<p>Congratulations schrodingerscat! That’s very impressive. What other schools did you get into? You must be sooo excited right?</p>
<p>Harvard and Princeton 
Excited but nervous - only when you’re in this position do you realise how much you have to lose by moving, but also how much you have to gain (:</p>
<p>Hey Guys! </p>
<p>I’m currently in year ten and thankfully getting straight A’s but grade 9 I barely passed (god it was bad). </p>
<p>Is this going to effect my chances of getting into NYU? (I know that sounds really dumb but I’m loosing sleep over it!)</p>
<p>also I was given the opportunity to decide if I’d like to do IB in grade 11 and 12, is this going to help me get into NYU or should I just stick to the ACT Government plan (I live in Canberra)?
And If I do the IB which classes should I be taking?</p>
<p>wow sorry that’s a lot of questions, I’m just very confused. 
your help would be so appreciated :)</p>
<p>Don’t lose sleep over Grade 9. They count 10, 11 and 12. I don’t think it really matters which course you do, as long as you do it well. I did the HSC.</p>
<p>If IB is offered at your school, I think you should definitely do it. US colleges like to see applicants attempt the “most rigorous workload” available at their schools.
Don’t worry too much about your year 9 grades. Like what Emeralds said, year 9 grades do not matter as much as year 10,11,12 grades. What’s done is done; you can’t do much about it. Also, remember that unlike Australian universities, US colleges don’t only look at your grades. Factors like your personality and extracurricular matter as well.</p>
<p>@subaahx: you should definitely heed to what nadalle and Emeralds have said. I agree with alot of what they said. It’s great that you are experiencing an upward trend in your grade. That’s a real plus! In addition, one advantage to taking IB over the ACT government plan is that you’ll receive a holistic education, which means to say that other factors such as community service (i.e. CAS), a research paper, and a philosophy class, contribute to the award of your Diploma. This should give you the upper hand when it comes time to apply to NYU, to which you shouldn’t have a tremendous problem getting into. BTW, have you considered some upper-tier schools?</p>
<p>I also want to add that I actually didn’t submit my year 9 grades to the colleges I applied to because I changed school in year 10 and my old school told me they don’t have copies of my grades…
In retrospect, I probably should have contacted those colleges because they might have taken my the lack of explanation as a lack of interest. (but considering how crappy my Stanford essay was, I don’t think I would have gotten in even if I had done that…)
Anyway, my point is, I managed to get into 2 of my top four colleges (MIT and UPenn) without my year 9 grades. That says a lot about how important they are. =)</p>
<p>Oh sorry guys for the late response (busy with school)</p>
<p>thanks so much for your feedback, its’ just because here in the ACT we receive a year 10 certificate once we graduate Grade 10 which includes both grade 9 and 10 results. So I assume that they will ask for these results?</p>
<p>@IBAustralia NYU has always been the dream and upper-tier schools seem like such a reach, I don’t know NYU just seems more accessible, if that makes any sense? </p>
<p>Also, Do you guys know what kinds of extra curriculars I should be doing and how many?
I’ve noticed that everyone from the US on CC seem to have an ENORMOUS amount of Extra Curriculars, It’s freaking me out!
Thanks a bunch!</p>
<p>There is no need to send in your Year 10 certificate. Your high school diploma is important. Sorry, not sure what the ACT equivalent is haha! We don’t know your stats so we don’t know if you can get into NYU. If it’s the dream, go for it! But don’t put your eggs in one basket. Have you decided what you want to do in college? Try not to get too caught up by prestige and rankings. Consider your major! </p>
<p>Again, for extra curriculars, focus on activities which will emphasise your dedication to the area you’re interested in. Colleges are more interested in seeing a concentration in an area than a whole bunch of random ECs. Oh just saw you’re a Drama applicant! Definitely check out the Theatre forum! It was so helpful for me as I’m a Theatre major too (design)! And now I REALLY want to emphasise to focus on schools which are MAJOR specific. Tisch is extremely competitive. I was going to apply but didn’t in the end, not because I didn’t think I would have a chance but because it wasn’t the right school for me. I was admitted to all schools that I applied to, all very highly regarded theatre schools in the US.</p>
<p>By the way, I would advise to everyone, don’t apply to a school which you won’t attend if it’s the only school which accepts you. You’ll just end up being disappointed.</p>
<p>Feel free to PM me if you want to know more.</p>
<p>Also! As an international student, your financial situation is different. Everyone, PLEASE make sure you consider your financial situation when you are choosing your colleges!!!</p>
<p>@subaahx- NYU is a very expensive school, which is notorious for being stingy with financial aid for US applicants. Please check on how they stand towards financial help for international students. If they offer any at all, I imagine it is a miniscule amount.</p>
<p>I agree with the things Emeralds said. Also, if u are determined to study in the US (like I was), you should think about applying to some “safeties”- colleges that you will most likely get into.
