<p>Hello. I am a Malaysian and a year-two, i.e. 12th grade, student at a junior college in Singapore under a Singaporean government scholarship. I wonder what my chances are, assuming that I'll be applying for financial aid.</p>
<p>SAT I: 2,310, essay 12 [took it once; might be retaking]
SAT II: taking in October</p>
<p>+Straigh-A student in year one, 11th grade [I consistently topped my class of about 30; got A for General Paper, Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, History]
+Topped history class last year; 1/100+
+Topped my secondary school in secondary 4, i.e. 10th grade, 1/200+ [topped Biology, English, History, Malay; got As for everything else]
+One of 40 top students nationwide for the GCE O Level national examination in 2005; had press and media interviews for that
+Highest award [gold] for the National Chemistry Olympiad in 2006; top 10 nation-wide
+First place in intra-college chemistry competition in 2006
+High distinction award [highest award] for Australian Mathematics Competition in 2005
+Taking an undergraduate module [molecular genetics] at the National university of Singapore, as part of a "heaviest" workload
+Participation in the National Biology Olympiad and National Mathematics Olympiad [not sure whether to include this in my application]</p>
<p>+School wushu team 2006-2007, participated in the National Wushu Championships and won two bronzes
+Quartermaster of wushu club [2006-2007]
+Various wushu performances in public places
+Talent-spotted for national wushu team
+Choir [2004-2005]; we won the Gold award in the National Youth Festival judging
+One-month work attachment with the Disabled Peoples' Association
+Organizing committee for the Singapore's International Day of Disabled Persons
+Week-long attachment at the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology
+Year-long commitment, teaching 10th graders once weekly
+Class President [2001-2003]
+Regular blood donor
+ABRSM grade 8 [piano]</p>
<p>I'm afraid that's all I have for my extra-curriculars, which I concede are inadequate. I have two more competitions coming up [math and chemistry] so hope that'll improve my chances. I'm looking at possibly chemical engineering. These are the schools I'm considering [in order of "reachability"]:</p>
<p>Michigan ann-arbor
Virginia
Johns Hopkins
Berkeley
uPenn
Stanford
Yale</p>
<p>Then there are a lot of very smart people you would call jerks. Read the CDSs to see just how much your chances go up at any ivy when you go from 2300 to 2400. All those poor jerks at Harvard could also explain.......</p>
<p>Yeah, I would be calling them that too...You're 90 points from a perfect score. Get over yourself. Think about how many people would kill for that.</p>
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Then there are a lot of very smart people you would call jerks. Read the CDSs to see just how much your chances go up at any ivy when you go from 2300 to 2400. All those poor jerks at Harvard could also explain.......
[/quote]
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<p>lol, i thought the conventional wisdom was that 2400 SATs didn't matter? what made you say that it's a huge help if one improves from 2300 to 2400 at the top colleges?</p>
<p>yeah i got a place in duke. but i was betting that id get a government scholarship like the OP... if i fail to get a scholarship im gonna have to withdraw from duke and apply to HYP hoping to get lucky with the need-blind international aid. that's why im asking, just in case i need to seriously retake my SATs to improve my shot.</p>
<p>ABRSM Grade 8 piano? I've reached a Grade 7 playing level but won't be able to sit the exam in Mauritius this year. :( All I can say is I'm impressed.</p>
<p>just a question, how else can I improve my stats? I still have half a year at school and I'm determined to make the most out of that time. My application essay will be gorgeous (hopefully) and my SAT IIs will hopefully be 800 for Biology M, Chemistry and Math II (as with my seniors), so I guess I have it covered for those areas.</p>
<p>screwitlah: are you Singaporean?</p>
<p>Everyone else: thanks very much for the input. By the way, my friend who got a 2,360 for SAT I applied to MIT, and he got rejected. I think that my worries about my SAT I score are justified.</p>
<p>That's just it, you see, after a certain level (which you've probably passed), your SAT scores just don't matter that much. Once you're in the 2300+ level, it's the other parts of your application that come into focus.</p>
<p>I don't estimate chances because I don't consider myself (or anyone other than the relevant admissions committee) to be qualified to do that; but I will congratulate you for achieving what you have; and wish you well for the next year.</p>
<p>As an International applicant who got into 4 of the schools that you listed above, and was waitlisted at one of them, if you want any further information/advice feel free to PM me.</p>
<p>boeing767, yes i'm singaporean :D from HCI. where're you from?</p>
<p>you can improve your chances by starting on your university apps very, very early, and ask the teachers who like you the most very nicely and way in advance for recommendations. i rushed my apps and my teachers - thats probably the worst mistake i made.</p>
<p>go check out all the universities' websites thoroughly - sometimes international students need to fill in extra stuff. also, look out for availability of interviews if u can, and request as many as you can. they dun help as much as they do in scholarship apps, but its better than nothing. i know that at least yale and MIT give interviews in singapore.</p>
<p>and about your friend who got 2360 and rejected by MIT, it doesn't reaqlly justify your worries :P the college application process is not decided by a linear scale of SAT scores. people with 2400 get passed over for 2200+s all the time, expecially for the elite private universities. my guess is ur friend probably doesn't have much else in terms of CCAs and outside achievements and probably lost out to all the other MIT applicants from singapore and this region with intl olympiad medals and tons of ccas etc, especially since 2300s aren't hard to find in our region :P</p>
<p>I was in a similar position as you last year though I think you went to Singapore much earlier than me. </p>
<p>Okay, so my advice. Don't retake the SATs. 2310 is a great score. You'll much better off saving it since the application process takes quite abit of money.</p>
<p>Of the 7 schools you listed, 3 are state universities that does not give out aid to internationals. I'm not sure about JHU but for Penn and Stanford, applying for aid greatly decrease your chances. So if you're adamant on going to the States and not wanting to solely rely on government scholarships (which are very rare for non-citizens and PR to begin with), apply to maybe some LACs. From my experience, they are very generous in aid to M'sians since they are not a popular choice for Malaysians. For the top universities, you might want to try gunning for more need-blind choices (MIT, Princeton etc).</p>
<p>Your ECs are great! You won't be able to list all of them though. Awards yes, ECs no (on the commonapp). So just highlight the important and more recent activities you have. Class president in 2003 is a bit far off no?</p>
<p>Agree with screwitlah that you should start your apps and essays early. Let your GP teacher read it. I found mines to give really valuable advice. Get those materials early, fee waiver etc early too. Research on those scholarships both in M'sia and Singapore. All the best!</p>
<p>screwitlah: I'm from RJC. I'm already getting ideas for my essay, and I'll start asking my teachers for recommendation letters. I still need to do a lot of research before applying though. Does Yale offer need-based or need-blind financial aid, and does sending in an early-decision application significantly increase my chances? By the way, thanks a lot for the advice; it's really helpful -- I'll start bugging my teachers for recommendation letters.</p>
<p>eslite: If I were to apply to a liberal arts college, I'd probably go for Williams, but it has never really crossed my mind. I'll probably go for the GIC scholarship. Thanks for the tips!</p>
<p>Just wondering, where are you guys studying now?</p>
<p>Amongst LACs, there are good choices aside from Amherst, Williams etc. Swarthmore, Grinnell, Colgate etc. You could also try for Wesleyan University, they offer the Wesleyan Freeman Scholarship that covers your tuition fees (and you could apply for finaid too).</p>
<p>Yale is need-blind in financial aid for internationals. I'm not too sure but I think it'll be getting rid of EA this year.</p>