In grade 9 I went to a very small private school that did not offer any ECs besides a few sports. Whenever I had an idea for a community service project, it was rejected because that was just the school's mentality. I was still involved with projects outside of school, though. In grade 10 I switched schools and continued community service outside of school, joined clubs that interested me and became the executive for the main volunteer-based club at my school (local and international aid projects). This year I am in grade 11, and have founded a youth-focused club for cancer awareness, research and fundraising. I have also founded a youth base for an international NPO in my community. I am working on organizing a few events as well.

Because of my school-switching and the fact that my current school doesn't let students take on many leadership roles until grade 11 (upperclassmen need more opportunities or something?), I haven't gotten the chance to really commit to the issues I care about until this year. Next year I am applying for the Loran and TD awards. I am just worried, will they think grade 11 is too late to get so heavily involved? I know that a lot of people do all of this stuff in grade 9, but I just have not had the opportunity until now! Will the scholarship judges think I'm just doing it as a last effort to make my application look good, or will they understand my situation? They don't even ask for activities from grade 9, but I'm worried that most of mine will be in grade 11 rather than 10.

I would really appreciate your input. Thanks!

Thanks very much for your input! I appreciate it :) And I really hope you're right, because the this possibility didn't even occur to me until someone recently mentioned it. I really hope they'll be able to see that I care about what I'm doing, and that they will understand why I couldn't do it sooner. I guess all that really matters is that I did it well, right? :) Thanks again.

This is going to sound really bitter, but I promise it's not. Your ECs are really good, it's not uncommon for students to not get very involved until grade 11. However, the TD and Loran awards are so competitive even if you have really good ECs I wouldn't get your hopes up too high. I know I had good ECs and grades, as I won many other competitive leadership/academic based awards, but didn't even get past any of the initial stages of the other awards. In contrast, some students I know made it to interviews, but didn't win any of the scholarships I got. The whole process seemed almost random. Just focus on being involved on things you enjoy and doing well in school. Definitely apply for Loran and TD, but university scholarships are where its at. Throughout my undergrad I was awarded just under $50,000 worth of scholarships. Of that $31,000 came from my university (U of A), $15,000 came from my province (Alberta) and a mere $4000 came from other external scholarships.

Sorry, another question! So I applied for Shad Valley this year but today I found that a spot still hasn't opened up for me (wait list). Does this mean that my ECs suck and I have no chance at the Loran? People say Shad accepts everyone :(

Well, the most important thing you must realize, I think, is that scholarship committees are quite open-minded, and there is never a definite equation to winning a scholarship. I find that most people think that if you have a gazillion ECs, you're in for sure, but that's not the case at all.
Some look at character, some necessitate one single pursuit that reflects creativity and originality (I'd say you're quite good in this regard!) and other things.
And someone else said it, and it's so true - don't get so caught up with the Loran and TD!
What most people do is they apply only to the most highly-competed scholarships, like those, and if they don't get it, they become heavily discouraged and don't continue applying.

YOU MUST APPLY ALL THE TIME AND EVERYWHERE! Small scholarships add up, so don't miss out and start putting deadlines in an Excel doc or something so you don't miss anything!

And I don't know about Shad Valley.

Best of luck! Any more questions? :)