Improvement Considered?

<p>I'm an incoming Grade 12 student in a preparatory-school in Canada. It hadn't crossed my mind to consider trying for any Ivy Leagues until one person of importance(in my life) suggested it.</p>

<p>The reason why I didn't consider it:
I'm from the Philippines although I am white, of French/German ancestry. My family moved to Canada before Grade 9 began. I came here having a very little knowledge of English, being not very accustomed to the education systems and whatnot. Those factors have lead me to have very poor grades, my average for both Grades 9 and 10 were below 80..in fact I think it wasn't even in the seventies-line.
I spun 180 degrees and picked up my smart-but-lazy butt and changed my whole outlook. I always knew I was smart enough for the 90-95 range.
I just finished Grade 11 with a 99% average, ranking first in my class. I picked up various extra-curricular activities, joined math, physics,chemistry competition and won a substantial number of times. </p>

<p>I plan to continue this streak until graduation, this year I plan to participate in Physics, Chem and Math Olympiad this year, and I will discuss with my school if I can still participate in any International Science Olympiad.</p>

<p>My questions:
Let's not take SATS and ACT into consideration because I haven't written any yet.
Let's focus on the grade aspect of the application.....</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Considering that I went from the low 70s to almost 100, I will continue to improve to even surpass 100's, my school does that. Will they see it as an upward trend? will I have a chance in any Ivy League schools?</p></li>
<li><p>Has there been anyone with the same experience who got accepted by any Ivy League schools?</p></li>
<li><p>If I still stand a chance, what can I do to be a more desirable candidate?</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Btw, check out this picture. He's cute...it's from UPenn's website.
<a href="http://www.upenn.edu/assets/images/photos/admissions//admissions4.jpg%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.upenn.edu/assets/images/photos/admissions//admissions4.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>I think you definitely have a chance. If adcoms are reviewing your app, do you think they would see someone who began well and declined or vice versa. Likely the latter. Plus, junior year is the most heavily weighted of any. Good luck. I think with a solid SAT/ACT score (2200+ / 33+), you can definitely make it, so in my opinion, the SAT or ACT will either make or break you. Good luck!!!</p>

<p>You’d probably have a better chance if you went elsewhere for freshman year undergrad then applied as a transfer. Then you’d have 3 strong years of school (junior, senior, college freshman) to balance out 2 lackluster ones compared to 1 strong year with 2 weak years. Good luck with your application, but I’d say your chances are slim. You might get the benefit of the doubt with the move to Canada and the fact that you’re applying as a Philipino compared to someone who is Chinese, Korean, or Singaporean, but it’s still pretty darn tough.</p>

<p>if I am a French/German who have lived in the Philippines?
I don’t think it does.</p>