<p>Medicine is quite demanding in the U.S. with doctors finishing up around 30+, whereas under the British system, you can be a doctor around 24. Most of the top colleges offer pre-med courses (you have to do a lot of science courses), but since you are already a graduate, they won’t typically accept you. If you are a graduate, the best route is to do a science masters e.g., MSc in Chemical Engineering and then apply to med school.</p>
<p>@TAHUNGANH UCB has a huge student population, but the college of chemistry has 800 people for 3 degrees (chemical eng, chemistry, chemical biology), so some classes should be pretty small… which should be good =D</p>
<p>Hey everyone,</p>
<p>So glad I found this sg thread! Anyway, wanted to ask: if my sec 3 (ie high school freshman) grades & gpa & ccas were pretty much abysmal, will it be taken into consideration and affect my college application? I’m in sec 4 this year and have just recently made it a point to aim for HYPSM. I’m really trying to boost my extracurriculars this year and from now on, as well as aiming for 7A1s and probably an A2 for Chinese. I know the more selective colleges take into account your academic portfolio for the whole of your HS career, so I was wondering how much they’d take into consideration truly bad freshman scores. I don’t think it’d even pass as 3.0 gpa kind. I totally wish I’d made up my mind earlier. Geez. Hope I’m not too late. Oh, and thanks in advance! :)</p>
<p>^how much they will affect your application probably depends on whether whatever you do from now on is able to boost the overall picture of you-- you could definitely compensate with great O’level/J1/J2 grades. and somehow, i think JC (or poly) grades are still more important, since they present a more ‘current’ indication of your academic performance and attitude. Although then again, i had pretty mediocre JC grades (definitely NOWHERE near 3.0 lol) and still managed to get into a fairly competitive school where American applicants were all getting GPAs above 3.8… just work very hard and get involved in things and not worry about the consequences :)</p>
<p>SINGAPOREANS!</p>
<p>Just introducing myself, I go to SAS and was admitted to Stanford '15 :)</p>
<p>HYPSM is basically a crap-shoot for every Singaporean, unless you have cured cancer/won an Olympics medal etc - then you’re sure in =P</p>
<p>Work on your academics and make sure it’s at least on par with your contemporaries, then ensure you’ve something really unique that will impress the adcom, e.g. CCA/Academic competitions et cetera. </p>
<p>Then keep your fingers crossed every morning from 1 Jan to 31 Mar. Ha, it’s never too late :)</p>
<p>Hello guys, this is my first time posting here and I have three questions.</p>
<p>1.)Basically, I have received admission to Berkeley’s College of Letters & Sciences. Under the conditions of admission it is stated: “Complete all final-year courses listed on your application (including any external examinations) with an overall unweighted B average for each term and no grade lower than a C. Immediately notify us, in writing”. However, I got AAABD for my A levels (the D was for Economics). I am worried whether this will cause my admissions to be revoked.</p>
<p>2.Also, when I was actually applying, I was required to key in my grades myself (self-reported academic record). However, the online form only allowed me to enter grades under an American system, they only have grades A,B,C,D,F. However, I got CESSS for my promos and I entered them as CDDDD and I got BCEEE for my prelims and entered them as BCCDD. Is this ok?</p>
<p>3.Lastly, I want to transfer into the College of Engineering afterwards. Any tips on how to do this? Thank you very much for taking the time to read this guys. </p>
<p>P.S To everyone from the Class of 2015, have any one of you heard Michigan-AnnArbor yet?</p>
<p>Hi Eagle,</p>
<p>1) probably not since it’s only 1 subject but no guarantee. When you notify them in writing (email counts), you can also try to explain away the D grade, either with your other prelim/promo results OR by explaining the difference in grading systems. (see below)</p>
<p>2) I think i made some adjustments when i did my self-reported academic grades as well, which was hell, GPA/ABCDESF to ABCDF. If you wiki their grading system, you’ll realize that F is considered fail and is equivalent to our “F” grade. So for our ABCDES we have their ABCD, so I think it’s safe to put E and S under “D” grade, since it is obviously not “F”. Similarly, your D for econs in A’ levels may not necessarily be a “D” in their system. </p>
