<p>holy *****^^nice job man! care to share your stats, etc. in the Official Canadian Class of 2014 thread? That is very impressive! </p>
<p>like, canadian uni. with residency is like max. 25K isn’t it? so, you’re going to Yale for about 6K??? sick!</p>
<p>Decision: Accepted</p>
<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): 2140 single-sitting (670CR, 790M, 680W, 9E)
[</em>] ACT: 35 single-sitting (35E, 35M, 33R, 36S, 10E)
[<em>] SAT II: Math II 760, Biology M 760, Chemistry 780
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 93.2% (Average of just Grade 11/12 courses is 93.8%)
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Not sure, but it’s very high
[</em>] AP (place score in parenthesis): Haven’t taken yet
[<em>] IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load: English, Studies in Literature (90%), Chemistry (90%), Biology (98%), Physics, Advanced Functions (96%), AP Calculus, Vocal Music
[<em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Just school-wide recognition: Grade 11 Biology Award, Grade 11 IAPS Award, Grade 11 and 10 Vocal Music Award.
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[</em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Yearbook Committee (Head Photographer)
Music Council (Vice President)
Concert Choir
Chamber Choir (Members are hand-picked by the choral director)
Mixed Voices
Sounds of Toronto Choir (Also hand-picked)
Photographer for school paper
Math/Science tutor
[<em>] Job/Work Experience: None
[</em>] Volunteer/Community service: Volunteered at my church for two years (~100 hours)
[<em>] Summer Activities: Earned my National Lifeguarding Service and necessary prerequisites over the last three summers.
[</em>] Essays: I though my common app one was pretty good, but my supplement could have been better. I talked about accepting myself for who I was and for the other one I talked about my passion for photography.
[<em>] Teacher Recommendation: One was excellent. The other wasn’t as in-depth and insightful as I thought it could have been, but still very good.
[</em>] Counselor Rec: Got my choral director/vocal music teacher of four years to fill it in since my counselor barely knows me; excellent.
[<em>] Additional Rec: None
[</em>] Interview: (For Yale) I thought it went pretty well. I got requested for an interview on Feb 27 which surprised me since I thought interviews were way over by then. I was the only one who got an interview out of all the people I knew that applied.
[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>] Deferred SCEA?: No
[</em>] Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
[<em>] Intended major?: (For Yale) Biology: Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental, although I might pursue Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry instead. For Canadian schools it’s mostly Life Science
[</em>] Country (if international applicant): Canada (Greater Toronto Area)
[<em>] School Type: Public (one girl got into Yale a couple of years ago)
[</em>] Ethnicity: Asian (75% Chinese, 25% Filipino)
[<em>] Gender: M
[</em>] Income Bracket: 60-70K
[<em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): I don’t think so?
[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[</em>] Strengths: Marks, ACT score, extra-curriculars, great recommendations, interview didn’t hurt. The admissions officer said in her letter that she really liked my essays.
[<em>] Weaknesses: English marks (in the 80s), only 1 year of French on my transcript, SAT scores, SAT Math II score.
[</em>] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I have no idea. I was expecting a rejection for sure. I think it might have been my essays? My Advanced Functions mark (96%) made up for my crappy SAT Math II score, and my ACT score overshadowed my SAT scores. With the exception of Vocal Music and no French, I’m taking the most rigorous course load available (my school offered AP Calculus just this year and I jumped on the opportunity). I also thought my application was well-written and my responses to the questions were original and well-versed.
[li] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: The only US school I applied to was Yale.[/li][/ul]**General Comments:<a href=“Canadian%20universities”>/b</a>
Applied: McMaster Health Sciences
Accepted: University of Waterloo (Honours Science and Life Science Co-op), University of Toronto Scarborough Life Science, University of Toronto (Trinity College) Life Science, McMaster Life Science</p>
<p>viggy, you should really enlighten your school a bit more… since you are now the holder of information about US schools, let them know about other great schools outside of Harvard… like Emory :D</p>
<p>^happysunshine: yep your school would fit, especially if it’s in a smaller town. Don’t expect the boost to be too large though - you still need to compete with academic superstars and overachievers from top high schools who have done things you’ve never heard of.
