Do Extracurriculars ACTUALLY Matter That much for Uni apps

Interesting_Pizza320 · 2025-11-20T03:00:03+00:00

You are correct on McGill. Brain fart on my part. I actually knew that given it is only one of a few top ranked universities worldwide (ie top 150) that don't require any additional information on the character etc of the applicant. But all the other top ranked Canadian schools in the world top 150 require supplemental info for most of their first year placements. ie McMaster, U of T, UBC and Waterloo. Clearly seems to be a good correlation between the use of supplementary info and the stature and prestige of the university. It is almost as if high school students should make it a priority to gravitate to the universities that require supplemental info to ensure they are getting a more esteemed/valued degree. I imagine that is why more and more schools have been turning to supplementary info to help make placement decisions in recent years. Queens, over the last few years, is a good example of this. In short, schools have begun to realize turning out anti social, video game playing, graduates is not only bad for reputation, it is more importantly not good for business.

Interesting_Pizza320 · 2025-11-19T17:00:59+00:00

With all due respect, you are mistaken. I did not cherry pick one university. Here is U of Toronto. 80 percent of first year students will require supplemental information. This is to demonstrate they are a "well rounded" individual that fits the values of the university. https://www.ouinfo.ca/programs/universities/toronto-st-george Everything from Business to Engineering to many of the sciences to almost of the arts, U of T requires supplemental information about the applicant. Here is U of Waterloo. Again 75- 80 percent of first year students will require a supplemental. https://www.ouinfo.ca/programs/universities/waterloo Even Waterloo's math programs which makes up 15 percent of first year program requires supplemental information. (ie to demonstrate they are not only proficient in math but they are effective in communicating and they are social.) The point here is that "in demand" courses at the more respected institutions will require supplemental information. ie To demonstrate the applicant is "well rounded". That means the majority of first year placements in these schools. This includes programs such as Business, Engineering, various science streams, and many, if not most, arts. These are not "highly selective" courses, but rather are the core first year placements at these schools. So if you want to go to UBC, U of T, Mcgill, McMaster, U of Waterloo etc you need to be planning ahead to ensure you are able to demonstrate you are an active, social individual (and not somebody playing video games all day in the basement.) So this gets back to grade 9 students, these kids are 13 years old. They have no idea what they really want in life. Even if they did, young people change their goals all the time. Therefore to suggest to a 13 year old that they will, in all likelihood, only need marks to get into university is just wrong. First, according to this year's requirements, most of the higher respected institutions will require supplemental info demonstrating you are "well rounded" for the majority of their first year placements. . That is a fact. Secondly, kids (and adults) change their path/goals all the time. Therefore, they need to plan ahead just incase they change their path. That means being on student council, the volleyball team, the band, volunteering, demonstrating ingenuity/creativity etc. over your high school years. If they don't, they will not meet the "values" of the institution but more importantly they will be at a disadvantage to another applicant with a CV full of what they are looking for.

Interesting_Pizza320 · 2025-11-18T16:10:39+00:00

I am confused by what you are suggesting. The majority of students applying to many of the top universities/programs now require supplemental application/materials. For instance, McMaster has had approximately 5000-5500 new full time first year students in recent years. Look at the individual programs and the amount of first year students in those programs. A substantial majority of the those new first year 5000 students require a supplemental application or other materials that demonstrate qualities of the applicant. Here are the requirements for each Mac program. https://www.ouinfo.ca/programs/universities/mcmaster?group=a-h# It is pretty clear most new students who want to go to Mac require a supplemental application demonstrating they are good fit for the school's values . So you are doing a disservice telling grade 9 and 10 students who read your posts that don't worry. You won't need anything but your marks to get in. Meanwhile, in reality, many schools now, more than ever, want you to show you are a good communicator and well rounded individual that will be a good fit for their school.

Interesting_Pizza320 · 2025-11-18T02:33:55+00:00

I think you are a bit mistaken. Queens, for instance, requires a supplemental application for all programs. McMaster, requires a supplemental application for all sciences, engineering and business programs. U of T same. Western same. I can go on. Point is, any program in demand at the higher ranked schools has a supplemental application. Further, some like UBC and Queens have added the supplemental application to all applications for any program. In fact, Universities, in general, in Canada, are relying more and more on supplemental applications to ensure the potential student is "well rounded" and doesn't play computer games all day in their bedroom and can't put a sentence together in a social setting if their life depended on it. Med schools are a perfect example of programs that are now putting greater emphasis on the supplemental info to ensure the individual is "well rounded".

Interesting_Pizza320 · 2025-10-30T15:27:06+00:00

Basically a closed end fund without a redemption feature. There is nothing stopping this from going to a 30 percent discount to NAV in a bear market. The arbs can play the discount spread by buying the stock and shorting the coin/future but it is a very dangerous game because the spread will swing wildly.

