<p>Right now I'm a grade 12 high school kid and I'm applying for freshman right now.
My SAT score is worse than the majorities here, i.e. 1870(1300 in a 1600 scale), but given that I'm an intl. student and that I'll be ok in my International Baccalaureate Diploma score (38/45, 4.0 weighted GPA in US system though my school does not compute GPA), I think I'll get into the top 30-50s national universities. </p>
<p>My current universities I'm applying as freshman for Fall 2010 are UCLA, UC San Diego, UC Davis, University of Wisconsin-Madison just to name a few.
"Engineering - undecided" is my desired major. </p>
<p>However, I would eventually want to end up in some top schools before graduating in university e.g. Cornell, Stanford, Carnegie Mellon, U Illinois etc...
So I decided that I'll work hard in college and apply as transfer during my second year(starting on a new school in the third year). </p>
<p>But since I would like to "erase" my past record of merely "satisfactory" SAT scores, should I take the ACTs(I never take them before) or GREs or GMATs so that I don't need to submit my "satisfactory" SAT scores to these transfer colleges?</p>
<p>Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>Just a lil bit of personal info:
I'm a UK citizen studying high school in Hong Kong.
Ethnicity: Asian</p>
<p>GRE and GMAT do NOT equal the SAT or ACT. Either in this Universe or the next one. They’re geared towards learners at different stages of education. </p>
<p>If you did poorly on the SAT, you won’t do much better on the GRE, considering the GRE is the SAT on steroids. </p>
<p>Wait… has the GRE changed or something? It’s not that hard at all. The math was basically algebra, and the verbal just required memorizing words, but nothing intense. I don’t understand why people here are saying it’s so hard.</p>
<p>I don’t think the GRE is relevant at all for undergraduate admissions, performance on it notwithstanding.</p>
<p>I was just trying to point out that the OP said themselves that they did poorly on the SAT, and since they’re similar, there was not much chance of them doing significantly better on the GRE.</p>
<p>thanks for the replies
yes I did prepare my SATs in December 2009 poorly considering that I have not much time (several days) to prepare for them. </p>
<p>Should I intensively revise for my ACT(incl. my writing) during summer and take it in September 2010 after I’ve started college for a few days?
Or should I take the ACTs before summer (before graduation of high school)?</p>
<p>The fact that you will have earned an IB upon graduating high school will be a very nice thing for University admissions. </p>
<p>I agree with the posters who are trying to guide you towards the ACT. The ACT is a more well rounded test and your going for the IB will help you earn a very nice score on it for sure. Just prepare well and study.</p>
<p>The GRE as well as the MAT are only for graduate school admissions and you really have no reason to think in terms of taking either one of those tests yet at all.</p>
<p>Well you can apply to a top Engineering program like Purdue and not transfer which is ranked the same as Cornell and has international recognition too…</p>
<p>When you transfer your junior year, they will not look at your high school grades. They will be focused on your grades during your two years in college.</p>
<p>If the school asks for a high school transcript (other than for the purposes of assuming you graduated), it doesn’t matter whether you’re a junior or sophomore transfer. It will be evaluated. However, for junior transfers, the evaluation will carry less weight. The high school GPA, though, is never nullified.</p>
<p>thanks once again.
Sorry to drift away from the topic but I would like to know more about my chances to apply for undergraduate freshman. </p>
<p>As said at top my SAT score is 1870 (V580 M720 W570)
and U Wisconsin-Madison says that the mid-50% scores of admitted freshman applicants last year is 1830(V540 M620 W570)–1980(V670 M730 W670).
Providing that I will receive an IB Diploma, will it still be too “tight” for admission (i.e. chances are low)?
When reviewing upon international applicants, Do US colleges generally look more on my IB Diploma or my SAT scores, as compared to domestic (U.S.) applicant?</p>
<p>Also, I’m going to apply for University of Washington-Seattle engineering(undecided) as well. I’ve checked on their website and it shows that I’ve just slightly exceeded their mid 50% range scores. Does this mean that I’ll have a solid chance to get into this college?</p>
<p>You should focus on private schools. Public schools for international students usually end up being more expensive than private schools of the same caliber, and they give less financial aid to international students than the private schools.</p>
<p>Mid-50% means that half of the successful applicants have SAT scores in that range. Other 25% have scores above that range, and another 25% have scores below that range. If you have SAT scores within mid-50% range, it only means that you will be a competitive candidate, but it doesn’t say anything about your chances, as your chances depend on the admission rates within any particular bracket.</p>
<p>If you want to attend a good school, your best bet is to do the following. 1) enroll in a school that will give you financial aid. 2) study hard to achieve 3.8+ GPA. 3) take ACT in the Fall semester of your sophomore year and get 32+. 4) apply to top schools submitting your ACT but not SAT.</p>
<p>thanks for your kind advice.
However, I have a little bit of questions regarding to the choice of public vs. private colleges.
For international students like me, the annual tuition fees for public universities I’m applying are in the range of $25K-$26K (exclude UCs).
By contrast, the fees for private unis are usually at the range of $36-38K.
Also, I think I’m not going to apply for any form of financial assistance since I have some private finance. </p>
<p>Not to offend you, but would you mind to explain a lil clearer that the fees for public unis are higher?
Also, I would like to know, will the application for financial assistance dramatically decrease my chances for admission?</p>