<p>^OMG, facepalm. Actually I didn’t know the UCs were such competitive schools -_- I also just realized the schedules of A levels results, SATs, and application deadline don’t cooperate! Thanks for your help anyway! :)</p>
<p>to couturedream: IMO, only UC Berkeley and UCLA are very competitive schools. Some of the other UC campuses like Irvine, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz and Riverside are less so and you might be able to get in with just very good O level results. Over 85% of US colleges and universities require only O’s; it’s just that the most selective schools have so many A-level holders applying that A levels have become the basic requirement.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>[University</a> of California - UC Newsroom | UC campuses rank highly in multiple rankings](<a href=“http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/article/18463]University”>http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/article/18463)</p>
<p>hi, does anyone know how many singaporeans are admitted to Yale EA every year? (:</p>
<p>if i’m not wrong, last year there was one Yale EA admit from bishan jc and 1 from bukit timah jc. </p>
<p>yale ea is VERY competitive, don’t expect anything.</p>
<p>I remember seeing somewhere on another thread there were 4 admits for EA from Singapore? If two from rj and hwach, then where are the other two from?</p>
<p>of course, most likely from the top jcs/IP programmes. or they could be the international school peeps and so not really “Singaporean” strictly speaking</p>
<p>Hi everyone, I’m an old member of CC and I studied in Singapore. I would like to invite you for this chat session! Talk to current students of UVA. We will also answer any general questions regarding US apps. The chat is happening tonight and tomorrow, from 10pm - 1am!</p>
<hr>
<p>PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS
Come online and chat with current international students who will share their experiences with you. Perfect opportunity to get your questions about U.Va. or college in general answered! How are classes like? How’s life in general? How is the international community here? If you want to know the answers to all these questions before the application deadline, this is a perfect opportunity to do so!</p>
<p>All you have to do is to just get on a computer with internet access and chat for an hour or two!</p>
<p>CURRENT students, come online and chat with prospective international students, give them the inside scoop on U.Va. and make a lasting impact someone’s life!</p>
<p>All you have to do is to go to: <a href=“http://www.virginia.edu/undergradadmission/chat.html[/url]”>http://www.virginia.edu/undergradadmission/chat.html</a>
(please ignore the fact that this is not listed in the chat timings there, this is a special session for international students! We WILL have the room open :)</p>
<p>Mark your calendars!</p>
<p>Friday November 19th (9am-12pm EST)</p>
<p>&</p>
<p>Saturday November 20th (9am-12pm EST)
Also, join our Facebook event here: <a href=“Facebook - log in or sign up”>Facebook - log in or sign up;
<p>Please email <a href=“mailto:nx9bu@virginia.edu”>nx9bu@virginia.edu</a> if you have any questions!</p>
<p>Thank you for chatting, and enjoy!</p>
<p>GSC love,
GSC International Correspondence Team</p>
<hr>
<p>Disclaimer:
“Although this organization has members who are University of Virginia students and may have University employees associated or engaged in its activities and affairs, the organization is not a part of or an agency of the University. It is a separate and independent organization which is responsible for and manages its own activities and affairs. The University does not direct, supervise or control the organization and is not responsible for the organization’s contracts, acts or omissions."</p>
<p>UVA international students site:
<a href=“http://www.virginia.edu/international/[/url]”>http://www.virginia.edu/international/</a></p>
<p>UVA rankings:
<a href=“http://www.virginia.edu/Facts/Glance_Rankings.html[/url]”>http://www.virginia.edu/Facts/Glance_Rankings.html</a></p>
<p>The UVA Admissions Blog, by our very own Dean J:
<a href=“http://uvaapplication.blogspot.com/[/url]”>http://uvaapplication.blogspot.com/</a></p>
<p>UVA students blog:
<a href=“http://www.hoostories.com/[/url]”>http://www.hoostories.com/</a></p>
<p>Hey guys did you send all scores to colleges? I’m applying to stern and I got 2070 for June Sat and 2210 for October Sat. I sent both scores in the end cos i thought honesty is the best policy. now thinking of it I should have just sent my oct scores. Do you guys think my June sat would affect me in any way?</p>
<p>Hello!</p>
<p>I’m from RGS, graduating this year and RGS is subsidizing us for SAT I so I’ll be taking it in January next year. However I’m very lost as to how to prepare. I went to Borders and got a couple of books (Barron’s and Gruber’s) and I intend to finish doing them. Do yall have any tips? I’m aiming for a score of >2100. Thank you so much (:</p>
<p>Buy the official blue book from collegeboard and read silverturtle’s guide in cc’s sat section. Also buy direct hits they are really useful for cr. I don’t think math would be a problem for you.</p>
<p>imminentfate:
Reading: Look for vocab lists and learn them.
