Hello. I am a Malaysian and a year-two, i.e. 12th grade, student at a junior college in Singapore under a Singaporean government scholarship. I wonder what my chances are, assuming that I'll be applying for financial aid.
SAT I: 2,310, essay 12 (took it once and not retaking anymore; wise?)
SAT II: taking in October
+Year one (i.e. 11th grade) "transcript":
>> General Paper A
>> History A
>> Biology A
>> Chemistry A
>> Mathematics A
That makes me the only straight-A student in my class of about 30, placing me at at least top 5% of a cohort of 1,200+
+Year two (i.e. 12th grade) most recent "transcript":
>> General Paper A (percentile: 96.9)
>> History A (percentile: 98.3)
>> Biology A (percentile: 94.1)
>> Chemistry A (percentile: 96.0)
>> Mathematics A (percentile: 95.7)
That puts me on the Dean's List (not a big deal though)
+Topped my secondary school in secondary 4 (i.e. 10th grade): 1/200+
>>Topped Biology, English, History, Malay; got A1s for everything else
+One of 40 top students nationwide for the GCE O Level national examination in 2005; had press and media interviews for that
+Highest award (gold) in the National Chemistry Olympiad in 2006; top 10 nation-wide
+Distinction award in the Nanyang Technological University Chemistry Concept Competition in 2007
+First place in intra-college chemistry competition in 2006
+High distinction award (highest award) for Australian Mathematics Competition in 2005
+Taking an undergraduate module (molecular genetics) at the National university of Singapore, as part of a "heaviest" workload
+Qualified for the National Biology Olympiad in 2006 and National Mathematics Olympiad in 2004
+School wushu team 2006-2007, participated in the National Wushu Championships and won two bronzes
+Quartermaster of wushu club (2006-2007)
+Various wushu performances in public places
+Talent-spotted for national wushu team, which I had to reject due to an injury
+Our school won 2nd place at national level
+Choir (2004-2005); we won the Gold award in the National Youth Festival judging
+One-month work attachment with the Disabled Peoples' Association (kick-ass letter of recommendation from here)
+Part of the organizing committee for the International Day of Disabled Persons 2006
+Week-long attachment at the Singapore Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology
+Year-long commitment, teaching 10th graders once weekly
+Class President (2001-2003)
+Regular blood donor (5 times)
+ABRSM grade 8 (piano), Yamaha grade 5 (piano) diploma, which makes me qualified to teach at Yamaha Music School
I'm afraid that's all I have for my extra-curriculars, which I concede are inadequate. I'm looking at possibly chemical engineering (need to take some physics courses). I would need some form of financial aid from the schools, so it might really affect my chances, I don't know. These are the schools I'm considering:
Middlebury
Northwestern
Johns Hopkins
Cornell
Williams (might drop Yale SCEA and ED here, if my chances at Yale are crap)
Harvard (applying for the hell of it)
Yale (SCEA, first-choice school)
I don't have any safeties yet, so if anyone knows of any safety school which are lenient to international aid-applicants, do tell
My recommendations should be outstanding and my essays are pretty good (full with Asian flavour and a very personal voice).
Thank you!
College Confidential is dedicated to providing the best free college admissions information available on the Web, through our many articles and this discussion forum.
