what are my chances? =)

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Well basically i'm a chinese studying at one of the best junior colleges (high schools) in Singapore. I intend to apply for the ivy league universities - harvard yale princeston cornell and possibly stanford and MIT! But i'm open to your honest suggestions on which universities i should apply based on my profile below. :)</p>

<p>however, i think my SAT score of 2030 is a real big drawback?? (hope to retake it to get >2200) </p>

<p>SAT I (first try - prepared only the week before the test!):
Math: 720
CR: 660
W: 650 (E: 8)</p>

<p>SAT II: yet to take, will probably be doing so in due course</p>

<p>GCE A levels:</p>

<p>Physics: yet to take
Chemistry: yet to take
Math: yet to take
Economics: yet to take
General Paper: yet to take
Project Work: A
Mother Tongue (Higher Chinese): B3</p>

<p>Don't plan to take any AP tests though...</p>

<p>In my school, I am ranked the top 10% (estimate?) out of 1200+ students. About 50% of my schoolmates attend US universities and Ivy leagues every year. In fact, my school is actually known as the "Gateway to the Ivy League", as published by the Wall Street Journal in 2004. Hence, I think my school is well-known among US universities. </p>

<p>Current clubs and societies:
1) Table Tennis
2) Alchemy Club (a.k.a Chemistry club)
3) Electronics Club</p>

<p>Qualifications:
Research and Science related:</p>

<p>A*Star Talent Search Finalist (there are 8 finalists) - Commendation Award winner. You could think of this competition as the equivalent of the Intel Science Talent Search in the US. Got to meet Dr Agre! :)</p>

<p>Singapore Science and Engineering Fair 2008 - Silver Award</p>

<p>Junior Talent Development Programme organized by National University of Singapore - Attached to a professor for 3 months, working on an electronics project.</p>

<p>Nanyang Research Programme organized by the Nanyang Technological University - Again attached to an assistant professor for 6 months, working on an environmental chemistry related project.</p>

<p>Research@YDSP (Young Defence Scientists' Programme) organized by the Defence Science and Technology Agency of Singapore - Attached to a research scientist for a period of 3 months, working on a material science project.</p>

<p>Youth Research Program organized by the A*Star Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology - Attached to a principal research scientist for a period of 2 months, working on a chemistry project (chemistry research is my passion btw):).</p>

<p>Poster Presentation at the prestigious Singapore International Chemistry Conference 2007.</p>

<p>Selected as the youngest oral presenter at the 10th International Symposium on Extraction Techniques held in Belgium (meant for professionals, scientists etc).</p>

<p>Took part in the Stanford EPGY camp (Education Program for Gifted Youth). It was on Quantum Mechanics and I got a small prize as being one of the top students at the camp.</p>

<p>Finalist for the Global Challenge Award (organized by the University of Vermount) - exact results not known yet</p>

<p>Champion for the National University of Singapore Physics Enrichment Camp 2007</p>

<p>Commendation award for IEEE National Science Symposium.</p>

<p>3rd and 2nd prize winner for two other national science competitions..</p>

<p>A*Star JC Science Award recipient ($2000)</p>

<p>DSTA - JC Scholarship ($2000)</p>

<p>Ministry of Education (MOE) Edusave Scholarship ($2000)</p>

<p>Prudence Award in the Australian Westpac Math Competition.</p>

<p>Distinction in the University of New South Wales Australian (science and math) competition</p>

<p>Published research paper in the Journal of Young Investigators (JYI) (does anyone know this journal?)</p>

<p>Published research paper in other internet sources..</p>

<p>Member of the International High IQ Society </p>

<p>etc..I am too lazy to type all :) But the rest are of a smaller scale..</p>

<p>Besides being passionate in research, I do represent my school and my constituency in table tennis competitions for over 10 years..
1)National Champion for the annual inter-school table tennis competition!</p>

<p>2) Was awarded colours award by the Singapore Sports Council for outstanding peformances in table tennis!</p>

<p>3) Finished in the top four in many other table tennis competitions..(didn't want to list all of them here!)</p>

<p>Volunteer work:
1) Clocked in about 100 hours so far</p>

<p>2) participated in events such as 30 hour famine camp by worldvision</p>

<p>3) participated in YMCA events too</p>

<p>4) Took part in the annual National Student Action Conference organized by NUS Student Union</p>

<p>5) etc..</p>

<p>Leadership:
1) Captain of table tennis team.</p>

<p>2) Member of the Tampines Changkat Youth Executive Committee ( which helps the community at large in various social
events)</p>

<p>3) Was previously the treasurer and vice-captain of my previous table tennis teams.</p>

<p>4) Member of the Raffles Community Leader's Programme (a program basically for community leaders in my school!)</p>

<p>I love playing the piano as well, ABRSM Grade 8 Merit for Practical and ABRSM Grade 5 Merit for Theory. Hope to pursue a diploma soon!</p>

<p>Oh, and will be going to MIT at the end of this year for a short internship! :P</p>

<p>So what are my chances? :)</p>

2

<p>oh and i do hope to apply for financial aid too!</p>

3

<p>can anyone chance me pleaseee? Really desperate for your opinions!</p>

4

<p>any kind person would care to help? Really NEED yr comments! ><</p>

5

<p>If you're applying to MIT... you are IN for sure. As for the rest of the schools, I'm not so sure since they seem to be more 'liberal arts' oriented, so admissions might be a crapshoot. </p>

<p>PS: I live in Singapore too, although I don't attend a public school! Which JC are you in?</p>

6

<p>You know what? I take that back. Actually, the rest of the Ivies would easily welcome you. Winning so many awards, especially awards of that caliber, is truly impressive! Best of luck to you in the admissions process. =]</p>