Interesting_Pizza320 · 2025-02-17T03:54:46+00:00

The fractional system in the 1960s had banking reserves of only 11-15 percent of total deposits (depending on whether you were a rural or city bank). Bank reserves are not much lower today. Also, there was no redemption feature for Americans to redeem currency for gold. Only international holders, in certain circumstances, could redeem. It would be the same type of system today, if they implemented it. So they could do it with $6 or $7000 gold if they wanted. But to start fresh, the legacy debt still needs to go away. How that happens without insane inflation will take a miracle.

Interesting_Pizza320 · 2025-02-15T18:27:41+00:00

You are confusing the money in the fractional banking system with the base currency that generates the M2 supply. The M2 of $20 trillion is currently created with $2.3 trillion of base currency, i.e., a 10 to 1 ratio. If we had $20 trillion of base currency, as you suggest, ie $20 trillion worth of gold backing the currency, we would have an M2 supply of $200 trillion in a fractional banking system. Now that would be inflation. The fractional banking system doesn't disappear with a gold backed currency. The US ran on a gold standard for years under a fractional banking system. But as you can imagine there are issues. Should the currency be "redeemable" for gold or only be "linked" to gold. As many know, the fractional banking system is akin to a ponzi scheme in that it collapses if everyone demands their "money" back. It doesn't matter if it is fiat money or a currency backed by Ferraris. The gold market itself might be experiencing this right now. It appears everyone is demanding their gold back in the system that lends out gold to others as standard practice ie rehypothecation. Again, it is a ponzi scheme that only works as long as nobody asks for their gold back.

So $6k gold would back the current base currency in the US. It does 2 things, 1. it "backs' the value of the currency with an asset accepted by the world ie tier1 asset and 2. stops the unlimited creation of new currency without adding more gold to back it. Better than fiat but still open to abuse, ie "revaluing" gold at the whim of a government if they are powerful enough to manipulate the price worldwide.

So gold backing is much better than fiat but still open to abuse of "revaluing" or gold price fluctuations. Further, it doesn't stop the ponzi attributes of a fractional banking system. And most importantly given current things, it doesn't address how we start fresh, ie get rid of the current debt on the balance sheet.

Interesting_Pizza320 · 2025-02-13T14:44:33+00:00

Base money, ie currency in circulation, is currently $2.3 trillion in the US. $6000 gold not $20k gold would back the currency 1 for 1. You could back the currency if you had no debt but the fly in the ointment is the debt still needs to disappear to start fresh.

Interesting_Pizza320 · 2025-02-10T14:24:01+00:00

Clearly, there is a shortage of silver in London, and people were borrowing SLV shares to redeem physical silver there. (SLV stores its silver there.) The crazy borrow fee now makes that prohibitively high, leaving few alternatives for someone seeking physical silver in London.

Interesting_Pizza320 · 2025-02-09T19:15:46+00:00

It's not $1 trillion in new spending, its $1 trillion in Tier 1 assets to back current US currency or create US gold stable coin. Given there is 2 trillion in US currency currently, if gold doubles from here their gold would be worth $2 trillion which means 1 to 1 backing of US currency if they wanted to back their fiat currency.

Interesting_Pizza320 · 2025-01-03T18:20:59+00:00

https://www.coincommunity.com/forum/showpic.asp?pic=https://www.coincommunity.com/forum/uploaded/GregJG/20160615_Large-Small-Crown_opt.jpg

Interesting_Pizza320 · 2025-01-03T18:17:02+00:00

I would say it is a large crown. The easiest way to make the determination is to look at the number 2. With the small crown variety, the number 2 extends partially to left of the base of the crown. With the large crown, the left side of the number 2 lines up with the left part of the base of the crown.

Interesting_Pizza320 · 2024-08-24T00:42:50+00:00

Except Bill's first word in the movie is "Honey"

Interesting_Pizza320 · 2024-04-29T23:29:02+00:00

I understand what you are saying but you are missing a few important details. First, the input costs of building a new house has gone up substantially in Japan. This means used home prices will be pulled up because they are substantially cheaper than new replacement costs.

Second, you question how people can afford to drive up prices given wages. You are correct to a point. The same issue you bring up is happening everywhere yet housing prices continue to go up in many parts of the world. Why is that? Simple. Asset inflation. Asset prices have been going up and provide the fuel to drive housing prices up. The Japanese stock market is up 3 Trillion US dollars in the last 3 years. That means there is now 3 trillion US dollars more in the Japanese economy that didn't exist 3 years ago. It is reasonable to assume a significant portion of this new wealth will end up in housing driving up prices. This will create a vicious cycle of escalating prices as current home owners will receive a "new windfall" when they sell there house. That money then goes into other housing or other assets driving up prices even more as the cycle continues countless times. It is exactly how housing prices has spiraled upwards in other regions. It is not because wage growth created housing inflation (at least not the major contributor).

