then take the SAT and then re-post, we can do a better job of guessing at your chances at US schools.

Perhaps more important: There are a very large number of universities and colleges in the US (thousands). However, there are only a relatively small number that are ranked higher than the top Canadian schools. Also, financial aid is hard to come by for international students at US universities.

The exception would be a small number of very top US schools that provide full need-based aid for all students. However, their definition of need is not necessarily the same as yours or mine. Also, these schools are exceptionally competitive and exceptionally difficult for even the very top students to get into.

Also, your grades are quite good, but are not good enough to make Harvard, Stanford, or MIT particularly likely. Your ECs are good by Canadian standards, but are not going to be quite as strong as the average US applicant to a top 20 school in the US. US schools will care about ECs a lot more than the top Canadian schools will.

As such, you are not likely to get into a university in the US which is higher ranked than the top university that you can get into in Canada. However, for a Canadian student, your universities in Canada are going to cost you something like $20,000 per year in Canadian dollars (maybe slightly more or slightly less). Merit based financial aid is possible. The top schools in the US are likely to cost you at least $60,000 per year and possibly more like $70,000 per year. However, this will be in US dollars, so translated into Canadian dollars this would be more like $80-90,000 per year. Multiply times four years and expect prices to go up over time. $300,000 in Canadian dollars is not likely to be enough for four years at a top ranked university in the US.

The third major issue may be the most important: Unlike Canada, in the US graduating from a US school does not give you the right to stay and work in the US. You will be expected to return to your home country (Canada) after graduation. However, Canadian employers prefer to hire graduates who have graduated from Canadian schools. US employers need to hire graduates who have the right to work in the US, which won’t be you. As such, Canadians who graduate from universities in the US, even very top schools such as MIT and Stanford, can have a lot of trouble finding work anywhere. This hurt me big time many years ago (I am originally from Canada, but have degrees from two well know highly ranked US schools).

As such, I think that your best bet by far will be top universities in Canada. I am going to guess that you know what they are. There are some very good one-year Master’s degrees at schools in the US, so an alternative might be a Bachelor’s in Canada and a Master’s in the US.

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I agree with @DadTwoGirls .

Your best chance for a highly ranked school school for CS or engineering will be UWaterloo or other Canadian school. Your high score on the Waterloo math contests will be a lot more impressive to UWaterloo than it will be to any US school. Continue to work on those contests. I recommend you consider participating in Shad Valley in summer 2019. https://www.shad.ca/apply D16 participated and her results at UWaterloo were much better than her US results, even though she is a US citizen. Waterloo comes right out and says that participation at Shad gives you a boost in admissions.

There are a lot of east Asians who apply to top US schools. You will be competing with students from China etc. Unless you can become the best in the world at one of your EC’s, it will be difficult to gain admission.

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Your extracurriculars are actually so diverse, so I hope you found one field that you are particularly interested in, because quality matters more than quantity in your ECs. Make sure you dedicate yourself to like 3-4 clubs or initiatives instead of being average in like 10 clubs. Also get a lot of volunteer hours.
Your grades seem good enough and if you get above a 1530 or something on your SAT or 34 on the ACT then I think that would be helpful. If you can do these things, then I believe you have a good shot at American top schools. Don’t bet on it though, because the top US schools are quite unpredictable at times.
As bouders (post above me) said, U-Waterloo seems really good for you. Their CS program is insanely good (and is super respected in silicon valley and seattle and all the other big tech company hubs). With your Waterloo math competition experience you have a super good chance there.

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My general plan is to prepare as best as I can for the top U.S. schools, and then apply to the top Canadian schools with this preparation.

I plan on taking either the SAT in March or the ACT in April (possibly both).

@DadTwoGirls @bouders

I’m looking specifically at Harvard, Penn, MIT, Yale, and Princeton, because these are the ones what provide (nearly) full need-based aid to students, and don’t take financial need into account when considering applications. (My family’s income falls under the bracket where it would actually be cheaper to go to Harvard than to a lot of Canadian schools.)

I am fully aware that my chances of getting into any of these schools are slim to none, but it’s always been a dream of mine to study in the U.S., and I feel that these schools would make the most sense to apply to (since I would actually be able to attend should I be accepted).

I’m not 100% set on what I want to do just yet. I’m looking broadly at the sciences; computer science seems the most interesting so far. Math, statistics, economics, and history are also all of interest to me.

Isn’t Shad like, thousands of dollars?

@mustardprime Yeah, I think that’s my main problem. The thing is, though, I don’t know which ones I want to cut out…
I’m genuinely not just a part of them to pad my application. (Seriously, I wish I were.) I was a little less involved than I would have liked in the 9th grade, so I’m just trying to better explore my interests this year.

Do my ECs have to be related to my intended major?

Should I take both the SAT and ACT? I was looking mostly at the SAT but it seems like the ACT might be the easier test for me (it’s also cheaper since you don’t have to pay the international fee if you’re in Canada).

My school basically feeds into Waterloo. It’s almost like elementary kids going into high school. I really like the idea of going to Waterloo, since I’ll be able to go to school with my friends and also know that I’m in a good program. I’ve also looked at McMaster, McGill, and U of T. They all look great, but I’ll be looking at them as mostly safety schools since they all have relatively high acceptance rates and since my school supports the transition so well.

Do you have any suggestions?

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With a 93% several programs at McGill would be a match at best if not a reach: engineering, life science, management…

http://www.mcgill.ca/applying/requirements/minima/on

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@TomSrOfBoston Yeah, those would be match schools. My bad. I keep thinking it’s between safety and reach. Then yes, I would consider those Canadian schools to be matches.

I believe those are for the top 6 subjects in my senior year. I’m pretty confident I can meet or exceed those averages as I will only be taking courses I enjoy and can do well in.

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Shad is $5500 but there are bursaries available.

The acceptance rate at Canadian schools is very dependent on the program applied for. Last year there were 15 applications for every spot at Waterloo CS.