<p>hahaha don't fret, there's still time to discover a cure for cancer as a "hook". if there is really something you want, then go for it; it will pay off unless you force yourself to do something you hate. i was desperately trying to hide my o level grades but was told to send them in - a consistent record really does help.</p>
<p>ps. i'm a female - i asked my brother to sign up for an account for me. and my sister went to the other "communist" school with the imitation clock tower. =p am the only defector in my extended family.</p>
<p>I read in some threads in this forum that your extra curriculars need not be an impressive list- just show that you are passionate in it. so, does this mean that I should not try to do so many activities, just focus on my cca and do community work? the part on community work- how much should I do?</p>
<p>Relax my dear! You've got years to go before you apply for college so you really shouldn't be sweating over this now! It doesn't help for you to plan everything for university admissions because it's such an arbitrary thing. Focus on some cca you like, do well in school and pray for good luck! </p>
<p>Hmmph I must not let this become a rafflesian thread! Where are all the other non-rafflesians? -search high and low- I know you guys are hiding somewhere! </p>
<p>To bring this back to Singapore, how has CNY been? I think all the bak kwa is going to make me gain lots of weight. Bah.</p>
<p>shib >> just go find youro wn niche area and excel in that. dont bother with fluffing up your apps, the adcoms can def see thru that. there was this other dood on cc who had a FOUR PAGE LONG resume but got rejected out flat from whartons, simply because it was pretty duh that he was all out to fluff up his apps.</p>
<p>angpao collection was not bad, but even that fails to make up for the drudgery and awkwardness of sitting through half a day in a house of pseudo-strangers, with whom conversation ceases after the perfunctory "happy new year". bai nian is becoming a chore... n the unrestrained munching of ferraro rocher and bak kwa has made me put on 2.5kg... argh! </p>
<p>shib: yeah the general advice is quality over quantity. being half-hearted about 5 ccas is not gonna be more impressive than pursuing just one cca from secondary sch all the way to jc and hopefully winning some kind of accolades along the way. </p>
<p>shib: uk universities don't really give two hoots about your ccas/comm service. it would be great however, if you do something that is related to your major (though i'm not so sure if you really know what you want to do at this stage). for the uk, it's almost entirely about academic potential, so just work on that; a great reference/interview would be very helpful as well.</p>
<p>oh.. yeah uk universities almost don't care about ur extracurriculars and not to mention community service at all.. but like jeremymjr said, resume stuff related to ur prospective major... for instance research and science fairs for science majors, may help. then again, uk unis are really easy to get into these days... with (or even without) decent grades. i dare say u will get into any uk uni (less oxbridge) easily with decent predicted grades. i have classmates getting into places like lse with Cs and Ds for prelims... as for oxbridge, it seems like interview counts alot.</p>
<p>haha i'm heading nowhere as of now! graduated from jc 2yrs ago (oh no i am old), serving ns now. this is my 2nd year applying to colleges... coz even though i got accepted by several unis last time (supposed to be heading off to Brown...) i din have the financial means to attend. Din get a scholarship... or rather I decided that I didn't want one in the end so I withdrew from those which have not rejected me haha. Hence i withdrew from brown and i am reapplying this year to unis and requesting for finaid. chances are, i might not get in anywhere dis time, and may be heading off to nus fass to read psychology. haha. </p>
<p>i guess that answers your 2nd question as well... damn how i wish i were still in jc!</p>
<p>woebegone, doesn brown offer quite a comprehensive aid package? i know an ex-nanyang girl who got quite a healthy finaid sum from brown. if you would like her contacts you could pm me.</p>
<p>hmm i'm not sure really... i just don't see why need-aware colleges will accept a marginally better or in fact juz average applicant who needs finaid over another which doesn't... and i'm not exactly a super-outstanding applicant. that's y dis time round i evaded all the ivies and the like popularly sought-after by singaporeans and applied mainly to LACs, plus brown (of course) and yale (for fun haha).</p>