Singaporean connection - Page 9

rayyy · 02-04-2006, 07:16 AM

NUS engineering requires SAT II? That's new... Ronty are you certain that for Indian students SAT is required? I'm rather certain that NUS has removed its SAT requirement a couple of years ago, so for locals all they need are A level scores.

woebegone · 02-04-2006, 09:01 AM

haha y come singapore at all... but anw i think most ppl here won't be able to answer ur question, coz we r on A'lvls system... might be better for u to ask the non-singaporeans...

ronty007 · 02-04-2006, 10:55 PM

Presently SAT II is optional at NUS, as far as I know...
My XIIth marks isnt very high, thats why I was thinking about SAT II's so as to compensate for it.

dtwn · 02-07-2006, 01:17 AM

How do we calculate our GPA? A levels are used as AP right? Kinda confused regarding scores now.

scandal-less · 02-07-2006, 01:39 AM

actually, myschool just stamps a big fat NOT WEIGHTED on the gpa section

woebegone · 02-07-2006, 09:00 AM

erm i believe most colleges dun attempt to convert our grades into a GPA (and our counselors would have mentioned that we don't calculate GPA somewhere in the sch report, if not on the recommendation form itself, in rj's case), maybe with the exception of those bigger public schs which are very numbers-based with their evaluation. most colleges group candidates into their respective countries and regions and have admission officers specializing in that particular region evaluate the relevant applicants against their peers i guess, esp at the initial stage of evaluation. Anw about A Levels, yeah I think they are generally recognized to be equivalents of APs. But that's quite unfair really. Like, Americans can take up to 10+ APs and no Singaporean can take more than 4 A Levels? Even if you count S Levels or A/O Levels in, we still dun even have 10... eh but i guess that's not impt really.

dtwn · 02-07-2006, 10:01 AM

Wouldn't that mean that our O level results could arguably suffice for GPA entry to certain 4 year colleges in the states?

woebegone · 02-07-2006, 10:32 AM

in fact, it is! several colleges state that A Levels is not a must... in fact I have friends who got into Bekeley without submitting their A Levels or even prelims results... i remember hearing a rumour that one RI guy went to Harvard immediately after his O'levels or something some years ago. Then again, guys like that are one of a kind. But at least it means A Levels isn't really a must... though I think for the less outstanding ones like most of us we might be better off doing our A Levels yeah.

jeremymjr · 02-07-2006, 08:48 PM

I think getting in with O level results is fine for a lot of schools, and you may well be academically prepared. But for the top tier ones, you have to be absolutely outstanding in a certain field, and I don't mean academics. Never heard the Harvard rumour...but I know a J1 this year got into Princeton with an athletic scholarship. Actually, doesn't Berkeley specify that the A Levels have to be taken?

dtwn · 02-07-2006, 09:18 PM

Well the Indiana Uni website states that O level B grades are acceptable for entry. Wouldn't that mean our O level's are roughly equivalent to their high school diploma? Feels odd to me though.

woebegone · 02-08-2006, 12:25 AM

i am not totally sure about berkeley coz i didn't apply... but i noe of two friends who got in without a levels cert... one was too lazy to submit when march results came out (i guess he didn't really care about berk, it's like his ultimate safety. at caltech now lol) but prob submitted his prelim transcript, another didn't submit any jc transcript (a levels or prelims or anything else) because his results were too atrocious... (Os and Fs)...

i am not entirely suprised if our O levels r equivalent to their high school diploma really... i mean.. just look at how singaporeans free frag SAT math and SAT IIs...

scandal-less · 02-08-2006, 12:25 PM

jeremymjr>> do you mean a certain SEA swimmer? i verify the veracity of the rumor.

G2O2 · 02-09-2006, 05:59 AM

Hello! I have not been to this thread before, so Ill introduce myself. I'm from RJ and I'm in J2 this year. I applied to Princeton ED in J1 (last year) and have been accepted, so I will be leaving in September (before A Levels =)). Amazingly, Princeton accepted 3 swimmers from RJ this ED round, two of which were in J1. I'm a swimmer too, but I am not an athletic recruit. In fact, all those acceptees to Princeton from RJ that I know of are swimmers. The lesson learnt: JOIN SWIMMING!

G2O2 · 02-09-2006, 06:00 AM

By the way, it is a Princeton requirement that all graduates be able to stay afloat in the water for at least 15 minutes without any flotation devices.

woebegone · 02-09-2006, 04:07 PM

gosh 3 from ED Princeton is shocking enuff and all from swimming somemore! amazing... but congrats anw G202! btw r u going on finaid or pm scholarship or?