<p>Agreed with paukid</p>
<p>Many posters here in CC have stereotyped beliefs and are hardly aware about how the international admission works</p>
<p>What I have seen from admission decisions of my seniors is that good SAT score (2150+) SAT subject test score ( 700+ in each section) good essays about who you are and your life experience your academic and extracurricular passions (no matter how mundane) and good planning and admission strategy will tip the balance to your side</p>
<p>Where is OP from?</p>
<p>Well its good to see a fellow singapore , not to dash your dreams but like every singaporean yours is a crapshoot , abet one with a weaker gun.</p>
<p>I have been acquainted with someone who entered Harvard with noon-stellar results. But his wasnt too bad either. To be frank your EC are quite poor and within a short-time you could hardly improve it. Please forget abt joining the ruling party , if your intention is just to boost your resume . Because at such a short time all you can achieve is an ordinary member. Hardly noteworthy or perhaps a negative point</p>
<p>If you can boost your score do consider big tens school etc. Would be better fitted to your profile.</p>
<p>Hi! Singaporean here too. 
Going to try give some constructive suggestions as to what you can do to boost your app. A note of caution though: what I’m saying here is all based on my impression of the US admission system so I lay no claim to being absolutely correct! And btw this is a very rambling unstructured post so I’ve reposted this 3 times after editing. Sorry for the spam :P</p>
<p>Lol @ what bouncy said about joining local politics, I see his point though. I think you will be well served by yes, joining local politics if you wish, but also supplementing that involvement (as mentioned, you’d only be able to be a ‘youth member’, but this would be good cuz you’d get a closer look at what actually goes on, the challenges in local politics, real problems that real Singaporeans face - which is often vastly different from the problems of people elsewhere like the US btw! And why do you want to join US politics?!? Agree with @chinnemeiser on getting US citizenship. Plus there is so much to be done here why would you want to help out in the US not SG??? Don’t mean to be mindlessly patriotic but eh what’s the reasoning behind this, I think US unis would also be interested to know) with extensive leadership positions in local community service. As George Yeo says on FB, “Politics is about the art of the possible and the drama of individual human lives.” Getting involved in community service, from the ground up, shows a genuine interest in improving lives of real individuals around us, which is what your goal would (hopefully) be if you intend to enter politics! And there are many things to get involved in. Singapore School of the Visually Handicapped, Club Rainbow, SPCA, NKF, Children of Cambodia, schools for students with learning disabilities (dyslexia, autism etc), Beyond Social Services, hospices like St Luke’s, TONSSS more. There is something to suit every person’s passion/interest.</p>
<p>I feel that Singaporeans (well at least myself) tend to overlook the many opportunities available to us right here at home and have this mindset of looking West as a ‘better path’, taking for granted all we have here. US colleges, as mentioned in this thread, like resourcefulness. That is, creating opportunities, changing your environment, in ways that people have not previously done.</p>
<p>You mention journalism, why not apply for an internship with SPH? I have a friend who just finished a stint there, she found it interesting, and imo out of what we have in SG its a good intro to journalism! They pay decently too; you actually publish by-lines. It provides an overview of issues in SG, which will probably be helpful exposure even if you ultimately apply for poli science. There are other things you can try for like the NatGeo Travel Writing Scholarship (google it. I only know abt this cuz my schoolmate got the NatGeo Photog Scholarship, travelled to Bhutan for free, which is super cool esp cuz apparently Bhutan doesn’t really let many people in every year). You might also want to check out veryfinecommentary.tk, a newsletter run by JC students, maybe send in some freelance articles. The quality is pretty good.</p>
<p>ANYWAY, are you in JC or poly? Or SIM? Cuz you mention a diploma in banking/finance which to my knowledge is not offered in JCs. And yeahhh you’ll be competing with Rafflesians and Hwach top scorers - very scary tbh. Haha, ALL the Ivies know about RJ/Hwach since these schs are well represented and there’s no way to ‘fool’ top US unis about our accolades if we aren’t the best in our country, simply because its a diff context. Its the adcom’s job to be very familiar with the education system here, and they’ll know where you stand lah. I see your point about aiming for the stars and hitting the moon, and wanting to focus on self-improvement - I do identify with this. There is something to be said for setting realistic goals though!!! Also look at UK (philo/pol science) and MelbU - its great for commerce. UK schools are much more predictable than US - if you have the grades, you will probably be accepted. (You probably know the usual UK schs - LSE, UCL, King’s, QMul, Manchester, York, Warwick, Durham, Edinburgh, Nottingham etc are all good-decent schs with which Singaporeans have had proven success in getting into; our grades-focused education system kinda flows more fluidly into theirs than the US’s…)</p>
