<p>oh god i just did the same starting line as epicgee. awkwaaard</p>
<p>Just found this thread and felt the need to join in. I’m an Aussie applying for the Fall of 2011 as well.</p>
<p>Hey all, thanks for joining in. Yes IB is ALOT tougher than the HSC.</p>
<p>Hi everybody can you help me…
I am an IS still in my sec 3 though (grade 9)…
I need all your advise… i don’t know too much of thing now
here is my question:</p>
<p>
My aim is actually to go to US UNIs which I has mentioned above…
Thanks</p>
<p>note: i do have 2 sisters who are Australia PR Living in melbourne…
both have been working in melbourne… should i go to melb?</p>
<p>stop spamming your question everywhere. and no, your sister being an australian pr isn’t of much help to you.</p>
<p>i’m so sorry…
i don’t mean spamming actually…
i’m so sorry…</p>
<p>i’m grateful to hear
I know it’s not a good decision to go to Aus
later:)</p>
<p>Very thanks and sorry to you:)</p>
<p>^ FYI, competition is pretty tough from the Australian side of things too. A lot of recruits are athletes, and a huge proportion of .95ers apply overseas.</p>
<p>yorknell: You would have a better chance at the colleges you’ve listed if you were to move to the U.S, as suppose to moving to Australia.</p>
<p>Hey I’m from VIC, attending a top private school, year 12 in 2011, applying for Fall 2012.</p>
<p>Applying for HYP, MIT, Stanford, may consider Berkeley and UPenn if I can find financial aid there…</p>
<p>It’d be nice if I could have some opinions on my chances - here are a few of my credentials:</p>
<p>Academic -</p>
<p>2nd overall in Year 11 (out of ~240)</p>
<p>VCE: scores of 50 in Biology and Maths Methods (out of 50)
Bronze in Australian Maths Olympiad (2009, 2010)
1st Place in Uni Melb Schools Maths Competition (2009)
High Distinction + Invite to Summer Scholar School in Biology NQE (2010) and Chemistry NQE (2009, 2010)</p>
<p>Sport -</p>
<p>Played cricket for club, played a few games for representative teams
Played cricket, basketball and badminton for school
Athletics - represented school in APS Athletics Finals in year 9, 10 and 11</p>
<p>Extra-curricular/community</p>
<p>Sports Trainer for 1st and 2nd 18 school AFL team
Sports First Aider
VCENotes Trial Exam writer
Debating
Choir</p>
<p>Leadership </p>
<p>Year 12: Prefect, House Vice-Captain, Sports First Aid Vice-Captain, Class of 2011 Committee
Year 11: Peer Support Leader</p>
<p>That’s a snapshot; do I have a decent chance of being admitted to the above schools?</p>
<p>Cheers!</p>
<p>Another Aussie applying to transfer 
Hey guys i’m in my 2nd year at ANU and applying to transfer for Fall 2011. Anyone else struggling with what to write for ‘why i’m transferring and goals i want to achieve?’ for the personal essay? ANU is great but i love travelling, i love being with people from different countries and did not take a year off to travel between studies. ANU is great but i’ve lived in Canberra my whole life and need to get out. In saying that anyone with questions about ANU let me know!
What is the best way to approach the personal essay? I’m thinking of brainstorming all the reasons why i want to transfer and writing down any dot points i come up with over the course of a few days, then picking the relevant ones…
How did any of you guys get through it?
Cheers and hope all your applications are going smoothly!
PS does anyone else’s uni not calculate GPA? ANU doesn’t (well my college said they didn’t) and i’ve tried doing it online but got a 7 which i think is a bit too high haha</p>
<p>Sanga50: First of all, your grades and honors certainly look impressive, keep it up! So also do your leadership positions and extra-curriculars. But one thing though, what personal contributions have made in your activities? Do have a particular passion, and how have you displayed that in classes etc… These are just some things to keep in mind.</p>
<p>bronnieg: brainstorming is a good way to address this sort of question. If I had to write a response to this question, I would talk about what I would get from said college that I’m not receiving from ANU if I transfered. Then, tie in these reasons to the “what you hope to achieve” by stating why without these said opportunities at X college you wouldn’t be able to achieve so and so. Try not to sound too ambitious. Instead write in a way that you’ll come off as an assert to the school’s community.</p>
<p>Hey
sorry I thought I would chime in here… I generally ramble on as those who know me know hahaha.
Anyways I agree please people look beyond the Ivy Leauge. There are so many great schools in the US other than those hallowed halls and if you want to G-d’s honest truth they aren’t even that good for undergrad… except maybe Brown haha but I am biased on that front.
