Chance for International applicant

Colleges and Universities A-Z Boston University
1

<p>Hey guys, Im an international student of Indian origin from Dubai and want to apply in Fall 2010. Basically, I’ve done GCE O levels [considered the highest level for British Ordinary Level Syllabus] and GCE AS Levels in Maths, Biology, Physics and Chemistry and plan on doing A2 Course in these four subjects this year. </p>

<p>My syllabus does not offer GPA but these are my school and exam grades so far:
Subject: 9th Grade 10th Grade 11th Grade {+Board} 12th Grade{}</p>

<p>English B[72] B[66] A,A[76],{82} x
Maths A[86] A[86] A,A[91],{95} 99 in C1
Physics A[90] A[83] A,A[92],{85} (NA)
Chemistry A[78] A[83] A,A[85],{90} (NA)
Biology A[83] A[82] A,A[82],{82} (NA)
Human Biology A[88] A[84] A,A[88],{81} x
Hindi A[77] A[73] A,B[76],{76} x
Arabic A[87] A[82] A,A[90],{87} x</p>

<p>NA- not available atm since results come out in august, but I believe Ive done on par with my O level Board results.
x - because I did not take these in AS levels.</p>

<p>And oh, all the marks are out of 100</p>

<p>Here are my SAT I Scores:
Sitting 1 Sitting 2
CR 590 670
M 680 640
W 650 720
Total 1920 2030</p>

<p>I plan on taking the SAT Subject tests this October in Maths IIC, Physics and Biology M.</p>

<p>I also have received certificates for/achieved merit in:

  • Academic Excellence in Grades 9-11 for coming in the top two ranks in the grade.
  • Certificate of Appreciation for Oral presentation on World Events.
    -Merit Certificate for participation in Inter School Quiz, Gulf Asian Inter-School Quiz competitions and also for conducting an Inter-House Quiz competition in my school.
  • Certificate of Appreciation for Community Service conducted at Labour Camps in Dubai from Grade 9-11.
  • Certificate for Best Actor in School Skit competition and also for Writer of the Best Skit.
  • Participation Certification for Awareness Walk at Spring Fiesta event.
  • Distinction in Mathematics exam conducted by University of New South Wales in 2001.
  • Certification of Merit for Participation in Global Young Leaders Conference in Washington, New York.
  • Winner of Inter-House Soccer Tournament in Grade 12.
  • 3rd Position in 400m-relay in Inter-House School Athletics Meet in Grade 12.
  • 3rd Position in 100m-relay in Inter-House School Athletics Meet in Grade 12.</p>

<p>Well, sorry if it is a bit too long, not really sure about what all to include and not to include since I come under the International applicants category. Thanks.</p>

2

<p>bump bump bump</p>

3

<p>Well…If I could understand what courses you were taking, I think I could give a better estimation at your chances. Unfortunately, I don’t so I’m going to give my opinion based on your SAT scores and extracurriculars, you look like you have a good chance. Your SAT 1 scores are a little above average and you seem to have plenty of ECs. You have a very solid GPA and if your courses overseas are equivalent to several AP courses here in the states, I would say you have a very good chance. Make sure you do well on the SAT II and you’ll be fine. Another thing that plays a vital role in your application is your essay. So make sure to revise revise revise! Check out the admissions website as they have tips on what they’re looking for.</p>

<p>[Write</a> an Essay that Stands Out | Boston University Admissions](<a href=“http://www.bu.edu/admissions/apply/how-to-write-an-essay-that-gets-noticed/]Write”>http://www.bu.edu/admissions/apply/how-to-write-an-essay-that-gets-noticed/)</p>

<p>Here’s the homepage
[Boston</a> University Admissions](<a href=“http://www.bu.edu/admissions/]Boston”>Boston University's Office of Admissions Website | Admissions)</p>

4

<p>To Alectricity: Thanks a lot for your views, I highly appreciate it ! I researched the comparison between AP Courses and A levels and discovered that they are on par with each other, with quite a few actually saying A levels offer a larger breadth of matter (they were, however, uncertain over the Depth of the matter). I plan on taking the biomedical engineering major, just thought I’d let you know, in case it affects my chances in any ways since now I have specified which department I want to enroll in. Thanks alot !</p>

5

<p>No problem. I would probably check out their website(sorry another one lol) since every school has a different applicant pool and people tend to apply directly to the school. Each school has their own set of statistics while they generally maintain the same standards throughout BU. The only exception is the College of General Studies(CGS) which does have lower standards for admission. Here’s the ENG school’s annual report. Its a pdf file.</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.bu.edu/eng/facts/documents/ENG%20Annual%20Report%202007-08.pdf[/url]”>http://www.bu.edu/eng/facts/documents/ENG%20Annual%20Report%202007-08.pdf&lt;/a&gt;
Skip to page 20ish to see how many applicants they’ve accepted and keep scrolling down to see their SAT scores and such. There should also be a section for international students. I’m not positive though. I only skimmed it since it was quite long.</p>

6

<p>Hey AbhishekShetye, I was an international applicant as well and I did GCE O Levels and A Levels under the Edexcel Board. I got accepted this fall. I’ve seen you school marks and they seem pretty good, but I can’t make any judgments without your O level grades. It seems to me that for us, these year end exams (O A Levels) and SATs seem to polarize decisions quite a bit. I also took the SAT twice, and both of your CR and W scores are better than mine. If you’ve got good O Level grades and are expecting the same for A Levels, you might have a good chance. Also let me know if you have taken these exams under a different board (Cambridge).</p>

7

<p>Hey ben_breeg, Ohh congratulations on getting in ! Yes, I did the exams under the same board as you, i.e, Edexcel. Well, here are my O level marks:
English: 82- A
Maths: 95- A
Physics: 85- A
Chemistry:90- A
Biology: 80- A
Human Bio:81- A
Hindi: 76- B</p>

<p>My AS Level marks are not available at the moment but I believe I did not do badly (on par with these in fact). I did appear for C1 Maths in Jan and got 99 in that. Thanks a lot for your views by the way !</p>

8

<p>Thanks AbhishekShetye. Well your O Levels are very good; in fact, they’re nearly the same as mine… I took Accounting and Computing instead of Bio and Human Bio, and I got an A in my native language subject… however, that hardly matters… you’ve done really well in all the important subjects. How did you get an 82 in English? You must be really good on that!</p>

<p>Btw, have you thought about what you would like to major in? From your subject selection, it looks like you’ll be going for the sciences, math or engineering, and in that case, I would advise you to improve on SAT I math a bit… and as long as the AS grades look as good as the O levels, I can say that you have a pretty good chance of getting in!</p>

9

<p>Ahh, good to know my O levels turned out to be satisfactory then. Ahh, I used to be pretty pathetic at English but read alot of newspapers, novels and magazines so I guess the hard-work payed off with the 82 (My English teacher was awesome so that did help too). </p>

<p>Actually, I plan on taking the Biomedical Engineering major, got the news from a lot of sources that BU is very well ranked in tht field. Yea, SAT 1 maths section is disappointing, but yes will raise those Math IIC marks high so it doesnt cause much of a trouble.</p>