<p>Hi!</p>
<p>I know this may be redundant, but I'd really like to know if anyone can give me an idea of weather or not I have any chances of getting into Princeton (or Harvard, the University of Chicago and Columbia). </p>
<p>I live in Quebec, Canada, so it's a little hard to explain my education because our education system is really different, but here is some basic info. Thanks for the help! </p>
<p>High School (or our equivalent...): </p>
<p>Language of study : french</p>
<p>Coursework: I took the highest level of science and math as I could and the biggest workload offered. I even took a spanish class that didn't fit into my schedule because I had too many classes, so I had to go to school early. </p>
<p>GPA: We don't have a GPA, but I graduated second of my class with an average of 94,2%. The girl who graduated first got 94,4% and she was an athlete. I mention this because I'm not and gym counts in our class average. I believe that this would translate to a 4.0 GPA, but again, we don't calculate it that way. </p>
<p>School type: Private (which is a little different here; private schools basically mean the schools with a very very high academic level), ranked 4th of our area among private schools (we don't have state-wide or national rankings that I know of). </p>
<p>What comes after High School and before college here ...</p>
<p>We call it CEGEP, but I guess that's not very important. It's a mandatory two-year program, I'm in the IB science program.</p>
<p>Coursework: By the time I apply for college, I will have completed 4 physics courses (mechanics, electricity and magnetism, optics and modern physics as well as thermodynamics), two spanish courses (I tested out of levels 1 and two so I only did levels 3 and 4), four french literature courses, five philosophy courses, four chemistry courses, one biology course, a political science course, calculus I and II, linear algebra and a probability and statistics class. I also will have competed one IB exam (spanish) and will have predicted grades for the physics, chemistry, french literature, philosophy and math IB exams (which are highly considered by universities, or so I've heard). </p>
<p>Grades: they are very very VERY different in CEGEP. Instead of looking at actual percentages or GPAs, the colleges here look at what we call a R-Cote. That means that if you get 80% in a class where the average is 60% your chances of getting into college are BETTER than if you have 90% in a class with an average of 80%. My R-Cote is 31 for my first semester, which is considered very good. For anyone who knows McGill university (in Montreal), it takes 27 to get into physics, 30 to get into law school and 32 to get into med school (and I think I will get a better R-Cote for second semester, so I could maybe get into med school at McGill after a third term and the McGill med school is the most prestigious and the most selective of the country).</p>
<p>The problem with this system is that I am only getting 80% in my classes. My average percentage for first semester is 82% and my overall average for second semester is 85%. I'm really worried that this will ruin my chances of getting into Princeton. </p>
<p>Extracurricular:</p>
<p>I did 12 years of classical ballet, 10 years of tap (and I'm still doing tap), 3 years of jazz and 7 years of intensive dance camp. </p>
<p>I've played violin for 14 years and still play. </p>
<p>I've been taking voice lessons for 4 years. </p>
<p>I was head of the year-book comity. </p>
<p>I am currently head of the student news paper. </p>
<p>I was in a ballet video that was distributed province-wide to demonstrate the exam curriculum. I was one of three students selected from my dance school. </p>
<p>I danced Nutcracker (a ballet) with the Montreal ballet company. I wasn't actually with the company, but they select students from dance schools to do certain parts. </p>
<p>I went on a cultural exchange to Peru and a cultural and historical trip to Greece. </p>
<p>I've been working in a part-time job for a year. </p>
<p>I was part of the student council for one year. </p>
<p>I was in a jazz vocal group for 5 years. </p>
<p>Achievements:</p>
<p>I won a bronze medal at our national science fair. I participated in the science fair for 5 years and won various prizes at the local level. </p>
<p>I also have won various awards at school. If it helps, here is the list:</p>
<p>Best GPA in 8th and 9th grade
Top 10 GPA award in 10th and 11th grade
Jazz vocal award (twice)
Award for academic and extracurricular success
Science award (twice)</p>
<p>In my last year year of High School, I did a project where I created a website and a conference in which I explained the basis of quantum physics for beginners. If you want to check it out (either to check out if it is good application material, or even just because you're interested), here is the link to my website. My conference in on youtube in english and french and is linked on the first page of the website. </p>
<p>SAT scores:</p>
<p>I have taken the SAT once. I got 720 on the reading section, 680 on the writing section and 650 on the math. I will be taking it again in the fall and am anticipating higher results in the math section, in particular, because I was getting 700's in my practice tests. I'm not sure what happened ...</p>
<p>I will be taking the chemistry, math II and spanish SAT II tests next saturday. I'll comment the results when I get them. I also plan on taking the math II again in the fall (in case my result isn't high enough) along with the spanish with listening and the physics test. </p>
<p>Other:</p>
<p>I grew up in a bilingual home, so although my schooling has been exclusively in french, my english is pretty good (at least, I think!). </p>
<p>If it makes a difference, I am an american citizen (my mom is from the Chicago area), but I am NOT an american resident. </p>
<p>I am thinking of majoring in theoretical physics.</p>
<p>I will be applying for the fall 2015 semester as an undergraduate. </p>
<p>Thanks for everything, I know so many people ask these kinds of questions, but I'm juste really worried I won't get in and since I don't like in the states, its hard for me to get any real idea of my chances of getting in. It's been my dream, it seem like forever, to get into a big US school, so thanks for any comments! If you have any questions (because I know this probably isn't as clear on paper as it is in my head), don't hesitate to ask. Also, if you have any tips, I'd love to hear them!</p>