<p>the extra-curric stuff was what really threw me off when i was applying.
i mean, key club? i still dont know what that is. national merit scholar… etc. etc.
i mean, here its like… year9? don’t worry, it doesnt count. year10? dont worry… etc. year11? ditto. year 12? don’t worry… uh oh. lol.
i mean its just pure academics, and JUST your last year of school…</p>
<p>Yeah not to mention the fact that the common app is completely and utterly useless and annoying when trying to fill in the EC section…trying to explain activities in those tiny boxes is an art in itself.</p>
<p>I just wish that I had known that I would be applying to US colleges back in year 9 and 10. Then maybe my ECs would have more depth…</p>
<p>I know what you mean. sighhh. i found out that I was going to apply to American colleges at the beginning of year 12. and i completely overused ‘i mean’ in my previous post. eww.</p>
<p>'m in agreeance with natalle in terms of the ECs and how they often don’t correspond to the American schools. Beeish, could you offer any insight into what sort of ECs you think are attractive from international applicants?</p>
<p>Oh extra curriculars the fun times. Basically this is going to sound like opposite to anything anyone tells you but MOST schools, highlight on the most DO NOT want a shopping list. If you have even 2 or 3 or 4 activities, but they are things you have committed too like done for 2 or 3 or 4 years and have had leadership positions in they LIKE that, no scratch that they LOVE that, they would rather you have been in the school band in years 9, 10, 11, 12 then have maybe been in the band in year 9 and then choir in year 10 and then football in year 11 and dance in year 12 they want to see committment, passion, not oh crap I need to look like i’m super super involved by doing things I don’t necessarily like but gives me a shopping list of extra curricular activities. Okay so I personally did not have THAT many activities. I took dance lessons since I was like in Kindergarten, was in about 3 musical ensembles at school from 8th-10th grades and was a youth group leader from about 9th grade to 12th grade. i worked, I babysat regularly and I worked an actual part time job for a year. What else did I put down… um I did three seperate work experiences two of which related 100% to what I stated I wanted to do… i did one at sydney childrens and one a small produciion company on the fox lot (i’m minoring in film) and I talked about that, but really I only had a couple activities but I committed to them… oh yeah and I co-chaired yearbook… which was more an Oh crap I have no leadership position. </p>
<p>@jaytee NO problem and I’m sooo sorry I got your name wrong… I am neither a good speller, nor a good reader, sometimes I wonder how I got into college</p>
<p>@Natalle, it was AMAZING I technically had a bio exam the next day I think and probably should have been studying but I am sooooo glad I went, she was so interesting to hear speak. And yeah for sure you can, I honestly don’t drink for numerous reasons and I’ve never had a problem, frat parties can get kinda boring sometimes, until the dancing starts and then sometimes its just sweaty and hot and gross but I’ve def. had good nights in the dorm not drinking… until people get drunk and puke in the bathroom sinks… which is indeed as gross as it sounds.</p>
<p>@EphemeralEternal - sure I can… it might be easier in a PM though but for sure I can tell you ALLLLL about what I brought with me and how I sorted stuff out.</p>
<p>^ lol, thanks for the ‘NO SHOPPING LISTS’ assurance.
sigh. makes me feel better about 9 years of language school, 5 years of volleyball, 4 years of basketball and… *crickets chirp. haahhah.
ahwell. all my apps are in, HURRAH.
sorry to be so obtuse, but would anyone who’s applying for admission for fall '10 next year put their hands up? just to see who’s applying.</p>
<p>cheers beeish, PM is fine.
I fully agree with the previous sentiments - a short but dense list is optimal. I think I had two of the slots in the Common App blank; of course, the very strong applicants who have a lot of fantastic activities should definitely put them all down, but padding and superficial endeavors that are one-year length or shorter (particularly year 12) or something like that, they look terrible and really aren’t good to put down.</p>
<p>As for
That is precisely the point. Good communication need not involve waffle. Columbia’s app has even less space, and they quite intentionally want applicants to write really concise descriptions of their ECs so as to see how well you can present yourself in an immediate context.</p>
<p>@Sora and Aussie: I totally agree about the ec’s. Here, the whole focus is on year 12 academic results and that’s it. Nothing else. Hence it also scares me that they calculate GPA’s from 9-12. Like ??? No one cares about your grades in year 9 and 10. But here we have applicants with 4.0 gpa’s which means they must’ve got A+ for every single subject they’ve taken from year 9-12.</p>
<p>EphemeralEternal,
Since you got into yale and you sound quite well-informed, I won’t dispute your position entirely. However, admissions websites of HYPSM generally emphasise their desire for a well-rounded class, not necessarily a class of only well-rounded people. In fact, I think the Stanford website said that they also like “angular” applicants who can contribute their particular strength(s) to the university. But keep in mind that I never tried to say that pure academics will get one into HYPSM. </p>
<p>Actually, it could be a bit of my self-interest talking when I argue against you and Aussie333 lol, because I am one of those “10-15” academically strong students who are not particularly strong in extracurricular involvement. I guess we could treat my admissions outcomes as an experiment to test our views then lol.</p>
<p>Just another note on the Academic factor - </p>
<p>A friend of mine got into Harvard a few years back (2007).</p>
<p>Academically her stats were:
- NO HSC/VCE. That’s right, she applied and was accepted as a Yr 11 student.
