I just wanted to say that I am so thankful of all the help I’ve received! Sorry for not logging in the past few days. The level of kindness of this community impresses me greatly.
So a bit of an update. I received my SAT scores: 740 Math, 670 Reading, 590 [lol] Writing (1410/1600, 2000/2400). Definitely not ideal for the top schools, but this is actually the best I’ve ever done overall. A 2000 is a lot better than the 1800s I was getting on a few practice tests I’ve taken. A tad bit disappointed for my math score, but the reading I think is my personal best. Overall I’m happy, for now at least.
Also a correction on my part. My dad attended the University of Kyoto, not Tokyo. It doesn’t make much of a difference, since the two are regarded as the best schools in Japan. The difference between them is like the difference between Yale and Princeton in terms of prestige. But I wanted to straighten that out since what I said was not correct.
Now on to responses and more questions:
A lot of people suggested that I take the ACT. I took the PLAN (I think that's what it was called) over a year ago and I did okayish on that. Actually, my scores in the reading and writing were abysmal whereas I did really well on the Math and Science. I like to think that I've gotten better at reading and writing in genera so I expect that if I were to take the real ACT, I'd do much better than what I got on the PLAN. So with that said, I do plan on taking the test.
With that comes with a question though. A lot of schools say that they require either the SAT and SAT Subject Tests or the ACT with writing. Does that mean that I can't do an ACT without writing with SAT Subject Tests? If I were to do well on the Subject Tests, I would have to
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I am here legally, unless my parents have been conspiring against me for the past twelve years. I've also spent all of my high school years in New York. So based on what people have been saying here, I think it's reasonable to assume that I am eligible for in-state tuition if I were to apply to a public school correct?
Overall, I feel like I've gotten a better grasp on what to do for my own situation. The more admissions people I ask the more I get the response that I'll need to apply as an international (although a few have said that I can apply as a domestic applicant). I'll continue to read the responses here in order to better my understanding of my situation.
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Someone here recommended me not to take a college course if I take a gap year, or else I'd be viewed as a transfer. I've signed up for a SUPA (Syracuse University) English course for my senior year. Does that advice apply to this course I'm going to be taking next year?
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Finally, I plan on going to the NYC area and attend a week long workshop at the Grand Central Atelier for figure drawing. The Grand Central Atelier is not a college and so this workshop isn't considered a pre-college thing. Is this sort of thing still worth noting somewhere on my application? I assume and want to believe the answer is yes, but I want to make sure in case this sort of thing is viewed as a vacation or something along those lines. It would come across as being really dumb if I brag about a vacation. I do plan on doing a couple of other things over the summer like volunteer work and a program at the local hospital for robotic surgery.
Again, big thanks to everyone that's responded and went out of their way to help! All of these responses mean a lot to me and speaks for the supportive community here!