Need help on pretty much everything! =/

<p>So I'm in a pretty interesting predicament. It require a bit of my background, so here goes:</p>

<p>I'm a US citizen, but moved to New Zealand when I was fairly young (well to a number of places, but brought up mostly in NZ). I'm 16 years old, turning 17 this year, which puts me as a year 12 in my high school. In NZ, high school starts from year 9 to year 13 (five years as opposed to four). I guess if I were in the US I'd be considered either a junior or senior, but I'm not really sure.</p>

<p>There are no AP, Honors, or any sorts of classes like that in my school, or any school in NZ that I am aware of. My school is a fairly well known public school, but like most NZ schools, there are no rankings or anything like that. Some classes are 'streamed', but fairly minimally. For example, last year I was in the Math Extension class (the top math class of our year). There are three math classes - Math ext., regular math, and achievement math which is basically for those who struggle. Otherwise, all classes are random, no option to take a more difficult course. Science is also not split up into different sciences until year 12, and math not until year 13.</p>

<p>This year, as stated before, I'm going on in my 12th year. Last year, the subjects I took were: English, Maths, Science, Music, Chinese, and Art. It wasn't really until last year that I started to really become interested in universities/colleges. We always had it in the back of our heads that I would someday come back to the US (probably California) to study. The one university I always had in mind was UC Berkeley, but obviously I'd look into other universities too.</p>

<p>I plan to come to the US either next year or the year after and sit the SATs. I'd either go to do my last year of high school and a year of junior college, or two years of junior college (probably just so I can reattain my California residency). I would stay with my godparents, and I'm pretty sure I'm okay with the whole residency thing. </p>

<p>I know about the A-G subjects, and GPA and all that sort of thing. (GPA isn't calculated in highschool in NZ). The subjects I've chosen for this year are English, Maths, Chemistry, Physics, History, and Music/Chinese. (Can't pick between the two?)</p>

<p>My grades are fairly okay, I get mostly Es and sometimes Ms (basically As and sometimes Bs but the grading here is different). I recently got my NCEA level 1 results back (first serious exams in high school) and passed with excellence (highest). To be honest I could have done a lot better (slacked off in the first bit of the year). I'm not sure how to translate my results as the grading is very different, but in the exams I basically got 25 As, 9 Bs, and 2 Cs. (Yeah.... I know =/) Compared to the rest of my school I'm definitely up at the top (a lot of slackers but a fair amount of high achievers too). I know I can do a lot better than what I did, as me not really taking school seriously at the time, failed to study for a lot of things.</p>

<p>As for ECs (i've done many, but here are some off the top of my head):
Piano - This year will be my 11th year of learning piano. I'm currently preparing for my ABRSM grade 8 exam, which is a British qualification. Grade 8 is the highest level apart from the 'letters' which are diploma level.</p>

<p>Speech and Drama - Achieved last year with Honors, highest grade. Have done for two years</p>

<p>Chinese Club - 1 year</p>

<p>Student Council - Was in this last year and in my first year of college. Have also been a part of some leadership activities due to my involvement</p>

<p>Debating - Been doing this for three years. For the first year our team won, I'm constantly ranked as the '1st speaker' for each debate (never not).</p>

<p>Various Speech Competitions - 1st place last year, and in year 7... don't enter consistently though</p>

<p>Badminton - non competitive, social sport. Have also done swimming and netball in the past. Starting up tennis this year, and probably netball again, and probably others too.</p>

<p>Part time job: about ten hours a week, hoping for more in order to save up for university. Also have done some babysitting in the past.</p>

<p>Duke of Edinborough: Currently finishing my bronze level (look it up?)</p>

<p>Achievements: Nothing in particular.. not much is offered. I've been a finalist for some short story competitions, won some speech competitions, achieved highly for piano, English, Science, and Math, etc. Nothing really 'amazing'.</p>

<p>Strengths: English for sure, my best subject and I do consistently well (straight E/As). Also music, Chinese, and Science (though unsure how I'll do this year when they split up). In these subjects I expect straight As (though this year I got 1 B in Science). Um, also things like public speaking, presentation, leadership sorts of things. </p>