Math: Just don’t make any careless mistakes. I’m pretty sure everything tested in there has been taught by the time you’re Sec 4; most of it is just lower sec stuff anyway.
Writing: Go look at example essays and follow that format. In general length seems to be important, so aim to get out a decently long essay in the limited time you have. Don’t bother trying to make complex philosophical points.</p>
<p>Finally, while I think 2100+ is a decent score to get, you should aim a little higher than that. (:</p>
<p>@Ryan0828: Where do I get these books from? Borders only stocked Barrons and Grubers and I just started doing the Barrons one and I find the Critical Reading questions pretty doable, is that level of difficulty what I should expect in the actual test? Oh and is there anywhere that sells books for cheap? Those two set me back by like 50 bucks in total ><</p>
<p>@Aerogel: Hmm are there any places where I can get my writing graded? In RGS my English has always been strong (never below 85% overall) so does that mean that I should be okay for the Writing section? Oh and what is a score I should aim for?</p>
<p>Thank you so much everyone 
Haha sorry I’m very new to this so I have loads of questions ><</p>
<p>@imminentfate:</p>
<p>Sorry, I don’t know if you can get your writing graded anywhere. 85% sounds good, but I think it’s more important to write to the format that they like. Let’s just say that I had pretty decent English scores but still did relatively poorly for the essay… 8/12, iirc. (I guess this means you should also take my advice on it with a grain of salt!)</p>
<p>I think a good student from a top school (which I think you might be) should aim to get 2300+. It’s definitely possible with preparation, carefulness, and some luck. (as a reference, I hardly prepared and got 2250+… and lots of PRCs, who don’t have particularly good English, are able to get that score just through thorough preparation.)</p>
<p>Wow, it’s been a long time since I’ve come here! I just want to address a few things here for the next batch of people applying to the colleges.</p>
<p>The practical advice…</p>
<ol>
<li><p>SATs. Practice will get you through the bulk of it, really. Length is a very important factor in the score for your essay.</p></li>
<li><p>Your personal essays. Work on them early, so you have plenty of time to take another look at them. My best essay (or what everyone felt it was) was written on a whim, after writing many essays touching on totally different things. Figure out what’s the personality, a genuine part of you, that you want to convey, and then write it around that.</p></li>
<li><p>Be organized. Especially if you’re applying to a large number of colleges.</p></li>
<li><p>Recommendations. Be familiar with your recommenders. Even if you don’t like your grades, you had a bad weekend before the prelim; you didn’t work too hard and now you regret it - don’t stress over it, talk to your recommenders.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Now the more important thing that I want to say, are the emotional things.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Don’t fall too deeply in love with any particular college, more so if the admission rate is low. Because most of you probably haven’t been to your dream schools before, or for that matter, your safeties. Even if you’re in (one of) your dream school(s), you’ll still grow envious over other schools, and probably didn’t know enough to have made the right judgment. Take it from me. (“Wow, Columbia is 20~mins away from Times Square. That’s it, I’m transferring.” / “The food here sucks.” / “This place is really coldddddd. Brrr. I didn’t sign up for this!” / “Harvard had an engineering school?”) Rejected? You still have a lot out there for you. Developing on that line, apply to reaches, matches, safeties; at the end of the day, you still have plenty of good things available to you.</p></li>
