Chance a Singaporean for Cornell, Stanford, MIT, Northwestern, U Michigan, CMU

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hi all,</p>

<p>Demographic Profile:
- Singaporean male, Chinese</p>

<p>Secondary School Profile:
- Highly competitive, independent school
- Offers the Integrated Programme (6-year through-train programme that allows students to bypass the GCE O-Levels) leading to full IB Diploma
- Relatively new at IB (we're only the 2nd batch to graduate), yet has already ranked in the top 3 IB schools worldwide</p>

<p>Standardized Test Scores:
- SAT I = 650 CR, 800 M, 770 W, 2220 total (1st try)
- SAT II = 800 Mathematics IIC, 800 Chemistry, 800 Physics</p>

<p>IP (Grade 10) Results:
- Modeled after IB Diploma system
- English (5), Higher Chinese (5), Introduction to Human Societies (5), Advanced Mathematics (7), Core Mathematics (7), Physics (6), Chemistry (7), Biology (5), Extended Essay (A), TOK (B)
- Total aggregate of 6 relevant subjects = 36/42
- Bonus points = 3/3
- Total points = 39/45</p>

<p>IB-1 (Grade 11) Promo Results: 39/42, EE & TOK components not assessed</p>

<p>IB-2 (Grade 12) Mid-Year Results: 41/42, EE & TOK components not assessed</p>

<p>IB-2 (Grade 12) Preliminary Examination Results: 45/45</p>

<p>Actual IB Results:
- Physics HL (7), Chemistry HL (7), Mathematics HL (7), English A1 SL (7), Chinese B SL (7), Economics SL (7), Chemistry EE (A), TOK (A)
- Total aggregate of 6 relevant subjects = 42/42
- Bonus points = 3/3
- Total points = 45/45 (only 38 perfect scorers in the world for my session, representing 0.73% of all IB Diploma candidates)</p>

<p>Class Rank: 1/407 (shared)</p>

<p>Music-Related ECs:
- Member of the school choir for 6 years (7-12)
- Choir vice-secretary (9-10)
- Co-founded the inaugural IB section of the choir (11)
- Led choir to Gold and Silver awards at the Singapore Youth Festival competitions, which represent the pinnacle of excellence in the performing arts in Singapore schools (9, 11)
- Led choir to a Gold award at the 21st Century International Choral & Dance Festival held in Malaysia (11)
- Performed in 3 concerts/musicals organized to raise funds for needy students in school (9-11)
- Selected to audition for the 2005 National Day Parade theme song "Reach Out for the Skies" (written by our choir mistress) in front of a committee of Defense Ministry officials; audition was successful (9)
- Selected to be part of a professional recording of the school anthem to commemorate the opening of the new IB wing of the school campus (12)</p>

<p>Leadership-Related ECs:
- Member of the class committee for 4 years (9-12)
- Sports representative for 3 years (9-11)
- Community service representative for 1 year (12)</p>

<p>Science-Related ECs:
- Headed booths in Life Sciences Symposiums organized by the school (9, 11)
- Selected to participate in A<em>STAR's (Agency for Science, Technology & Research) Research Outreach Programme (9)
- Non-paid internship at A</em>STAR (9)
- Nominated for the Lee Kuan Yew Award for Mathematics & Science (post-graduate)</p>

<p>Community Service:
- High school visit in Lijiang, China (9)
- MacRitchie Reservoir Reforestation Programme (9)
- Volunteering to paint murals at a home for the aged (10)
- "Window on the World" (WOW) project to improve living conditions in 3 separate poverty-ridden villages in Kunming, China (11)
- Spearheaded fundraising efforts to finance above project (11)
- Volunteering to participate in "Camp Viva," an educational day-camp held over 2 consecutive weekends to help autistic children from Rainbow Centre, Singapore (12)</p>

<p>Awards:
- Dean's List in Chemistry (school level)
- Scholastic Award (school level)
- P.L. Seow Medal (top student award; one of 4 recipients that year; school level)
- Ministry of Education Edusave Award (national level)
- Defense Science & Technology Agency Undergraduate Scholarship - Overseas (full scholarship given by the defense statutory board in Singapore; national level; about 1000 applicants for 50-70 scholarships a year)</p>

<p>Colleges I'm Applying to:
- Stanford
- MIT
- Cornell
- Northwestern
- University of Michigan, Ann-Arbor
- Carnegie Mellon</p>

<p>Other Info:
- Prospective major = materials science & engineering
- Thinking of applying either Stanford REA or Cornell ED
- Do not require financial aid
- Require 1-year deferment to serve my National Service commitment</p>