<p>My history (not grades) might be interesting? I don't know anyone else in my situation. I have a few things I could talk about in a potential essay, but nothing major. (Little moments)</p>

<p>Weaknesses: Maths. i definitely don't struggle (As and Bs) but I really suffer if I have a a teacher I don't like (last year, for example). This year however, I'm determined not to let that bother me, and I'm unlikely to take any course in University related to Maths (except medicine, though that's improbable). I don't do consistently well in Art either (As and Bs) but not taking it this year so that's not a problem.</p>

<p>Other things?: Asian, female... don't know what 'generation' I am. My dad and grandmother on my dad's side went to university, on my mum's side, I would be the first. </p>

<p>My questions are:
1. Would it be better to take music or Chinese? What would look better/be more helpful? I'm interested in both and enjoy both so it's not a problem. Also, would it be wise to take subjects according to the A-G subjects? That's probably why I'm taking history (though I do have a keen interest in history).</p>

<ol>
<li><p>I'm really interested in participating in some more ECs... would it make any difference if I did some volunteer work, even if it were only for a year? I'm also planning on joining the school magazine, tutoring, and getting more involved with my school this year. What other ECs would you suggest?</p></li>
<li><p>I haven't really tried very hard in high school for the past three years... I've gotten good grades but mainly because it comes fairly easily to me. I've won some distinctions from my school in the past but other than that... Will this affect me? Compared to some other people I've seen posting, my history doesn't seem so great. Do universities look at your whole high school years, or just your junior/senior ones? </p></li>
<li><p>When they ask for your GPA, is that just your junior or senior year (or both) or all of your high school years?</p></li>
<li><p>As I've done fairly well in the past three years but not 'amazing', if I really step up this year, will that make a difference? Basically, I'm worried that my last three years will really let me down.</p></li>
<li><p>Is it wise doing a year or two in junior college? Or is it better just to say, do my last year of high school and then try and study in the next year with courses, or something?</p></li>
<li><p>What other universities would be good to look into? I've looked at UC in general (especially Berkeley, and LA), Stanford, and Princeton (mostly looking at acceptance rates). They seem pretty hard to get into... would it be very improbable for someone like me to get into them? As for courses I want to take, I'm unsure... right now, the ideas I have are law, journalism, film, music, maybe medicine (but not sure). </p></li>
<li><p>Anything else you may suggest =/ Especially leadership/volunteer ideas? (not readily available here).</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Thanks for reading this... it's long, sorry about that! I have a feeling I may have forgotten some crucial information... feel free to ask any thing more. </p>

<p>By the way, sorry if I've posted this in the wrong place or have confused you all... heh.</p>

<p>By the way, if I decide to do music instead of Chinese, I will probably study Chinese at this school on weekends or learn by myself. I am also seriously considering asking my teacher if I’d be able to do scholarship Music a year early… but we’ll see =/</p>

<p>Hmm… Bump</p>

<p>Any opinion would be appreciated, even if you don’t really know. I have tried contacting UC, but they just redirected me elsewhere. Especially since I don’t live in the US (presently) it’s hard to contact them.</p>

<p>Try asking on the international students forum here and on the UC boards. I doubt that many people on this board know the answers to your unusual questions, which have to do with concerns that usually only internationals would encounter.</p>

<p>You’re also asking too many questions for one post, and your initial post was too long. Most people aren’t going to bother to read such a long post.</p>

<p>The one thing I can give advice on is ECs: Very few colleges in the U.S. use ECs for admissions decisions. At most, colleges will use ECs for merit aid consideration. The few colleges that consider ECs for admissions are ones like Harvard, Stanford, Amherst that have such an overabundance of high stat applicants that the colleges can pick and choose from among their high stat applicants the ones who’ll most contribute to an active, well rounded student body. Otherwise, ECs usually don’t matter.</p>

<p>I realised I was asking a lot, but I couldn’t really narrow it down. Just thinking about all the colleges is really nerve wracking…
Also, basically no one at my school (guidance counsellors, career advisors, etc) knows anything about US universities. </p>

<p>But thanks very much for your opinion, I’ll try asking on the other boards and narrow it down a bit!</p>