<p>Omg my dad’s a businessperson as well and that line is exactly what he says when persuading me to get a work experiences… 
Can you explain what you mean by ‘high schoolish’? Like not much fraternities or other societies compared to American ones?
I really want to study law after high school…;)</p>
<p>Aussie uni’s highschoolish? seriously? In my opinion American Uni’s are WAY more high schoolish cause you’re all living together and most of you aren’t doing professional degrees cause they are all post-grad. Plus there’s more like sports/cliques/clubs etc. but then again I’ve never experienced either Aussie or American uni’s first hand so I would have nooo idea.</p>
<p>High schoolish as in like a 2nd high school, where you go to school, come back home etc.</p>
<p>I wanna go somewhere where it’s an experience rather than school, not just the same routine again and again.</p>
<p>you’re right about the go-school-then-home thing, but in my opinion there’s way more hand-holding at american uni’s, especially at private universities</p>
<p>For crismon…
How am I coping? Be myself and work hard, that’s all…I do found it extremely hard at the beginning, especially when coping all subjects in English against all the natives. No pain no gain, I cope well now! </p>
<p>In my opinion, the difference between American Unis and Australian Unis is that the former emphasize width of your academic domain(which is the idea of liberal arts) while the latter emphasize the depth. This is evident through the academic system. In America, you got to choose a whole range of courses and decide your major at in the thrid year. In Australia, you have to make the decision at the very beginning and set off. I don’t know about you guys. I feel I want to be well-rounded and the LAC system in America will work for me. </p>
<p>and Crismon, if you are thinking about going straight into Law after high school, you should stay in Australia. They only offer pre-law course in America which means you have to go to postgraduate for Law to be qualified to practice. </p>
<p>About transfer, it’s probably easier since they look at your performance in Uni. Be sure to get into the top unis in AU and get a really high GPA(I mean really high!). Meanwhile, gain heaps more experiences- social works, volunteer, internship etc. If you fell you aren’t prepared now or then, then transfer perhaps will work better for you.</p>
<p>I hope this does help! ^-^</p>
<p>Yeah, you can’t do law at undergrad level anywhere in America</p>
<p>Yeh I knew that. But don’t they offer pre-law courses? If I go to America, I’m gonna do pre-law and psychology; if I stay here, I want to major law and minor in either music (perf) or political studies :)</p>
<p>And wouldn’t transfer be harder than RD? I mean, not only transfer acceptance rates are ridiculously low (something like 5~7%), there aren’t many schools offering transfer because of problems with class size and residential systems and whatnot… I heard Harvard won’t accept transfer students for next two years or so because the dorms are way too overpopulated from accepting more people than they should be. (And apparently Harvard all undergrads are expected to live in dorms :P) Anyways, I got sidetracked… <em>_</em></p>
<p>The thing is pre-med and pre-law internationals are generally not accepted in unis in America. Not public unis anyway. Private do accept, but it’s crazy competitive.</p>
<p>And there’s no 1 pre-law course. You do a course, then you do your LSATs and then get admission to a grad. law school.</p>
<p>If you want to do law, stay in Australia. I reckon that would be your best option. Technology doesn’t change law, while tech. changes degrees like engineering. Also, USYD has one of the best law schools, outside of America, in the world. </p>
<p>I talk to my dad’s friends who are International grads, and the rule of thumb is that for anything which is booming, got to North America, because Australia doesn’t see the repurcussions of technology for 2 years after North America. However, Law and the Humanities are best done in Australia. I mean, if you do Laww in America, there will be 5 things that will hurt you:
- debt
- you’ll only be trained in american law reforms
- debt
- america churns out more lawyers than necessary
- debt</p>
<p>agree, you gonna really think carefully about this.
Sometimes, reality is far less ideal than what we plan for</p>
<p>Exactly. I have a friend who’s brother got into USC and other elite universities. SAT 2300+, 99+ UAI, multiple 95+ HSC scores. Yet, he could not go because it would cost his family too much per year. That’s life though, I guess.</p>
<p>Keep the exchange rate in mind too guys. I might say average expenses as 40K, but in fact, it’ll be closer to 70-75K for us.</p>
<p>Oh,dear
You know for my family? That’s 300K a year! in RMB-Chinese currency…
That’s why I only apply for need-blind school</p>
<p>to be international and get into a need blind school with almost full aid is CRAZY competetive. Like you have to be one of those kids who tops subjects as in the state, tops their school completley plays like 3 sports and in their spare time (which they pull of out of their ass) voluteer reading books to sick kids in hospitals. And even those kids aren’t guarenteed to get in.</p>
<p>I know it is crazy competitve.
However, if you don’t try, the chance is zero! so I guess 0.001% is better than 0
if it’s need-blind, there is no difference between with aid or not.</p>
<p>BTW, as for your stereotypes, I don’t really agree.
Everyone has something unique. You don’t necessarily need to be someone like this to be admited. Because it is not YOU!
If you enjoy play 3 sports at the same time and volunteer reading books to sick kids in hospital, it’s ok. That’s you, and if you enjoy, you won’t find it a burden. You found this impossible because this is not you!
Experience can varies, the kinda of people you described doesn’t really soulnd impressive to me! People are 3D! what’s more important is what kind of people you are! Stop being sorry for who you are!</p>
<p>I don’t mean to be racist Huanbing, but you’re Chinese heritage will put you at a major disadvantage. Sorry mate, just the way it is. </p>
<p>But the college essay is everything, and if you can write something to them which differentiates you from the thousands of other Chinese kids that apply, you’re +ve attitude will pay dividends!</p>
<p>What if you apply top US schools without any financial aid whatsoever? Last year I about this girl on Harvard 12’ decision thread who had pretty weak school grades, standard test results and ECs but got into Harvard… Only hook on her stats were her parent’s annual income and the fact that she didnt apply for any financial aid. So I began to wonder if it really is true that American uni’s tend to go easy on applicants with relatively wealthy family?</p>
<p>Harvard is need blind,.</p>
<p>Its WAY easier to get in as an international if you don’t apply for aid, at least that’s what I’ve heard… as I am not technically considered an international please don’t take my word for it!</p>
<p>I am sorry to break it to you, Elvito, and confirm auskor_crimson, that even need-blind schools take your ability to pay into account (gulp). A friend got into Amherst last year on a 1800 SAT I and a 2300 SAT II (8As in O Level) only because he wasn’t asking for aid. Granted, his essays were good, but please don’t tell me they were the winning point? They weren’t great, for God’s sake! With Amherst, you know the cut-throat competition and it’s apparently the no. 1 college in the States. He couldn’t possibly go there, esp. considering our head boy got rejected from there with a 2260 SAT I and a 2400 SAT II (12As in O Level).</p>
<p>What about the Ivies? Do Ivies accept weak international applicants more readily if they dont apply for financial aid? And does this aid come in every year or only when you initially apply? Say, you didn’t ask for aid when you apply to college but in your sophomore year your parents don’t want to fund you anymore. Can you ask for financial aid then (in 2nd year)? Or you can’t get any aid all your undergrad years cos you originally didn’t apply for one?</p>