<p>I’m here… Sadly, I don’t have anything good to contribute. :)</p>
<p>Nobody seems interested in my question. Maybe you can answer it, fiona</p>
<p>tuna: i think you should choose berkeley (it’s awesome and the campus’s absolutely gorgeous!)
however, cmu should be a better choice if you are set on doing comp sci.
ucla seems… kinda sketchy for a top school.</p>
<p>just my 2 cents :)</p>
<p>I’ll probably go to Berkeley, or if NUS gives me my top choice I may reconsider. UCLA seems a bit dodgy (IMO anyway) + has the annoying quarter system and CMU is freezing cold + snowy in winter (but had Randy Pausch <- irrelevant), so even just on the weather front you know where to go :P</p>
<p>just happened on this particular thread and picked up the vibe.
a word of caution from someone who taught Japanese students
in America in the eighties - don’t underestimate American students
and the American system, for the top students things just get
harder and harder - only the strong survive. There are many brilliant
students at lower ranked state schools - many decisions aren’t made
with ranking or prestige in mind. American high schools may not
measure up statistically, but traditionally that’s not all that important.
Schools often focus on socialization as well as academics, but even
at my local hs, there are many high SAT scorers - some of whom go
to lower ranked colleges. So again, don’t underestimate the competition.</p>
<p>^ huh what pot are you smoking?!</p>
<p>case in point</p>
<p>david dont be rude ah, these chao angmoh dont know anything arh</p>
<■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■
<p>ok, sorry speedo… but really, please explain more. your comments leave us hangin</p>
<p>Speedo, everyone in Singapore so kiasu they cannot imagine a system in which a top student would not be killing for Ivy. Angmoh is roughly the equivalent of ‘whitey’(i.e. under the provisions of this board it should be reported as an insult to you and me both).</p>
<p>The scores may be high, but that hardly means the minds are open, or that the conversations are polite.</p>
<p>^ most of the most amazing american students that i know personally are studying at the top schools (ivies and ivy-equivalent) so what’s your point? </p>
<p>i can’t speak for the other singaporeans but i aspire to attend a top american school because of the amazing resources that it can offer. so instead of whining about a country halfway across the globe, you should be proud that your country boasts a higher education (i.e. ivies and the likes) that’s the envy of the rest of the world. and please, don’t mix kiasu-ness with a lack of ambition.</p>
<p>so now that you’ve spent all those years striving and playing the
game what’s next? You’re in, now what’s your goal? Do you want
to be happy? Make lifelong friends? Find a partner? Or are you going
to spend 4 years walking around, lonely, in your own personal
international achievement bubble taking full advantage of the
amazing resources. Do you want to assimilate or is it simply the
temporary life? Four years is a long time at eighteen.</p>
<p>Screwitlah-- Singapore is a terrific young country with a go-getter, capable population. This thread came up on the home page and since I have more than passing familiarity I came to this thread and commented on a statistic which was reported on IB scores and on an often described issue within Singaporean education-the oppressive examination system. MOE has recently announced that exams in P1 and P2 will be eliminated- so clearly there is some sense that maybe testing 6/7 year olds is not the way to go. More changes will come. </p>
<p>You immediately went on the offensive and I have retorted. More recently another individual made a racist comment to which I replied as well. </p>
<p>I am all done with this thread. I suggest that you spend your time earning money to supplement the generous financial aid from the American university which owes you nothing and which I support indirectly with the taxes I pay in the US and NJ (even private universities are the beneficiaries of taxpayer largesse).</p>
<p>With respect, I apologise for my offensive comments and the use of the word ‘angmoh’. Personally, I view angmoh as just a word for Westerners–my friends use it in a very colloquial context (e.g. Look at that angmoh girl there, do you think she’s cute) However, the word is double-edged and I agree that it was inappropriate for me to use it.</p>
<p>I am thoroughly grateful for the opportunity to study in America, courtesy of gift aid that is funded partially by taxpayer dollars. However, I also feel offended by the insinuation that all Singaporeans are Ivy-league grubbers. Speedo’s comments were offensive to me, painting a picture of Singaporeans who merely study to get good grades and don’t care about social life. In that case, mayn’t I feel angry toward him? </p>
