<p>1234d: Hello! What kind of scores should I be aiming for in my SAT?</p>
<p>vsxy: I guess I should be able to get full marks for chinese since I got A for A levels. Yupp,thnks for your advice I bought a SAT guidebook on biology just now at Borders. I didnt choose humanities for SAT subjects as I saw the sample qns and found it quite difficult! </p>
<p>Really? Math 2? Is it something like A math in secondary four? Oh, and if I take chi, math 2 and bio on the same day, what would the arrangement be like?
Or should I take bio on december and Math and Chi on Nov instead? Do i have to mug a lot if I take Math 2?</p>
<p>Kind of regret not deciding to study abroad last year if not I could have started doing SATs last year already! Only decided this year in may! =(</p>
<p>I think Math Level II is much easier than A Math! I took it when I was sec 4 and managed to get 800. But you should get the guidebook to get a sense of what type of questions they’ll ask. There are loads of topics we learn in A Math that aren’t tested, like calculus etc, and the guidebook will make sure you don’t study extra. Actually the test is really simple so don’t worry about having to mug! Spend time mugging your Bio. </p>
<p>If you take all three on the same day, you get short breaks in between the papers, so two breaks in total. You can work on the test in any order. They just give you a book with ALL the subject tests in it. (waste of paper, I know!) </p>
<p>I think you should take all three on the same day. :)</p>
<p>Oh do you plan to apply for Early Decision/Action? If you do, you’d probably have to take the tests in November, as most schools’ deadline for EA/ED is Nov 1.</p>
<p>As for SAT scores, try to aim for 700+ for critical reading & writing, and 800 for math. Anything above 2250 should be good for Cornell/Berkeley. 2300+ would be awesome though :)</p>
<p>GOOD LUCK! (P.S. I’m taking A’s this year too.)</p>
<p>I’ve heard that if you migrate (ie. throw away your Singapore passport), the Singapore government will refuse to offer you work visas. Is that true?</p>
<p>Math II is basic algebra/trig, doesn’t go beyond limits and doesn’t have stats. O Level Maths is more than enough. Go ahead and take all three on the same day; saves money and time slots, and you get a 5-10 minute break between each test. Good luck (:</p>
<p>I’ve heard rumours of ‘pettiness’ i.e. if you renounced SG citizenship for MY citizenship and tried to reapply for PR status they won’t give it to you but as always these are tales with so many variables we will never know the answer. But the whole point of migration is that you want to live and work somewhere else so wanting a work visa for SG in the future is unlikely (IMO), and I really can’t see SIR/ICA/whatever-they’re-called-now rejecting somebody who is top notch in every way (except for a previous migration), assuming you left on OK terms?</p>
<p>Nadash, you can try and bend the rules. You can get another passport but don’t tell the S’pore govt. It’s unlikely they’ll find out. Most of my family has dual-citizenship because of marriage and stuff like that.</p>
<p>jerrie: aim for 2200+ for SAT I and 750+ for SAT II. SAT Chinese is really useless if you’re an ethnic Chinese because around half of those taking (who are mostly Chinese) get 800 anyway. Take Math II instead of Math I and aim for 800 - it’s not very hard.</p>
<p>uhhh… in some quarters, UCLA is seen as the party school with less rigorous academics and there is the “why-the-hell-would-you-go-there-to-do-a-technical-subject” mentality. yes, I know, feel free to baulk at how misinformed singaporean employers are.</p>
<p>Jerrie: Practice is the best way. There’s no optimal number of practice tests you can do. My take is, do a couple of practice tests, see which sections are your weakest, and if you need A LOT of extra practice, buy guidebooks that cater to that particular section. That way you get the extra practice you need. Borders has a pretty poor selection, IMO. Try Kinokuniya, they have LOADS of different publishers.</p>
<p>so, what your meant in the post in the previous page is that all US universities look at your last schooling location before placing you in the regional pool of applicants from the instead of looking at your citizenship?</p>
