First-time SAT taker.

Test Preparation SAT Preparation
1

<p>Well, the box above says that I can "just say hello in the Cafe," because I've never posted to the site before... but on top of that, I need some help with this whole SAT-panic-ish-what-do-I-do-if-I-don't-make-it-to-university mindset going on.</p>

<p>So... I'll start off with my general profile (so far.)
- I'm a 1.5-generation Korean-Canadian, currently living in Canada.
- I haven't taken my SAT yet, but my first one will be in November 2009. I registered for the one in December as well, just in case. However, my practice tests were ranged anywhere from 1800 to 2000.
- I'm going to be in grade 11 this September, so I do not know my grades for my application. However, my grade 10 marks were quite decent (I think): first semester average 91, second semester average 95. I'm pretty sure I can pull that off in grade 11 as well.
- Extra-curricular activities are not a problem, since I'm really into those: yearbook head of photography, stage crew member, Supporting People Around the World club member, jazz band/concert band member, etc.
- I've been taking some math contests since grade 6: Pythagoras (gr. 6), Gauss (gr. 7 & 8), Pascal (gr. 9), Cayley (gr.10), Galois (gr. 10), Hypatia (gr.10), and Sun Life Financial Canadian Open Mathematics Challenge (gr. 10).
- In the summer, I volunteer at a hockey camp as a junior instructor. This year, I'm volunteering at Habitat for Humanity, Evergreen, Second Base, etc. as well... and also will do some city cleaning since Toronto city workers were on a strike for about 40 days. And on the last week of August, I'll be going back to the hockey camp that I've been volunteering at.</p>

<p>Well, that's pretty much the summary of my school life. My GPA is in control, extra-curricular activities are manageable as well, but what worries me is my SAT score. I know that it doesn't matter AS much as my GPA, but I don't want to be worried about how my SAT score would affect my admission to university. I just want everything to be played within the safe-line.
So... I'm wondering, supposing that I'll be able to maintain 93-94+ average on top of all the extra-curricular activities, what will be a safe SAT score that I should aim for/get if I'm aiming at Brown/Stanford/Dartmouth/somewhere along that line.</p>

<p>Okay. That was a lot of babbling... so my questions are:
1. Will my being an international student play something against my admission badly?
2. Is my average grade good enough for those universities I'm aiming at? (93+)
3. Does volunteering experience & extra-curricular activities play an important role?
4. Do those math contests help at all?
5. What will be an approximate SAT score to be safe with all the circumstances I have?</p>

<p>Thank you for reading all this... it turned out to be longer than I thought. But I seriously need some help especially because I'm not experienced in this American university admission thing. Oh, by the way, I plan to apply for early decision. Will that make any difference (positive/negative)?</p>

<p>Well, thank you again :)
And PLEASE help me :(</p>

2

<p>Your grades and extracurricular are fine, but you need atleast a 2100+ to have a chance at the colleges you listed. 2200+ to safe.</p>

3

<ol>
<li><p>Will my being an international student play something against my admission badly? Doubt it.</p></li>
<li><p>Is my average grade good enough for those universities I’m aiming at? (93+) Eh, you’re just average. Try to raise your GPA for the Ivies/stanford. 91 is like low A- which unfortunately pales in comparison to a majority of the applcants</p></li>
<li><p>Does volunteering experience & extra-curricular activities play an important role? Definitely, but remember, quality over quantity. you don’t seem to be very passionate about one thing in particular, rather you seem to be all over the place. focus on something that really matters to you. Extracurrics play a large role in the process</p></li>
<li><p>Do those math contests help at all?
Not the ones you were entered in, I dont think.</p></li>
<li><p>What will be an approximate SAT score to be safe with all the circumstances I have?
It’s hard to say, it depends on a lot of factors but with an 1800-2000 i’d hate to say it but your chances are low. try to do your best, that’s all i can say.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>ED (at least for brown) has been shown to have very little weight in the process.</p>

4

<p>Thank you so much, cjgone & jubilant for your advice!
And yeah, I’ve been trying out pretty much everything I could for volunteering in the process of trying to find something that I really like. It seems like I found one :slight_smile:
Thank you again!</p>

5

<p>Based on what I’ve heard, applicants to prestigious top-tier colleges are all around the same: high GPA, high SAT, decent extracurriculars. You have to be unique to have a good chance but uniqueness can only help you so much if you don’t have the basics mentioned above. If I were you, I’d work on getting the SAT score up as much as possible. Top-tier applicants usually have scored 2300+. Although you have good grades and are involved in your community, you don’t have a huge competitive edge. Work on the SAT score!</p>

<p>Hope that helps. Good luck!</p>

6

<p>Thank you :slight_smile: I’m working on my SAT score, and it is gradually goin’ up! Thank you all!</p>

7

<p>Hi mmmaythe,</p>

<p>I am a Canadian Student, going into gr.12 this sept.</p>

<p>I was in your shoes like a couple of months ago.</p>

<p>I am just going to be honest, the first time you take the SAT your going to be nervous. Make sure you Pratice ALOT ALOT and you should be fine for the first time…and the whole SAT Panic thingy, your grades are good enough for Canadian Schools (But i understand that you want to go to the States- same with me lol)</p>

<p>International Students shouldn’t effect admission at all. In fact, all schools encourage multi-cultural thingy (u know what i mean lol). Like to even further support this, i just came back from a Cornell summer camp and like 50% of the 600ish people were international.</p>