^jonv112: congrats!! Are you going to Bulldog days?</p>
<p>^No unfortunately. I have 2 school concerts that week and I can’t afford to miss them. But I will make a campus visit during the summer before the school year begins lol.</p>
<p>^^ Of course. I have never expected a big boost. But at least I can try my best to see how everything turns out to be.</p>
<p>@jonv: Dude, what was the big difference between the SAT and ACT for you? I am curious because I plan to take both as well. I am going to take the SAT 3 times (depending on how well I score on them) and I will have only 1 crack at the ACT probably. </p>
<p>So, I am curious, did you just like the ACT format better than that of the SAT? a 35 ACT is = to like 2300+ SAT for sure, so thats a huge difference from your SAT score if you try to compare the two. </p>
<p>And congrats on Yale!</p>
<p>Some people just do better on ACTs… from what I have noticed, people who are generally smart but don’t do well on the SAT tend to do well on the ACT. Its rarer to see someone who did poorly on the ACT but did well on the SAT. As of now, I maintain that it is harder to get a 2300 than a 35 on the ACT.</p>
<p>I got the prep books for both but I really only studied for the ACTs. I liked the format better since I didn’t have to memorize pointless vocabulary and a few other things. I also went into the SAT thinking I would cancel my score at the end but I didn’t, and I think I just had it set in my head that I wouldn’t do as well on it compared to the ACT (I got my scores like 2 weeks before I wrote the SATs).</p>
<p>To elaborate on my previous post, I think the format is what made the biggest difference for me. The ACT is always the same format (English first, followed by Math, then Reading, Science, then Writing), whereas the SAT mixes up the sections. I like consistency and structure when I write tests, and the SAT is the only test I’ve ever written in my life that mixes up sections like that.</p>
<p>The ACT English section compared to the SAT Writing section was much easier for me. The ACT has short stories and essays that you read and correct as you go, while the SAT Writing portion has many different questions and sections that don’t really flow since they’re all differently structured/versed/etc. When I do the ACT English section, it’s like I’m proofreading something and it just flows, like it’s second-nature to me. I finished well before the allotted 45 minutes even though the section is 75 questions.</p>
<p>The vocabulary and sentence completion in the SAT CR section is what killed me. I guess I should read more lol. The short passages were about the same compared to the ACT Reading section, but the ACT only had reading passages, and nothing else.</p>
<p>It also doesn’t hurt that you can guess on the ACT without being penalized, unlike the SAT where 1/4 point is deducted from your raw score for every wrong answer.</p>
<p>Math was nothing for both tests (as you can see from my score lol). I love science, so it’s no surprise that I did exceptionally well on the ACT Science section as well.</p>
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<p>i guess this varies from school to school? mine has been sending ~6 out of 100 kids a year to the ivies. i’ve noticed that harvard usually accepts 2 of our kids per year</p>
<p>one of the ivy reps came to our school this year. someone asked about how grade deflation at our school would affect our chances, but the rep said to chill and that we’re only competing within our own school for a spot.</p>
<p>might’ve misunderstood him, but i feel like he’s implying there might be a quota, depending on your school.</p>
<p>@ [insert.name]: There is no quota imposed on anyone, not even international applicants. How else would the “Ivy feeder” high schools in the U.S. (such as Andover, Exeter, Thomas Jefferson HS, Stuyvesant, Hunter College High) be able to send so many of its students to the Ivy League schools every year? </p>
<p>As an example, scroll down to the bottom of the following page for information on Harvard’s policy: </p>
<p>[Harvard</a> College Admissions § Applying: Frequently Asked Questions](<a href=“http://www.admissions.college.harvard.edu/apply/faq.html]Harvard”>http://www.admissions.college.harvard.edu/apply/faq.html)</p>
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<p>^^ 2 kids to Harvard every year? Your school must be a pretty heavy feeder to ivy league…</p>
<p>By the way, this year two people from my small, unknown suburban high school got into Princeton. Before this year, only 1 person has ever applied, and no one got in. I’m pretty sure there’s no quota for any school, and the “competing with people from your own school” comment just means that AO evaluate GPA in the context of the school.</p>
<p>Hi from Saskatchewan!! I thought I would join in on this discussion, seemed like a good idea.</p>
<p>Anyways, on the subject of the reputations of high schools:
I go to a really small high school (about 800 people), with no IB and only 1 AP. I am the top student in my grade, and the average of my compulsory courses last semester (i’m in grade 11) was 97.6. While this is impressive in my school, I know that when it comes to American schools it probably wont mean much. </p>
<p>Does anyone else feel like no matter how hard they work to get into a good school in the states it might never happen? As much as I want it, and as motivated as I am I often have moments where I feel completely overwhelmed. After reading some of these threads, I realize that I might work my ass off for the next 9 months and not get accepted anywhere. Oh well, if nothing else I will gain knowledge from studying for everything so much!</p>
<p>What happens to people like me???
I lived in Korea during my grade 9 and gr 10 1st semester
I came back in gr10 2nd semester, i got around 86% but i think i am getting better
as i am getting adjusted to Canadian education system 
hoping to ace gr 11 and 12
I haven’t started on any volunteer or things yet
I really want to get into IVY leagues</p>
<p>as for e/c i played in soccer team, concert choir, music council
i sound so…bad compared to others
can anybody help me out?
suggest some stuff?</p>
<p>@Nobelium102, my marks have increased around 10% since grade 9…so you can definitely work on your grade. And…make the best of your summers and step up to the plate whenever you can. Good luck =)</p>
<p>Whitneybenning, that is actually quite an impressive average even with regards to American schools. You should focus on writing great essays and getting high test scores, and you will have an excellent chance! Not everyone that gets accepted to top schools has amazing ECs. Keep up the good work, and good luck.</p>