<p>I'd appreciate it if u could give me some approximate guide as to where I'm at, coz i really want to study overseas (i know it's a bit early, coz I'm a junior atm, but still, i'd like to know where to focus on).</p>
<p>Key Info:
-Aussie citizen (lived in the states for quite a while though), asian (meh), so obviously international
-go to one of the top schools in the country (in terms of influence, probably is number 1 or 2)
-SAT I: 2400 in one sitting (good luck i guess)
-SAT II: Literature 800, French 800....will do maths IIC or latin whenever i have time, i expect probably 800 or close to for either
-no financial aid</p>
<p>I'll be applying to (and I know it's a lot...but I'm an international and I really hate all the aussie unis), in order of preference (i have visited almost all of them b4, as i have lived in the states b4):
-harvard (my dream uni, by far)
-MIT
-UPenn (specifically the Huntsman program doing French...or just wharton)
-Columbia
-Princeton
-Dartmouth
-UC Berkeley
-Carnegie Mellon
-Yale
-Stanford
-NYU (Stern)
-Caltech
-(also, i'll add a few safety colleges at a later date)</p>
<p>School Stuff
- we don't have any GPA or such stuff, and don't do IB/AP or anything of the like
-Rank: we don't officially rank, but my housemaster (our equivalent of a counselor) will report 1/202, coz he reckons i am
-Virtually all my marks are A+'s (which are the highest marks over here), except a couple of A's in philosophy (i do/have done the most advanced maths on offer, compulsory english, literature, latin, french, environmental science, philosophy and economics next year...i'll do either university maths, literature, or economics)
-i win various awards for those subjects, but they are probably too petty
-in australia we don't have any maths or science clubs, for whatever reason...and i've petitioned the school to start one, but they never relent</p>
<p>ECs (this is where I'm worried about, as it appears these carry far more weight in the US than they do over here, where they count for nothing):</p>
<p>-Community Work: i initiated our school's partnership with a charity group that feeds refugee kids at housing commission residences, and three days a week, b4 school, I go there to feed them and play with them, and afterschool a couple of times a week too (probably will be about 1000 hours by the end of the year). i also coordinate the rest of the ppl at my school in their attendance at the place.
-i also tutor older refugees and underprivileged immigrants English (coz most can't speech coherently) once a week, and help the kids with school work occasionally - i'll probably write one of my essays on this, coz helping underprivileged ppl learn is probably my favorite activity.</p>
<p>-Sport: play badminton (just for fun), and table tennis (competitively); i'm the school captain for table tennis, and have been the captain of the first team (top team) for 2 years. used to be ranked 8th in the state, but now, am like 20+. train afterschool for a total of 7 hours a week and play matches for 1-2 hours on weekends.</p>
<p>-Debating: am the captain of my school debating team, have won a couple best speaker awards at regional level (might make the state team next year, but can't this year). i also run the british parlimentary at the school, as well as coordinate our participation in model UN tournaments (but i don't do them)</p>
<p>-(dunno if i should put this) Music: played the clarinet and piano for ages, but quit a year ago; played clarinet in various school bands and orchestras as first clarinet. have a couple of solo competition awards for piano, but nothing that i'd consider decent</p>
<p>-Environmental Group: i'm the head of a student run environmental group that reports to the school council about various emissions-reducing schemes (but few get through). was one of the first members (i joined at founding...but other ppl founded it)</p>
<p>Misc. Stuff:
-for school work experience, successfully applied to (i.e. got in), and later this will, will work for 3-4 weeks for Goldman Sachs JB Were (the australian branch of goldman sachs)
-won the national ASX high school stockmarket game (it's a competition where u control a fake portfolio of 50k over a period of 10 weeks)
-won heaps of high distinctions, merits, prizes etc. for national maths, science, and english competitions (dunno how they compare though to US stuff)...best would be a Distinction in the australian intermediate math olympiad (but didn't qualify for the team)
-was invited to attend the Australian business week program, but couldn't go; i've represented the school at many science/economics related competitions.
-i do commercial private tutoring, for english and literature (fun and easy source of cash); most of the ppl i tutor are good at maths/science but pathetic at english, although there are a few good lit ppl.
-i should be able to get well written recs from teachers who are from the states (like my lit teacher, who went to UPenn) or who are eloquent (or should i get ppl who have no idea about stuff in the US to write them?)
-i may write an essay about how I really like to teach, and that i like learning for the sake of learning, so i probably want to teach in future (i.e. do graduate work and teach at some uni somewhere) - dunno about this.</p>
<p>i probably seem like a nerd, and I freely admit i probably am (although I do go out pretty often). criticise as much as u can, coz i want to improve my app to increase chances at places like HYP (coz i am aware it is not possible to assure admissions...it does invariably seem like a bit of a crapshoot based on what I've seen for this year's admits). also....does this seem too AZN stereotypical?. ok, that's enough - way too long lol. Thanks in advance for looking over this.</p>