<p>The UC admissions officers should be familiar with the A’ level system though and you can simply ask them what our ABCDESF corresponds to in their ABCDF. But the bottom line is you have to tell them everything, and try your best to explain your grades in your favor. </p>
<p>3) You certainly can, I’m not sure how, i think there are some threads in the Berkeley college sub-forum that explains how to do so. But do note that if you are attempting to transfer to either an impacted major or a more academically inclined college, you may be rejected.</p>
<p>Last of all, Michigan is a good engineering school. That’s all i know lol.</p>
<p>Eagle1992,</p>
<p>1) I knew one who had her offer rescinded last year because of 1 A-level subject not meeting the criterion. Make sure you explain your situation well; if possible, ask your tutor to back you up.</p>
<p>I got friends who have heard from Ann Arbor in the months of Mar and Apr. However, do not be too pessimistic about your chances as there were cases last year where Singapore applicants were notified of their admission only in May.</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies, chinnmeiser & germatory. I feel better. For the lesser part, but still!</p>
<p>Anyway, another question: I’m planning to take SATs for several subjects that I self studied. Will I be at a disadvantage as compared to people who have studied them as curriculum mandated subjects THEN subsequently took the SATs for them? As in when it’s shown on the collegeapp because it’ll state that they have studied it in their school for however levels and such, whereas I have no record of official education on that subject because it was never in my school courseload. Of course, actual results of the tests aside, will it be discriminatory towards academic record-less apps?</p>
<p>Thanks loads!</p>
<p>@Trivolve Hey are u studying in berkeley now? Btw, What kind of reasons should I tell them to explain my D grade in Economics? Thank you very much.</p>
<p>no… i’m berkeley 2015, my admission letter hard copy finally arrived today</p>
<p>if your econs has been consistently okay or good, then u can mention it to them, could be just bad luck or unfortunately circumstances for the a’ levels econs… and like germatory said, you can get your econs tutor to back you up if necessary. Perhaps with ur tutor’s permission, give them his/her email so if the admissions officer want to talk to them. </p>
<p>and like i said, ask them about the abcdesf vs abcdf thing, like A’ level D = their grade system C or D?</p>
<p>Is anyone here going to a LAC Class of 2015?</p>
<p>^^ yeah vassar 2015!</p>
<p>Cool! I’m in at Mount Holyoke 2015. Can’t wait for fall :)</p>
<p>@phlegmbouyant. It depends on the SAT subject test. Many Singaporeans get perfect scores on Math II, Biology, Physics and Chemistry by self studying study guides (you can get them at Kinukoniya or the libraries). You can see the syllabus from the study guide and should be able to cover the subjects. Far fewer are able to do that for Literature, American History, World History etc. You generally only need 2 subject tests so focus on the two. Generally avoid Math Level I because while the topics are fewer than Math Level II, more Americans take it so a single mistake can bring you far down.</p>
<p>Admit for Amherst Class of 2015 
Deferring to Class of 2016 due to NS.</p>
<p>@germatory: We’ll be in the vicinity, then …next year, at least!</p>
<p>Hey guys, honestly speaking do you think NYAA Gold Award is a big/prestigious enough award to list in college apps for super selective schools? Or in that case will it be a big benefit at all? </p>
<p>Another question: if I take the SATs multiple times (ie twice for a subject) will it be reflected on the app? Will we need to declare how many times we sat for the SATs? Probably not right?</p>
<p>yeah, it’s definitely worth listing, but it’s not a make or break thing… isn’t it just about keeping a journal of what you’ve been doing as a leader in your CCA? </p>
<p>as for your second question, it depends on the school you’re applying to. some schools just take your SAT 1 superscore and your highest scores for your subject tests, while others demand the entire list of SAT tests you’ve taken. i don’t think they’ll hold it against you though, unless you got the same score 4 times or smth, haha</p>