<p>I live in PNG (Papua New Guinea) which borders Indonesia and north of Australia. </p>
<p>It is incredibly poor and backward. For example only dial-up internet and one national TV channel. Electricity goes out every 2 days and we have one golf course in the capital city only. </p>
<p>But I go to the #1 private school in Australia and out of 220 kids I came around top 5 so well into the top 1%. I’m leaving this fall for Phillips Academy Andover and I am a good student I think. I had just started Grade 11 at Shore and am going though to Andover in Grade 10 this year.</p>
<p>I have 4 years of soccer and basketball at my school and did debating, mock trial, 3 charities, Model UN, nationally ranked chess at a point (think about 8th in 2001 :)), Young Liberals Party (politics) and I am Indian born, PNG breed (lived entire life) and boarded in Australia for many years. </p>
<p>In my first year at Andover I’m doing AP BC Calculus, AP C Physics, College level German and I’m not sure about the rest of the courses. Fluent in German, English and Hindi (Indian national language)</p>
<p>Will PNG help my application to Ivy Leagues? Just wondering, thanks very much.</p>
<p>Really thanks very much. I’m also a Indian male if that changes anything. </p>
<p>Also, just wondering how hard is it got get a GPA of 4.0? Like what % of students get that? Like can anyone break down the GPA at a top school roughly? Like for example for Phillips Andover:</p>
<p>Top 5% in PA get 4.0
5-15% get 3.9
20-25% get 3.8
etc, etc</p>
<p>Like can anyone tell me what the GPA’s are like as I’m foreign to the entire system.</p>
<p>Looking at how everyone did their chances application I thought I’d tweak mine a little (not much to tweak though…)</p>
<p>Academics - </p>
<p>Prestigious #1 Australian school - Top 5% out of 200 students.
Year 9:
Math - A (Only A, B, C, D, E…No + or -)
English - A
History - A
PDHPE (Gym and Gym Theory lol) - B (Will that hurt?)
Geography - A
Commerece (Economics) - A
Science - A
Latin - B (Will that hurt?)</p>
<p>Year 10 at Phillips Academy Andover:</p>
<p>Haven’t started but my subjects will be of utmost rigour:</p>
<p>AP BC Calculus
AP C Physics
SAT German
History - Hoping to move from the Year 10 class to college level in the same year
Gym - COmpulsory
Philosophy/Religion class - Compulsory </p>
<p>I will in grade 10 do the AP exams for Physics C, Calculus AB and BC as well as the SAT 1s and 2s for Math and SATs for History hopefully. Is that a good idea?</p>
<p>Live in PNG as stated above and for extracurricular: </p>
<p>Soccer team for 4 years
Basketball team for 4 years
40 hours - disabled children’s school
100 hours - War veterans
40 hours - Orthapedic Surgeons
Piano for 9 years
Just started violin
2 drama productions
Nationally ranked Chess (ranked in Australia, not PNG lol. Was Top 10 for age group around 2003ish)
Debate team for 4 years
Mock Trial - Witness 1 year
Cadets (Kinda like Outdoor Camp/Boy Scout but with Army affiliations and thus rank, rules and regulations) - Leader of 30 boys and around 400 hours. </p>
<p>I’ve won some awards for chess like a state championship and a lot of school trophies. Got some academic excellence awards as well…
Thanks, and can some more people please chance me. I’m totally foreign to American unis and don’t know what I should apply to with my credentials. </p>
<p>See, my parents think getting into Ivy League is a MUST. Like its Ivy League or nothing. They think private schools such as Andover mean a ticket to Harvard automatically or so it should. So can people chance me honestly so I know how much harder I need to work etc? Thankyou very much</p>
<p>Shore is a very good school, but it is not the BEST or NO. 1 school in Australia. There are a set of rankings on the internet,
[Melbourne</a> High School (Victoria) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“Melbourne High School - Wikipedia”>Melbourne High School - Wikipedia)
, and the top four schools are victorian. I am sorry, but i just had to tell you that, since 2 other Australian students on this thread have also claimed that their private school in perth is the best in Australia.
