Singaporean connection

ClassicJuice · April 7, 2013, 1:24pm

Anyone here looking for an internship?

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ClassicJuice · April 17, 2013, 10:27am

Anyone here looking for a job?

[CAReer</a> Trainee in Finance and Controlling (Daimler South East Asia Pte. Ltd.) at Daimler Africa & Asia-Pacific (AAP) in Singapore - Job | LinkedIn](<a href=“LinkedIn Job Search: Find US Jobs, Internships, Jobs Near Me”>LinkedIn Job Search: Find US Jobs, Internships, Jobs Near Me)

highwind · May 12, 2013, 7:35pm

What about Washington University in St. Louis? What do you think about it?

Do you think it would be preferable to attend WUSTL Economics over NUS Economics USP?

I’m fortunate enough to have gotten a scholarship which would allow me to study locally or overseas. So this really isn’t an issue for me. I’m just unsure about studying overseas for 4 years… I am kind of contemplating doing my BA in S’pore and trying for a 1 year MA overseas…

millionth · May 13, 2013, 6:05pm

@highwind, I think if you’ve already been granted a scholarship you should just head overseas.

Oh, and btw people I have to make a choice between Vanderbilt and UMich econs. I know that academically Vanderbilt is probably stronger and more selective but UMich has some brand recognition in SG. What do you guys make of this?

laymen · May 13, 2013, 9:52pm

@highwind WUSTL over NUS. IMO. the diversity of experience at WUSTL definitely trumps NUS

laymen · May 13, 2013, 9:54pm

@millionth I think Vandy has a stronger standing in the States? I may be wrong, personal impression. Are you going for the UMich Undergrad Biz? If so, I’d pick UMich

millionth · May 13, 2013, 11:21pm

hi laymen, I’ve been admitted to Vanderbilt A&S Econs and UMich LSA Econs. Which do you think I should pick in this case?

laymen · May 14, 2013, 2:23am

@millionth, i think then it boils down to sch culture/weather/fit, more than anything else :)

millionth · May 14, 2013, 5:13pm

accepted to NYU CAS Econs
@laymen, what about now? Do you think NYU Econs has a more Asia-specific advantage vis-a-vis the other two colleges I mentioned for Economics?

x33janelle · June 23, 2013, 10:39am

Hi there! This is my first time posting though I’ve been a lurker on the CC boards sine Sec 4 now hehe.

Could you guys please chance me on the following schools? I’ve labelled them as estimates, but I would really appreciate input as I don’t know if they’re realistic since the rate for Singaporeans getting into top schools is not very favourable. I’d really appreciate any help I can get! Thank you so much :)

High reach: Amherst (Applying ED), Williams, Columbia, Brown
Reach: Cornell CAS, Wesleyan
Match: UMich LSA, NYU CAS
Safety: Emerson College, Kenyon College

I’m currently a student at ACJC, intending to do an English major, and double-major in either Philo or Linguistics. I’m thinking of going to grad school after and doing my MA in Creative Writing, cuz I’ve wanted to be a published writer since the age of 7. (and I don’t see it happening in NUS/SMU so)

I chose schools without the Core, or with Cores known for being rather flexible in UMich/Columbia’s case. I also chose schools I know are strong in their Writing departments because of previous professors of alum :)

Here are my stats:

Objective:[ul]
[] SAT I (breakdown): 2220 Superscore (800 CR, 710 M, 710 W)
[] SAT II: Lit 730, Math I 650 (Retaking in Oct)
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): School doesn’t calculate GPA sigh.
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): School doesn’t rank, but I qualified for H3.
[] IB (place score in parenthesis): None
[] Senior Year Course Load: H2 Lit, H2 Theatre Studies, H2 English Language and Linguistics, H2 KI (J1 Promos: A A B E, J2 Terms: A A B C), 2 Extended Essays (for KI and TSD, both around 2.5-3k words)
[li] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): ELL Scholar in JC, Paper Planes 2010 Upper Secondary Champion and Joint Overall Champion, Top in English in Sec 4, Commonwealth Essay Competition 2012: Silver Award (went for it this year, waiting for results), Judge for Paper Planes Creative Writing Competition 2012 and 2013, Went for Golden Point Award 2011 and 2013 (waiting for results of 2013’s GPA), Creative Arts Programme 2012 (not sure where to put this…)[/li]
Subjective:
[] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): ELDDS (Debate) (Sec 4), ACJC’s crazy intense Drama Club (J1-J2), 2 drama productions: Crucible and Cinderella, as well as 3 drama showcases, ACJC’s Creative Writing Circle (J1-J2), Published in every single issue of my school’s literary journal from 2012 to 2013.
[] Job/Work Experience: Intern at Creative Horizons Language Centre in Sec 4, Intern at MOE Curriculum Planning Division (Primary) aka STELLAR, Judge for Paper Planes Creative Writing Competition 2012 and 2013.
[] Volunteer/Community service: Community Outreach trip to Cambodia with Drama Club in J1, along with tons of other Drama stuff that adds up to over 400 hours just in J1 alone.
[] Summer Activities: Creative Arts Programme 2012, Drama Drama and more Drama, Internships at STELLAR/Creative Horizons. Planning to intern at Ethos Books or some other local publishing house this hols :)

