<p>WUSTL is actually in St Louis, Missouri. Not Washington DC nor Washington state.</p>
<p>lestercqx, I assume that a California driving permit will allow me to drive in other states as well? If the IDP isn’t recognized in California, then I don’t think I’ll be getting it cause I will probably be driving in Cal (at least most of the time).</p>
<p>"They send out so many fliers/brochures, and require no supplement for their app –> in the end, they have a hyper-large pool of applicants to give a facade of competitiveness and desirability, but in actual fact most of those applicants are sub-par and hastily put together. And then they mass-waitlist and try to increase their yield… "</p>
<p>Well, FYI…Dartmouth College also doesn’t require any additional essay for their app. I think there are reasons behind the mass sending of brochures and fliers.
<p>Btw, WashU’s applicant pool isnt that hyper large…22k is similar to those of Northwestern, Duke, Michigan, and JHU. UCs are the ones who have ridiculously large applicant pool. UCLA had 50k+ applicants and UCSD had almost 40k applicants. Btw, I’m not here to bash any schools…just wanted to clarify things. </p>
<p>You guys would prolly have heard of people in CC saying bad things about WashU, well I think those people are just bitter about their rejection from WashU, or simply because their schools are ranked lower than WashU. If you really wanna know what WashU is like, you should ask WashU students, instead of just listening to what some random people said. </p>
<p>Yes, I’m a WashU student and I can tell you that at least 70% of the students got into an Ivy or other top 20 schools in the US, but they decided to go to WashU because it is an awesome school. =)</p>
<p>^ you don’t have to FYI me. I applied to Dartmouth. And i didn’t base my assessment on any hearsay, but personal experience. I was literally flooded with WashU stuff. It was nice at first (“wow they actually bothered sending me things?”), but after a while it was like “hmm… okay”. I know many people who applied to WashU just because there’s no additional essay and “they sent me things!”, so i have the feeling that their applicant pool is large but not of a high quality (as opposed to, say, UChicago with a small pool, high admit rate ~40% but is actually very hard to get in because their applicants are self-selective.) UCs have large applicant pools because the sizes of those schools are large. Berkeley has what 30,000 kids? I wont be surprised if they received 50k applications. You seem to go on the defensive quite fast. I didn’t “bash” WashU (like i said, a great senior/friend of mine is there), i was just saying how i feel.</p>
<p>^ Well, I’m sorry…I didnt know that the word “FYI” could be offensive to some people. I didnt say that you bashed WashU. I was just clarifying something. If in any way I’ve offended you, I would like to appologize and hopefully you dont take it personally.</p>
<p>I know UChicago has a very high admit rate because it doesnt have any engineering and business program for it’s undergraduate. So, not many ppl apply there.</p>
<p>UCs dont have large applicant pools because of their size. Michigan, Wisconsin, and Illinois are similar to UCs in term of student population. Yet, they only have around 25K applicants each year. UCs have high number of applicants because of their californian common application.</p>
<p>“so i have the feeling that their applicant pool is large but not of a high quality”</p>
<p>Well, I dont know what did you mean by “high quality”. Statistics have shown that WashU students are very similar to students at the other top 20 schools. So, if you’re talking about those who applied… I dont know if they’re all high quality students. But if you’re talking about those who got in, then I can say that they are students of high quality.</p>
<p>I don’t doubt the quality of WashU’s admitted students. And anyway wasn’t it ranked in the top 15/20 last year by USNWR? What i’ve been trying to say from the start is how their trying to woo the most sub-par of applicants (who included WashU in the list just because) turned me off. I know many of these people who eventually got rejected outright or waitlisted to be rejected. You don’t need a huge applicant pool or put up some kind of facade to prove that you’re good.</p>
<p>But then again, thats just me. I’m not speaking from a commercial/PR viewpoint.</p>
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<p>Me too. Sorry BearClub, but 80% of people I have met were wait-listed. And 90% of people I know applied there WITHOUT having a genuine chance of getting in. WashU may be highly-rated, but it’s marketing strategy certainly isn’t. But that wouldn’t prevent me from attending it - given the opportunity, that is.</p>
