My chances of getting into these universities

[zen16]

Hi I'm new here. I just stumbled across this site and it seems like a good place to ask for advice.

My SAT I scores:

Total 2090

Math 780

Critical Reading 650

Writing 660

SAT II:

Math Level 2 780

Chemistry 760

IB predicted scores (I'm in Year 12; 11th grade):

Chemistry HL 6/7

Biology HL 6

Math HL 5/6

Chinese B SL 7

English A1 SL 7

ITGS SL 7

Total ~39/42

ECs:

Student council member (consultant position; weird I know)

Grade 8 pianist. I've participated in several competitions.

Grade 5 piano theory

Hobbyist guitarist; I've played 2 shows at my school with a band; one at the school fair, one at a charity gig. Playing guitar is pretty much all I do at home outside of studying.

CAS project; environmental action, human rights advocation (Amnesty International)

Taken part in a business management competition; my team won the HK division.

Rock climbing

Wrote an article for a school magazine

An editor for the school's literary magazine

Speech festival; public speech competition. Unfortunately I never made it past the first round

Volunteer service: teaching English to disadvantaged primary school children

Stride for a Cure (cancer research) participant

Moderating, managing and updating one of the school's webpages

I'm aiming for these colleges:

Stanford (high reach)

Brown University (high reach)

University of Southern California(mid)

Boston University (mid)

University of Toronto (mid)

University of British Columbia (safe)

McGill University (mid)

I'm interested in taking a biochemistry or related course. What are my chances for my 'reach' choices? I'm mainly worried about my IB and SAT scores.

thanks

Edited October 29, 2010 by zen16

[Tilia]

Welcome to this site!

I suggest that you look at the requirements at the homepages of these universities to see what they require of you. However, you seem to have relatively good grades, I must say. But I have no idea what how well you must score to be admitted into these universities, so check the webpages.

[zen16]

Welcome to this site!

I suggest that you look at the requirements at the homepages of these universities to see what they require of you. However, you seem to have relatively good grades, I must say. But I have no idea what how well you must score to be admitted into these universities, so check the webpages.

thanks for the welcome

I'm aware of the IB requirements for the the Canadian universities, and I'm pretty sure I have a good chance of getting into UBC/UofT, but the US universities only provide some SAT info. I fit in the middle 50% SAT ranges of all of the universities, but I doubt that's enough to get me in. If anyone has been accepted into these colleges or knows anyone who has been accepted I'd really like to hear from you!

[Forester]

berkeley is possible as long as you don't apply for engineering.

stanford is highly unlikely.

everything else you should be in.

[zen16]

berkeley is possible as long as you don't apply for engineering.

stanford is highly unlikely.

everything else you should be in.

thanks! That's just what I was expecting, though I think even UC Berkeley will be a bit of a stretch.

[__inthemaking]

I'm not sure about the other unis but you will get into U of T and Queen's for sure with your IB marks. I'm assuming you're applying to the life science program at both unis. I applied to and got into both of their programs so let me know if you have any questions about them!

[shopaholica]

Your SAT scores are pretty good!

You sound like you are involved in a lot of activities... I think you should aim higher (try U Penn, or like Cornell)!

[zen16]

Your SAT scores are pretty good!

You sound like you are involved in a lot of activities... I think you should aim higher (try U Penn, or like Cornell)!

Those are really hard to get into for international students like me, but thanks!

[Jason08]

Ok, you are in the same position as I am in right now. I am also in the 11th grade and our scores are very close. My IB scores are about the same in the high 30's to low 40's, but for the SAT scores i don't get mine until thursday (so nervous) lol. Anyways, for Canadian schools with those scores you are in for sures because University of Toronto only requires an IB score over 28 which you will achieve. British Columbia is a bit lower by just scoring over 24 or 26. Queen is just like Toronto, so your in. The California schools, UCLA and UC Berkley, you have a chance. Definitely for UCLA. However for Berkley theres a 50/50 chance as some of the other IB students from my school who is graduating this year applied for that school and got rejected and their SAT scores were well over 2000. I find Berkley tough (i'm being biased now) as you need more of an edge to your application. It's great you are in student council, I am too, but that is not enough for an edge. This goes hand in hand with Stanford which your have a very low chance of getting into.

