<p>Hi everyone! I'm new to the CC forums so please do tell me if I've posted this in the wrong section! Anyways, before I plunge into your collective wealth of knowledge, here's a little bit about myself. I'm Canadian and currently in the 12th Grade. All my life I've wanted to go to a prestigious University with MIT and Harvard being my dream schools. My future goal is to major in Physics, one day earn my PhD and become a Theoretical Physicist. But that's way down the road from now and I just wanted to pick your brain as to what my chances were of getting into the schools I will be applying to.</p>
<p>Schools: Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, Berkeley, Chicago, Cornell, Columbia, MIT & CalTech.</p>
<p>Standardized Admission Scores: </p>
<p>SAT - First time: 2090, Second Time: 2220, Super Score: 2230
Breakdown: Math: 760, CR: 750, Writing: 720</p>
<p>Subject Tests: Math, Phys and Chem all to be written in November</p>
<p>APs: Calc AB: 5, Phys B: 5
To do: Calc BC, Phys C1 & C2, Chem, Bio all to be written in May</p>
<p>*A note about AP, I realise that compared to many other students, these APs aren't exactly plentiful. However, this is down to the fact that where I live, the opportunities for students are far less than in the States. For example, of the 7 APs I plan to write, 5 (Calc AB & BC, Phys B, C1 & C2) I had to study on my own time on top of a regular school courseload with no instruction beyond regular Grade 12 Math and Phys. On that note, will I be considered on the same playing field even though I never had formal instruction in those courses or will it be looked upon as a negative?</p>
<p>Anyways, Extra Curriculars:</p>
<ul>
<li>Played Football (Soccer) for 12 years, only stopped this year to focus on school</li>
<li>Math Club President</li>
<li>Student Government Member</li>
<li>School Vice-President</li>
<li>Peer-Tutor</li>
<li>Represented Vancouver Island (My region) for the last two years at the British Columbia Student Voice Conference (Basically a state leadership conference)</li>
<li>Bright Ideas Social Entrepreneurship Competition Winner (We went around to Elementary Schools giving workshops about how science can be fun)</li>
</ul>
<p>Academic Achievements:</p>
<ul>
<li>Came in top 100 once and top 50 another time in National Math Competitions (Also included International Participants although the majority were Canadians)</li>
<li>Probably the best Physics/Math student in my grade of about 300 students</li>
<li>AIME qualifier the first time I took it last year</li>
<li>Plenty of School Champion Medals for various Math Contests</li>
<li>Plenty of awards for highest mark in various subjects</li>
</ul>
<p>GPA/School:</p>
<p>GPA: 4.0, Average of about 96-97%</p>
<p>And that's all my statistics but I think my greatest asset is my passion for the course I want to study. I just have this desire to learn about physics and I've spent countless hours watching pretty much EVERY Physics documentary ever (The Universe, The Elegant Universe, The other really popular one whose name I can't remember). I've read tonnes of physics books by Hawking, Greene, Magueijo, Mlodinow and many more. I just love physics more than anyone I've ever met and I just have this desire to learn about us, our universe and what we're made of as well as answer the unsolved problems in physics. I think I can express this passion in an interview or an essay. Will this give me an edge? </p>
<p>I guess what I'm trying to get at is this: Do I stand a fighting chance to get into the schools I want? (keep in mind, I'm an International Student) and more importantly, should I retake the SAT?</p>