<p>Since your " ultimate ambition is to be lobbyist" - don’t rule out local Us like law school or NUS’s USP (Nicole Seah went there! Har har) which is a good way to understand local politics too. And if you think that if you stay here you’ll only parrot the PAP’s views, that’s not necessarily true, several opposition candidates studied locally too.</p>
<p>Why did you turn down leadership offers?!</p>
<p>Pardon my ignorance, but what is the Cambridge ESOL and CPE?</p>
<p>OHYES and TRY TO DO SATS/ACTS BEFORE NS. Hahaha my friends in NS have been saying their brains are disintegrating lol. The main thinking comes from tests in OCS, but still, its a different kind. And if you DO get into OCS, you will be wayyyyyyyyy too busy to study for SATs. I have several friends who book out Sat afternoon and book back in Sun afternoon.</p>
<p>FYI my Singaporean friend in Columbia says to get 2150+ for SAT1 and 750+ for SAT2s. Since money is not a concern for you, you are doubly expected to have good SAT scores. I once read somewhere that one of the biggest indicators of how well someone would do on the SAT is their income level. Colleges do admit people with low SAT scores, but maybe that’s cuz these people were the only ones in their country in Central Africa to have even thought about university, let alone US universities, enough to make solid efforts to get there, and colleges reward that sort of independence and initiative.</p>
<p>There is a lot to be done - hope this post doesn’t discourage you so much as spur you to do more</p>
<p>Thanks guys for all the support and advice here. All people should dream big and start to take risks, this is how great men come to. </p>
<p>After all JFK said, “Once you say you’re going to settle for second, that’s what happens to you in life.” </p>
<p>I will take all advice here and integrate it into my admission strategy</p>
<p>@dinosoar I’m from Ngee Ann poly. I guess the reason why I’m quite into US politics goes quite a way back. I have read up on the history of America, the basis and ideology of which the country was founded on. One where men live free, one where liberty is the basis of the country is very appealing to me. </p>
<p>I’m the kind of person who can sacrifice a lot for beliefs and ideals. Currently, if you take a look at the US, their struggling with a huge deficit and crippled economy. The country has also deviated far from the vision of which it was founded on. If the US were to fall who would be there to stand for justice and liberty ? It would be an indication that liberty and freedom has failed and backfired.</p>
<p>Yeah, I am currently working on writing samples to drop into several publishing companies as an intern. Also the option of local Us are totally out of the picture here, they are too grade focused and with my current grades I do not have a glimpse of hope of entering at all. Many of my friends here are suffering from the grade focused system here and they have good grades. </p>
<p>A couple of my investment banking friends have also condemned the system and went abroad to study. They are now attached to offshore banks. </p>
<p>I guess my personal actions are pretty eccentric. I turned down leadership roles because I did not think it was worth the trouble to engage in all these little internal politics. The clubs are running decently, no point joining in only to have an overhaul of their system. </p>
<p>ESOL = English for Speakers of Other languages, CPE = Certificate of proficiency in english. It’s kind of like IELTS except that a pass in CPE is equivalent to a grade 9 in IELTS. </p>
<p>Can I ask you about the point that you brought up about money ? If money is a concern would my chances drop because of it ? Currently, money is actually kind of an issue for me but I’m kind of working and doing FX trading. So I believe by the time I am ready for application, I’d have enough funds to subsidize a portion with the rest being funded by my parents.</p>
<p>If u apply for school that is not need blind it would definitely affect</p>
<p>Not to mention the visa requirement</p>
<p>Interesting to see a poly dude doing fx. How you make a decent income without large margin?</p>
<p>@bouncy I’m trading on a margin of about 1:100, I’ve decent amount of savings which I use as capital. Unlike my peers, I do not spend extravagantly and also have some capital injection from parents. Also I do day trading so it’s mostly just get in profit/cut loss and get out.</p>
<p>After all, Im a banking student remember ? Haha.</p>
<p>HAHA! risky FX is too risky for my personal taste , i always believe in trading with what i can afford.</p>
<p>but would you consider school other then those in the same tier as HYP? because for your stats Public Ivies would be a fair shot , also does your parents have enough cash in bank for the bank statement to prove that you can afford your first year at least</p>