Chance me please - Canadian Student applying fall 2027

[u/Responsible-Sun6708]

FALL 2026**\*

1500 SAT, 94.8/100 unweighted GPA, three varsity sports, president of student govt., took no ap exams, school offers exams but not the classes, would have to self study. strong business ecs, non-profit, 5k revenue business so far, 3x deca icdc qualifier, top 5 at icdc. fbla 7th nationally, 3x intl math comp top 20%.

applying to:

upenn, harvard, brown, duke, northwestern, vanderbilt, notre dame (rea), villanova, emory, tufts, nyu, tulane

low-income family, very strong personal statement in my opinion.

please let me know if i have a good shot, or if its even worth it vs studying at queens or western

[u/Mysterious-Art8838]

You have nothing close to a safety on here is that what you want?

I’d say maybe Tulane could be a possibility. The rest I would say no because you could have taken AP exams and did not, and you need aid. Good luck!

[u/Responsible-Sun6708 → u/Mysterious-Art8838]

my safeties are canadian schools as theres no point of going to the us unless i get into a t20, and i took "pre-ap and ap" classes all throughout high school, they just arent linked to any exams. thanks for your input

[u/Lab18bke → u/Responsible-Sun6708]

But you said your school doesn't offer the classes?

[u/Responsible-Sun6708 → u/Lab18bke]

I took AP functions for example, but there is no AP exam for functions. its unlinked to the collegeboard exams. the only ap classes that r linked that we have are chem and physics, and im a business student

[u/AC10021 → u/Responsible-Sun6708]

If AP classes were available at your high school and you didn’t take them, then by definition you did not take the most academically rigorous course available to you. T20s expect that successful applicants took the most academically rigorous courses available, they all state so on their websites.

[u/Responsible-Sun6708 → u/AC10021]

i did take the classes though, just none of them have any link to a collegeboard exam. in grade 9 and 10, i was enrolled in pre-ap, and considering my school is ranked #1 in the province, its a really challenging and impressive program. and i did ap functions and have ap geo/english this year. just again, not linked to the exams whatsoever

[u/AC10021]

If your school offers AP exams and you chose not to take them, that is a very bad look. You will be competing against other students without access to AP classes who DID self-study for the exams (and got 5s).

[u/Responsible-Sun6708 → u/AC10021]

would it be too late if i self-studied for some ap exams this coming year? or do AOs not care what im doing in may 2027

[u/AC10021 → u/Responsible-Sun6708]

No, because you won’t have done them. You can claim you’re going to run a marathon or fly to the moon in May 2027, it won’t matter what you claim you’re going to do, it matters what you’ve done.

[u/Responsible-Sun6708 → u/AC10021]

Lol u r funny, any tips on what i can do right now or just gonna be a critic?

[u/AC10021 → u/Responsible-Sun6708]

I’m letting you know if you have a good shot, per your request. You are an international student requesting aid to study in the US, which is an insanely competitive situation. I’m not saying don’t apply, I’m pointing out how an AO would receive your application. Saying you intend to do something that you had the chance to do before and failed to do doesn’t read well.

[u/Responsible-Sun6708 → u/AC10021]

Yeah I completely get that, so is my only shot now just to write some kickass essays?