<p>Thanks in advance! Will chance back.</p>

2

<p>Bump.10char</p>

3

<p>Stanford- Mid Reach
MIT- Mid Reach
Cornell- Low Reach
Northwestern- In
UMich- In
Carnegie Mellon- In</p>

4

<p>MIT - High-ish Reach. MIT demands outstanding individual performance in one or more areas from Singaporeans (think International Olympiad Gold, Silver or equivalent) in addition to being well-rounded. You have the well-rounded part but to be you still seem to lack the “spark” MIT wants from Singaporeans.
Stanford - Mid-reach. Quite possible but everyone applies to Stanford so be sure to write an interesting essay to catch the eyes of your evaluator.
Cornell - Low Reach for CAS, Match for Engineering
Northwestern - Low Match, Safety
Mich - Low Match, Safety,
CMU - Match for SCS, Low Match, Safety for others.</p>

<p>Your IB score of 45/45 is certainly impressive, but I am not sure how the universities evaluate ACS(I) IB scores from Singapore against the S-GCE A-level scores from RJ and HC.</p>

5

<ul>
<li>Stanford: waitlist</li>
<li>MIT: reject</li>
<li>Cornell: accept/waitlist</li>
<li>Northwestern: accept</li>
<li>University of Michigan, Ann-Arbor: accept</li>
<li>Carnegie Mellon: accept</li>
</ul>

<p>all the best to you!</p>

6

<p>Thanks for the responses! Any advice on whether Stanford REA or Cornell ED would be better for me, since I’d be happy in any of the top 3 schools on my list?</p>

<p>frankchn: Don’t the universities assess your grades within the context of your school? So if your school doesn’t offer the A-Levels, how can they evaluate IB scores against their A-Level counterparts?</p>

7

<p>For international students they tend group and evaluate applications by country (or region) instead of by school and you will be competing against RJ and HC people applying to the same universities </p>

<p>For Singapore, this is made easier by the fact we all have to take standardized graduation exams (whether it be A-levels or IB) and participate in similar activities (e.g. SYF, SSEF, Olympiads, Students’ Council, etc…).</p>

<p>Anyway, 45/45 is certainly impressive and they will probably group you in with the people in RJ/HC who managed 8As or so (9As are rarer, since less than 10 people achieve it each year across both RJ and HC).</p>

<p>If you are happy with going to Cornell, applying to Cornell ED may very well get you in. Not as much of an advantage with Stanford SCEA though (unless your parents are alumni or big donors).</p>

8

<p>Cornell ED would be much better/easier than Stanford SCEA for you, assuming you are okay with going to Cornell - it’s a fantastic school with a gorgeous campus to boot! Stanford would be a little hard and MIT is just… MIT</p>

9

<p>You’re really going to need to pull up your CR.</p>

10

<p>Ok thanks! Is it true that Cornell is rather accepting of Singaporeans, or at least more so than the other Ivy+2 universities?</p>

11

<p>Very impressive. SAT CR is the only issue I see. If you were from the US, I think you would have a good chance of getting into all of your colleges. Unfortunately, the past few years it’s gotten pretty hard for international students.</p>

<p>I would say you would be admitted to:

  • Cornell
  • Northwestern
  • University of Michigan, Ann-Arbor
  • Carnegie Mellon</p>

<p>Denied/waitlisted:

  • Stanford
  • MIT</p>
12

<p>Exactly, International students = hard time.</p>

<p>Your CR score is scaring me dude. It stand out very boldly. We know your foreign but bring that reading up man!</p>

<p>chance me too!
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=729027&referrerid=213826[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=729027&referrerid=213826&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

13

<p>CR 650 is not that bad, seriously! Although it would be helpful if you can pull that up la
Have you considered other schools like Berkeley, UIUC and Duke?</p>

14

<p>My CR score currently falls within the middle 50% for Cornell, but around the 25th percentile for Stanford and MIT, so I’ll definitely retake in October.</p>

<p>1234d: I have considered UCB and UIUC, but those schools don’t allow deferments. My friends suggested that, since I have 1 more year of service to go, I should apply only to ‘reach’ schools this year and save the safeties for next year, so I don’t have to commit myself to attending a safety just yet if I’m rejected by Stanford, MIT and Cornell.</p>

15

<p>Bump.10char</p>

16

<p>Long odds for MIT. Reasonable for Stanford, but much better for Cornell. I’m just wondering why you want to do MSE particularly?</p>

17

<p>fiona_: I guess it just appeals to me more than the traditional engineering types, especially with the focus on nanotechnology these days.</p>

18

<p>I think your school will help you, but being an International puts you at very low chances for MIT and Stanford.</p>

19

<p>Hmm in that case you should apply to cornell ED</p>

20

<p>Most of you seem to think MIT is harder to get in than Stanford but I think it “could” be the other way around.</p>