<p>Does O Level grades affect college admission? I did terribly for my O Levels with a string of Bs but I'm expecting straight As for my A Levels...</p>
<p>what subjects are you doing for As? They do look at your O's - quite carefully actually - but on the positive side, a string of B's is quite solid for O'Level. At least they aren't D's. :)</p>
<p>I did 7Os and am currently doing 3As... For my O Levels I had 6Bs and 1C (for my second language)! Well I'm doing a whole bunch of APs to make up for it. Thing is I wasn't that focused back when I was doing my Os, didn't even studied for them; I'm wondering whether this will hurt my chances of admission to top schools?</p>
<p>mmmm...it depends on where you are applying: if its Harvard, for example, the C might not be impressive, and no A's might make them wonder..., but then a slightly lower ranked top school (maybe Brown?) would consider it decent. It also depends on how your grades have improved, and how you've done your senior year. how are your grades compared to your US college-applying classmates? or people in your country(?)...are they average? below what most kids are getting? quite top for your school?</p>
<p>heh..well I failed my Higher Chinese (D7) and got a B on my Chinese so at least you're consistent.</p>
<p>three subjects is the least rigourous course load you can possibly have.. and that's not gonna help at all.</p>
<p>Is anyone applying with A-level scores, or are you taking them this year?</p>
<p>i'm taking them this year</p>
<p>"three subjects is the least rigourous course load you can possibly have.. and that's
not gonna help at all."</p>
<p>what are you talking about sixsixty!?! 3 Advanced Levels are quite a plateful. Its on par wtih taking the full IB or about 5 Advanced Placement tests in the States...right? 3 A-Levels might not be <em>the most</em> academically rigorous (I think 4 is considered the maximum), but it certainly isn't the "least rigorous course load you possibly have"... there are many people who do only two A level subjects, and a handful who do 1.</p>
<p>What kind of system are you studying under? If 3 subjects is the "least rigorous", then what do you consider a normal courseload? Are you sure you're talking about the Cambridge A-Levels????</p>
<p>gianievve>> I think I get what missixty is trying to say. Over here in my school, 3 A levels is considered the least rigorous courseload, while 4 A levels and 2 S Papers is the most rigorous. It's really subjective to each country and school.</p>
<p>Ah yes more fellow Singaporeans I see. On top of the A Levels, I'm gonna do a whole lot of APs (and a whole lot means at least 10 over the next two years) so hopefully that'll make up for EVERYTHING. You see when you screw up your O Levels, alot of privileges like taking 4As and 2S-Papers are taken away from you. I reckon Singapore's education system is one of the most cutthroat, most unforgiving, and most competitive system in the world...</p>
<p>Did you transfer to an international school after taking the O levels? Bs and Cs aren't bad, but if you're thinking of Harvard, then I suggest you rule that out real quick. </p>
<p>If you do decently for your A levels, then frankly I think you have a shot anywhere else. Especially if you've made a notable impact within your school.</p>
<p>APs aren't necessary in that case; just take the SATs, score decently and you should be set. :)</p>
<p>I'm gonna be self studying APs in NS; and I'm sitting for my A Levels this year, applying next year. Well Harvard's definately not in my list... I doubt I'm a strong candidate for Yale and Princeton too right? I'm aiming for the business schools in Cornell, Mcgill, UTexas-Austin and UVa... Wharton will be a dream but I think that's unachievable due to my subpar OLevel results...</p>
<p>Well, I agree that the Singapore education system isn't exactly the kindest. I'm not taking any S papers and I'm perfectly happy with things the way they are. The bottom line is, grades are just part of your whole package you present to any US uni. You making the effort to take APs will def. come across well; shows you have grit. And I think you are quite wrong about the O levels. My cousin had stats similar to yours, and he got into Stern (NYU) 2 years back. You might want to think about giving that a shot, or maybe even Ross (Umich) cos as far as I know, those 2 are pretty good business schools. And don't give up on Wharton. There's always postgrad. If you work hard it out in college, you'll have a shot. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.</p>
<p>well, over here in the UK, if you're aiming for reputable US university then 3 A-Levels is nothing spectacular. Most people who want the challenge take 4 and I have friends in schools where taking 5 A-Levels is not completely out of the ordinary.</p>
<p>hahahaha I didn't even know there was such thing as S papers.
In our school (new Zealand), we can only take 1 A level because it's considered really hard .. Well if people around the world's taking 5 A levels, it cant be that hard, right?
(btw, I dont take CIE so I don't know what I'm talking about).</p>
<p>i'm an international student studying at the ross sch of business at the u of michigan. for those of you who are interested in doing business, i can offer some advice to you guys. i too went thru the o and a level system so i have some experience there. will check back every once in awhile to see if there are any questions.</p>
<p>sin_87 - did you study Business Studies for your A's?</p>
<p>no i didn't actually. that's the thing about business/business administration, you don't need to have a background in it. however, it is advisable to have a great deal of interest in the field.</p>
<p>another singaporean here=) wamdue and nanaa, intro?=)</p>