<p>
</p>
<p>It is quite surprising that you have been rejected by both Harvard, Princeton, MIT and Stanford with the stats above. I guess that only shows how random and subjective US university admissions are.</p>
<p>If you had applied to a top school in the UK, e.g. Oxford, Cambridge, or Imperial, you probably would have been accepted with the exam results above and, IMHO, would get a better undergrad education than at Berkeley or Columbia for example.</p>
<p>Yes I realize that SL Math & Physics aren’t good for international competitive schools. And if it those courses (HL) were offered at my school, I would snatch them up in a blink of an eye (maybe Bio HL and take Physics SL, but you get my point). In Canada, SL is fine for most undergrad admissions. </p>
<p>The problem is, my school doesn’t really send students to international schools. I think only one IB student in the last 4 years we’ve had IB has gone overseas (Warwick for law) and at most 3-5 students apply to a competitive international school a year. The rest of the IBers just take the program “just because they can” and go to a local university (UofT, York etc) which IMHO is huge waste of effort as the ‘regular’ stream is more than enough to get them to those programs. Hence my school really doesn’t offer or try to get more HL courses as no one really needs them unless applying international. I think I’ve only been able to choose ONE elective in my whole high school career due to the restrictions we have with the program.</p>
<p>
Stats aren’t everything. My ECs were good as well, plenty of commitment (10 hours a week, every week for one), some solid leadership positions, several nice awards. But nothing special. And any Asian, international applicant without a hook is a tragic story indeed. (edit: well, not truly tragic in my case. I am very happy with Columbia. I think it will open up different paths than HPMS, but exciting ones with lots of potential as well.)
Yeah, I greatly regret not applying Oxford, since I have legacy there (the only school I had legacy at!). I just thought I wouldn’t enjoy England, that’s all. But at least I’m creating a legacy for my siblings and children :p</p>
<p>Hmm yeah, it’s pretty restrictive at your school. Thing is, I really don’t see how you could get into a top American university if you chose the easy courseload, on top of the already inherent downside of being international. Of course, Canadian unis are great, but it seems you have at least some interest for more than that.</p>
<p>Yeah. I’m leaning towards just finishing up the program and just manning up and taking an extra science on top of my IB course load. I’m already trying to secure my mentor, starting my EE and all that.</p>
<p>I guess I’ll just wait for my SATs to be over before finalizing anything in case I screw up my chance at Life Sci at Mcgill or something.</p>
<p>Most universities look at the courses you have taken in relation to what is offered. The most important thing in evaluating your grades and curriculum is if you have taken the most rigorous curriculum available at your school. So I think if you want to be competitive, you need to stick it out. I know from my S and others, that by the time you are done with your EE and all else, you will be well prepared.</p>
<p>I find it hard to believe that colleges would turn you down for pre-med or life science with a 40, especially with a good SAT score. If you need the bio, could you possibly self-study AP Bio and take the test?</p>
<p>Pretty sure self-studying an AP course is out of the question. I would love to but just wouldn’t have the time. I would probably die from the stress or something along those lines.</p>
<p>@darksoulz–There is a thread on this site called Self-Studying AP’s: Improving your Apps.
Biology seems to be one of the exams suited for self-studying.</p>
<p>But getting a good score on an AP exam is not the same as taking a course. The AP courses I took had more thorough information than what was tested.</p>
<p>Your situation sounds similar to mine, but by the end of my junior year, I realized from reading this site and others that my background in science and math were lacking. Because I wanted to go into a science/math field I chose to give up the diploma to pursue my goals. This route worked for me. I was able to take college level courses and I received high school and college credits. The courses I took at the college level were like day and night compared to my IB classes. </p>
<p>I don’t know if this is an option for you–nevertheless, it is your education and your dreams–only you can take control of your education at this point. Either way you go, however, I think you will be successful. Is it at all possible for you to take a college level course in biology over the summer your senior year? I know it sounds awful but at least you will be prepared for whatever program you choose.</p>
<p>@zephyravatar–I think you are right that IB is a universal standard. Generally, the scores on IB tests at my high school are 4’s. One student got a 7 on the English HL test two years ago, the first and only 7 on the English HL, and one student, last year, received a 7 on the French SL–she lived in Quebec until high school. The scores are so troubling, the IB program at the school doesn’t publicly report them. This year, the Math HL teacher announced in early February that the majority of students wouldn’t pass the Math HL test.</p>
<p>The West Coast, except perhaps for a few enclaves, has not adopted the IB program as the East Coast has–I don’t know where you are from, but your impressive stats leads me to believe you are from the East Coast or an academically inclined area in the midwest or west. </p>
<p>Because the OP wants to attend a top 20 University in the US, maybe Stanford or USC is worth looking into and these schools maybe more flexible in viewing the choice to take more science over getting the full IB diploma–although its seems like an all or nothing situation for this OP.</p>
<p>I’m from eastern Canada (used to live in California though). But yeah, east coast seems to put more weight on IB.
IB seems especially tough at your school. This international standard thing leaves me a bit doubtful now. Our school seems pretty strict at marking as the IB would, and usually they don’t moderate our marks at all, which sends the message that our standards are close to the IB’s. But we do have a mix of grades, with the average being 5.</p>
<p>@darks0ulz: To be fair, you still do have a shot at top schools if you don’t take IB (although it would be great if you could have your guidance counselor write a note about why you didn’t take it). Are you sure you can’t change your courseload to take IB Bio now?</p>
<p>Basically, I’m stuck with my courses right now. As vacant said, its pretty much an all or nothing situation. We’re only allowed to do the diploma and not individual certificates. If that were permitted all the asians in my school would do the 3 IB sciences, math and economics and not do the diploma at all (no english or french). (I go to a predominately Asian school.) Hence, the coordinator doesn’t allow certificates to force people to stay in IB or we’d pretty much have only 3-4 diploma graduates a year.</p>
<p>HOWEVER, my school does permit someone to do the History HL cert as very few people are taking the course, and it wouldn’t drive anyone to leave IB if they allowed History to be taken outside of IB. See the issue I have with my school and certs?</p>
<p>My school really isn’t flexible. We’re the only school in the board that doesn’t permit students to do a summer school course unless it’s an IB student who wants to do their last science or a student who failed a course. A regular student isn’t allowed to do summer school to accelerate their courses.</p>