<p>It’s true that Singapore’s system is focused on testing, and there are students who, pushed by parents or other extrinsic motivations, study just for the sake of passing through those hoops. It’s however, not fair to characterize all of us on this thread as mere grade-grubbers.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I’ve been surprised by both the kinds of people I’ve found at both ends of the spectrum - the people who you think, by virtue of their interests and jobs, would be open-minded and perceptive who have no idea what goes on outside our waters and are extremely dismissive/ignorant of other cultures, and those who check all the boxes for “mugger” and then, when you get them in a private conversation, surprise you with their insight and depth of thought.</p>
<p>The thinkers, the creative minds are out there. I’ve met them. I was in a class full of them (I was so very, very, very lucky in JC). You know what the problem is? They all go on to do law, or biz, or accounting, because there’s nothing else, and that creative spark just lies dormant. Institutionally, there is no career support for people who want to pursue academia or fine arts. If you are in JC and you tell your teacher “I’m thinking of becoming a (humanities) researcher or a musician or a painter” - no matter your potential, if you don’t already have a plan for yourself, the schools have no resources to guide you towards your goal. The instinct is, “why don’t you do something else and pursue this on the side until you can make money off it?” So of course many of them try, and they can’t sustain what is essentially two jobs, except that one doesn’t pay. Which one goes? The one they have no institutional support for.</p>
<p>On the thing about studying for the sake of grades - oh my god. When I was relief teaching - you won’t BELIEVE the lengths students will go now. I had a guy raise his hand in the middle of a TEST to ask, “I know the answer but I can’t remember if the word is hyphenated. Will you penalise me if I get this wrong?” Good grief!!! IIRC, the question was half a mark!!!</p>
<p>On a similar note, I remember sitting in a lecture on the film adaptation of J.G. Ballard’s Empire of the Sun (now you know which school it is) and, during a highly subjective scene where Christian Bale’s character enters the barracks and he imagines all the soldiers standing up to salute him, the lecturer specifically said, “not everything that happens in the film is real”. Up came the lecture slide on everything in the film that is “real” and “not real”, and down went students’ heads while they copied the list. I nearly died. For someone whose H3 research paper was (partly) on the subjectivity of transgressional literature, this is as good as blasphemy - worse than trying to re-cast The Merchant of Venice as a feminist drama (can you say missing the point?)</p>
<p>Weeks later, after I left teaching, I was talking to one of my ex-students and I was expressing my disappointment over that lecture, and she said, “I know, [insert her own explanation here], so I didn’t see why it was relevant” (or something to that effect). I was blown away. So those students are there. But they’re not being mentored, encouraged and challenged as they should be, and sometimes that talent stagnates until it’s too late to get them up to speed so that they can use it.</p>
<p>In what I will always think of as a bitterly ironic twist, that girl I just mentioned left the IP school and went to an international school (one that we on this board tend to think of as not-so-good).</p>
<p>For an Indian applicant to NUS/NTU, how much importance would the following have?(answers from SIA-NOL awardees would be especially appreciated)
- NTSE
- KVPY(Kishore Vigyaan Protsahan Yojana
- 10th board marks
- 11th marks and RANK
- 12th home exam marks and RANK
- Any small research work
- SAT scores(>2000)
- ACT scores
- AP scores(all/nearly all 5s)
- Regional/State Olympiads or other national stuff(Like 50-200 All India Rank)
- Big ranks in national contests like NSO NCO NSTSE.
- Qualification for International Olympiad Training Camps.
- ECs with NO BIG AWARDS. Only regional stuff.
- Participation in World Scholar’s Cup.
- Participation in pretty selective international summer programs like International Summer School for Young physicists.
- Anything else that might be considered of importance with respect to most applicants.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Edit: I just read that applications are processed after 12th board results. Isn’t it possible to get it done early with other qualifications like AP/SAT etc.?
