<p>@limnieng: its not his company, but he’s the MD of the SEA division here, and was previously MD of the US branch so he’s pretty tight with most of the guys from senior management. and i doubt he’ll waste his time lying to me about this ;)</p>
<p>the thing is i wanna stay in one place. cost issues aside, settling in is easier for me when i know i’ll be there longer. the only thing is, based on my scores, i don’t know which area in the college rankings to look at ie 40-60, 70-90 etc etc. purdue was mentioned by practically everyone when i said o level and engineering and a couple mentioned uiuc, but i think the deadline’s passed for the latter.</p>
<p>and how do colleges look at using 2 certs to apply ? do they frown upon it ?? coz i had a previous attempt at the Os in 2008 but kinda botched it up with english being the only good grade due to some family issues. essentially i’m only using english from that cert, with the rest of my scores coming from this year’s cert</p>
<p>I am, obviously, not an expert on O level -> US uni. I am trying to help you and this is what I can come up with in my capacity.</p>
<p>I don’t know what colleges think of using two O-level sittings, but you don’t really have a choice now do you? The only conclusion I can draw is that IF colleges think it’s bad, then you should widen your options. Which you should be doing, anyway.</p>
<p>I advise the CC -> uni route because (1) Many uni deadlines have passed (2) Your O level grades aren’t that good (3) You would get admitted into better unis with a good CC track record. </p>
<p>It’s very shortsighted if you insist on applying to some random unis just coz you ‘don’t want the hassle and costs’. 4 years of US education will already cost you how many thousands of dollars, what’s those few thousands of relocation costs? Or is it that you think CC is below you and don’t want to explore that option? </p>
<p>However, if you insist on finding some random unis:
At this time, even the 15-Jan deadlines have passed. You should first find out which schools’ deadlines have passed, eliminating those. Then cast a wide net, applying to many schools. Since you dunno what schools will accept you with your iffy grades, look at the ranking of Purdue and choose some other schools that are less selective. </p>
<p>One more thing. It’s very late now, and you desperately need adequate advice. I recommend you make an appointment with USEIC. Those outrageous costs for college advising should be a drop in the bucket for you, lah.</p>
<p>yeah i just might, maybe next week after my SATs.</p>
<p>anw regarding what you said about community college. in a way, you’re right. but its not what i think. my dad’s the one paying and he has the final say in these matters. and somehow he (and alot of other people that i asked) seems to think that CC is equivalent to ITE/RP here (i’m guessing you’re from singapore). and to a certain extent, there’s always a chance that i might not be able to transfer out to someplace better, for whatever reason. and my dad will, for lack of a better phrase, kill me if i end up graduating community college instead of a proper uni. </p>
<p>thanks for the help though, really appreciate it :D</p>
<p>ok now i really have to ask, now that fiona got it into my head: how does the whole CC -> uni process work ? i start in year 2 when i transfer over right ?? which schools can i apply to ?? my friend told me one of his mates who did O levels did CC for one year coz he got terrible results and then transferred to UMich, which quite frankly, isn’t that shabby to me. but is this a one-off thing (ie do you need a really good GPA ?) or is really common ??</p>
<p>Yeah the CC route is probably best for you, especially since the deadline for most unis has passed. But seeing how you did at O Level, you’d probably have to work very hard at your CC to transfer to a good uni.</p>
<p>As and Bs are really THAT bad ?? i’m thinking about it, but there is the added hassle involved. and like i said already, if i can’t transfer for whatever reason, i’m *****ed big time so i’d rather go to a proper uni and just do my best there. and somebody mentioned rolling deadlines on the first page so i’m looking into those. how do O level applicants even apply to schools in the first place ?? i mean, i don’t think they use their prelim results and the official results come out mid jan. that’s still past all the 1 jan deadlines, no ?</p>
<p>and how important are SAT scores ?? i mean does having a good score actually help or is it more of a ‘once you hit this requirement, you’re in’ kinda thing ?? i’m hovering at the 2000 point right now, is that considered good ??</p>
<p>also, would it be a problem applying to purdue since they require evidence of graduation from a recognized secondary sch ?? i’m from a private school. pretty much the same as being home-schooled i think</p>
<p>“4. Evidence of graduation from a recognized secondary school.”</p>
<p>yeah, but i didn’t register my O levels through them so my O level cert has just got private candidate written under school name. and i didn’t get any sort of certificate of graduation from them. i’m guessing they’re registered with MOE for full time classes but that doesn’t make much of a difference, does it ? am i just better off saying that i studied on my own for the exams ??</p>
<p>"Applicants from Singapore applying as beginning students or as transfer students may provide evidence of secondary school completion by submitting a certified true copy of one of the following:</p>
<p>Singapore-Cambridge General Certificate Of Education Ordinary Level Examination"</p>
<p>I think your O levels certificate may be enough for proof of graduation. If you’re really worried, get your private school to type a letter stating that you have graduated from their school.</p>
<p>yeah i might just have to do that. just waiting on a proper reply from purdue. is it normal for universities to take more than a week to reply to enquiries ?? i know its application season atm, but seriously. i emailed isu/asu/umich and they all replied within 2 days or less. and this thing is really turning out to be quite a headache, my dad just said no when i presented my cc->uni transfer idea. bleugh.</p>
<p>anyway, you guys have been really helpful throughout. you have no idea how grateful i am for that :)</p>
<p>uh can i post back here in a few days? gonna sit my dad down and fill up the form with him. mostly the academics area though…</p>
<p>in the meanwhile, how does the score sending thing for SAT work ?? apparently i can send my scores to 4 schools for free, but i have to let collegeboard know by the first of feb. i’m going to start working on applications once my SATs are done this saturday, which gives me like 7 days. but can i send the scores to schools without sending them an application ?? do they like keep scores received aside or something ?? or do i have to apply and THEN send the scores ?? this is all really confusing to me lol</p>
<p>Yes, you can send the scores to school without sending them an application. The school will do the matching via your name and your birthday, so it is important to ensure that those are accurate (i.e. First Name, Last Name etc).</p>