<p>Given your situation you should "strike" ACS Indep (and HCIS?) off the list, because you can only enter ACSI next year, which would not help you make up for the lost year. If you try for UWC or OFS and get in in August, you would still be behind, but by half a year instead of a full year.</p>
<p>if time is the main concern you wont be able to go to most schools this year...
the schools that you will not be able to enter this year are:</p>
<p>ACS indep
ACSIS
HCIS
HC indep
SJII</p>
<p>Try overseas family , the american school, united world college and international school singapore.</p>
<p>whats HC Independent? never heard of it before...</p>
<p>Petrina:
The only school that I have visited is ACSIS,I went there the day before yesterday.But unfortunately,the moment i got there one of the staffs told me that all the teacher were having a meeting,therefore I went back home.After that I knew it had been full at night.
In order to confirm it,I called the school yesterday morning,and I was told that to get in that school this year was NOT possible,as well as the applicants for next year had not been full,which meant i might be able to go there next year.The list of applicants looked like sort of waitlist,that was why I asked you about it.
Will the schools that you recommended me to try all start on August?</p>
<p>Yeah,I have realized that it is kind of late to apply for schools now,I should have thought about this last year,and that would be a much better situation.
What I am thinking is that either staying in present school or applying for other international schools.</p>
<p>ok its good that you went and heard their official take on the issue. </p>
<p>Now you have to decide if you do want to continue in your current school or go to an international one. Please keep in mind if these schools may need some form of qualification to enter .
Am I right to say you have not taken the O levels yet?</p>
<p>Im pretty sure ACSIS require applicants to have taken the o levels (for example the gce, or gcse) or at least some form of secondary school leaving exam. Let me put it this way - if you were to apply to ACSIS they will most likely put you into their "secondary school classes" rather than their "JC counterpart - IB course"
Did you ask them if you could enter the IB course without O levels?</p>
<p>the schools that start in August are:
overseas family , the american school, united world college and international school singapore.</p>
<p>however once again I dont think they would allow you into their IB program if you have not reached that level of qualification(such as completed high school) , I may be wrong, but I think you should call them up and ask if the would even consider you for admission into the IB course.
However many international schools also do the GCSE( o levels) and if you want to go to an international school , then that is of no concern,but you may still have to waste one year and take your o levels. </p>
<p>But if your main concern is saving time by doing the IB course this year, then it may be an issue, as they may not allow you to do the course this year. So PLEASE go call them as soon as POSSIBLE , and ask them what qualifications you need to enter the IB course. It may also be better to ask them all these questions you have... to get an official answer. Just call any of these schools , and see what they have to say.</p>
<p>Plus, i hope you know that most international schools also have year 7 to year 10( which is basically secondary school, where they take their o levels)
And year 11 and 12 which are the IB course years ( which is basically their JC counterpart)</p>
<p>I would like to add that staying in your current school may not be such a bad idea, complete your o levels and apply to international schools after that!</p>
<p>Yeah,I do know that staying in my current school is not that bad,coz it is much cheaper than any of international schools,and the education quality is assuring. If I have to spend equal time in both IS and GS,I will definitely prefer GS.</p>
<p>Speaking of the qualification for taking IB,I think it is sort of High School diploma,am i wrong on this?
I havent taken my O LEVEL exams,but I compeleted middle high schoo(which is similar to secondary school,right?)in my own country,I am wondering if that could replace O Level?</p>
<p>Anyway,I am gonna call those schools you have mentioned the following days.If i get any information,I will post it here.</p>
<p>THANK YOU for all the suggestions made.
I wish you the best luck in everything you do.</p>
<p>IB is not really equivalent to a high school diploma, in fact its considered above high school. </p>
<p>It will give you advanced standing in US colleges. Basically IB is the A level equivalent. </p>
<p>I hope you decide what you would like to do and be successful in it! Let me know what you find out and where you end up going.</p>
<p>^^ Second that</p>
<p>I found out a school called German European school through IB official website.And I made a call this morning.The person in charge said that I had to fill in the application form and submitted to their school first,after that there was a placement test for me,subsequently the school would decide whether I could go to that school.
I dont know much about this school,just knew it a few days ago,but as long as it will start on August,I think I should at least try.If I decide to go to this school,make a visit to it is certainly required.</p>
<p>well good luck. Its not a very well known school but if you like it there then GREAT! :D</p>
<p>IB is regarded as one of the most difficult high school curriculums in the world. It is well excepted in basically every continent. So if you are looking to apply to the US, UK, Australia then you should definitely try to get into a good IB school in Singapore. </p>
<p>And I know that one of the best is definitely United World College of South East Asia. It is world renowned to be amazing at the IB curriculum and further than that.. you already have an advantage if youre from a UWC at any university, because UWC is more about a fully balance well rounded education. So you should definitely try to get into UWC. although i know that the waiting list is crazzy long and there is even an unborn child who is already registered. </p>
<p>Also... I am sorry but ACSI doesnt even compare to a UWC education. Yea okay you have had a maximum number of 45 points and blah blah blah.. but UWC gives you so many more opportunities in a million other fields... And UWC doesnt spoon feed their students to just study study study... UWC kids actually have a social life and are good in sports and etc.</p>
<p>Well,I am actually thinking of transfering to Australia to continue my study,coz there seems to be more options of IB schools that could be considered.Any comment for this?</p>
<p>Yooo! Question. If one for example gets a 38 in the IB (including ToK/EE) how would that compare you to a person that has done AP exams. What results would the AP for example get to be equivalent to the IB person. Can you even compare the two?