Also, when I say year 9 grades don’t matter as much, I don’t mean they are not required. I think most colleges require the grades in your transcript. </p>
<p>I remember worrying about extracurricular when I was in your position a few years ago as well. In the US, particuarly on CC, there is an enormous pressure to do as many extracurricuar activities as you can, but there really isn’t a magical number of activities or a particular set of activities that will get you into college. The most important thing is to do things that you LOVE- The admission officers are really good at sensing whether the applicants are doing the activities just to fill their resume. It is the quality, not the quantity, that matters.</p>
<p>hello prefrosh and to-be prefrosh! just letting you know, if any of you out there have a US passport / green card, it is SIGNIFICANTLY easier to get in without spectacular ECs. granted, you have to have a decent academic record, but schools especially like MIT have it on the easy side for US citizens and permanent residents. (i ain’t one myself) if you prefrosh have any further questions, feel free to ask me generally i find that australian admits (NOT US citizens, but those admitted purely on academic etc. basis from here, NOT fancy hook ECs eg. music performance, rowers, etc.) have at least an SAT I of 2250+ (if so, complemented by 800s in SAT IIs) - but most border around the low 2300s. and yes, colleges require all four years of reports - 9 to 12. but they don’t really care about year 9 so long as you show a definite upward trend. hope it helped.</p>
<p>Thanks taralee for your input. It’s greatly appreciated. If I may ask, what college do you attend?</p>
<p>Got my SAT scores, not so great:</p>
<p>640 CR 730 W 800 M => 2170</p>
<p>On the up side, I got into the Australian team for the Chem Olympiad…is that enough to offset my mediocre SAT?</p>
<p>Hmm sanga50 I think it’s probably worth trying to bring your CR into the 700s.
640 is well below the average score for top US colleges (I assume that’s where you are aiming) or for merit based financial aid. Getting into the Australian team for the Chem Olympiad is great, it’s just that standardized scores form a reasonable part of the admissions process, and when you’re competing against students with 2400s, you don’t really want your SATs to stand out. That being said, if it’s not possible to resit the SAT for whatever reason, there are plenty of top candidates that are accepted with less than average SATs because they have really interesting profiles, so don’t worry too much.</p>
<p>Hey everyone!</p>
<p>Another sydneysider here! I was wondering what people were going to do about applications. i.e. applying early or regular decision. Since the regular decision results only come out in April, are most people taking a gap year?</p>
<p>Well my plan is to just go to my local university (UWA) and start a degree there. If I get accepted in April I won’t have lost that much time, if not I will just continue with my degree. I’m not really clued in on the EA process, but I think that I’ll probably need to focus on my studies during the end of the year anyway so I doubt I’ll be able to get my applications ready in time for it. I think EA seems to attract more “hooked” students - athletics and legacy.</p>
<p>Chloe, I was accepted with early action so knew that I would not be attending school in Australia. Actually, I did not even apply to any schools in Australia because I was certain I was going to school in the US (I was intending on applying to schools with rolling admissions). At the moment I’m studying abroad which is great because I’ve had a built in gap year. However my other friend decided to go to uni in Sydney anyway. But you need to be very careful as if you do get in to college, you need to drop out of uni as soon as possible! If you don’t, after a certain period your classes will start counting and you may considered as a transfer student.</p>
<p>I’m finishing my 1st semester of my degree here (I’m pretty sure you don’t get counted as a transfer until you’ve done at least one year), and then I’m heading to the states. It’s common for people to do one semester before going…</p>
<p>really? cus i went to the US at the start of this year and I visited a few universities and i asked them about this issue and they said that as soon as you take a course at a different uni, you are counted as a transfer student. Well it’s ok for me, since i’m taking a gap year anyway - but just a heads up</p>