I am a Canadian high school student in the 11th grade.
-My percent average is approximately 90 (I am working to bring it up to 93).
-New SAT at 1500 (taking it again in May aiming for a 1600).
-International finalist in school business competition in Orlando.
-VP and COO of a city wide economic club.
-Founded a social media marketing firm when I was 13 that sold to thousands of clients including a Qatari political figure, numerous entertainers and international businesses.
-Built a book related website that has over 250,000 users currently and was featured in the New York Times as a top educational website (also featured in Lifehacker.com, The Independent and national radio shows in the US and Europe).
-Written and published finance related articles on SeekingAlpha.com that reached tens of thousands of readers.
-Volunteered at and currently organizing a city wide hackathon that brings together hundreds of local hackers to work on their projects.
-Summer job doing research and web design for local companies
My goal is to get accepted to an Ivy League school, Stanford, or the University of Chicago. Specifically I am interested in Wharton at UPenn because of the strong business emphasis. I know that my GPA is my weakest point and am wondering whether or not I have a chance at any of these schools given my GPA.
I am a white male and do not benefit from any of the specific programs (first college student in family etc.)
Thanks!
A 90, even a 93, will not get you into McGill’s Desautels business school. The Ivies are high reaches or out of reach.
American schools are much more holistic than Canadian ones with simple grade cutoffs. Your GPA will not disqualify you, but it will hurt you some. However, if you go to a very competitive high school that has a rigorous reputation it may balance out. Your extracurriculars are incredible. I think you have done everything you can (bar GPA), but know that even the absolute best kids sometimes don’t get in, especially international students. It’s honestly a lot to do with luck.
Please feel free to ask me any questions to help you through this crazy process!
(Current Toronto senior going to Columbia next year.)
You have amazing ECs! are you taking any APs? do you know what your weighted vs. unweighted GPA is? Son is at HYP and was recruited athlete. He is doing fine. As said however all your schools are reaches but they are for everyone - no one could ever say anyone was a match to a school only accepting 5% of Applicants. Have you tried the Supermatch feature on this site? scroll up and to the left
@thesaria I do not mean to hijack this thread, but I think the answer to my question could also be helpful to OP. What is a good GPA from Canada for the Ivies? Above 95%? 96%?97%?
For a Canadian: minimum GPA likely 95, SAT 2250, great EC’s and essays and you will have a slight chance of admission to the Ivies.
I am also a current student at Columbia from AB (Roar Lions, Roar), and while I agree high marks are necessary, and that my HS marks probably beat your cutoff, I don’t think the Ivies are as radical about marks cutoffs as McGill, which is notorious for them.
If you have excellent ECs - and the OPs seem quite good (I’m guessing he did DECA), good SATs, and solid marks, it’s not a bad a idea to apply ED to Wharton and just go for it. As Canadians, we’re lucky that we have such good and inexpensive schools, in-country, as options, in case the US doesn’t work out. In my opinion, if you’re a top candidate for major Canadian Uni scholarships (I received the Queen’s Chancellors, as well as Schulich, and my friends generally did similarly well), you should be a competitive candidate for US schools.
In general - and this is just from my circle of friends/acquaintances, the most clear routes to US schools are either being an athletes, or serious outstanding academic/intellectual/general ‘achiever’ type student. Most of the kids I’ve met were clear ‘scientists.’ I think if you come from a well known school or area, they’re more ‘holistic’. My school was less than 10 years old when I graduated, so I certainly didn’t have the advantage.
Hi! I am also a Canadian high school student and I would like to know what you did specifically. Also could you make like a rough timeline as to when you took ap/sat || tests. It would be greatly appreciated. Congrats on getting into Coloumbia!!!