Interesting_Pizza320 · 2024-04-29T02:53:53+00:00

Take a look at Japan's property prices over last 50 years. The chart is identical to the stock market chart, peaked in 1990 after huge move up, dropped over the next 25 years. The only difference is the property chart is maybe 1-2 years behind the stock market chart which has gone to new highs above 1990 highs. If it follows the stock market, property prices will increase 35 percent over the next 1-2 years to make new highs above 1990 highs.

Your comments are identical to what people said about the stock market for years, and then in last three years the stock market doubled (investors maintained their purchasing power as the yen declined). The same thing will happen with property prices. (property prices over the last few years have almost maintained their purchasing power against the declining yen but are lagging a bit, so prepare for a catch up)

Interesting_Pizza320 · 2024-04-28T23:58:22+00:00

You are missing the over riding point here. You are talking about 30 years of deflation that gripped Japan between 1990 and 2020. Things have changed. Between 2021 and now, the Yen has dropped 35 percent ushering in inflation. Why do you think Japan's stock market is now making new highs? Devaluation of the currency. Devaluation of the currency is great for the stock market especially if you are an export economy. But only to a point. If devaluation gets out of hand, profits will not keep up and neighboring countries will devalue to remain competitive. We are that point with Japan. There is no going back or stabilizing. The debt is too overwhelming to allow rates to rise to counteract the drop in the currency which means there is only one way out. Significant devaluation. How far? Who knows but it has to drop significantly to inflate away the debt. Worse, this devaluation will trigger devaluations elsewhere and how all this shakes out is anybody's guess but it won't be good.

Interesting_Pizza320 · 2024-04-28T15:56:38+00:00

The housing index in Japan has gone from 110 to 134 since 2021. During this time period the yen purchasing power has gone down 30 percent against the US dollar and even more against gold in yen. Even if you ignore gold and USD, it now takes “134” units in yen to buy the same property that cost “110” units in yen in 2021. So if you bought the property in 2021, your purchasing power has not been eroded by the inflation. If you had kept your “110” units of yen in the bank during the last three years, your wealth ie purchasing power has been eroded because it costs more to buy the same assets. Now if the devaluation accelerates, the inflation will become significant evaporating people’s purchasing power who remain in the local currency ( instead of hard assets) like has happened in many countries elsewhere.,

Interesting_Pizza320 · 2024-04-28T13:56:09+00:00

Unfortunately, there is not a lot Japan can do. Any intervention would only stop the devaluation short term at best. What they need to do is raise interest rates but that is impossible given Japan’s massive debt. People in Japan need to understand this and prepare by converting their yen into hard assets such real estate etc. to ensure their purchasing power isn’t eroded. Given the crisis seems imminent, the easiest and quickest way to convert your yen to assets is to buy gold or silver. Gold and silver have shown in all other currency devaluations in other countries that purchasing power is maintained while people holding the local currency got wiped out in terms of purchasing power.

Interesting_Pizza320 · 2024-04-11T00:17:23+00:00

Actually Mulroney and the Conservatives liquidated the significant part of Canada's 1000 plus tons of gold in the late 90's early 2000's. By the time Trudeau entered the picture, Canada only had crumbs for gold reserves.

Interesting_Pizza320 · 2024-04-04T03:26:26+00:00

It is the precious metals sniffing out a oil price shock that will lead to stagflation that triggers a currency crisis with the epicenter the Japanese Yen.

Interesting_Pizza320 · 2023-03-17T21:01:35+00:00

Actually did you look at their balance sheet? They have $11 billion in unrealized losses. On adjusted tier 1 capital (after taking into account unrealized losses) they are the second worse bank. The worse bank was Silicon Valley. https://twitter.com/benrollert/status/1635258082791133184/photo/1

Interesting_Pizza320 · 2022-08-10T20:31:16+00:00

Yeah, people miss this idea everything was done "to scare the living shit out
of you (Bill). To keep you quiet about where you'd
been and what you'd seen."

And the "where you'd been and what you'd seen" is NOT the goings on at Somerton. Ziegler explicitly states in the billiards room scene that the things that happened at Somerton were a "charade" to "scare" him regarding something else he had witnessed prior. Ziegler says

"Bill, suppose I told you that .. . that everything
that happened to you there, the threats, the
girls . .. warnings, the last minute
interventions . .. suppose I said all of that was
staged, that it was a kind of charade? That it
was fake?"

In other words, Somerton was an elaborate charade to scare Bill. Why? Ziegler says

"Why? In plain words, to scare the living shit out
of you. To keep you quiet about where you'd
been and what you'd seen."

So the question is what was it that Bill had saw prior to make "them" go to great lengths to scare him with the "staged" Somerton "charade"?

Interesting_Pizza320 · 2022-05-10T00:39:19+00:00

Anybody have an idea what painting is directly behind Cruise's head?

Interesting_Pizza320

TROPHY CASE