For me as my edge for Universities like Stanford and Columbia is that I got a spot on Senate for my City. I live in Windsor Ontario and I am in my schools student council as well as the city's Student Senate, which i think gives me an edge. Also for CAS, i am helping Autism Ontario as well as having an Extended Project for CAS where i am going to the Philippines next year to rehabilitate a school that was devastated by the flood a few months ago. I have been a part of multiple fund raisers and multicultural clubs, also in multiple sports like volleyball and badminton.

What you have to do, is show these Universities that you are a well rounded person. It is not always about your grades for some of these Universities, what you do in the community and how well you can juggle school, sports, clubs and your grades really give you a boost. From the looks of what you have done, you should do fine, but Stanford may be a problem.

I hope this helps you... and sorry for how long it is

Jason

[zen16]

Ok, you are in the same position as I am in right now. I am also in the 11th grade and our scores are very close. My IB scores are about the same in the high 30's to low 40's, but for the SAT scores i don't get mine until thursday (so nervous) lol. Anyways, for Canadian schools with those scores you are in for sures because University of Toronto only requires an IB score over 28 which you will achieve. British Columbia is a bit lower by just scoring over 24 or 26. Queen is just like Toronto, so your in. The California schools, UCLA and UC Berkley, you have a chance. Definitely for UCLA. However for Berkley theres a 50/50 chance as some of the other IB students from my school who is graduating this year applied for that school and got rejected and their SAT scores were well over 2000. I find Berkley tough (i'm being biased now) as you need more of an edge to your application. It's great you are in student council, I am too, but that is not enough for an edge. This goes hand in hand with Stanford which your have a very low chance of getting into.

For me as my edge for Universities like Stanford and Columbia is that I got a spot on Senate for my City. I live in Windsor Ontario and I am in my schools student council as well as the city's Student Senate, which i think gives me an edge. Also for CAS, i am helping Autism Ontario as well as having an Extended Project for CAS where i am going to the Philippines next year to rehabilitate a school that was devastated by the flood a few months ago. I have been a part of multiple fund raisers and multicultural clubs, also in multiple sports like volleyball and badminton.

What you have to do, is show these Universities that you are a well rounded person. It is not always about your grades for some of these Universities, what you do in the community and how well you can juggle school, sports, clubs and your grades really give you a boost. From the looks of what you have done, you should do fine, but Stanford may be a problem.

I hope this helps you... and sorry for how long it is

Jason

Student Senate? That sounds badass even though I have no idea what it is lol. I'm just wondering; are these activities/projects you take part in (e.g. Autism Ontario and the extended CAS project) activities offered by your school?

I'm putting Stanford down as my "high reach" option since I know it's highly unlikely I will get accepted. I might actually change it to some other similarly selective school..

Thanks for the info. The longer your post, the better.

Edited June 20, 2010 by zen16

[Jason08]

Ok, you are in the same position as I am in right now. I am also in the 11th grade and our scores are very close. My IB scores are about the same in the high 30's to low 40's, but for the SAT scores i don't get mine until thursday (so nervous) lol. Anyways, for Canadian schools with those scores you are in for sures because University of Toronto only requires an IB score over 28 which you will achieve. British Columbia is a bit lower by just scoring over 24 or 26. Queen is just like Toronto, so your in. The California schools, UCLA and UC Berkley, you have a chance. Definitely for UCLA. However for Berkley theres a 50/50 chance as some of the other IB students from my school who is graduating this year applied for that school and got rejected and their SAT scores were well over 2000. I find Berkley tough (i'm being biased now) as you need more of an edge to your application. It's great you are in student council, I am too, but that is not enough for an edge. This goes hand in hand with Stanford which your have a very low chance of getting into.

For me as my edge for Universities like Stanford and Columbia is that I got a spot on Senate for my City. I live in Windsor Ontario and I am in my schools student council as well as the city's Student Senate, which i think gives me an edge. Also for CAS, i am helping Autism Ontario as well as having an Extended Project for CAS where i am going to the Philippines next year to rehabilitate a school that was devastated by the flood a few months ago. I have been a part of multiple fund raisers and multicultural clubs, also in multiple sports like volleyball and badminton.

What you have to do, is show these Universities that you are a well rounded person. It is not always about your grades for some of these Universities, what you do in the community and how well you can juggle school, sports, clubs and your grades really give you a boost. From the looks of what you have done, you should do fine, but Stanford may be a problem.

