Top schools - Asian Female, biology or comp sci / Eating disorder and ADHD?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hi, I am a Korean Female, a junior in Canada applying as an international. These are projected stats by next year. I want to study bioinformatics, computer science or biology. I am aiming for around top 50 schools, I know it is going to be a very big reach for me... but might as well try anyway.</p>

<p>SAT I: 2210
SAT IIs: Above 700s, probably literature, math, and one science</p>

<p>GPA: Low, but keep in mind, in Canada there is a very big grade deflation, especially at my school. My school is a very competitive public school that is one of the top in Canada. 80-100% is an A here. We have about 2 or 3 people going to Ivies every year.</p>

<p>9: 86%
10: 75% - explained below
11: 84%
12: around 90%</p>

<p>Rank: Our school doesn't rank</p>

<p>Counselor Rec: Worried about this because my counselor really doesn't seem to like me, and she's one of the lazy kind who tells kids "Just go to local college" and discourages you from applying anywhere good</p>

<p>Location: Fairly small city in Canada</p>

<p>Volunteering/ECs:
- 9 - 60 hours of volunteering at school board's international language school
- 9 - Volunteered for Relay for Life, a event held by Canadian Cancer Society as a fundraiser
- 11 - Multicultural Show Executive (Manage performers, dancers, call practices), also a show dancer(grade 10, 11)
- 11 - a 12 hour dance-a-thon executive; fundraiser for a Christmas party held at our school for underprivileged kids (I also volunteered for this every year)
- 11, 12 - Multicultural Dinner Executive (in charge of putting together food for a large dinner for 300 people), and volunteer for grade 9 and 10
- 10, 11, 12 - my city's youth symphony orchestra (violin)
- 11, 12 - Volunteering at sunday school at church
- 11, 12 - Nursing home: 4 hours a week
- 11 - Organized a science olympics for local elementary students at our school in a committee</p>

<p>Other stuff:
- Made AIME in grade 9 (does this even count?)
- 9, 10, 11, 12 - attended McTic (Math Challenge Team Invitational Competition)
- 11, 12 - attended ARML (American Regional Mathematics Competition) - does this count, even if I haven't won anything significant?
- 11, 12 - Made Regionals and Final of ECOO Computer Science competition
- 11, 12 - Attended many science olympiads held by universities in Canada</p>

<p>Hobbies: I love to dance, ballet for 6 yrs, I used to do gymnastics and I love to jazz dance. But it's purely a hobby. I <3 yoga too! I train dogs for neighbors and friends, and I am an animal lover(vegetarian since 15).</p>

<p>Also, I have suffered from an eating disorder(diagnosed with bulimia nervosa) and depression. Worst was the 10th grade, where my average was very low as you can see in the top. I also have ADD contributing to my procrastination, inattentiveness and impulsivity - therefore low GPA. But my school has never known this and I never got any different treatments because of this(such as a longer test taking time). Would mentioning this help me explain my low GPA? Would it do harm to mention the depression part since the Virginia Tech Cho tragedy? (also since that I'm Korean, it might have a worse impression) I just think it will help me explain my low GPA; I was thinking about writing an essay about my recovery from the eating disorder, but it seemed too generic. What do you think?</p>

<p>Sorry for the very long post! Thank you in advance :D</p>

2

<p>Don't talk about the depression or any of those issues; focus on your strengths and positive characteristics. </p>

<p>If you think your advisor is going to write a unfair, lackluster letter, try writing a draft by yourself and give it to him. Tell him that you were trying to be considerate bc you know he has a lot of letters to write and you wanted to help. Worst case he won't use it, or he might just copy it verbatim.</p>

<p>Your SAT scores are well above average so that should help. I have little experience with advising applicants outside of the US so sorry I can't help you there, but the fact that your a female applying to a computers-related major helps a lot. If you're geniuinely interested in computer sci, stick to it, express genuine interest, and apply to all of the schools you want with that specific major, it should give you a nice bump in admissions. There are actually several popular scholarships for comp sci female majors so there's another bonus.</p>

<p>Once again, don't talk about your depression/disorders. Talk about how your interest in computer sci developed and how you'd like to explore it in greater depth in college. Make it unique but keep it STRUCTURED, answer the question, and don't make it generic.</p>

<p>Best of luck.</p>

3

<p>Your counselor sounds terrible! "Just go to local college" lol.</p>

<p>I understand how you might be concerned with depression and VTech (being a korean myself) but I suggest doing what Jay said and focusing on your good points. If its still bothering you, you always could phone or send a letter to the college explaining your GPA.</p>

<p>I think you have a good chance at alot of the top 50 schools.</p>