<p>Does anyone know what the expectations of us are? Are we expected to match up to the standards of US students, because then I'm screwed. Additionally, do we get financial aid, or are we considered in the same realm as the rest of the international pool?</p>
<p>Other than that, feel free to post your stats, and which province you're from.</p>
<p>I'm from SK. It's pretty slow over here.</p>
<p>heard one admission office from ivies said that it is much harder to get an A in canadan than in the states..therefore anything above 86% is not looking bad...but i doubt that there are so many applicants have an average of 90% above that a low A is not that competitive as it is described by the ao...</p>
<p>Hi, I'm a Canadian citizen, but I live in the States without a permanent residence, so I'll be in the same application pool.</p>
<p>I believe international students are expected to be better than regular states students. Their acceptance rate is certainly much much lower.</p>
<p>It is harder to get an A here. I think there's a lot of grade inflation in the states. Nevertheless, I think enough applicants from Canada get A's that one still has to maintain a high 80's at least to be considered competitive. I dunno, I "think".</p>
<p>It is harder to get an "A" here, I agree...although we use a 0-100 system, and "A" is technically a 90% here. Barely anyone gets 95%+, and most of the "A" student (who comprise about 4-5% of the school) have 90-93% averages.</p>
<p>The main difference that I notice is that American kids seem to get easy As in their English classes. All of my English teachers have been very demanding, and even in classes made up of intelligent kids, only a few will get As.</p>
<p>american kids also have things like "extra credit" or what would be known to us as bonus marks... seriously... our canadian school systems are messed up... way too focused on marks, takes the fun out of learning.</p>
<p>yeah, there's not enough focus on worthwhile extra curriculars. That, aided by the fact that there are fewer opportunities here. A lot of the teachers just don't understand that we have lives outside of school. I find that self-studying is much more rewarding that listening to boring lectures given by teachers.</p>
<p>I do study in Canada, but I won't be considered Canadian in admission process since I am here on student visa. But anyway, I live in Alberta and am a junior.</p>
<p>I feel that the opportunities that Canadian students have in terms of extracurricular activites are limited compared to those of American students. So there are so many more competitions/programs in US, and it's not easy for Canadian students to have as many credentials as American students do.</p>
<p>i disagree with the EC's thing. I find my school's EC opportunities to be on par with american high schools, in terms of clubs and contests. The only bad thing is we don't have uber prestigious programs like RSI. we have lousy summer programs like Shad Valley where the admittance rate is 50%++</p>
<p>coolnessrookie, well, yes that's definitely true. I'm from SK, so I'm like your neighbor. WHat kind of ec's do you have? Have you taken the sat yet?</p>
<p>oh and its true that the canadian education system is harder than the american ones. this coming from my physics teacher in alberta. IB is also harder than AP</p>
<p>"i disagree with the EC's thing. I find my school's EC opportunities to be on par with american high schools, in terms of clubs and contests. The only bad thing is we don't have uber prestigious programs like RSI. we have lousy summer programs like Shad Valley where the admittance rate is 50%++"</p>
<p>Yeah, my school offers a plethora of ec's too, basketball, badminton, volleyball, football, debate, and whatnot. It's jst that none of them require much committment and they really have no potential to actually aid my app in the admission process.</p>
<p>by EC's I actually meant summer programs and being able to take college courses. I mean,,Canada really lacks good summer programs as Joethemole pointed out, and here I don't think we are allowed to take college courses while in high school (at least not in Edmonton). </p>
<p>seth blue,</p>
<p>some of my main ec's are school varsity basketball, aventis biotech challenge, canadian blood services youth committee, school math club vice pres, tutoring, debate, school orchestra for musical plays... </p>
<p>This summer, I'm gonna apply to a lot of differnet summer programs...the only summer program I've attended so far to was Regional Math Camp in 2004. I'll probably apply to RSI (which I probably won't get in, but w/e), HYRS, maybe Shad, and I've been nominated by our school to take part in Global Young Leadership Conference in Washington D.C. this summer. </p>
<p>I'm taking the SAT's this december,,,hopefully I'll get 2250+...lol too many things are happening..</p>
<p>oh ya, I am an IB diploma candidate by the way...</p>
<p>anyway, enough about me, how bout you? lol</p>
<p>Well, you seem pretty well off. I really hate that we're not allowed to take university courses because, frankly, our high school curriculum just isn't all that challenging.</p>
<p>Anyway, my old sat score was 1510/1600, but I retook it in november. I don't what my score is yet, but I have a feeling I'm going to have to retake it in january, and I'm actually going to prepare then.</p>
<p>My main ec's are music ones. I take music theory and harmony, violin lessons and piano lessons.I'm working towards my ARCT certificate, and I play in a fully proffessional orchestra(this is probably my biggest one). I'm also in my school's debate club, but no one's really serious about it.</p>
<p>I too was hoping to apply to rsi, but the thing is, I though that Canada wasn't eligible? I was thinking that maybe traveling to a poorer areas of the world ie central america or asia, and volunteering there for the summer, might boost my chances instead of worrying about getting into a prestigious summer program. We really don't have any good ones in Canada.</p>
<p>I really don't want to go to university here, because all the student bodies here are so integrated, so that yale caliber kids and north carolina state type kids might go to the same school, and we focus way too much on grades here, which is by definition, subjective depending on the individual school in my opinion. </p>
<p>I think that McGill is the only university I'm aspiring towards here.</p>
<p>so how many of you guys are applying for fin-aid?</p>
<p>well, my parents make about 100K annually, which decreases to a mere 70K after our enormously high taxation. So, I need Financial aid, but don't qualify. sigh.</p>
<p>I'll definitely need as much finaid as I can get.</p>
<p>How many CDN applicants do you think there are that can pay full out? How helpful would that capability be for top institutions??</p>
<p>CND? To not require finanial aid will increase your chances drastically. Nevertheless, a lot depends on your app.</p>
<p>Sorry, just a habit of abbreviating Canadian from history class haha.</p>