ivy advice for a canadian applicant!

Applying to College
1

hey everyone!

so im from Canada. and im really interested to applying to American colleges (full list on the link below)

but since im applying to the ivies, I’m if course really freaking out about my package, so I have two main questions.
(all my stats and reaches are here also: talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1778136-chance-me-p1.html)

1- do AP courses really hold that much weight? because my school only offers two (one for gr 11 and one for gr 12) I’m scared that’ll place me below all the american applicants who have way more. and the issue even more is that in canada, there is no “actual” AP course offered, it’s the exact same credit, but we do AP prep work and write the exam. so if I choose to not send my test scores in, they won’t even know that I took AP. any advice? does this dash my chances for the ivies?

2- im really scared about my gpa. because in canada, when you apply, they ONLY look at your current grades. so because ill have a 4.0 by that time next year, though they can see my past grades they only care about the fact that I currently have a 4.0. but in the states, apparently, they look at all of your high school grades?
i mean, all of my grades have been between a 3.9 and 4.0, but ive had a couple Bs in the past that im scared are going to resurface, which wouldn’t happen at canadian universities
im just really confused and worried about this all ahhhhhh!

thank you so much for reading and hopefully replying!

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  1. Colleges consider you in the context of your school, so if your school only offers two APs, they obviously don't expect you to take as many as the person whose school offers 20. Your guidance counsellor has to rate your courseload when you apply, and as long as he/she checks off "most rigorous", you're fine.
  2. Yes, they'll look at all of your grades. It's okay if you have a couple of Bs, especially if they were early on (colleges like to see an upward trend). Just wondering, what conversion system are you using for your grades?
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orchidbloom, thank you so much for responding!

1- okay, yeah that’s true. but are you sure it’s worth it then to take AP if im not getting the credit? so it does it really matter as long as i get “most rigorous” checked off? ahhhh still stressed about it

2- haha im not using a conversion system myself, it’s the mark my academic advisor at my school gave me.
and okay! ill probably be averaging at a 3.9 then. that won’t bring me too down in the eyes of the icy league, will it?

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No problem :slight_smile:

  1. I would still recommend taking AP to challenge yourself and learn more. Colleges can still see if you take the exam. And yeah, pretty much. If it helps, my school only offers 5, out of which I only took 4 and it was okay.
  2. Oh that makes sense. I was just wondering as a fellow Canadian, because I never managed to find a conversion system. A 3.9 is perfectly fine!