<p>sarahcsm: the resume is very important and many students do not spend enough time on it. It is not just about listing all your activities and awards. It will be a component of the image of yourself that you want to portray to the adcom. Do you want to come across as the science whiz? Or do you want to portray yourself as the superstar athlete? Although debatable, I've received much advice to select and pick activities that you show the most depth in, complemented with breadth in other areas to show an individual who is focused, yet has enough exposure in many areas. Listing all the activities that one has ever participated in (sometimes) will not add, but instead subtract value from one's 'image'. You'll have to discern what to include on your resume and what not to.</p>
<p>these are not in anyway HYPS etc. but they are fine. Anyway you could transfer if you don't like being there. oh, and they're all private, because the tuition of an intl going to a private vs public college comes out roughly the same.</p>
<p>the list:
Santa Clara University; in Silicon Valley
Claremont Colleges; Group of colleges in Pasadena area in Southern California
Loyola Marymount University; Located near the beach in Los Angeles
Occidental College
University of San Francisco</p>
<p>I applied to Occidental and USF. I wanted to apply to one of the Claremont Colleges but I missed the deadline. </p>
<p>LMU has a really beautiful campus, I heard. You should probably look into some of the SAT-optional colleges. I applied to College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts which is SAT optional (I didn't send my scores in).</p>
<p>Whatever you do for your ECs, they want to see passion. If your ECs are all in the arts and you want to study science they don't care. It is a fact that most college students change their major at least once in the course of 4 years. Most students who start pre-med end up not doing pre-med because organic chemistry killed them. So, you know, it doesn't matter what you do, it's the passion they want.</p>
<p>do note something about some SAT optional institutions. Certain SAT optional institutions insist on the SAT I for consideration for merit scholarships and need-based financial aid for internationals specifically so do enquire with the respective colleges. Some colleges also allow students (internationals in particular) to send their SAT II scores in lieu of SAT I but some colleges do not state this option on their websites so you'll have to specifically email the colleges to enquire.</p>
<p>thanks!! Actually, I've hoped to enter an ivy league for a long time, but, most of them require SAT Subject Tests, which i have yet to take. Also, it costs quite a lot, and it would be wasted if I don't enter those colleges which require them. I've heard about some financial help from MACEE for university applications and SAT fees. Are they still offering them?</p>
<p>sarah: Definitely take SAT II. There is quite a bit of hearsay that certain ivies give more weight to SAT II compared to SAT I in making their admission decisions. There is some form of financial help from MACEE in the form of the opportunity initiative grant. However, funding has been frozen for an indefinite period due to administrative changes and bureaucracy. But do take the SAT II, it is not extremely expensive and definitely an investment.</p>
<p>Another one born in 1990 :) I'm in my final year of A levels at school and now I'm just waiting to hear from my five universities. Like a lot of you, I'm from KL too. :D</p>
<p>thanks for the advice txj! I think I might be taking the SAT II, but i'll have to see how i do in the SAT I. If my SAT I's really horrible, I don't think there'll be any point in taking SAT II right? I wish some ivies would just waive the TOEFL, that's another necessary test? I know some colleges don't need the TOEFL, but most good ones do. </p>
<p>HELP: I still haven't gotten my Mid-year/ trials transcript, and i need to submit it very soon. How do we go about doing that? I heard we need some sort of translation and conversion of GPA?? Also, do colleges want mid-year or trials? How do we make it official, etc.?</p>