7

<p>hey! thanks for chancing me... :D</p>

<p>anyway, i think you have a really good chance considering all of your awards...but i think you should really focus on your essay and making sure your application truly stands out from the crowd. Because, in retrospect, a lot of other applicants have very prominent awards as well...its all about making yourself stand out. However, i stil think you have a really good chance :)</p>

<p>one last piece of advice tho...i think you should apply to some other less selective schools just as a 'safety net'. there are really good schools all over the US that have lower admission rating that could be safety schools for you!</p>

<p>hope all goes well! :D</p>

8

<p>Hey!
i think you have a really good chance at the ivys! but def. bring those SAT scores up...apart from that you have excellent leadership and all those awards are a plus! Good luck! =)</p>

9

<p>Oh goodness, another RJC dude, haha. Well, you've got as good a shot at MIT as possible, but with such stringent admissions I'm wary of chancing you. Raise your SAT to at least 2200 though, you've got some time - A Levels shouldn't be any challenge. Btw, what's the MOE Edusave Scholarship? (EESIS, ESIP or Pre-U Scholarship?)</p>

<p>This post is useless. Lol.</p>

10

<p>Oh its EESIS haha</p>

11

<p>bring up your SAT and your in for all of them. :)</p>

<p>Thanks for chancing me!!!</p>

12

<p>I only recently found this site and while I hate to be negative, I just can't believe all of the people who post things like you're into all those ivies!!</p>

<p>So far what we have is someone is just the top 10% with a 2030, with a 720 in math which is truly low for an Asian candidate claiming strength in math/science (check the CDS to see how few 720s MIT takes and guess how many are Asian internationals!). He is an international from an Asian Country, the most competitive pool at ivies. He is at a highly competitive HS where many, many classmates with higher rank/SAT will apply to the same schools. Many of the classmates are very wealthy and connected. He has nice awards but I dare to guess so does his competition.</p>

<p>To tell such a candidate he's in to HYPS etc. is just insanity!! If I had to guess with current info, I'd say very little chance at any ivy.</p>

<p>This is not to say he doesn't have a shot. If he does well on his exams, raises his SAT 200 points, gets great SATIIs, great recs, writes outstanding essays and luck is on his side, he may get into one or more. He may very well not too if his school and others all over Asia produce stronger or more connected candidates. There are a surprising number of sons/daughters of politicians, CEOs and other Asian movers and shakers at the ivies!</p>

<p>So please guys, these people are here for honest help, not wishful thinking. This candidate needs to cast a much wider net.</p>

13

<p>newyorka may be blunt but his or her response it accurate too.</p>

<p>those SAT scores would need to be higher. I don't think you'd have a great shot at most of those schools you listed with those scores.</p>

<p>Cornell maybe, but those are even low for Cornell from my observations.</p>

<p>the activities look great, I just scanned them but they all look cool.</p>

<p>do they offer the ACT where you are, or is that not an international thing?</p>

14

<p>well the ACT is not really popular in Singapore. Most students take the SAT. Yea i will definitely raise my score to >2250. Was really underprepared the last time and was very tired while doing the test actually. For math i know i'm careless (made 3 careless mistakes) to get 720. In my school i usually get 90+ for math. With enough practice, i'm confident that I will be able to get an 800 for my subject tests. Anyway in my country I will be serving NS for two years after my high school though, so I guess I still have time. I will be applying for safety schools too, what do you think of University of Chicago and University of Michigan, Ann Arbor as a safety school?</p>

15

<p>Here is my school's record if you guys are interested! [url=<a href="http://www.rjc.edu.sg/USApps/Colleges/rjcrecord.asp%5DUSapps%5B/url"&gt;http://www.rjc.edu.sg/USApps/Colleges/rjcrecord.asp]USapps[/url&lt;/a&gt;]
Thanks for all your comments! :)</p>

16

<p>I would not consider U of Chicago a safety school. Its stats for SATs, class rank and GPA are right up there with the ivies and the acceptance rate is plunging. This years acceptance rate was 28% and this is misleading because generally only top students tend to apply to Chicago giving it a very self selecting quality. Furthermore, Chicago admissions are quirky and they are really looking for students that are a "fit", so make sure that you apply there because it is the type of school that you would belong in and be comfortable at, not just because it has now risen so high in the ratings.</p>

17

<p>Your SATs are below the average range of the admitted pool of HYPS and Ivy-leagues. Whoever said that you're for sure getting into MIT is out of his or a her mind. While your awards are impressive, there is only so much space to put down your accolades in your application. </p>

<p>Here are my suggestions:
1) Raise your SAT scores higher, preferably hitting at least 700 in all sections. If you are hopeful on MIT, try and score 800 in the math section.
2) Do the same for SAT II
3) Consider taking ACT, because the science component will help you get into MIT if you score well. It seems like you have enough experience and motivation to do well anyway.</p>

18

<p>You gotta have cloned yourself to do this much... Good job. SAT needs work though. And spell Princeton correctly. :)</p>

19

<p>
[quote]
In my school i usually get 90+ for math.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>wow, you're good. and this isn't meant to be sarcastic (i was from a jc too, not your jc though..)</p>

<p>ditto what everyone said. raise your SAT score. try to hit perfect/near perfect for Subject Tests. write good, sincere essays. i don't think you should bother doing the ACT. I wouldn't consider UMich and definitely not UChicago as safety schools.. if you apply to UMich early you have quite a good chance of getting in, Chicago could be either a high or low reach, depending on essays and your ability to finance your education. since you've got NS, go ahead and apply to uber-reach schools, no harm trying.</p>

20

<p>UMich can be a safety if you apply early.. But also apply to UIUC and U-Wisconsin Madison for a "safetier" safety, since UMich can be a bit upredictable.. Hahaha.</p>