srrinath

General Things
Gender: Male
Ethnicity: East Indian (international)
Country: India (but living in Singapore for 16 years)
Current Grade: Senior Year (in singapore, schools run from Jan-Dec)
Financial Aid: Not applying for any sort of FA

Grades
GPA: 3.1 (Sharp rising trend)
-Very tough international magnet school specializing in Math & Science

SAT Reasoning Test
SAT Critical Reading - 770
SAT Math - 800
SAT Writing – 800
SAT Composite (M+CR) – 1570
SAT Composite (M+CR+W) – 2370

SAT Subject Tests
SAT Math Level 2 - 800
SAT Physics - 790
SAT Chemistry – 780
SAT Biology M - 770

AP Tests
AP Calculus AB – 5
AP Chemistry – 5
AP Physics B – 5
AP Biology – 5
AP Calculus BC – 5
AP Statistics – 5

Extracurricular Activities
- Captain: Debate Team
- President: Creative Writing Circle
- Editor: School Yearbook
- Editor: School Newsletter (we don't publish too actively tho)
- Editor: Official Newsletter of Singapore Int'l Mathematics Competition
- Captain: Scrabble Team (placed 3rd nationally in 2007, several individual awards at national level too)
- Head Delegate: Model UN
- Tennis Team
- National Education Ambassador
- 300ish Community Service Hours
- Creative Arts Program (very selective program for writers and poets)
- Research on atomic spectroscopy
- Research on oxygen's behavior on palladium and applications in fuel cells
- Interned at a renowned museum of biodiversity research
- 2 Commendatory Awards @ Commonwealth Int'l Essay Writing Competition
- Gold (Drama) @ Singapore Youth Festival
- Best Delegate @ Singapore Model United Nations 2009
- Best Delegate @ WE International Model United Nations 2009

mrscollege

Wow, amazing stats. Where else are you applying? Anywhere ED?

ejr1

Those stats should get you into the first stack. Just make sure your essays are REALLY good!

samej860

but a 3.1 is a C+ average...

dzhang4n

Hmm just to put into perspective, your SAT I's are amazing, but subject tests seem a bit weak - most ppl i know that applied to Ivy-range schools have perfect SAT IIs - they're rly not that hard to get.

As for the 3.1 GPA, can't rly comment unless there's a frame of reference.

Do apply though, Amherst is an amazing school and it'ld be great if you can get in!

Catfish

3.1 is slightly above a B on a 4.0 scale, so the GPA is a bit low for Amherst, but your scores are high enough that you will get a second look (I completely disagree that 800/790/780/770 on the SAT II's is "weak", although you should check whether you need to have take one that is not math/science). erj1 is right, the essays are key.

reesezpiecez103

His GPA may not be on the same scale as many schools here, since it's an international school; I know at my school that would be a B-, but at my friend's school, that would be a solid B. Someone else said it's a C+ - I guess their school grades differently than mine (although i use the standard 4.0 scale).
That being said, if his grades show a "sharp rising trend" up to a B-/B, then it worries me slightly what they were before he got the B's..."sharp" to me implies going from extremely low to extremely high.

On the other hand, that's literally the only weakness; the other stats are great. I also disagree about SAT II scores; I think they're very good. Everything else considered, I'd say the OP has a good chance.

ShesOnHerWay

I don't think you can have a weakness and apply to Amherst unless you are a URM, athlete or legacy (and legacy is iffy).

kwu

He probably attends a top school in Singapore. Their schools have far higher standards and more rigorous demands of their students than ours do.

Imagine: math and the hard sciences in an East Asian country.

His 3.1 would be extraordinary if it were evaluated in the context of his high school.