** More Objectives **
[] Ethnicity: Chinese
[] Gender: Female
[]Income Bracket: No idea, but not applying for fin aid even though my brother is entering uni the year after me. (He’s trying to get a scholarship)
[] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): First generation

[] Strengths: Essays, I suppose. And my passion, which is apparent through everything I do.
[] Weaknesses: LACK OF LEADERSHIP/CCA/MAJOR AWARDS AHHHHH
[/ul]

Also, if it helps, my recommendations will be written by my Drama/Lit teacher who writes amazing testimonials, my KI teacher who loves me and my other Lit teacher who (I think) likes me.
CommonApp essay is shaping up to be extremely unique! It’s about my love for the colour pink and the musical Legally Blonde. First few drafts of Amherst and Columbia essays are also done. Amherst is about my love for writing because I can tell the stories of those who can’t tell their own, and Columbia is about Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.

Wow, that was long and rambly and self-obsessed. But thank you so much for helping to chance me!!!

Have a great day!

Cxavier · June 24, 2013, 12:53pm

@x33jan: You got pretty impressive stats, and most of the areas that you excel in have great relevance to what you intend to major in. With your current achievements, good Alevel grades and well-written essays (which i’m sure you’ll have), you can surely make it to your top few choices. I got admitted into a university in the States this year, from my experience, I would like to emphasize the importance of having well-written and well-thought essays for Unis in the States. My grades were quite average, but I believe that my essays, together with my cca/leadership achievements, got me accepted to several schools that I did not expect.

All the best for your Alevels! to your admission and dreams!

JHsong · June 27, 2013, 4:16pm

Hi all, came across this forum while I’ve been doing some research on the internet, and I am hoping to get some opinions and advice regarding my current situation.

I want to apply to UC Berkeley for their BA in Com Sci (school of letters) as my first choice. I am looking for alternatives that I may have a better chance of getting into, but I figure that I might as well start with the top.

I’ve recently finished my NS, and prior to that I graduated from Singapore Polytechnic with a Diploma in Games Design & Development. My final GPA was 3.15~

I understand that they don’t recognise my diploma, which is why I’ve registered to take the full ACTs package this coming September. As you can imagine, I haven’t touched proper academic studies for about 5 years now, because the prospect of studying overseas has only been open to me recently.

In terms of strengths, I’ve had a decent amount of work experience outside of school, and I was in an 8 week internship at the Singapore-MIT Gambit game labs(at MIT itself) in the summer of 2010. I’ve also participated in numerous events involving the Games industry locally.

All in all I know exactly what I want to do in the future, and I can’t think of any place better than UC Berkeley to learn the skills and gain the exposure that I crave. The reason I’m set on studying within the USA is because I hope to work and live there.

I know it doesn’t seem that impressive, but I do want to know what your opinions are on this.

Cheers all,
JH

JHsong · June 27, 2013, 4:28pm

Additional info that I’ve left out.

Didn’t qualify for JC after ‘O’ levels, got A2 for both A and E maths, as well as English. Did pure physics and chem, got B-C for those, humanities is what really killed my L1R5 (20), my L1R4 was 14.

Admittedly I’m not ashamed of my poor grades, I was never academically driven until near Sec 4 prelims when I found something to work towards (a career in making video games) and it was almost too little too late, but I’ve come a long way since then in terms of maturity and drive, and my NS experience really served as a mental and physical crucible that has shaped part of who I am today.