I hope this helps you... and sorry for how long it is

Jason

Student Senate? That sounds badass even though I have no idea what it is lol. I'm just wondering; are these activities/projects you take part in (e.g. Autism Ontario and the extended CAS project) activities offered by your school?

I'm putting Stanford down as my "high reach" option since I know it's highly unlikely I will get accepted. I might actually change it to some other similarly selective school..

Thanks for the info. The longer your post, the better.

Nope, those activities were all by me. Our school doesn't give us anything, we have to do it all be ourselves , but it's good for us in the long run.

[zen16]

Nope, those activities were all by me. Our school doesn't give us anything, we have to do it all be ourselves , but it's good for us in the long run.

That's some great initiative! It seems a bit late for me to do anything substantial now, since we're applying in just 3 months.

[Redstar]

I'm pretty sure you can get into UCLA, University of Toronto, University of British Columbia, and Queen's University. UC Berkeley will be more difficult, but still possible. Stanford will be very difficult, but you should still apply for sure. You never know.

And I recommend, as a previous poster pointed out, that you apply to Cornell. But please note that I am very biased when I say this, because I am currently studying in Cornell. But hey, I'm an international student, so that should show you that you can also get into Cornell, despite the fact that you are an international student. Besides, Cornell will definitely be easier to get into than Stanford, and it is still very prestigious.

Edited June 20, 2010 by Redstar

[zen16]

I'm pretty sure you can get into UCLA, University of Toronto, University of British Columbia, and Queen's University. UC Berkeley will be more difficult, but still possible. Stanford will be very difficult, but you should still apply for sure. You never know.

And I recommend, as a previous poster pointed out, that you apply to Cornell. But please note that I am very biased when I say this, because I am currently studying in Cornell. But hey, I'm an international student, so that should show you that you can also get into Cornell, despite the fact that you are an international student. Besides, Cornell will definitely be easier to get into than Stanford, and it is still very prestigious.

Thanks for the advice! I think your 44/45 score definitely helped you get into Cornell. To be realistic I probably will get a 39 or 40 out of 45, so my chances of getting admitted to Cornell/UPenn are significantly lowered. I might scrap some of the universities I'm almost certain I will get into such as UBC and replace it with some higher reach options.

[Redwarrior]

I'm in the same position (almost the exact same SAT composite score) as you except I do not know my predicted scores yet...

I'm thinking about applying to those universities and I'm pretty sure you can get into UofT. However UBC has raised their requirement of predicted scores for the Faculty of Science for the graduates of 2010 from 29-33 to 31-33. Since they had a great increase in the amount of applicants to their school this year, they mentioned on the website that they may need to raise the bar a bit more. I'm not too sure if they will raise it higher than that but anyways with a predicted score of around 35 to 40, that is good. So you're definitely good to go.

Have you looked at McGill yet?

BTW have you taken the ACT yet? It's supposed to be easier than the SAT and if you do well on that, then most universities would only look at that. My friend got into Harvard and he said that they only look at the highest score you have from all tests.

You may need to take Subject Tests (SAT II's) in Math II, Biology, Chemistry, or Physics

[zen16]

I'm in the same position (almost the exact same SAT composite score) as you except I do not know my predicted scores yet...

I'm thinking about applying to those universities and I'm pretty sure you can get into UofT. However UBC has raised their requirement of predicted scores for the Faculty of Science for the graduates of 2010 from 29-33 to 31-33. Since they had a great increase in the amount of applicants to their school this year, they mentioned on the website that they may need to raise the bar a bit more. I'm not too sure if they will raise it higher than that but anyways with a predicted score of around 35 to 40, that is good. So you're definitely good to go.

Have you looked at McGill yet?

BTW have you taken the ACT yet? It's supposed to be easier than the SAT and if you do well on that, then most universities would only look at that. My friend got into Harvard and he said that they only look at the highest score you have from all tests.

You may need to take Subject Tests (SAT II's) in Math II, Biology, Chemistry, or Physics

I'm not surprised by the UBC requirement increase at all . Almost every senior high school student in our school applied there and got accepted; our school's acceptance rate into UBC is 95%, so it's clear they're taking in too many.

I don't plan to take the ACT. I'm not sure if there is even a ACT test center here. I'll be taking the Math Level 2, Biology(M) and Chemistry subject tests soon.