<p>As for teacher recommendation, should I do it online or print it out and send it? How should the online recommendation be done? </p>
<p>Thank you so much! All of you have been EXTREMELY helpful!! Really appreciate that =)</p>
<p>Thanks alot for the advice on Nott Malaysia! I wish you all the best of luck!</p>
<p>sarah: if you think you did badly for the SAT I, even more you should take the SAT II and study hard for it. Great scores in the SAT II will show that you are academically strong and may have slipped up in the SAT I due to the language barrier. The TOEFL requirement can usually be waived for CR scores of 670 and above. Certain colleges' even waive TOEFL for internationals with a SAT I CR score of 550. </p>
<p>On your midyear report, many students who have done pre-U or equivalent listed their final pre-U scores in the midyear report and their SPM/O-levels scores in the Secondary School Report. They also attached a supplement letter to explain why the forms were filled in that way. For translations of the transcripts, include the untranslated versions as well (some colleges insist on the untranslated versions). You could translate it yourself and get it certified true by your high school guidance counselor. If your school does not produce an official transcript, you could ask for a letterhead to print one out yourself and get it certified true by at least two administrative staff (just to be safe). GPA doesn't have to be converted but you can convert it to a 4.0 scale stating how you converted it (i.e. A+-4.0 A-3.75 etc.). There's an international supplement to the secondary school form which you could use as well so you wouldn't have to convert your grades. However, make sure your guidance counselor details the grade boundaries in the form. If you do not have your final results at the time of application, you could use the midyear report to detail your forecast results and send in a final year report in march to detail your actual results.</p>
<p>For the teacher recommendations, if you are sending your application online then it's best to send the teacher recommendations online. If you are sending the recommendations by mail then just make sure that the envelope is sealed and that the recommendations are not in the same envelope with your application. </p>
<p>All the best with your application!</p>
<p>okay, i think i'm supposed to know this, but do the mid-year report and secondary school report have to be sent by mail? For GPA, you mean I total the results like (4+3.75+4/3)? By translating, you mean I just type out the subjects and whatever else in the cert in English? Also, what do you mean by detailing the grade boundaries? Thanks for the swift reply!!!</p>
<p>sarah: you can also send your mid year reports & secondary school reports electronically. whichever your counselor prefers. (my MYR was sent by mail and SSR was sent online through the common app site) for the GPA, that's the way to calculate it. because malaysian system doesn't do GPA so if you DO convert please tell them on a separate letter how you converted your GPA. orrrr you could just slash the whole thing and put 'not applicable' (which was what i did) because converting it to GPA would sorta misrepresent our whole malaysian education system... as for detailing the grade boundaries, there's this part in the international supplement where you'll have to tell them what the range for an A is, B, C, D and so on. it'll probably be something like this: A1 = 80 - 100, A2 = 70 - 79, B3 = 65 - 69 ...</p>
<p>when you translate your certs (only important ones), just type everything in english in the same format/order as the original one. and get it certified + signed. that's all. hope this helps</p>
<p>sarah: While the details are a little long to type here, here's a link to some great advice Lim Su Ann has compiled.
quaintly.net</a> » Pinkpau’s Guide to US College Applications, Part 1<br>
On the translation, you could scan your transcripts into the computer and translate the necessary by putting text boxes over the text to be translated. Alternatively, you could type everything neatly in your own document and print it out using the school's letterhead.
