<p>I'm a Malaysian citizen studying in Raffles Junior College, Singapore on a scholarship. I'm taking A Levels there. For last years promotional exams, I got As for Math, Physics, Chemistry and Biology and B3 for Gemeral Paper. I'm now taking Special papers for Math, Physics and Chemistry.</p>
<p>My New SAT 1 scores are:
Critical Reading / Verbal: 740<br>
Math: 800<br>
Writing: 730
My SAT 2 scores are:
Chemistry: 800
Math 2 : 800
Physics : 780 (should I retake this)</p>
<p>My Co-curricular activities haven't been great. I don't have any sports. The highlights are:
Singapore Biology Olympiad: Bronze
Singapore Youth Science Festival: Silver
Set up school film society
Participated in a Science Research Programme at National University of Singapore</p>
<p>My preferred universities are in this order:
1. Yale
2. Princeton
3. Stanford
4. Cornell
5. Amherst
6. MIT</p>
<p>I'm planning to do something related to Biology but not medicine. </p>
<p>My co-curricular activities are math club, computer science club (internet head) and film society (founder and president).
I have roughly 110 hours of community service, mostly from spending 2 weeks in Vietnam doing community service.
I made it to the interview round of the Stanford Book Prize in Singapore. That's 9 out of 90 applicants. </p>
<p>I've only included my activities in the last two years. Do I need to include activities for the last four years in my resume?</p>
<p>Your grades and tesf scores are excellent, but you should have more ECs. You should be able to get into Cornell, but the rest are very difficult.</p>
<p>Evidently I've been too enthralled with the top schools. I need help with the safety schools. Can anyone suggest safety schools that might suit me? Would you consider Cornell or John Hopkins safeties? How about Williams?</p>
<p>huiyen, your statistics and profile are good enough to get you into any school in America, however, and this is a BIG HOWEVER, there is no guarantee when you are looking at such selective schools. All of the top tier schools -- ivies, big research universities, small liberal arts colleges -- are very competitive even moreso for internationals. If you require financial aid, either need based or merit based, the competition is even fiercer!</p>
<p>I wouldn't worry about taking any more SATs. Your scores are fine. They will neither get you in or keep you out. You should be concentrating on putting together a total application package which would include essays, recommendations, resumes. If your school has a guidance counselor who is experienced in American admissions, then start talking to him/her. Be careful though of too optimistic viewpoints.</p>
<p>I would consider Cornell and Johns Hopkins matches, not safeties. Carnegie Melon would fall into this category. </p>
<p>My son goes to Williams. It is one of the best small colleges in America, and is especially well known for science, but it is a reach for just about anyone. You would get a wonderful education there. Williams is also needblind for internationals, which means if they accept you they will figure out a way for you to attend.</p>
<p>I'm a little rusty on safeties because the situation has changed a lot in the past few years. Maybe you could better judge by comparing your background with others from your school who applied to US colleges last year.</p>
<p>The good news is that US colleges really do want to admit kids with diverse backgrounds. Two schools that I would mention that are especially "international friendly" and I believe could be good reaches for you are Macalester and Hamilton. If you are female, Smith is a good choice and would be a safety for you.</p>