<p>Hello all,
I am a Canadian senior studying about to enter University. In Canada, the application process is only based on your top six grade 12 marks, with no essays, references etc except for a very small amount of programs. Due to this, I did not bother to do this that would look good on university applications. I did play sports (rugby, ice hockey) through varsity and outside of school, did lots of community service and played guitar, but I never really pursued anything as a hook because I didnt think I would need one. However, late this past august I decided that I wanted to apply to schools in the US, which spurred a hectic period where I took the SAT Is twice and the SAT IIs once in three months. I had not written math contests before, but I tried to study for them, with only a week or two notice, to get onto the canadian math olympiad team; I fell one question short of continuing on the qualifying exam. My parents are also of the opinion that the US is a waste of money for college, my dad went to McGill management before going to Northwestern for his MBA, and my mom went to North Carolina math before going to Northwestern for her MBA (they met there). They essentially only let me apply to MIT and though I tried hard I was deferred and then rejected. Instead, I will be staying in Canada to go to the University of Waterloo to major in mathematical finance. While it has the best math program in Canada, and a great program in mathematical finance (which is the field I want to enter), I am bothered that it is not the best school I could go to. I know that school is what you make of it, but Waterloo is a massive school, and the fact that there are some people far beneath me (academically, my average is ~15% above theirs) who are going there bugs me because it is indicative of the general quality of people there, and it means the degree will not be respected as much. My two best friends are also going to Princeton, which is frustrating because they both tell me that I am just as smart if not smarter then they are, and I play sports. I am now debating whether or not I should go through the transfer process to try to get into other schools and put pressure on my parents. The schools I would apply to are: MIT, Harvard, Chicago, possibly upenn and Stanford. My stats are currently ~top 3 out of 150 (class does not rank), two varsity sports (was invited to provincial rugby training camp), SAT I: 770 math, 700 CR, 690 Writing (could be better, I only studied for a month), SAT II: Math II: 800, Math I: 760, Physics: 770. Lots of service, 9 APs total, 7 this year
Also a note about my financial situation; my parents have a sizable amount of money. I accidentally say one of our trust funds in grade seven, and lets just say $200,000 for a top education would not effect it much. By way of comparison, Waterloo costs ~$20,000 a year with everything included.
In university, I am taking as many advanced classes as possible (3/5 first term), and using APs to place out where can. I have also been encouraged to start debating by one of my teachers who is the debating coach at my school, and will at Waterloo, and I will also try to write the Putnam and see how I do. I am also unsure about whether or not to transfer after one or two years. Any thoughts on this decision would be very much appreciated, I realize this was a long entry but I am really not sure what to do.</p>
<p>if this is what you really want, i would try it. But transferring is VERY competitive, more so than regular admission. I think you will have as good of a shot as anyone, but who knows what will happen?</p>
<p>thanks for your opinion, aynonimus, any other thoughts?</p>
<p>Just because your parents have the money doesn’t mean they want to spend it on an expensive American university. You’d have to talk to them about the idea.
Most of those schools are almost impossible to transfer into because they have so few slots. Your best chance are at Chicago and Penn.</p>
<p>It is going to be very, very, very hard to convince two Northwestern MBAs that it is worth the extra money to send you to the US for your undergraduate degree. You have been accepted at one of the top programs (for your major) world-wide. Go to Waterloo. Don’t worry about the students there who you think aren’t as good as you are. If you really are better, you will get better grades than they do, better job offers than they do, and have a better chance at grad school admissions than they do. If you truly are good enough, when it is time to apply to grad school you will be able to choose from several full-funded options in the US, Canada, and elsewhere.</p>