For the grade boundaries, get your counselor to fill in A: 90-100, B: 80-90 etc. Note that your counselor is the person who is supposed to fill in forms like the Secondary School report, Midyear report, International School Supplement and Final Year report.</p>
<p>I am currently in Form 5 and will be sitting for my SPM at end 2009. I am interested in applying for admission to US universities in for admission in Fall 2010. However, when I make my application in December 2009, I would not have my SPM results yet. Am I eligible to make the application?</p>
<p>CWH: It's perfectly fine to send your mid-year school report and final year report after the application deadlines in December 2009/January 2010; most international students do. Just remember to include your SPM trial results and other substantial academic transcripts with your main application in December 2009, and indicate that you'll be sending in your SPM results in March 2010. However, if you're aiming for HYPS and other top schools, I strongly encourage to apply after you complete your pre-u education, unless you're an amazing student with superb achievements (invented a patented product, published an award-winning novel etc).</p>
<p>thank you so much yeejietang and txj! The explanation and links were VERY helpful =) I'll most probably start doing all those paper work in a week or two from now! =)
I've gotten my SATs, and yes, they were horrible :|
CR-580, Writing-570, Math-700</p>
<p>I think i'll be retaking them.</p>
<p>CWH: I applied before my SPM results were out. I sent in forecast results (because at that time my trial results weren't out yet) and transcripts from form 2 - 5. I don't know if you will encounter this problem but I find that most high school teachers aren't used to writing recommendations for their students. I gave my teachers a guideline I got from the internet to help them. Oh, and I find that the Common Application is not very international-student friendly. I would advise you to, if you can, use the college's own application.</p>
<p>sarah: it depends on what college are you aiming for. obviously if you're aiming for an ivy they are low but definitely not horrible. i think CC awfully distorts the view of a normal SAT score for us. you should try Barron's 2400 SAT workbook; I raised my overall score by about 200 (I think) the second time I took it.</p>
<p>xfiona:
Well, I'm not aiming for an ivy in particular, but I depend heavily on scholarships. I heard most of the scholarships are based on SAT scores (eg. Presidential Scholarship?). I've also heard of those merit scholarships and financial aid, but of course, it would be an added advantage. Thanks for the recommendation (Barron), i'll try them =) Do you think memorizing vocabulary helps? I heard we are encouraged to use them especially in the essays. </p>
<p>As for the transcripts, i actually lost my PMR trial results. If i send in my real PMR results, would that be alright? Also, if you don't mind me asking, what was the guideline you got from the internet? My teachers hardly ever write and ask us to write them ourselves, which, I think is quite unreasonable. </p>
<p>I would definitely try to enter an ivy league, or one of the better and quality LACs. That's why I think I've got to retake the SATs and take the SAT subject tests as well =).</p>
<p>xfiona:
Well, I'm not aiming for an ivy in particular, but I depend heavily on scholarships. I heard most of the scholarships are based on SAT scores (eg. Presidential Scholarship?). I've also heard of those merit scholarships and financial aid, but of course, it would be an added advantage. Thanks for the recommendation (Barron), i'll try them =) Do you think memorizing vocabulary helps? I heard we are encouraged to use them especially in the essays. </p>
<p>As for the transcripts, i actually lost my PMR trial results. If i send in my real PMR results, would that be alright? Also, if you don't mind me asking, what was the guideline you got from the internet? My teachers hardly ever write and ask us to write them ourselves, which, I think is quite unreasonable. </p>
<p>I would definitely try to enter an ivy league, or one of the better and quality LACs. That's why I think I've got to retake the SATs and take the SAT subject tests as well =).</p>
<p>sarahcsm:</p>
<p>The SAT critical reading section used to be very vocabulary-centric, but no longer so. I'd say that reading a lot, having a good command of the English language, and paying attention to the meaning of the passages will help you score in that section much, much more than trying to cram a fixed list of new words.</p>
<p>Also, don't deliberately use new or bombastic words in your essay. Just write whatever comes to your mind and whatever you feel you need to express. Write to communicate, not to impress.</p>
<p>As for PMR results, I personally think that they're redundant (I didn't bother to send in my 8A transcript). The main exam results that they would look for would be SATs and pre-u results. SPM results hardly carry any weight as well but if you want to include that, do remember to attach a translated copy. </p>
<p>As for teachers' recommendation letters, most Malaysian teachers aren't keen on writing recommendation and/or don't really know what to write. There's no format/general guideline (since the content will vary from student to student), but you can suggest to your teacher to concentrate on a few specific things such as your background and how it has contributed to making you the person that you are today, how you have made a difference in the school, moving descriptions of the efforts you gave for a cause/community service initiative, your leadership qualities and how you connect and work with other students in school, the sacrifices you made for a co-curricular activity, and anything you feel that you woudl like your teacher to touch on. Recommendation letters are a great way of flaunting your talents and strengths without sounding like you're bragging, so do make good use of it.</p>
<p>Good luck in SATs.</p>
<p>Any likely letters??</p>