I was born and raised here in the U.S. and have had all my schooling here so far.
However, I just completed my sophomore year of high school this year, and I will be moving to Singapore this summer due to my dad’s work.
I will complete my junior and senior year in Singapore, and then come back to the U.S. for college.
Assuming that I am able to maintain my good grades and involvement in extracurriculars when I move, how will this affect my chances with the top universities? Will benefit, hurt, or do nothing to my chances?
Also, since I will still be a U.S. citizen, will I be reviewed as an international applicant since I’m applying from outside the country, or will I be viewed normally due to my citizenship?
Probably won’t matter much unless your Singapore school is significantly weaker/less prestigious/rigorous than your US school, and even then it probably won’t matter if you do great there. If your Singapore school is “better” than your US school, doing great there might even help your cause–there are some terrific schools in Singapore.
This will depend to some degree on the policies of the colleges to which you apply–there’s no universal policy. That said, I don’t think you’ll be treated as an international at many (if any) top schools.
You’ll be regarded as a domestic applicant with foreign residency.
You can take all the standardized college entry tests there (e.g. SAT, etc).
Your cutoff for National Merit Semifinalist will be in the highest cutoff pool.
You’ll be eligible for US Federal student aid.
If you’re going to an American international school (SAS?) you’ll have experienced college counseling for facilitating your application to US colleges and will be able to compete in competitive varsity sports and participate in all kinds of clubs, ECs, community service.
The weather never changes except for the summertime dry season when you won’t be able to breath because of the choking haze wafting from illegal forest burning in neighboring Indonesia.