I might cross off Queen's and replace it with USC (Southern California). I've heard rumors that USC is a party school, but rumors are rumors

Edited June 22, 2010 by zen16

[christiedepot]

I'm not sure about the other unis but you will get into U of T and Queen's for sure with your IB marks. I'm assuming you're applying to the life science program at both unis. I applied to and got into both of their programs so let me know if you have any questions about them!

Hi, you say that you applied to Queen's life sci and you got in right? Well im going into grade 12 in september and thats exactly what i want to get into at Queen's. I was just wondering, what was your average and what kind of extra cirriculars, community service or sports did you do. I heard you need alot of that to get into Queen's

[CocoPop]

Hey there, I was in a similar situation to you last year. 2240 SAT, 800 800 720 subject tests and I applied to Stanford, Berkeley, UCLA, Harvard and MIT. I was rejected from Stanford, Harvard and MIT and got into Berkeley (engineering) and UCLA.

I'd say that the main focus for you in the run up to your application should be to improve your SAT score and work hard on writing good and meaningful essays. The American admissions process always seems rather random, so you will need to use your essays to differentiate yourself from the rest.

You've got a shot at all of them. Stanford will be very tough, Berkeley (especially if engineering) will also be a reach. I think you've got a great shot at UCLA, UBC and Queens.

Good luck!

[zen16]

Hey there, I was in a similar situation to you last year. 2240 SAT, 800 800 720 subject tests and I applied to Stanford, Berkeley, UCLA, Harvard and MIT. I was rejected from Stanford, Harvard and MIT and got into Berkeley (engineering) and UCLA.

I'd say that the main focus for you in the run up to your application should be to improve your SAT score and work hard on writing good and meaningful essays. The American admissions process always seems rather random, so you will need to use your essays to differentiate yourself from the rest.

You've got a shot at all of them. Stanford will be very tough, Berkeley (especially if engineering) will also be a reach. I think you've got a great shot at UCLA, UBC and Queens.

Good luck!

Thanks. I'm curious what predicted grades you applied to those universities with? Judging from your score of 45/45, I'm surprised Stanford, Harvard and MIT all rejected you. Must really be the essays, huh!

Edited July 15, 2010 by zen16

[CocoPop]

Hey there, I was in a similar situation to you last year. 2240 SAT, 800 800 720 subject tests and I applied to Stanford, Berkeley, UCLA, Harvard and MIT. I was rejected from Stanford, Harvard and MIT and got into Berkeley (engineering) and UCLA.

I'd say that the main focus for you in the run up to your application should be to improve your SAT score and work hard on writing good and meaningful essays. The American admissions process always seems rather random, so you will need to use your essays to differentiate yourself from the rest.

You've got a shot at all of them. Stanford will be very tough, Berkeley (especially if engineering) will also be a reach. I think you've got a great shot at UCLA, UBC and Queens.

Good luck!

Thanks. I'm curious what predicted grades you applied to those universities with? Judging from your score of 45/45, I'm surprised Stanford, Harvard and MIT all rejected you. Must really be the essays, huh!

Hey, I was predicted 45. I guess it was the essays, which I basically ended up cramming into a single week of intense essay writing. I actually thought they were pretty good in the end, and received positive feedback from unbiased sources. Nevertheless, I suppose that they weren't suited to American university-style essays. I found that others who were accepted wrote very emotional and sensationalistic essays. I was trying to keep mine more realistic, whilst keeping it deeply introspective. Apparently it didn't cut it

One thing I also regret is that I didn't show off my originality as much as I could have. I was a dime a dozen - an Indian studying maths and physics who wanted to pursue engineering. I tried to differentiate myself through the fact that I come from a very diverse background and therefore have a broad perspective, but I didn't showcase myself well enough. You have to shamelessly brag in your application without sounding arrogant. You have to exaggerate your achievements to the maximum. It sounds unethical, but if everyone is doing it then they will have an advantage over you. Unfortunately the vast majority of applicants will write sappy essays about how they overcame some trivial hardship that (to be frank) has little bearing on their future success (especially academic success). You have to somehow find something about yourself that is original. It's not always about writing what's most important to you, but writing about something that will seperate you from the crowd. In a way, I find this aspect of US admissions to be its worst flaw. People end up spending their four years of high school engineering their lives and activities towards the admissions process. I sound bitter, but I thoroughly enjoyed the experience, and facing failure is an important phase in life.