<p>Hi fellow members,
I am currently giving my final exams and graduate from high school in July 2012 (IB Diploma). Earlier i planned to go to Australia for higher education however reading the reviews of University of Melbourne and talking to fellow batch mates who are going to the US and some knowledgeable people i feel that i should go to the US itself for my Undergrad. Now, there are a few problems to this which have put me in a great mental dilemma:</p>
<ol>
<li>I haven;t applied to the US</li>
<li>I have given the SAT twice but always for fun and hence never studied for it</li>
</ol>
<p>So now what i plan to do is finish my IB and get around 35 points, take about 6 months off to study for SAT nicely and get a good score while mean while do some social work as it interests me and also play lots of Golf as i used to be a national level player but had to give up the sport due to some problems.</p>
<p>Now,
If i do so then:</p>
<ol>
<li>Would my application be equally weighted with the students in my next batch who apply when they are in their high school for the Jan/Feb US intake?</li>
<li>Can i still make an early decision or an early action application to the US universities i want to?</li>
</ol>
<p>Please help what to do as i am totally confused about how to go forward with my uni's and don't want to end up in some bad situation later on.</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>This is known as taking a “gap year”. It’s perfectly acceptable in the eyes of admissions officers. I’d be careful about how you portray your gap year activities, though. Taking a year off to do social work might sound better than taking a year to play golf, although significant golf accomplishments might enhance your application too. Good luck.</p>
<p>You have not “given” the SAT. You have “taken” it. Please tell your English teacher about that.</p>
<p>A gap year can be a very good thing. But please do more than just study for the SAT and TOEFL. Many colleges and universities will look at your IB results instead.</p>
<p>It’s perfectly okay to take a gap year, but make it meaningful! Studying is a good thing, but for your own personal development, do something you’ve never had the time to do… make a difference!</p>
<p>You need to take the SAT very soon. Take it before the Fall so you have the results for your application. Most colleges will need them with your application which you submit in early Fall. </p>
<p>Most top colleges like a 37 plus points for your IB score. It sounds like you are a good candidate for the top 100 colleges in the US though so keep your options open. </p>
<p>What did you score on your practice SAT tests? With a 35 score you should be in the 2000 ball park .</p>
<p>You should do some thorough research into colleges you might want to apply to and their requirements. Applying after senior year is, as mentioned above, fine and you will not be at a disadvantage.</p>
<p>However, unless you are fine with your exisiing SAT scores, you will need to take the test in June (spaces are likely gone) or Oct for applying early action or early decision to a number of colleges. Also, if you plan to apply to colleges which require SAT subject tests, you also have to find a date to take those tests which is different from your SAT date. In other words, if your intent is to apoply early action or early decision to US colleges, you better find out imnmediately the last date the college allows for tests and whether it needs subject tests and start applying for test dates accordingly.</p>
<p>You can still apply for early action/decision because it only means you send in the application before(usually a couple months) the rest of the people that will be applying as freshman that year, it has nothing to do with if you took a gap year or not.</p>
<p>What colleges will you be applying to? Many US colleges do not admit Freshmen in the January term.</p>
<p>Thank you for all the responses on my question. I plan to take the SAT again in October to improve my scores and then apply for Spring intake.
In the time i am taking an off, i would do lots of social work which i have been wanting to do since a long time, work in some old age homes and similar things as well as study for my SAT test. If all goes according to plan then the Universities i would like to apply to would be:
- Northwestern
2.UCLA
3.Boston
4.LMU
5.Umich Ann Arbor
6.Emory
7.UBC
and a few more as i would like to do major in Business (Admin/Management) and/ or Marketing.</p>
<p>Few of my friends told me that my social work experience should help me become a strong applicant to apply for some top undergrad business schools, although that is not what drives me to give back to the society but any way is this true?
And, are the Uni’s mentioned above reputed and highly ranked for their B Schools?</p>
<p>Thanks in advance
Dhruv Chawla</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I have inferred from corresponding with students on CC that *giving an exam *seems to be the idiom in a lot of other countries. I suppose, when you think about it, it’s no more or less accurate than taking an exam. When a student takes an exam, she doesn’t keep it; she does give it back, with everything she knows written on it.</p>
<p>Sikorsky -</p>
<p>You do raise an important point about the various “World Englishes” out there. However, this specific usage will cost points the most common exams of English proficiency and will drive instructors in the US who are not from the regions where it is (possibly) acceptable absolutely mad. That’s why I encourage students who do use it here to make an effort to unlearn it.</p>
<p>One student told me a couple of years ago that it was a direct translation from the usage in his/her first language, and thanked me for the information that it wasn’t standard usage in the USA. I also think that in some cases this usage may arise from the assumption that “give” and “present” are synonymous in this situation. Which they aren’t. Exams can also be “sat” in English. Just think of the potential challenges that could be caused by “perched”, “rested”, and the like!</p>
<p>“Giving back” exams opens up a whole new can of worms. Where I grew up, students “turned” or “handed” them in. Teachers “gave” them back to the students once they were graded, and on occasion students would be asked to “give” them back to the teacher after looking at them when the students weren’t allowed to keep the corrected exams.</p>
<p>Well, usually in Indian exams i have many a times wrote “give” or “gvae” but it’s never been highlighted but i am sure it depends from country to country/region and hence it’s no big deal to adapt to it and i would make sure to use “sat” or “took” next time.
Thanks</p>