<p>That's right, you shouldn't be putting on a "facade" so that you become a fit for the school. I guess what I meant was to take what you already have, and find a way to highlight those things in your application. For example, community service and your multicultural/international experience (multicultural community service? heh) for "in the nation's service and in the service of all nations." So it IS possible to tailor your application while "being yourself". You shouldn't have a problem with that if you participated in your ECs because you wanted to, not because you "had" to, and enjoyed yourself and sort of grew/matured as a person in the process.</p>
<p>However, you should also take note that plenty of other people will be doing this too. Also, you never know what adcoms are looking for, so really the onus is upon you to make your application be truly special, without making it seem all forced and fake and done only in the name of college admissions. All the advice that everyone here's given you so far may or may not work, so... agar-agar la, hor. Haha</p>
<p>Yes, NTU/NUS are good for engineering. And they're quite prestigious in Asia, so I don't suppose you'd go wrong with attending these schools instead of colleges in the US.</p>
<p>Hmm well not taking H3 subjects will kind of pull down your application I think. Since practically everyone from Singapore applying to the top unis will be taking some sort of advanced classes. Ask your counsellor if it matters, and if it does, ask him/her/hir if there is any way to explain what happened about the H3 situation in your school. (For the record, I didn't have H3 also haha, I got into a small, not-as-selective LAC, but still pretty selective I guess)</p>
<p>And yes, do continue with that battery patent thing. It's unique and interesting and has value. </p>
<p>You should ask around in this forum for other excellent engineering colleges that will satisfy your/your parents' "brand name" criterion. For example, maybe Georgia Tech, or UT Austin. 'Cause I feel quite iffy with Harvard, Brown, Vassar and Yale in your list (but for all I know these schools may also be engineering powerhouses, so someone correct me if I'm wrong)</p>