what kinds of shcool should I consider?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Nationality: Canadian
Ethnicity: Asian
School: Public</p>

<p>SAT I: ~2200</p>

<p>SAT II:</p>

<p>History: hasn't taken it yet (will in Nov), but see no reason why I wouldn't get 800.
Math IIC: 740</p>

<p>AP:</p>

<p>(completed)</p>

<p>US Hist: 5
Microeconomics: 4
Macroeconomics: 4
AP Calculus: 4</p>

<p>I should note that I only got those 4's because my school didn't offer those courses and I had to study them on my own.</p>

<p>APs this year (senior year)</p>

<p>Physics B
Psychology</p>

<p>GPA:</p>

<p>Junior year unweighted GPA - 3.8 (I'll explain this later)
Class Rank - school doesn't rank</p>

<p>University Courses:</p>

<p>I will be taking year two university level courses (year 2 or 3 in political science, econ, or philisophy) at a University. It's supposedly one of the best universities in Canada.</p>

<p>Extracurricular:</p>

<p>President of the History Club
Founder of the Debate Club
Founder of the Economics Club</p>

<p>The debate club hosted a debate among local politicians (3 of the 4 major parties' candidates came) during a recent by-election.</p>

<p>Chess Club (Gr. 8-10)
Physics Club (Gr. 11): We went to a physics competition and won 2nd place among almost 70 schools.</p>

<p>I was briefly involved in rebuilding the school's website. I had to quit due to time constraints. I am now on the team to expand the student forum.</p>

<p>Raised money and designed the website for a canned food drive effort (for the homeless) in my school.</p>

<p>Trinity and Royal Conservatory of Music certificates in public speaking and debate</p>

<p>References: still searching for teachers.... it will be okay, though definitely not great. </p>

<p>Notes:</p>

<p>Regard the GPA, it's calculated quite differently from how American schools do it. Firstly, there is no weighted score. Honors and AP count as much as art class. Secondly, 86% gets you 4 while 73% gets you a 3. There are no A+’s or B-‘s. Instead, it goes from A (86%), B (73%), C+, C and C-. </p>

<p>Will universities use their own methods and standards to reevaluate my GPA or will they use my school's standard?</p>

<p>Here's a list of universities I have looked at (not necessarily going to apply to all of them). They are listed in no particular order:</p>

<p>Williams
Swarthmore
John Hopkins
Berkley
University of Chicago
Dartmouth
U Penn
UCLA
Duke
Brown
Georgetown</p>

<p>What universities should I be looking at? I'm currently quite interested in Swarthmore and U Chicago. Am I aiming too high? (hopefully not...) or too low? (unlikely). I appreciate any input you might have. Thanks</p>

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<p>your applying moderately i guess you could say.</p>

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<p>*SAT I: ~2200
*
So I'm assuming you haven't taken the SAT yet. Hopefully you can get this high a score.</p>

<p>The debate club hosted a debate among local politicians (3 of the 4 major parties' candidates came) during a recent by-election.</p>

<p>Did you have anything to do with that? Did you organize it? If not, this really doesn't mean anything for your application.</p>

<p>Your ECs really look laundry list/made for college apps. I don't know you obviously, but you're going to need to really show a passion for something with your essays/recommendations. Right now you're kind of all over the place (judging by the list you posted). For all I know, you could really be involved in your ECs and enjoy them but you didn't really show it with your list.</p>

<p>Nationality: Canadian</p>

<p>Applying as an international makes your chances that much worse.</p>

<p>Williams
Swarthmore
John Hopkins
**Berkeley**
University of Chicago
Dartmouth
U Penn
UCLA
Duke
Brown
Georgetown*</p>

<p>You need to get some safeties (1 or 2 will suffice). You never know as an international applicant.</p>

<p>Will universities use their own methods and standards to reevaluate my GPA or will they use my school's standard?</p>

<p>Your counselor will discuss this in her rec (hopefully). You might have to tell her to lol. Your high school profile probably mentions your GPA calculation though. Don't worry about it. Ask your counselor if your school's high school profile mentions it.</p>

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<p>For the election debate, yes, I was personally and intimately involved in every step. I came up the the idea, invited the candidates, liaison with admin, etc. From my EC, it certainly looks I'm a bit superficial. In reality however, I mainly concentrate on 2 areas - international politics and economics. I'll probably want to pursue a bachelor's degree in international relations, finance, or econ. </p>