- Fairly mediocre SAT I and SAT II. </p>
<p>But she had incredibly strong ECs at an international level (no, not sports nor relating to maths/physics/chem olympiads), and was a fantastic writer.</p>
<p>
What? I did not mean to say none of those students would get in. That 10-15 is the total number of students who are competitive in an academic sense, and virtually all admitted students, barring the sort of person theskylitup cites above, would come from that pool. </p>
<p>In general though, it would take something of an international standing, whether via ECs or Olympiads or writing competitions or whatever, to prop up any lopsided applicant. For example, as far as I know there are at least three aussie maths/science Olympiad people applying this year, so that’s an indication of the strength of the pool academic applicants are competing in (and even then, colleges may take only one of them because more would be redundant)…</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Oh and I don’t mean to imply that that person I know is in any way the norm. Of course she’s the exception to the rule - but such exceptions illustrate the mentality behind admissions imo. They really are looking for interesting students and will disregard factors like the SATs if the reccommendations and school transcripts were good (as hers were). </p>
<p>EternalEmphemeral - add another physics olympiad-er to the list, a friend of mine is also applying. (so that makes at least 4 now).</p>
<p>damn, another writer with an international award. sigh. ahhahah.
ahwell. since all my apps are in and theres just financial humdrummity to finish off, i think i’ll bow out of this site soon. hello uni, here i come.
i wish everyone here ALL the best… hope there’ll be good news for us come april.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>No, she was a fantastic writer, but her EC wasn’t about writing. It wasn’t merely an award either. It did involve international representation of Australia and tied in with her other ECs which involved the same area of achievement.</p>
<p>ETA: Oh, unless you’re referring to my physics friend. He’s a fantastic writer as well (nearly full marks for his 4U English).</p>
<p>EphemeralEternal,
Then perhaps I misunderstood. Let’s not argue.</p>
<p>For those enrolling in an Australian uni next year, where do you plan to go? For me it’s going to be either Melb or ANU.</p>
<p>I’ve got my fingers crossed for Melb Uni. Don’t have a problem getting into the course but just have to wait for college…if that doesn’t work out, it’s sydney for me. AUS-S1, what course you thinking of at Melb/ANU?</p>
<p>Melb BSc or ANU PhB. </p>
<p>What attracts you to Melb Uni? I’m a Melburnian but I think your USyd is a better place to do an undergrad degree (or double degree). The Melb Model isn’t half as good as Melb Uni claims. You might want to check out this website to see if the ‘breadth subjects’ allowed for your course will meet your needs:</p>
<p><a href=“https://handbook.unimelb.edu.au/faces/htdocs/user/breadth/BreadthSearch.jsp?year=current[/url]”>https://handbook.unimelb.edu.au/faces/htdocs/user/breadth/BreadthSearch.jsp?year=current</a></p>
<p>When I did a search for BSc breadth subjects, I was a bit surprised at how limited the options were. For example, I can’t do introductory micro/macro econ as breadth.</p>
<p>Which is your first preference AUS-S1, ANU or Melb? ANU is a great uni, just don’t think I could handle Canberra and the roundabouts :)</p>
<p>Yeah I’ve heard mixed things about the Melbourne Model. I’m wanting to do Arts, and from the research that I’ve done, there are a couple of breadth subjects that interest me. I guess I’m attracted the Melb Uni somewhat because of the location…I really like Melbourne compared to Sydney and wouldn’t mind a seachange.</p>
<p>Also, I know it sounds ridiculous but doing Arts at Sydney would involve going to Uni with half the kids who I went to school with, as well as heaps who finished last year ect. But nevertheless, I hear what you’re saying about the Melb Model because the couple of Melbournians that I’ve spoken to haven’t thought very highly of it. Ah well, all depends on whether I get into college or not…AUS-S1, what’s your opinion on Ormond?</p>
<p>@Aussie 333: Although I probably haven’t done as much research as AUS-S1 had, I actually quite like the Melbourne model. I think it’s really depending on your interests and how sure you are with where your future career is heading. </p>
<p>For example, one of my friends who is in her second year now under the melbourne model chose it over Melbourne over Monash because that way she could continue her interests in Japanese while pursuing a degree in environmental science. Conversely, many other people, particularly those who were sure they wanted to do med, chose Monash over Melbourne because they didn’t want to spend that many years studying.</p>
<p>lol yeah spot on about the roundabouts. wheeeee! round and round, round and round…lol</p>
<p>but seriously speaking, having a lake next to the ANU campus is quite nice, and I think I could live without the features of a big city, at least for 4 years anyway. I like the ANU PhB far more than the Melb BSc, because the PhB is more flexible and can you can sort of create a ‘minor’ with your breadth (that’s right, the PhB lets you do breadth too, except there are less rules and regulations to abide by than at Melb). </p>
<p>Japanese and other languages are some of the (probably) few fields in which you can create a ‘minor’ at Melb, but in the ANU PhB you could take courses to get a meaningful and progressive development of knowledge in, say, econ and law too. </p>
<p>So what’s holding me back from the ANU? My family here in Melb of course. I’m an only child, so I’m not sure if I should ‘desert’ my parents just yet.</p>
<p>oh, forgot to respond to your question, Aussie333. I’m afraid I know nothing about Ormond, but that place sure looks pretty.</p>