<p>Lots of US universities bombard people with mailings, not just WUSTL. But it does have a pretty bad reputation for valuing “demonstrated interest” in admissions. It’s a product of the US News ranking methodology, and I’m sure it’s a good school, but the collective emphasis on DI in schools trying to game the rankings is annoying.</p>
<p>Does anyone know if UVA is respected by general employers? (not to sound like a ****, but while I really don’t care what people in kopitiams think I’d like to get a respected degree)</p>
<p>Ycang: Actually, I think that every state upholds their own testing requirements and certain local laws might vary. I’m not too sure that a Cal driving license will allow you to drive in the other states. What I do know though is that when I was taking the paper test, some people who passed the paper and had out of state license were immediately allowed to drive without having to go through the real practical driving test. IMO, don’t waste your money on a Singapore DL since you said you won’t be driving much in SG anyway, and remember, SG recognizes IDPs and they allow conversion. So save your money and time and get a DL here within two to three weeks. </p>
<p>CHeers.</p>
<p>Anyone here going to Duke? They seemed terribly selective this year… none of my friends who applied got in, including two IB perfect scorers. I’ll be in the class of 2013.</p>
<p>You can drive in any state with a DL issued by another state at least for short visits (converting to a local licence is another story); it’s the only way that the airport car rental agencies can work. But definitely, learning to drive here > learning to drive in SG.</p>
<p>Just curious, anyone here going to Tufts? And, how recognised is a Tufts degree to employers in Sg?</p>
<p>^ FYI, Kevin Sim seems to have a super good impression of tufts…</p>
<p>^ I know. Random. But congras on Yale.</p>
<p>Hey all, I have a passion for physics and I wanna pursue it as a researcher. I’ve consistently seen UC Berkeley top the rankings for natural sciences, so I have been wanting to get into UC Berkeley for a long time. Im 18 this year, taking my ’ A ’ Levels, am a Singaporean.</p>
<p>I’ll be taking my SATs in June, what are the scores that would enable me to enter UCBerkeley? I’ve signed up for SAT reasoning test, MATH II, Physics and MATH I. I intend to major in physics (theoretical).</p>
<p>Here are my stats:
2007: Represented secondary school to participate in SMO Math Project Festival (didnt win anything but a COP)
2008: -SAJC (my high school) Commendation awards for Science Stream (x2)
-Represented school in Singapore Physics Olympiad (didnt win anything but a COP)
-A*star-MOE student attachment programme, Research institute: Institute of Microelectronics
-Took part in Youth Science Fair (Didnt win anything)
-Took part in SSEF (Singapore science and engineering festival) (didnt win anything)
2009: -SAJC (my high school) Commendation awards for science stream
-In Talent Management Program
-Represented school in NTU Mech Challenge (didnt win anything)
-took up 2 H3s in Physics and Mathematics, their university subjects (few in my school have that)</p>
<p>I have participated in many scientific activities, but I didnt win anything yet Is it over for me to enter UC Berkeley? Is there another option for me besides UC berekely i dont mind other colleges, as long as they are good for natural sciences (physics) and well-known.</p>
<p>Can I ask whether to enter UC Berkeley do i need alot of stuff like Olympiad Medals etc.? And its nearing the A levels and i am still without accomplishments 
I really really wanna pursue my passion in the US…studying physics at UC Berkeley, will be totally a dream come true for me!!</p>
<p>Anyone can help me with that? Or what should I do now?</p>
<p>A bit of advice - just take Math II - it is useless to take Math I and II. Switch the Math I to Chemistry or any other A-level subject you are taking. The 2 H3s are impressive - shows that you are doing the hardest courseload.</p>
<p>Do you know how many people per year get admitted to UCBerkeley from SAJC every year? That might help you/us estimate your chances better. I only know on average around 20+ Singaporeans enroll to UCBerkeley every year but have no idea about the breakdown or the people who are actually admitted.</p>
<p>erm…2 sajc students got into imperial last year, then the rest got into some ireland royal college of surgeons or something…</p>
<p>I cant switch from Math II to math I, i already signed up and paid for the test</p>
<p>frankchn…you’re totally living my dream man</p>
<p>^ Haha then lots of people in the States are living your dream =p. Two to Imperial seems to be a bit little so you might be in for a bit of a tough time. Good luck anyway and keep us posted =)</p>