I mean Columbia makes you do all your GEs before you can do your major classes and speaking from experiences with GEs thats gonna suck balls… especially with a bio or a engineering major… and as a pre-med</p>
<p>and I am speaking from experience here… for the most part pre-meds are incredibly sucky people. They are cut throat and up themeslves and can be downright mean.
I was pre-med at a (pretty damn good and rising) california school which as a really good engineering school although its not one of the Ivies… anyways not the point and I decided to come back to Sydney and do med here instead.
You can practice in the US from here… just take the USMLE which you would have to take ANYWAYS regardless of you did med school here or there. You will have a crapload less debt… think about it undergrad at a private university runs upwards of US$58,000 a year at the moment plus then for med school (this year… it increases every year) you are looking upwards of $60,000 a year and thats at a public university which I can assure you Harvard is not… the private school I wanted to go to for med school for the 2009-2010 school year was COA = US$77,000 a year… which means I would graduate with roughly US$300,000 in debt… fun huh?</p>
<p>I mean I am not saying don’t go. I LOVED the time I spent at my US school it was friggin amazing and I am missing it soo badly right now but alot of kids here don’t seem to realize what american schools are actually like and how hard pre-med is.
You’re being weeded out over four years - your weeder classes NEVER end the kids are legit crazy and its hella hard.
Just know what you are getting yourself in to
and p.s. they only get crazier in med school
pm me if you have more questions
also for sydney-siders (and shameless plug here but I am currently unemployed) I tutor (including online and texting help anytime ) for the SATs I am more then happy to tell you my scores if you want to know them and they are posted here somewhere but I will tell you over PM .</p>
<p>oh and I’ll proof essays too :)</p>
<p>Hey Guys</p>
<p>Sydneysider here, just thought I’d check in. I’m currently in Year 12 in 2011, applying for admission in Fall 2012. Anybody here sitting the January SAT’s?</p>
<p>Hey bhaggy, good to see you. I’ll be applying for the Fall of 2012 as well. What schools are you looking at?</p>
<p>I’m in NSW so I have to do either HSC or IB. Does that mean the US university will just look at the predicted scores from this, or will I still need to calculate and submit my gpa?
My gpa will be bad since results don’t really matter here until yr 11 and 12.</p>
<p>@bhaggy I’m sitting January SATs too. are you doing it at queenswood or the macquarie testing centre?</p>
<p>@epicgee most college applications unless you are applying for ED or EA aren’t due until January 1 or around then… so you’ll have your UAI if you do HSC and I don’t know how IB works… whoops sorry ATAR…
They will also look at your predicted score. I would use your predicted ATAR actually as your GPA… like out of a 100 or 99.95 point scale. My careers counseller tried to estimate my GPA and it kinda screwed me. So either leave it blank and get them to write a letter with your predicted ATAR or yeah.
Schools know that its year 11 and 12 here, especially if you are applying to big schools.
Believe me my year 9 results were TERRIBLE because I missed a month of Term 3 cause of family issues and barely passed my yearlies. </p>
<p>on a side note they offer the SATs at Queenswood now? not fair.</p>
<p>Hey Aussies
It’s nice to know I’m not the only crazy Australian that wants to study overseas
I’m basically aiming for top-tier schools, mostly Ivy League, otherwise I’ll probably simply go to my local university, UWA.
I’m going into Year 12 now and after looking at American students post on CC, I feel like my stats are kinda underwhelming 
Can anyone shed any light on my chances?</p>
<p>Academics:
Predicted TER: 99.8+ (Hopefully 99.90 or 99.95)
Maths (94), Maths Specialist (87), Chem (96), Physics (96), Literature (83) and Comp Sci (94)
Finished Comp Sci in Year 11 (Accelerated) and topped state.
Won subject prizes in school for Physics, Literature and Comp Sci.
National Chemistry Quiz - Certificate of Excellence (100%)
Various National Maths Awards - High Distinctions
Full HS Scholarship (Private College)</p>
<p>ECs:
Robocup Junior National Champions, State Champions (3x)
Robotics Team Mentor (100+ Hours)
Interschool Debating Team
Interschool Chess Team
Various volunteer work with charities (connected to school)
Student Council House Captain</p>
<p>Also, any advice on what to do for improvement?
Thanks :)</p>
<p>@HighOracle: stats wise, you look competitive. But because of the holistic approach that colleges now apply when evaluating, I would say that you make sure you’ve displayed some form of passion. From what I can see, you have an interest in computers or something like that. So, in your essay you could elaborate on this passion and what not. Also, in you leadership roles, colleges are only interested in what you’ve contributed. Briefly, colleges are also looking for character.</p>