<p>And your grades 93 + is fine for gr 10. But to be safe, aim for around 95-100 in all the core courses in gr. 11 and gr.12 . Like physics, chem, bio, math those should be high if want to go into sciences and enigneer etc…english is very important too get as high as possible. Socials studies is not as important(but get as high as possible)</p>

<p>My friend got in Cornell (mech engineering) with these scores ( just to give you an range sort of thing)</p>

<p>Math 11 = 99
Math 12 = 99
Physics 11 = 86
Physics 12 = 97
French 11 = 94
AP Eng/Lit = 87 (didnt ask what he got, since he got accepted b4 his AP lit test)
AP Calc AB = 98 (5 on AP Test)
Chem 12 = 95
SAT = 2260</p>

<p>Hes basically pretty smart, he didnt try in gr.10/11 so his avgs were about like 90+ (i didnt ask but i know the whereabouts) </p>

<p>btw, he got ED into cornell.</p>

<p>So yea your grades are really good. Just maintain that average and do your best to raise it =).</p>

<p>EC’s are very important… thats it… make sure you spend time and focus on a few ECs you really like. When you apply, the admin officers dont want to see a list of ECs that are not so significant. </p>

<p>Math Contest are sort of ECs, if you do well in them they are really good. My other friend took all of the math contest u took and even more(like AIMC -and other invitational ones). Yea they are good !!!</p>

<p>The appox. sat score is very hard to predict…
I get 99s in like all the sciences and maths and like 86s (barely As) in eng. And i got a low 1880. =(</p>

<p>I took it like beginning of junior year (skip psat and just took real thing lol) and didnt really study or anything. so yea… not so good. </p>

<p>But I going to start some real studying and real FULL LENGTH practice tests (Alot of people say they are really important, and i believe them now lol). I use to only do like 1 section when i feel like it. That does not work.</p>

<p>So pretty much, I cannot predict your score because its just hard to predict. You can do some pratice test and see what you get, those are pretty accurate. I say + or - about 150 than the real thing.</p>

<p>And dont forget that your only gr. 11. You have one whole year to study.</p>

<p>Make sure you start learning vocab words. Like 10 words a day (at least), you’ll be thankful when the test day comes. I cant stress this point enough, cause right now i needa learn so many words in so little time. But you, you have 1 learn till you apply so that should leave you ample of time =).</p>

<p>To sum things up, MAKE SURE YOU STUDY AND PRACTICE. Continue to do ECs but focus on a couple you really “love to do”. Your grades are fine, and international students are welcomed in (basically) all top universities. </p>

<p>And since your in gr. 10, the math you learn in gr. 10 is inadequate to do the math in sat reasoning test. </p>

<p>This is the master plan that i regret not doing…</p>

<p>When you go into high school gr 11 year. </p>

<p>Try to finish math 11 and math 12 in that year.</p>

<p>If you finished math 11 already(idk what courses you’ve tooken) do math 12 and AP calc.</p>

<p>Just do rigorous courses they help a lot. Like try to take 40% gr 12 courses in gr 11. =)</p>

<p>Hope that helps pce. lol i wrote so much,</p>

<p>P.S
Brown,Stan,and Dartmouth are all really good universities =) just try to get 2200+
GOOD LUCK!!!</p>

<p>O i know someone that got 1900 and got into cornell lol…=) she had really beast ECs. Like she went to Cornell Summer Programs TWICE! </p>

<p>The app essay is also very important.</p>

<p>EC.App Essay. Sat. GPA –> all important (about the same)</p>

8

<p>why are you all so set for the ivy colleges?
yes these are great colleges known worldwide but the truth is for an undergraduate degree (unless it’s a professional degree like cooking) you really can go to other, less prestige, colleges that will not cost you 40K per year, what really matters is the last two years of your undergraduate degree in which you began to focus more on what you will study in you graduate degree.
Don’t forget as an international student you have very little scholarships open to you. </p>

<p>If I were you I’d go for to a really good state college for my first two years and then decide what to do next.</p>

9

<p>Well for me, at least, Ivys are some of the few schools which offer need-blind financial aid (only one of the many reasons, though). To each his own, though</p>

10

<p>@ iRunShow
You have NO IDEA HOW HAPPY I WAS when I saw “I’m a Canadian…” :smiley:
Well… for grade 10, I’ve taken these courses:

  1. Enriched Math (95) 2. Enriched English (86) - I know. Not my strength. 3. Science (92)
  2. Instrumental Music - Strings (96) 5. Instrumental Music - Band (96) 6. Civics (85)
  3. Careers (97) 8. History (91) 9. Core French (93)
  • My school doesn’t offer AP/IB; instead, it has math & english enriched courses.
    My English grades have never been that great… but I try my very best, and have good relationship with English teachers :slight_smile:
    And I took all the math courses privately, so I’m good for grade 11 and 12. I basically finished calc.
    Speaking of rigorous courseload, I decided to take a morning music course that starts at 7:15 a.m. (school starts at 8:45 a.m.) I’ve been taking music ever since, so I thought it’d be a good idea to show that I have a passion in music. Would it help?</p>

<p>@ Maya.s
I’m not only applying to Ivys - it’s just that obviously Ivys are harder to get into, and it’d possibly be easier for me to get into non-Ivys with less prestige if I aimed higher. Thank you for pointing the scholarship issue, though. Always considering student loans, rather.</p>