<p>sigh, i just want to get into a good university OVERSEAS that has a great physics research program, i really cant stand it here in sg</p>
<p>^ Lolz… U’re definitely not alone my friend :D</p>
<p>Cal is hard to get in. The only guy i know there have like a couple of olympiad medals/close to 2300 SAT/perfect SATII/good resume… He did get rejected from PSM though.</p>
<p>Actually i did take Math 1 & Math 2 (in addition to Physics and Chem) - none of the 4 got 800 (lol), so maybe it depends. But i guess if u’re aiming for physics as a major then Math 1 becomes pretty obsolete. Chemistry’d be a good replacement.
Idk if A levels matter that much (or at all). None of the schools i got into seems to care? I think its more for advanced standing.
Last, if you join competitions and don’t win anything, then i don’t think they mean a whole lot.</p>
<p>You can take whatever SAT IIs you want on the day; they’re not going to check (just put in the right bubbles). Save your money and don’t take Maths 1.</p>
<p>I’ve already paid for Maths 1</p>
<p>No you haven’t paid for Maths 1. You’ve paid for three subject tests. I know the sheet says Maths 1, but in reality if you went into the test centre on the day and took French, German and US History they wouldn’t care and would still mark it and score you for those subjects. It doesn’t matter at all as long as you paid for the right <em>number</em> of tests (unless things have changed since last November when a friend did exactly this).</p>
<p>Yeah to change i need to call the international number and pay USD$22</p>
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</p>
<p>It’s true. Don’t waste your money.</p>
<p>Hey I am currently in Year 4. I know that good CCA records are important when you apply to universities, no just good grades. But my question is, what determines a ‘good’ CCA record? </p>
<p>I got kind of an ‘eye-opening’ experience when I looked at the ‘Chance me’ threads, because everyone there have like, what, more than 5 after school activities, and are being told that they have quite a low chance getting accepted at their desired universities. And I wondered, arent we all limited to two CCAs at schools, whether you are in the UG, musical groups or clubs? So does this mean we would be at a disadvantage when we apply with supposedly weaker CCAs as compared to others?</p>
<p>If you are willing to, could you post up your CCA record which you sent to your universities as an example? Because I am confused about what it should look like and looking at records from teenagers from other countries, I got kind of shocked that they could involve themselves in so much.</p>
<p>Thank you in advance for any advice.</p>
<p>^ Perhaps you can do a search for “Singapore” in the Chances forum? That should surface all the Singaporean people who asked to be chanced. Anyway, here’s my CCA stuff - nothing too special but somewhat longer-ish. You can have a much shorter list but fill it with impressive things (RSI, Olympiads, ISEF, etc…) as well.</p>
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<p>Oh and note that US colleges basically consider what you did for your last 4 years of education. For IP students, that would be from Year 3 to Year 6 (or Sec 3 to J2).</p>
<p>erm do i have a chance at entering uc berkeley? If i do well for A levels, (6As and above), SAT IIs i get phy - 800 math - 800, , SAT reasoning test above ~2200, and a good college essay, BUT no olympiad medals etc.</p>
<p>Do i still stand a chance?</p>
<p>You do have a chance. Better to raise your SAT I to >2300 though.</p>
<p>And don’t be intimidated by Americans’ EC profiles. Their high school is much less stressful and time-consuming than ours which leaves them more time for ECs, and the colleges are aware of it and will factor it into their evaluation.</p>
<p>Hmmm that was a point I never considered. And do they weigh in other factors like IIT-JEE coaching for Indians?</p>
<p>It’s not easy getting 2200 or 2300… Heck, its not easy cracking 2100. I know a few straight A students who only got above 2100 after 3 tries.
In my cohort (in my school) i only know 5 ppl >2200, and 1 with >2300 (and words spread very fast about this kind of thing, so i doubt there’s anyone else). Numbers were about the same for the previous year.
So better get your reality check :)</p>
<p>Oh and A levels don’t mean much…</p>
<p>my cousin scored 2400 for reasoning, 2400 math II, 2400 chem, 2400 french in ONE sitting</p>
<p>didn’t know you could take both SAT I and II both in ONE sitting 
or that each subject test is /2400! hahah</p>
<p>but well, you definitely should get coaching from him or her. SATs are pretty damn muggable, despite what they’d like you to believe :)</p>
<p>if i want to get into a good american/uk college, a level results dont matter much? then what does? SAT? ACT? </p>
<p>and when can we start taking these tests?</p>
<p>Well your nick is “BrilliantMinds” so i am scared… haha</p>
<p>@drifter: For UK yes (even though they count my Physics H1 as equivalent to H2 - power to them! lol), for US not much AFAIK. Georgetown SFS only requires “3 A level passes”. Yale and Harvard “will take the results as they are”, even if you fail to achieve your predicted grades. They used to count A lvl for advanced standing but i dont know if they still do now. Predicted grades matter more. Try to have good relations with your teachers and get straight As.</p>
<p>SAT is definitely important.</p>
<p>A Level results matter a lot for UK unis; Oxbridge etc. at least give conditional offers i.e. after you interview and do well enough you still need at least AAA (in 3 most relevant H2s) before they’ll take you for real. US universities-wise, they want your school to <em>predict</em> you good grades (i.e. think you’re smart) but won’t care what <em>actually</em> happens unless you go from AAA to BCC or something - they reserve the right to rescind you for drops in grades or failure in moral character (e.g. caught plagiarising and this went on formal record, robbed a bank, murdered people). And if you do well (A) you can generally get some credit for intro-level courses. </p>
<p>You can take SAT/ACT tests any time you want; most people do it during their final two years of pre-U education and one of my JC seniors (back when I was a starry-eyed IP1) suggested that it was done before June of J2 so you have time to mug for A Levels because overseas should only be a bonus option and the realistic plan to go to NUS/NTU so don’t sacrifice the latter for the former (IMO, anyway).</p>
<p>Oh and you don’t need to call that number and pay $22. They say you do but actually you don’t.</p>
<p>I feel the comment "screwitlah’ wrote a few posts above is rather foolish. American schools are indeed stressful. Stress does not come from the school but rather the courses you take at schools. Some of the students who applied to the top universities are taking extremely difficult AP/IB classes and are still able to do multiple activities. It is a singaporean mindset that the singapore system is extremely tough, that is completely false. </p>
<p>I have studied in Singapore all the way to Sec 4 in a top Singapore school and now I am in an American system international school overseas so I know how both the systems work. Students in my school who are involved in sports have practice EVERYDAY after school and only get home around 7ish but they still have to do their work and get good grades. </p>
<p>The american high school is as tough if not tougher than Singaporean schools.</p>