Female, White, Romanian born in Canada
International student - Canda
Private High School - 50 girls
No legacy status - both parents finished school in Romania
Intended Major(s): Economic/ Pre-Law
no GPA, no rank, and 1540 SAT (750 Reading, 790 Math)
Coursework
Switched high schools twice, went from a selective STEM program in a public school to my area’s public school to private: took math, science classes throughout and maintained grades above 95 consistently in those classes. Grades in classes such as gym and drama fluctuate more. Took 2 APs Junior year ( scored 5 & 4 , but my school didn’t allow me to take any more than 2 since I was new), and 5 AP classes Senior Year.
Awards
multiple school first place ranks schoolwide in math contests
schoolwide Canadian and world issues award
Extracurriculars
volunteer at riding barn, approx. 10 hours a week during school, ride as a sport as well
started DECA at my new high school and am club co-head
Columbia pre-college summer program (3 weeks)
Attended Round Square Int. conference as school rep.
Volunteer tutored through a program for low-income families summer of sophomore year
math, public speaking classes outside of school
Essays/LORs/Other
My story switching schools reflects my determination in finding a school where I could pursue all my interests (academic and extracurricular). Personal statement highlights this story. I think my essays all are relatively unique due to my high school experience.
Cost Constraints / Budget
no financial aid required
Schools
Ivies, UMichigan, NYU, UC Schools + any other suggestions?
This will probably sound harsh. You are a good student, but I don’t see anything really notable in your activities that makes you a standout applicant. I see solid activities and good grades. There will be plenty of colleges that would love to have you, so be sure to apply to matches and safeties. I’m not seeing any of those on your list.
Your chances at top schools are low, and as an international student, maybe lower than for domestic students. Many of those colleges accept a tiny fraction of international applicants. HYPS especially look for students who are the top in their country, not just in their school. Public universities, especially those in California,
From what you say here, I’m not seeing what is unique in your story. Maybe you haven’t shared it here because you don’t want to be identified.
There are lots of great schools in Canada which will accept you based upon your grades.
Many kids move often and switch schools. You are a candidate for many fine American colleges, but your chances at highly rejective schools remain about 5%, the usual number.
If you would like suggestions for additional reaches, you may want to research some undergraduate-focused colleges strong in your intended major, such as Williams, Wellesley, Amherst, Hamilton and Swarthmore.
I do not understand how you do not have a GPA. Do you have all A’s in your academic classes? Your SAT is very good.
As another answer has said there are many excellent universities in Canada. What do you expect to get by attending university in the US?
When you say “Ivies”, there are eight Ivy League schools. There are some other highly ranked universities in the US such as Caltech, Chicago, MIT, Stanford, … Do you have some specific schools in mind? Which ones do you think would be the best fit for you?
What would you get at U.Michigan that you would not get at McGill or Toronto or Queens?
Do you intend to continue to ride in college? Some top schools (Dartmouth College and Cornell come to mind) have equestrian teams. Apparently several others do too (Stanford, Princeton, …).
I would make sure that you apply to safeties in Canada. However, if you have nearly all A’s plus a 1540 SAT that might be essentially any university in Canada.
My kids went to 3 high schools (not their choice, job changes for me). Many kids they knew also went to at least 2 high schools because 2 of the 3 schools were in heavy military areas so the military kids were used to transferring a lot.
You might write a nice essay about your transfers, the reasons why, how you made adjustments, what was hard, what was easy.
The schools will see you as a White Canadian; they won’t care that your parents immigrated to Canada from Romania.
Your saga of switching high schools in order to find the right match won’t give you any advantage in admissions, no matter how it is spun, unless it were some noble, “how I overcame truly extraordinary adversity” story, and maybe not even then. At best, it will be neutral, no matter how you frame it. The schools will need to see transcripts from every high school you attended. They will calculate a GPA for you based upon your grades in your classes at each school. Your excellent SAT score will most definitely help your applications, but not enough to vault you into highly selective schools.
You are very unlikely to get into any highly selective schools in the US whose prestigious name might theoretically make them worth the high tuition, vs the fantastic value of Canadian schools for you. You might get into highly selective need-conscious small liberal arts colleges, who would view you as a full-pay student with high academic achievement. I’ve seen this happen with Middlebury. Others with more knowledge can weigh in on this for the other LACs. I don’t think that you will get into any of the Ivies, or any of the highly selective schools.
I would have killed for my kids to have had the chance to attend the best Canadian schools at the low tuition rates that Canadian residents get. Honestly, this is really your best option, by far. If you do well in a STEM field and want a PhD, you will then probably get into a lot of US graduate programs, with full funding. Save your parents over a quarter million dollars, and plan for undergrad in Canada.
Econ is a bread-and-butter major. Unless you think you might want to go the academic/research route in Econ (ie, a PhD), most places will have plenty strong Econ majors. If you are seriously thinking about a law career, where you go for undergrad is relatively unimportant- for US law schools, your GPA, LSAT and what you have done during college and post-college matters more than the brand name.
If your plan is to only go to the US if you can get a fancier name than one of the Canadian colleges fair enough, but I don’t see why this particular group of colleges is interesting to you. If Law School is seriously in the picture, will your parents pay for it as well?
Finally, as everybody else has said, your story (as posted) isn’t in the ballpark of unique. All but one of the Collegekids had some version of changing schools at secondary level, some by choice, others by moves. Didn’t make a speck of difference in college admissions.
Your story is not an unusual one in an applicant pool of those schools. I would look at Case Western, Univ of Rochester, Oberlin, Brandeis, Occidental, Washington & Lee (rural, conservative joint). EDII to any of those should be successful, if they offer what you want. The LAC’s recommended by another poster - Amherst, etc., are really tough. I would look at some that float beneath the radar: Lehigh, Wake Forest, Rhodes, University of Richmond, Grinnell, Denison. I can see you getting into these RD. They are very good institutions.