<p>About the dinner treat: I’m so darn serious! LOL
I’m going to put up my full stats in this threat once i’m ready. For now i’m seriously in need of some advices regarding the following:
Do keep in mind: a) I’m a Vietnamese & b)I’m studying in Singapore under the GCE A Levels program</p>
<p>1) SAT II: Does it matter that all my SAT IIs are Math/Sciences when I intend to major in POlitical Science/International Relations? I took Math II & Chem (both 780) and Physics (dismal result of 640 since didn’t study and half of the content had yet to be taught in school when i took the test - retaking in November). Should i take a humanities subject to show “versatility”? Deciding between Math I (which i can get 800 or close), or Lit (which i can get 740-760 if i try really hard - but one never know…)</p>
<p>2) ECA: I have a bunch of stuff which can be divided into 3 categories: Science, History and Student govt. Is it weird that I have a tons of national science awards (competition, fair, olympiad), hold a president post in the science council (a huge science club with over 100 members) & organize some major international & national science events when i’m definitely never EVER going to do science after high school? (the whole affair with science started because teachers thought i was good and sent me for stuff, and i didn’t protest)
The Award list looks similar, with another category for Random Stuff, which, although are really random and unrelated, ranging from Odyssey of the mind to international essay prize, are all top 3 prizes and i feel compelled to include them as part of my top 7 awards. I fear that my award list will be, well, RANDOM! and random is not good right? </p>
<p>Basic stats:
SAT I: 2200 (1st time with barely any prep CR720/WR730 -E11/M750, retaking in Oct because i can get 800 for math and hopefully higher for the rest <em>cross fingers</em>)
A Level predicted grades: Perfect grades with a Distinction (as in A grade) for an advanced history module.
Class rank: consistently in top 2% - School is one of nation’s top 5 - meaning everybody is hyper smart and will go to 4 year colleges.
Counsellor recomm: “one of the best and most talented i’ve seen in my career”</p>
<p>If you already took Math II, nobody will want to see your Math I score as well. Taking more than one Math SAT II is overkill. You’re better off with Lit (though you already have enough SAT IIs, so I’m not sure why you’re worried)</p>
<p>In response to 2, no, I don’t think it’s weird that you have a lot of science extracurriculars while not wanting to do science after high school. Adcoms should realize that many people change their minds about what they want to do in life (a huge number of college students change their majors multiple times) and studying science is also a lot different from actually doing science, as I’m sure you’ve discovered to some extent in your science fairs. I suspect that there are very many students who sincerely enjoy doing science in high school who don’t want to be research scientists, and apply to colleges with that in mind. In the end, I don’t see how it’s really any different from playing violin or lacrosse well, but not wanting to go into either profession. There’s nothing wrong with having science as a hobby, and as long as you’re clear about why you do science in your application, so adcoms don’t just think you’re doing these things just to boost a college application, I don’t see how it could hurt you.</p>
<p>If you can find some way, however, to relate this portion of your life to your other interests, however, it would make your application that much stronger. For example, maybe you’re interested in public policy – that seems reasonable if you like history and student govt. There are tons and tons of huge policy issues that are intimately connected with science, and you could talk about whichever of those issues concern you, and how you hope to use your science background to be able to better tackle those issues. Really, there are few fields out there that can’t benefit from a strong science background, and if you’re aware of that on your application, and you make whoever’s reading your application aware of it, you may have a leg up on the countless people hoping to study whatever you hope to study who don’t have this sort of background.</p>
<p>You have pretty good chances, although the international pool is fiercely competitive. Retaking the SAT is a good idea to see if you can improve. I would apply undeclared and then all the science stuff definitely won’t distract them (admissions mainly cares that kids ECs show that they are high achievers, not so much what they want to major in). If you can also retake the Math SAT II, go ahead and do that if you can get an 800 b/c it is the easiest or one of the easiest SAT IIs. Don’t worry about the physics score b/c they will only look at the top 2 sat ii’s…</p>
<p>to svalbardlutefisk: quite a number of my friends took 2 Maths - some are now in Ivy League institutions. They took Math I because it’s easy, and because they have no better option</p>
<p>I’m retaking Physics because i think a 640 is gonna look really ugly on my application (even though Yale only requires 2 subject tests). Besides, some other colleges require 3… the 4th subject test is more like since i’m already taking the SAT subject test, might as well make the best out of my saturday morning and take 2 subjects. That’s where i’m coming from…</p>
<p>to yalie343: Should i really take Math II again just to get that extra 20 marks? Does it make that much of a difference? Some people have said that as long as subject test scores are above 700 its “safe”.</p>
<p>I’m not saying that they will deny you because you take both math tests, I’m saying that there’s absolutely no point to it. You already have a very high Math II score (there’s no need to retake a 780), and Yale won’t learn anything more from you having 2 high math scores (or 3 counting the SAT I). Particularly given that the Math I test is extremely basic.</p>
<p>It’s not weird to have interests than span fields, but you do want to show interest in Government/History stuff as well, as that realm is very competitive for Ivy apps</p>