<p>I forgot to mention how our exam system works. We have the DSE as I’ve mentioned, its a public exam to enter the 8 universities in HK through the JUPAS program (the one that requires 3,3,2,2,2) the exam is applied during september and october, the exam will be taken from march to may (long exam right?) and the results are released on July 14th but the university admission is on August 22. Which explains why I didn’t apply for SAT during my highschool days</p>
<p>The DSE doesn’t offer any scholarship, only for the international students who take GCSE or A levels or transfer students.</p>
<p>Do you suggest me opting for Brown instead? But to be honest these are both highly competitive schools. I do opt for other colleges, but on regular decisions, so I’m actually putting the Early action as my top priority because the deadline is 1st November.</p>
<p>And if you guys are wondering I have a lot of extracurricular activities and participation o_o like 3-paged-list and my posts are mainly class representatives and school tutors and what I love: art designer and web designer. I’ve also won awards with places (local ones) that’s why I’m really competitive and trying to aim high, or a bit high. But its the early action/decision so why not try first? I mean if I get admitted I’m still going to start college next september (HK) or next fall (US)</p>
<p>To be honest, do you guy have any schools to suggest? Because I know I’m not the top but then above average. My school is regard prestigious, therefore the level of competition within my own school is also high. I’ve taken foreign exams from the UK and Australia and got high distinction. I participated in annual speech competitions and won places (4 times the first place), I was also interviewed and claimed to be the top 18 young painters in Hong Kong ._. I’m either pursuing Art, architecture, Art history or Literature.</p>
<p>I’m not math person but I get all right in SAT math sections…um well I did study calculus. Its funny because English is my mother language and I took English literature but the vocabs are really…not the daily vocabs. Sometimes the passages confuse me too but mainly because it is boring (honest here)</p>
<p>Can any of you help me weigh this, like how many % do they contribute during an application?
SAT scores
School reports
Essay
Activities and Achievements</p>
<p>Your EC is just among the average of the students applying to those schools. I don’t see anything really outstanding. There are many schools that would fit you academically, but probably not at the Ivy level nor do they provide sufficient aid to you. Do you mean your aunt can financially support your study here? That is good, but it would still be tricky when you apply for the Visa. The schools that you may have a chance will cost you $35k-$60k per year. Some schools may offer you a small merit aid but it would not help much in your case. With you current credential, your chances for admission at these top schools on your list are very low. Getting scholarship in HK is also difficult. If you don’t have spectacular test scores, you would not get one. There are scholarships that do use DSE for evaluation as they used to use HKCEE before. Going to an English kindergarten would not explain your poor grade in Chinese at all unless you go to international school or do not live in HK for most of your grade school years. Your best bet would be studying hard for the DSE retake next year. Did you even apply to any associate degree program this year?</p>
<p>I hope you understand that my poor Chinese is not only because my first mother language is English, but also due to my family upbringing the English atmosphere, my parents didn’t encourage Chinese, other than that, my family moved from Taiwan to Hong Kong that speaks two completely different languages and go by a different education system. Therefore, not only did I have to pick up a new language starting at the age of 9 but also a new style of teaching.
As I’ve said I’ve already applied to retake the DSE and I’ve only listed a few of my EC, I can’t possibly type all right here. I cannot study an associate degree as it also requires 33222.</p>
<p>About spectacular test scores, what if I did well in the SAT and SAT II and provided good recommendations and essay. To be honest, who doesn’t know the very low chances of admission? I do, and as I’ve said I’m only giving it a try. High schools in Hong Kong doesn’t offer much chances for their students, especially government based schools due to lack of facilities, everything I do is self motivated and based on my potentials which are really undermined.</p>
<p>Trust me. The high school graduates in HK have much much much more opportunities for post secondary studies than 30 years ago when I was a student there. Only the top few percentage students can go to college at that time.</p>
<p>Take your SAT, get a real score and then craft a list of colleges. The list should not be comprised ONLY of the most elite and competitive colleges in the U.S. It should include affordable options and places where your likelihood of acceptance is higher than 5% of applicants.</p>
<p>This is just for the Early Action, I’m choosing those of lower tiers and affordable prices too. Yes, I am choosing HK universities, that’s why I’m also taking up courses. Thank for everyone posting here to give me advice, I really appreciate it 
wish me luck still. </p>
<p>So…which school are you apply to EA?</p>
<p>still Harvard, tbh my parent’s still prefer me studying in Hong Kong</p>
<p>Well…Harvard is an admissions lottery school. In other words, your chances of acceptance are about 5%. </p>
<p>I know, I’m aware of that. The good thing now is that my aunt in the US (and she has a green card) and my Japanese uncle are willing to help with my school fees, but I’ll still tick the ‘need financial support’ box. And…quote, admissions to US colleges are ‘arbitrary’ that’s the word right ._. ? giving a chance, you won’t know if you don’t try. Thank you though :)</p>
<p>Just remember, the financial help" your aunt and uncle give you for the upcoming year will need to be noted on your financial aid applications for the following year…and that will reduce your need based aid.</p>
<p>Thank you for the reminder, I’ll keep that in mind :)</p>