Live in Canada, Lots of School Choices

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I'm a Canadian student and will be applying to schools this fall. Here are my stats, any help will be great :)</p>

<p>Ethnicity: Indian, but with Canadian citizenship</p>

<p>SAT I:
Total - 2260
Math - 730
Critical Reading - 730
Writing - 800</p>

<p>SAT II: I haven't taken these yet, but am expecting 770+ in Biology, Math II, and Chemistry.</p>

<p>Unweighted GPA: 3.9 (This is according to the Canadian grading system where an A is 80+...but my cumulative percentage average is 87%.)</p>

<p>Rank: My school doesn't rank, but I'm in the top 5% of my class out of about 500 people.</p>

<p>Courses Taken:</p>

<p>9th Grade:
Math, Science, English, French, Phys. Ed, Technology, Music, Geography</p>

<p>10th Grade:
Math, Science, English, French, Phys. Ed, Technology, Canadian History, Civics/Careers</p>

<p>11th Grade:
Math, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Personal Fitness, Technology, English, Law (and American History in the summer)</p>

<p>12th Grade:
Same as 11th grade, but I took Calculus instead of Law.</p>

<p>In my school, we don't have any AP/IB classes; instead, we have 3 streams: University, Mixed, and College. University is considered to be like Honors, Mixed is normal, and College is below level. All my classes have been University level.</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
DECA (9, 10, 11, 12): I've made it to the Provincial Level every single time; last time I came top 20 out of about 100 teams. I will be on the Executive Team next year.</p>

<p>Investors of Tomorrow (11, 12): It's just like a mock investing club; stock prices change in real time and you're given $1,000,000 to invest. I will be on the Executive Team for this next year too.</p>

<p>Debate Club (11, 12): This is not really inter-school, it might be next year; it was started during my Junior year and we're preparing to take part in the school district competitions.</p>

<p>Intramural Basketball (10,11, 12): Mini leagues in my school; usually 3v3 teams. It runs throughout the year.</p>

<p>Senior Basketball Team (12): Regular basketball in our school.</p>

<p>Bodybuilding (10, 11, 12): I don't know if they would really count this as an extracurricular, but I've been lifting weights for 2 years and it has become a big part of what defines me. I could probably use this to show change for the better in myself or something.</p>

<p>School Magazine (10, 11, 12): I regularly wrote articles for my school magazine, and worked within the technical department (eg. layout, design, etc.)</p>

<p>Music: I played Alto Saxophone since grade 5; I was in the school band up until Grade 9, when I had to give it up in school. I still play outside of school.</p>

<p>Web Design Company (4 years): I run a web design company known as Total Pixelation Studios (you can see it at Total</a> Pixelation Studios: Infinite Possibilites | Web Design, Web Development, Graphic Design, Print Design). I've had about 11 clients and have made thousands of dollars...it's a big part of my life, and I'm hoping universities will recognize my dedication and versatility through this. I might be able to get a Recommendation Letter from one of my clients, if that is helpful.</p>

<p>Tutorial Website: I run a blog that offers various tutorials for web design, and it has helped me to make a name for myself within the web design community.</p>

<p>Also, this summer I am planning on running a Halo 3 Fundraiser for a charitable organization. Nothing is set in stone yet, but if all goes well, I will have a day-long event for people to play Halo 3 4v4 games. I am projecting an income of about $5000 that I will donate to an organization like Sick Kids' Hospital.</p>

<p>Schools I am going to apply to:
- Early Decision: Columbia
- What I have been told to consider to be "reaches": Harvard, Cornell, and one of: Princeton/Yale/Stanford/Brown
- What I have been told to be 50/50 Schools: UCLA, Berkeley, Johns Hopkins, Northwestern
- What I have been told to be safeties: UT Austin, UT Dallas, and one other...any recommendations?</p>

<p>I am pursuing a major in Biomedical Sciences and my goal is to go to Med School.</p>

<p>Thanks for any help, and I chance back :)</p>

2

<p>Wow. I checked out your site, and that’s a very good plus to your app. I don’t know how much being an international applicant hurts (so I can’t help you per se) but your app is very strong regardless. </p>

<p>Why are you pursuing a major in biology and not something like business or engineering, which is what your ECs deal with?</p>

3

<p>Well, honestly, I didn’t plan it that way. My school has barely a handful of clubs, and I tried to join the ones that sparked an interest…my uncle said that I should apply for a program like business, and once I get in, I could change my major. My interest has always lied in medicine, so that’s not going to differ.</p>

<p>I went to this conference that dealt with Ivy League schools and Canadian students; apparently it’s an advantage to be Canadian/Mexican rather than just simply international because they want more people from Mexico and Canada to come or something…I don’t know how true that is, but that place sent lots of kids to Ivies, so I guess they know what they’re talking about.</p>

<p>Also, will my being Indian be a disadvantage, or does being a Canadian citizen offset it? This is because I know Indians are an ORM.</p>

4

<p>Oh, and I also volunteered at the YMCA for about 100 hours.</p>

5

<p>Anybody else??</p>

6

<p>I’m also from Canada, it strikes me your SATs are a lot better than your grades. I’m not sure how that 87 is going to translate, my only real comparison is Mcgill where the average entering grade is 89.5 and the average SAT is 2070. So I really have no idea how American Schools view Canadian grades, everything else looks good.</p>

7

<p>Yeah, I realize it’s a bit low, but I rarely see people in my school with anything a lot higher. The highest average I have seen in my class is about a 92-93.</p>

8

<p>Anyone else…</p>

9

<p>bump…just saying</p>

10

<p>Aww come on…am I that boring to chance?</p>

11

<p>I think you have a good chance, the company is very impressive, but I don’t know how much they would consider it.</p>

<p>You have a good chance with your 50/50’s but your reaches are a bit high</p>

<p>I doubt American’s really care about our marks (I’m Canadian), especially if you apply to UC’s</p>

<p>This is just my opinion, I’m a noob to this too, doing research online and whatever help I can get here, glad to meet you.</p>

12

<p>Thanks for your input. Do you think I’d have a decent chance for Columbia ED?</p>