<p>Hello All. I am new to US universities applications. I am looking to apply to Princeton/Yale/Stanford SCEA from a Singaporean JC (I know I know lol but this is just my dream schools. I have safeties too). Approximately how many do they take in from our country each year? My SAT range is within 2150-2200 and my subject tests are Math II 770 Physics 740 and Literature 700. My ECs are good too and so is my prelim results. Any advice please anyone?</p>
<p>^ Yale matriculates about 3-5, Princeton about 7-8 and Stanford about 10-12 (all maximum - will vary with year). The competition is intense. I would suggest you begin by retaking your SAT Subject Tests (esp if you are taking the same subjects for A-levels as well).</p>
<p>I think that only applies if you migrate without serving NS (therefore defaulting on your NS obligations) - otherwise I don’t see why they should care. If you are working in Singapore you will still need to pay taxes, regardless of whether you are a citizen or not.</p>
<p>Thanks a lot frank, I am taking Math and Physics at H2 level and my English at H1 so I dont know how colleges will view that. Anyways do they really take SATs and SAT IIs into account so much? I thought once you are past a certain cut off they focus more on essays, ECs et cetera?</p>
<p>Forgive me (I may be wrong) but it’s the general impression I got from reading the posts around that Singaporeans seem to harp a little too much on tests and grades. So keeping in mind the cut throat competition, how important are the SATs in relation to other factors? </p>
<p>Also -sorry for all these botherosme questions lol :)- a lot of these forum posts say that internationals are at a disadvantage when applying SCEA since it’s only for atheletes/legacies. Is this true? Should I apply SCEA to Stanford/Yale or would my early option be spent better in say a college that offers ED?</p>
<p>Thanks so much guys but it’s just all so confusing to me :)</p>
<p>Well SAT Reasoning doesn’t count for that much - I’d say anything above a 2200 and you would be fine. </p>
<p>For the SAT Subject Test, you can say that “once you are past a certain cut off they focus more on essays, ECs et cetera” but for Singaporeans I believe that cut off is very near (if not at) 800 for Subject Tests that you are also taking at A-levels (because A-levels are so much harder and the SAT II curves are much easier so you are expected to get full marks really). For instance, everyone I’ve known who got into Stanford from Singapore got 3x 800 for SATs.</p>
<p>^ Anyway, let’s put it this way - high SATs won’t get you in, but low SATs will keep you out. Also, the competitive Singaporeans are likely to have gd/excellent grades + SATs in addition to gd/excellent awards + ECs.</p>
<p>Wow I would have never guessed that they would use so stringent cut-offs for international applicants. These college officers who come to our school speak so much about their process being holistic and stuff but ultimately - well I guess it isn’t that rounded for us internationals. </p>
<p>Are these cutoffs just for HYPSM or for basically all the top tier schools in USA that Singaporeans apply to? I’m just surprised that SATs can actually be a deciding factor like this. </p>
<p>Anyways thanks a lot guys, I’ll definitely work on my SAT IIs :)</p>
<p>So would you say that a guy like me with 2170 on the SAT and 2210 on the SAT Subject Tests with exceptional ECs (not boasting lol but I do feel I will definitely stand out in the Singapore applicant pool with these) should go ahead and apply SCEA to an EXTREMELY competitive school like Yale or Stanford early or do you feel that it would be better spent on a mid-ivy like Columbia or Penn? </p>
<p>I realize fit is extremely important but at this point I am trying to guage all my chances at these colleges, taking into account my competition from Singapore, how colleges view SAT and SAT II scores and how they take into account Extra-Curriculars. My dream school has always been Princeton (I have been there when I was 4 yrs old and fell in love with the town). But you know applying ED and getting accepted kinda closes that door. That’s why I was considering Stanford/Yale SCEA but do you guys think this would be an impossibility in the cut-throat Singapore pool with 2250+s and 2400 SAT IIs that they would not regard my ECs and chuck it aside? </p>
<p>Thanks again so much guys for all your help and I really appreciate it! :)</p>
Yupp,thnks for your advice I bought a SAT guidebook on biology just now at Borders. I didnt choose humanities for SAT subjects as I saw the sample qns and found it quite difficult! </p>