And for late processing, how important can these ranks be for IIT-JEE/AIEEE-
<5000
<1000
<100</p>
<p>Hi Gary (reminds me of Spongebob’s pet): I’m an SIA Youth scholar (it’s for studying 11th and 12th grade in Singapore)- more selective than SIANOL- and I know a few SIANOLs myself so I’ll try answering your question. * means “not very important” and ****** means “really important”. so everything in the middle, try figuring out yourself! :)</p>
<ol>
<li>NTSE ****</li>
<li>KVPY(Kishore Vigyaan Protsahan Yojana) **</li>
<li>10th board marks ****</li>
<li>11th marks and RANK ***</li>
<li>12th home exam marks and RANK ****</li>
<li>Any small research work **</li>
<li>SAT scores(>2000) ** (though a 2150+ would be better, i guess)</li>
<li>ACT scores *</li>
<li>AP scores(all/nearly all 5s) **</li>
<li>Regional/State Olympiads or other national stuff(Like 50-200 All India Rank) *****</li>
<li>Big ranks in national contests like NSO NCO NSTSE. ****</li>
<li>Qualification for International Olympiad Training Camps. *****</li>
<li>ECs with NO BIG AWARDS. Only regional stuff. ***</li>
<li>Participation in World Scholar’s Cup. ****</li>
<li>Participation in pretty selective international summer programs. ***</li>
</ol>
<p>No, you can’t apply for the SIANOL using APs and SATs- as I said, they’re hardly considered. AIEEE ranks don’t help much IMO; however, ANY RANK at the JEE will surely be helpful. I know average applicants (in terms of olympiads and CCAs) who made it last year solely on the basis of a good JEE rank (the person wanted a more global experience over the IIT prestige)- so do send it in! :)</p>
<p>PS: HINT: do send in ANYTHING that’s somewhat significant… even inter-school and intra-school stuff! 
It works- at least for the SIA Youth (around 25 people selected); maybe it’ll work for the SIANOL too! good luck with your application! cheers! :)</p>
<p>Do you know Rajul Gupta? He’s from my school and got selected in the Youth thing. Awaiting NUS/NTU results now.</p>
<p>Thanks a lot for the ratings! I can’t believe my stupid NTSE is worth 2X KVPY!!! KVPY is 10 times better any day. Especially for NUS. They must be idiots giving NTSE more importance even though nearly a thousand fools in India get it every year. The research rating also surprised me.</p>
<p>I don’t think I’ll waste time in intra/inter school stuff this year. Just national stuff and possibly 1 international contest besides the Olympiads(Especially informatics, physics and astro) I’m pretty sure to clear RMO, but I’ll fail INMO again this year. NSEC too I should clear, but I don’t think my organic will let me go to the TC hehe.
Thanks a lot for all your help.
P.S. Any idea about the scholar’s cup in Singapore?</p>
<p>@gary: Yes, I do know Rajul. Though he went to a different Junior College (school). I believe you’re from Lucknow- the school, I fail to remember as of now.</p>
<p>See, the thing with NTSE is that it’s a much more widely participated test. Personally, I had never even HEARD of KVPY till I went to Singapore. Yeah, it’s pretty popular in Lucknow (a lot of my batchmates from Lucknow seem to be KVPY scholars); but it’s virtually unheard of in many places. So, even if the standard of NTSE is lower, I wouldn’t really call them “stupid” for giving it more importance. It’s not COMPULSORY that you must have one/all of these awards. Personally, I didn’t even sign up for the NTSE and got selected.
My advice to you would be to participate in EVERYTHING that comes your way- school level, zonal, state, national! And do your very best. INMO is really nothing gigantinormously difficult. Prep well for it and you should be good.
You’re welcome! Feel free to ask should you have any more questions!
And isn’t the Scholar’s Cup and international competition for high-school students? What’s it got to do with Singapore? (except for the fact that Singaporean schools pwn most others- like 5 of the top 10 are Singapore schools!)</p>
<p>@phantompong: Thanks a lot!! Really really enjoyed your insight!</p>
<p>Hey Guys! </p>
<p>I’m taking SAT II World History this June…and I’m looking for the Barrons’ Guide to the World Hist Subject Test, or any SAT Subject Books that can help me for World History. Does anyone have it?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>