Hope my question makes sense.</p>
<p>congratulation on the 38! </p>
<p>thats a really good score. and you can basically apply to whatever uni you want to. IB is regarded very very highly... and you cant really compare it to the AP system. but basically thats a really good score and if you have good ECs and a good essay then i think you have a really good chance at basically most unis. </p>
<p>i hope that helped</p>
<p>thanks mv3. it did.
APs are just a measure of single courses then, right? whereas the IB takes more of a holistic approach to those subjects.</p>
<p>yeah and the IB is alot harder as well.. well thats what i have been told anyway. i did the IB ... but one of my friends was in a school that did APs and IB. and he said that he only took 2 IB classes cuz it was too hard. so thats how im approaching this situation. but you never know.. i cant really judge because i havent done it.</p>
<p>
[quote]
IB is regarded as one of the most difficult high school curriculums in the world. It is well excepted in basically every continent. So if you are looking to apply to the US, UK, Australia then you should definitely try to get into a good IB school in Singapore.</p>
<p>And I know that one of the best is definitely United World College of South East Asia. It is world renowned to be amazing at the IB curriculum and further than that.. you already have an advantage if youre from a UWC at any university, because UWC is more about a fully balance well rounded education. So you should definitely try to get into UWC. although i know that the waiting list is crazzy long and there is even an unborn child who is already registered.</p>
<p>Also... I am sorry but ACSI doesnt even compare to a UWC education. Yea okay you have had a maximum number of 45 points and blah blah blah.. but UWC gives you so many more opportunities in a million other fields... And UWC doesnt spoon feed their students to just study study study... UWC kids actually have a social life and are good in sports and etc.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>That's certainly one point of view - however I'd caution that any student is free to make their own way no matter the school (or the curriculum for that matter). Besides, lots of JC kids have great social lives and are good at sports. I can also honestly say that the great majority of my teachers did not spoonfeed, and many, many students I've had the pleasure of going to school with were not first and foremost concerned about grades, but I know my educational experience isn't very typical (I became quite painfully aware of that when I did a teaching stint myself). Still, that's not to say UWC is the only place where this sort of education is available.</p>
<p>I'm sure with the calibre of the students at ACSI the OP will find more than enough students who are actually concerned about learning, and teachers who are willing to teach beyond what is "needed" for the grade. And I don't know about ACSI in particular, but the AC schools are hardly sporting slouches :)</p>
<p>(Hold on a moment - what am I talking about? UWC shares a field with ACSI! You probably know more about their sports than I do.)</p>
<p>And IB/Singapore A Levels are definitely tougher than AP.</p>
<p>i am definitely not saying that uwc is the only way to go. im just recommending it as a very good international IB school. and i am not putting ACSI down in anyway.. just in the previous posts some people said that it was really good because it got the highest 45 points in the world. </p>
<p>i know that alot of the JCs in singapore are amazing as well.. but i also know.. that CAS is a big part of the IB and in UWC we take our activites and stuff pretty seriously.. however i have been told that at ACSI the teachers just sign off on the hours without the students actually completing it... but thats just one persons story.. </p>
<p>either way .. whatever school you go to and if you do the IB i feel that you have a upperhand in college. because the IB really prepares you for college level writing and extensive research etc... but i hear that the A levels and the AP system also provide you enough practice for college level classes... </p>
<p>but as i said before i can only give you the IB / UWC perspective... because thats what i have been through</p>
<p>Just a word (slightly OT, but related to mv3's comment) - my experience has been that the writing + research foundation for IB students can also be had for A Level students doing KI and a research H3 (MOE Lit/Hist/Geog/Science Research/HSSRP), and that route actually may have more writing/research involved. But if you don't have the chance to do KI/H3, then IB will indeed provide you more opportunities to develop writing and research skills than the typical A Level curriculum/subject combination. Either way, there's no doubt that content-wise the A Levels are also more than adequate.</p>
<p>And yes, mv3, now you've clarified your POV... I agree, ACSI has the results, but those aren't everything.</p>
<p>Well,it looks like international schools in Singapore has been a hotly discussed issue here,but,can I get the point back to the topic?Since I don't really know how difficult IB is,I am questioning that whether it is wise to choose IB?Or is it worth huge effort that we have to put in it?No offence,I am just kind of captivated if I can make it or end up with a satisfactory score.</p>