<li><p>You still have plenty out there for you, I’ll reiterate. The doors aren’t closed. You still have 1, 2, years to transfer if you want to, as well. There’s graduate school, too, at which point you’ll likely come to realize that you had a very myopic scope of reasons for choosing your colleges.</p></li>
<li><p>Chancing sucks. Do it once with one or two persons that you trust to give you reasonable feedback. If someone says you stand 1% chance to get in something, make do with 1%.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Take it from me again. The first time I got chanced here, someone said I had a poor chance of getting in all of my choices - including one oft-ranked 100++ (my mega safety - which BTW, I did get an admission from)!</p>
<p>But the same person ‘mis-chanced’ a few things: (a) that I’d end up in one of the colleges I’d least expect to get in, with a scholarship offer; after I got accepted, the math head of department wrote to me. The anomaly from my stats? He probably liked a proof which I found the inspiration to write 2 weekends before A-levels, when I should really have been studying. Oh, similarly, I got waitlisted at the college which I most expected and loved most to get in, I even spent most of my time on that application, which was a bummer. (b) That upon getting in college, I magically found the ability to take 11 courses in a semester, (c) that I’d be doing 3 graduate courses in my freshman year and now everyone thinks I’ll graduate within 2 years. (d) Another funny thing was that I ended up in a research project with a visiting professor, and now that I have access to another college’s facilities - which I’m most impressed by - I had a complete upheaval of my perceived dream college.</p>
<p>Edit: Surprise no. 4, I probably can’t get in NUS medicine with my grades!</p>
<p>(The said ‘colleges’ above are a permutation of 3 ivies, if that’s required to get my point across.)</p>
<p>That’s the flaw with chancing, and for that matter, a good part of admissions. It doesn’t gauge your actual chance for success. And when you least expect, good things happen to you. America is a land of opportunity, wherever you land. So, best wishes, guys and girls! :P</p>
<p>Hey guys, quick question. During the visa interview, the embassy keeps your passport and I-20 form right ? Coz I only thought they kept the the passport but not the I-20. Just wanna be sure that I didn’t lose it or anything. </p>
<p>Thanks in advance</p>
<p>yeah they keep both the passport and the I-20.</p>
<p>so i’ll be getting all 3 (passport + visa + I-20) when i go to collect it ? i got kinda confused coz the officer said to collect passport + visa in 2 days. didn’t mention the I-20 =/</p>
<p>yeah you’ll get all 3 at once.</p>
<p>i just received my ****ty sat scores. 1460/2120. Is Upenn ED over for me? :(</p>
<p>Hi, I’m planning to apply to some colleges in the US this year, and most of the ones I’m applying to are Liberal Arts Colleges.</p>
<p>I did read that article in the newspapers recently about how Sg is recognising the importance of LACs etc…</p>
<p>but I’m not really convinced. Does studying at an LAC hurt my chances for jobs in Singapore? Are LACs actually good? Since I’m not actually planning to do engineering, I assumed that going to one of these small colleges would be fine. And in any case, I think Smith does offer engineering (am i correct?), so it would be fine if I go there and decide to do engineering after all…</p>
<p>Also, I know they’re more willing to hand out finaid and thats one of the reasons I’m choosing to apply there, but if by studying there, my prospects are lower than if I study at NUS/NTU etc, I’m not too sure if its a good idea.</p>
<p>Does anyone have any good arguments for studying at LACs if I’m planning to return to sg?</p>
<p>And also, I’m kinda confused about the school forms. Am I supposed to send in Sec 3 final year scores, O Levels, JC1 Promos and A Level predicted grades, or are O and A levels alone sufficient? If I can, I’d rather not submit the sec 3 and promo results.</p>