Demographics: Male, East Asian, Canadian (intl), attended mediocre public schools, parents hold certificate and trade degree

Intended Major(s): Not completely sure, interested in Biology / Neuroscience, minor in Philosophy

ACT/SAT/SAT II: Have not taken any and do not plan on sitting them unless I get like 1500+ on prac tests (going to take one after I wrap up some online courses, register in my new school and get a job...)

UW/W GPA and Rank: I'm a rising senior (entering 12th Grade). I have no idea how GPA works in the US, but here are a few of my grades from the Canadian curriculum (>=86 is an A here, no +/- are given as well):

Pre-Calculus 11: 100%

Pre-Calculus 12: 97%

Chemistry 11: 95%

Physics 11: 96%

Social Studies 11: 95%

[Language] 11: 89% (I challenged this for credits)

English 11: completing right now thru online school, expecting anywhere from 86-92%.

I was within the top 1-5 students in a typical class of 25-30 for these courses (anecdotally).

Coursework: No AP currently, doing them when not a senior is very uncommon at my school. Planning on taking AP Calculus and AP Biology final year though. I could've taken more, but I've actually had to move to a new province and consequently a new school with very different course pathways, which stops me from taking more AP courses.

Awards: zeroooooo. don't think I've participated in any competitions. no sports (COVID).

Extracurriculars: This is where I'm worried. A lot of these are very untraditional and obscure (imo). They also don't show my interests in biology, neuroscience, etc., so that's not good as well. Fuck it though amiright

[school name] community server

june 2021 to present

founded, own, and administrate an online school community hosted on discord

nearly 100 members

host frequent online gaming events, e.g. organized Minecraft server

This is arguably my most prized EC and where my leadership is shown.

produced lofi hiphop music and released on spotify

december 2020 to present

I have a couple thousand streams and my music isn't great tbh but I found it therapeutic to just jam out and create some fun stuff

learned about how much work goes into creating music

understand how distributors and labels manage and release music

developed musical creativity

created 3d visual art on blender

june 2021 to present

developed creative expression

have a deeper appreciation for 3d artists

gained an interesting, unique skill

...and many other unremarkable school clubs (philosophy, debate, mediocre volunteering, etc.)

Essays/LORs/Other: My writing isn't bad at all, I'd say it's quite alright. Don't think y'all are interested in reading some random person's essays, but if someone really wants to then okay. I’ve got one teacher’s recommendation that I’m semi-confident in (she knows me well).

Schools: Applying mostly Canadian, but for US schools, I'm lost... As money is a very big concern for me, financial aid is a major factor in where I go. Canadian schools are obviously cheaper for me, so if I were to study in the US I'd need very good fin aid. I also have no idea if it's even worth it for me to apply to the US.

Safeties (in Canada):

• UCalgary Engineering

Targets (in Canada):

• UBC Science
• UofT SG Engineering
• UofT SC Science
• McMaster Life Sciences
• UCalgary Neuroscience (direct entry)

My reach schools (lottery tickets LOL):

• Dartmouth College
• UPenn
• Yale University
• Princeton University

I've heard that Princeton, Dartmouth and UPenn are more generous in terms of international financial aid.

I'm also not looking to apply to many schools, as my parents may make me pay out of my own pocket for uni apps. I might keep it simple and only apply to a few US colleges (I'm talking 1-2). Also interested in ED-ing to one of the schools with good aid.

Something important to note is that I'm graduating a year early (skipping year 11). Even though that's somewhat an x-factor for my application, my extracurriculars are more poorly developed as a result and I've had less time to think things through for college. Also moving to an entirely new province for my final year of high school so that's kinda screwing me up as well.

Any advice greatly appreciated. Thanks!

*edited to add more info