<p>As for the SAT score, I'd say I'm fairly confident to get that. I got 1980 in Oct of Gr. 9. On the PSAT, I got 230. Right now, I get about 2280 on practice tests so.... I deducted 50 points just to be sure.</p>

<p>you put an asterik besides Berkley. What do you mean by that?</p>

<p>I forgot to mention in my original post, but I am planning to apply for Chicago's early action plan. That should help right?...</p>

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<p>*For the election debate, yes, I was personally and intimately involved in every step. I came up the the idea, invited the candidates, liaison with admin, etc. From my EC, it certainly looks I'm a bit superficial. In reality however, I mainly concentrate on 2 areas - international politics and economics. I'll probably want to pursue a bachelor's degree in international relations, finance, or econ. *</p>

<p>Well that just made your ECs look much better. </p>

<p>"Berkley" is actually spelled Berkeley. I was just correcting your spelling =]</p>

<p>By the way, for UChicago EA:</p>

<p>
[quote]
International students may only choose Early Action if they are not applying for financial aid.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>University</a> of Chicago College Admissions | First Year Applicants</p>

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<p>oh. Opps. Thanks for pointing that embarrassing mistake out. Yes, I am aware of the financial aid limitation with Chicago. I don't think that will prove to be too much trouble for me. If I apply early, which school would I have a better chance? Swarthmore of Chicago? What kinds of odds are those? I'm pretty much Chicago is where I want to go, but I don't want to waste my early action opportunity if my chances aren't great.</p>

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<p>almost forgot to mention my volunteer record:</p>

<p>I volunteer for a local community policing center almost 4hr every week when I was in Gr. 10. I'm confident that the volunteer coordinator is going to write a smashing recommendation letter for me. I also work with a math teacher and business education teacher, mainly marking assignments, organizing materials for lessons, etc. I will also be working with the socials teacher next year to digital of his lessons. In all, I will have about 450hr of volunteer work done by the time I apply.</p>

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<p>Is Swarthmore EA or ED? If it's EA, apply to both Chicago and Swarth. I'm applying to Chicago and my safety EA. =]</p>

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<p>unfortunately, Swarthmore iis ED</p>

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<p>Well unless Swarth is your number 1 choice, I wouldn't apply there ED.</p>

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<p>Well, as I said before, I'm considering both of these schools. They are quite unique and I have completely different reasons for liking the two. However, before apply early to either one, I just wanted to make sure I'm not out of my league. Are they high reaches? low reaches? matches?</p>

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<p>Low reaches imo.</p>

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<p>How much would my chances improve if I got around 700 on 2 more SAT II's? What is my weakest area?</p>

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<p>first of all, this is a fellow canadian who is an IB student... so do not take advice from most US CCers as they do not particularly know the situation. I am NOT saying they are ignorant as they are quite smart. I am just saying our situations are completely different.If you are an international and you need financial aid .. then that can be a problem. However, if you do not need financial aid, being an international will not hurt you THAT much for MOST colleges contrary to what most people on CC will tell you. There are exceptions like Berkeley where for out of state students it is extremely difficult to gain admission, let alone for internationals. Anyway, aim a BIT BIT BIT lower... meaning just add some safeties.. i think you can get into atleast one of your reaches with a 2200. Or even a 2100 for that matter.</p>

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<p>Places like Dartmouth, Middlebury, and others are need blind for internationals.</p>

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<p>Well, I'm not apply for financial aid, so that isn't a problem for me.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
first of all, this is a fellow canadian who is an IB student... so do not take advice from most US CCers as they do not particularly know the situation. I am NOT saying they are ignorant as they are quite smart. I am just saying our situations are completely different.If you are an international and you need financial aid .. then that can be a problem. However, if you do not need financial aid, being an international will not hurt you THAT much for MOST colleges contrary to what most people on CC will tell you. There are exceptions like Berkeley where for out of state students it is extremely difficult to gain admission, let alone for internationals. Anyway, aim a BIT BIT BIT lower... meaning just add some safeties.. i think you can get into atleast one of your reaches with a 2200. Or even a 2100 for that matter.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>What do you think my chances are for chicago? and what do you mean by a bit lower? what kinds of schools?</p>

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<p>bump.,,.....</p>

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<p>anyone? please help</p>

<p>Right now, I just need to know my chances for 4 schools:</p>

<p>U Chicago
U Penn
Swathmore
Columbia
(listed in order of preference)</p>

<p>What are my chances for them? I'd love to hear multiple opinions</p>