I am a Chinese student currently study in a local polytechnic in Singapore. I know it is out of match as compare to some local Junior Colleges such as Hwa Chong Institution and Raffles Institution, and my GPA is also not very good(only about 3+ something). However, I’ll represent Singapore for a international competition recently in Frence and have a holistic record in my portfolio(student leader, play in school concert band and local community band). In addition, I scored 156 for Mensa test and was accepted recently(4 points less than Einsten, Hawking and Gates).
Ps: Our school do have some students been accepted by Harvard, Yale, Imperial College London and more to local u(NTU, NUS ect.)
Any suggestions to my future path?
I would not like to consider US universitys which have world ranking less than 20(since NTU is ranked 30th+ and NUS 23th and some good Australia Uni I can choose easily (world ranking above 30th plus).
And I want to pursue a degree in theoretical physics despite the fact that I’m studying an engineering diploma currently.(I started to read Stephen Hawing’s books since primary school and always kept that passion. I guess I’m not suitable for a future related to or solely on engineering so that’s why I can’t do it well).
Some not so important stuff to mention: I’m not really a nerd. I play several sports and musical instruments)
Oh and I do need financial aids.
National competition gold medalist at secondary one in China.
Scholarship received every year during secondary school.
Student role model every year during secondary school.
world rankings are useless in evaluating undersgraduate institutions since they are based on research output (ie., what affects graduate students). As an undergraduate student, you need to look for this: student: faculty ratio and class size, core curriculum vs. gen eds vs. no requirements, religious vs. religious-affiliated vs. secular, city/suburb or town/rural, conservative (very?) or liberal (very?), preprofessional vs. intellectual, etc.
For an international student, the number one criterion will be how much you can afford, so can you give us an idea of your parents’ budget (per year)?
Regarding financial aid, I’m 99% sure MENSA offers a scholarship for members. Don’t know the details but you can look into that.
Besides the big loaders like MIT, Harvard, Cal Tech, Stanford, Johns Hopkins, etc., you can look at schools like UMaryland, Rutgers, Case Western, WPI, RPI, Purdue, Carnegie Mellon or UNC. Have you taken the PSAT, SAT or ACT? If so, you can go off your score to get a good idea of where you could afford, where you could attend, and where you could receive merit scholarships.
@TheDidactic, the MENSA scholarships I know of are tiny. Like $500 or something like that.
Oh ok I just looked, @PurpleTitan. It’s only $1,000. That’s small, but it’s still something.
@zyzhang1130 You should definitely focus on getting merit scholarships by boosting your SAT/ACT scores and applying for outside scholarships if possible. It’s a harder pool for internationals to attend US universities because internationals are expected to have stellar achievements and stats.
I agree with @MYOS1634 that international rankings (especially the overall ones, as opposed to the subject ones) pretty much should never be used in determining where to go.
However, in terms of what schools to consider, I would ask: what are your goals?
And yes, what can you afford?
Thanks you all very much for making comments in the first place :). As indicated above, well, strictly speaking my achievement is not really exceptional at all. And as I’m already studying abroad, I’m competing with Singapore top students who have beem educated under meritocratic education system, therefore, stand for less advantage if I want to go to a good us school. I’m preparing my SATs. Still can’t say how much chance I stand for scoring a very exceptional recult. As for the buget issue, I have to say, I depend on the so-called need blind admission I read from certainty university’s website.
My goal is to do well in theoretical physics (quantum)
*certain