Cxavier · June 28, 2013, 3:59am

I have no idea where you’d stand, coming from a different background. Since your grades can’t be changed, work on tangible stuffs such as the essays required and tests(such as the ACT you’re engaging or the SAT). The essays will really tell the admission officer who you are and how keen you are in pursuing your interests/passions/dreams. Essays were the key to helping me get into the Uni I wanted (uni. of washington, seattle). FYI, this is also a good place to do computer science - Seattle is where Microsoft is based, and computer science is also a competitive course here. While i got to admit that UC Berkeley might be a better place since it’s in California where Silicon Valley is, and it is world-renowned/reputable, it is highly competitive…you can imagine how many computer/science talents would apply each year. UW does not pale badly in comparison in terms of reputation, and it is less competitive than UCB in terms of admission. From what I heard, they recently accepted more OOS/international students (probably for the higher fees). Just in case you would like to know my STATs for entering UW: I did quite badly for A Levels, my SAT was 1950, but I had well-thought/written essays and good cca/leadership achievements.

All the best, hope you get into your dream school!

JHsong · June 28, 2013, 5:56am

@Cxavier: Thanks for the info! I’m really quite uninformed about places to study CS aside from the High reach colleges, and I was originally considering Digipen in Seattle before I started reading up more about state and other private colleges, so U of Washington does sound like a good addition to my list of considerations.

And thanks for the moral support, unfortunately the industry here at home has become a bit stagnant, and there is a lot of exposure that I wish to have living and working in the thick of it all in the USA. After all, most of my big role models are still there.

Cheers!

Agneisse · July 21, 2013, 5:03pm

As a recently graduated Cal alum (albeit not in CS), you grades sound a bit low. It is true that Berkeley has been accepting more international students (due to the higher tuition) recently but I think 3.15 may still be too low. What are you doing this year between end of NS and (hopefully) starting university next year? I am not an admissions officer and it sounds like you have a good story, but have you considered applying to a California community college for two years, getting very good grades and then transferring? Also, L&S CS is going to become capped (you need to achieve a certain GPA in the pre-requisites to be allowed into the CS major) for your cohort. The grades are curved. How do you think you might react to that kind of pressure?

Finally, the job market for good developers in the SF bay area is very very good (as of now), and all of my CS friends got multiple offers. You are not supposed to tell the US embassy visa officer that your intent is to eventually immigrate here though :)

baneblades · July 21, 2013, 11:24pm

Hey, Berkeley might consider you to be a transfer applicant with a poly diploma. This would mean that you will be automatically denied because you will not fulfill their transfer requirements. This is true for some universities (depends on the individual school)

ephemerallight13 · July 23, 2013, 12:04pm

Hi, can I know if there’s any difference in academic rigor between JCs and high school in the states? (I only know they have Honors/AP classes on top of regular ones but I don’t know how tough the syllabus is compared to ours) It seems to me that our A levels are so much harder and I wonder how our transcripts will be evaluated for the colleges that we apply to. Btw, are we allowed to apply to the same college twice? (As in if I don’t get into my first choice major and I choose another major) I’m aiming for UCF and apparently their average weighted GPA is 3.9! I got 1800+ for my SAT and am planning to retake in Oct.

ienivs · August 8, 2013, 8:36am

Hi guys, yet another Singaporean trying to get into top us school here! Just wanna ask, with:

Decent academics (AAA bcaa for h2s and h1s respectively, 34 act 800 800 800 sat 2),
Good CCAs (national athlete, work experience as web)
And okay visual art supplements…

Should I be trying the most selective schools? Assuming decent essays and recommendations.

I’m looking at Pomona, Ivies, UCs, Duke, Rice, JHU, Swarthmore, USC. Currently. Any more suggestions?

Cxavier · August 8, 2013, 2:45pm

Yea, Ivies are within your reach definitely. Match would probably be the UCs (provided that you have decent essays as you’ve mentioned)… U Michigan… It also depends on what you want to major in to define ‘good’. A safety school I would recommend is: U Washington (Seattle) which I got admitted to. If you have a major in mind, I can help you narrow your choices further. APART from the Ivy Leagues, many other schools known for a certain major got its reputation because of its location, eg. the UCs and USC are known for Computer Science being at California where the Silicon Valley is, UW (ranked 7th in the world for CS) because Microsoft is there. Many reputable business schools are located in major cities, U Chicago, UCs, UW, etc etc. There are many many things you should consider when choosing a school, start early with your research so that you can complete your application in time. If you have the money, you can engage in College Consultants to help you with the application, they will guide you along the process as well as give you ideas to generate the best essays, I recommend: [Prep</a> Zone](<a href=“Prep Zone Academy™ - Singapore's Top Test Prep & Admissions Centre”>http://www.prep-zone.com/) It is located at Tanjong Pagar. I engaged their help during my application and I got accepted to many colleges.

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