IVY leagues are very attracted to leadership positions etc. So work on portraying those in your essays. But, to answer your question, I, personally, don’t think that living in PNG is going to advantage your chances. Probably because you board in an Australian School, which means that you aren’t really going through the HARDSHIPS as much as if you studied in PNG.
Obviously, if you once studied in a government school in PNG and then worked HARD for a scholarship to Shore, then yes, it would really help show your determination, motivation and character. PNG itself won’t impress IVY leagues, but yes you could use it in your essays.
good luck! (sorry but i had to mention the school rankings, i m a proud victorian :P)</p>
<p>PNG does disadvantage as we don’t have these summer opportunities, news, tutoring etc so I hope I’ll still find a way. But thanks for the frankness, its very much helpful. </p>
<p>And as for the rankings, well…Wikipedia…Enough said. Anyone could change around the rankings. Perhaps this is jealousy but in my mind its well founded :p</p>
<p>trust me mate, i m just trying to help you. As for the PNG, i think you’ll have a better shot if you concentrate your essays to demonstrate your continuing passion for a better education than your struggles in PNG. Coz i dunno, it just seems that your family is well off since you can afford Shore and a private school in andover.
good luck
PS: what courses are you looking at?? there are some schools better than the ivy leagues for certain courses and you should certainly apply there too.</p>
<p>I know, thanks.
Sorry if you interpreted that as false sincerity or frustration. Thanks.
I’m not sure, I want to do something with finance/banking or law as I genuinely have always loved this from childhood. But for an undergraduate degree I have no idea. What do you think are good courses to move to law or banking or business from? Thanks again. I appreciate the advice but can you do two essays? Because then I can hopefully accomplish both. Or perhaps try to link the two. Thanks heaps though.</p>
<p>Right, so just a minor point of clarification sid, I never said that our school was the best in AU, lol, in WA yeah, but i know it’s not overall.</p>
<p>Anyways, just didn’t want to be bundled with my esteemed colleague. ^^</p>
<p>And shore, something for you.</p>
<p>YOU my friend are VERY lucky!</p>
<p>Phillips Academy is unfortunately and perhaps unfairly for those who can’t pay college prices or get a scholarship almost a one way street to HYPSM and pretty much anywhere you want to go. In fact my cousin just got in as well, so who knows, you two might be in the same class.</p>
<p>keep this in mind, just because you got into Phillips DOES NOT mean you can stop working, although i doubt that’s an issue, and secondly, you’ll do fine, just keep up the good work.</p>
<p>One final point,</p>
<p>Do what YOU love. I have participated in a few national forums and such, and surprisingly the one thing I hear from EVERYONE is to do what YOU love. Don’t let others plan your life for you. You will get anywhere you want, do anything you want if you are doing it for YOURSELF. That’s why they say most of us who attended those forums were accepted, because they could see our genuine passion. If you want to go to an Ivy go for it, but don’t do it because your parents say it’s the only option.</p>
<p>Thanks, yeah, I’d like to do a economics or business undergrad and then go to law or banking. But thanks heaps M-Brane, what year is your brother entering Andover btw? It would be cool if I could talk to him before on like MSN…</p>
<p>Do you spend any time in PNG now (summers, perhaps?) If so, I would suggest doing something that shows your connection to and concern for the problems of that country. Otherwise, it seems to me that American universities are likely to view you as an Indian schooled in Australia (not that there’s anything wrong with that).</p>
<p>Just to reiterate I’m applying for Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT, Stanford, Penn and Cornell as supreme reaches. </p>
<p>Also my ECs are weak as I doubt I will get into Andover’s soccer and bball teams and I haven’t done Chess since 2004 competitively. Looking for an internship with a bank/law firm/newspaper in Australia or PNG. Which one would look a lot better?</p>
