<p>And I see you’ve checked out pretty quickly! Hang in there fiona, I can tell you’re having fun :)</p>
<p>homeschooling would be a good option for a level’s. i did that, but it messed up a a big part of my application. gota explain, and explain, and explain. </p>
<p>how many colleges are you guys applying to, for the singaporeans who are applying that is.</p>
<p>Three colleges. Makes me nervous, since I can’t do the same course of study in SG.</p>
<p>current, you did A levels home school? how to explain…</p>
<p>I applied to eight last year, got into four and was waitlisted at one.</p>
<p>just did a level’s independently. yeap,</p>
<p>hello all.</p>
<p>I did kind of badly for O lvls, 18 points 
but yeah kinda expected it cos i was slacking all the way.
On top of that i did really badly in school the whole year.
Will having AMAZING CCAs and internships and awesome SATs help me? or am i a lost cause ?</p>
<p>and:
I found out what i really want to do which is advertising/copywriting …
Now to fill my time between now and US intake, i’ll be going to NAFA/la salle. </p>
<p>Anyone know good advertising schools?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>You will be applying for Fall 2010, right? That gives you a bit of time - you’re not a lost cause. Does this mean you’ll be enrolling at NAFA/Lasalle but not completing your diploma? If you do well at NAFA/Lasalle, that would definitely help. So would a good SAT score, CCA record and internships.</p>
<p>Googled and came up with this:
[Texas</a> Advertising and Public Relations - Competitor Opinions](<a href=“http://advertising.utexas.edu/about/competitor/]Texas”>http://advertising.utexas.edu/about/competitor/)</p>
<p>Good advertising schools (we’re talking top 5 in the US): U of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, U of Texas, U of Florida, Michigan State, Northwestern. The first four are state schools and base a lot of their admissions on numbers (note also they have different standards for in-state, out-of-state and internationals, and you’ve got to aim way higher than their reported SAT median range). Northwestern is… also not easy to get into, and expensive. </p>
<p>Another option you could look at is schools with strong communications/journalism departments. Indiana University Bloomington and U of Missouri come to mind (journalism), NYU, Boston U, USC…</p>
<p>Are you going on your own money?</p>
<p>Phamtompong :</p>
<p>Is it my own $ : No , its my parents, who im fortunate enough to be able to afford it. </p>
<p>Yes fall 2010!</p>
<p>I do currently have awesome CCAs , and many awards, and i’ve even had my art exhibited publicly. I am doing some quite impressive internships with SPH, and international ad agencies. </p>
<p>Im planning to do the SATs soon. I hope to work HARD on it. </p>
<p>and yes i will not get my diploma from NAFA / lasalle.</p>
<p>Haha yeah I meant “your own” as in your parents’ money, lol.</p>
<p>You should be fine, as long as your SATs are competitive and you do well at NAFA/Lasalle. (Helps if you can get a good teacher recommendation from one or two of your teachers there!) I don’t know how much a solid CCA record + internships will override academics at state schools, but at the private schools you’ll definitely stand a good chance based on your CCAs, internships and work experience. Of course, private schools are also $$$.</p>
<p>Eh! Does the DesignSingapore scholarship cover advertising/copywriting? It won’t cover the full cost of your education but it would definitely help reduce the financial burden on your family.</p>
<p>ok i really regret slacking off now!!!</p>
<p>but ok … if not limited to advertising majors.</p>
<p>Which colleges would you suggest to me that i have a good chance of getting into and are the “best” i can get into…
LACs are fine . </p>
<p>cool sounding scholarship , but im really lucky and blessed, i dont need it.</p>
<p>It’s hard to tell. I don’t know what the O Level results of students who go straight from O Levels to college tend to be, although many schools accept O Level students. I think how well you do at NAFA/Lasalle and on the SAT/SAT IIs (if you need them) will affect the calibre of the colleges you can get into.</p>
<p>Then of course there are other issues. Does the size/location of the school matter to you? (It played a big part in my decision.) Even if you’re not limiting yourself to good advertising schools, are you looking specifically at schools that do have advertising/comm majors? What else could you see yourself majoring in?</p>
<p>Also, because some schools place different emphases on what they’re looking for when they’re admitting a student, it’s hard to say what the “best” schools you have a good chance of getting into. For example, your profile plus a strong essay and 2000+ SATs could get you in at NYU Gallatin or Steinhardt, but UT-Austin would be much harder to call. (I’m only talking about schools I researched and applied to… I don’t know enough about most other schools to give examples! :P)</p>
<p>thanks that was really helpful!!</p>
<p>I would much prefer private schools to begin with. NYU is something im looking at, im glad you think that i have a chance to go there! Im confident i can excel at the SATs, and essay writing is my strongest point ( im currently doing writing jobs for agencies) So perhaps there really is hope after all!</p>
<p>Im really looking for somewhere in the New York city area, so i will have the chance to intern and make connections there.</p>
<p>do they really care about o level results? and as we will be international students, do they take our secondary school grades seriously?</p>
<p>I really don’t know about the O Level grades. My estimation is that if you got 18 points while slacking off, you should have no problems with the SAT… eh I can’t remember what I got for mid-years in Sec 4, but I remember it was 16 or 18 or something like that (got 14 for prelims and 9 in the end, before bonus), and I only started working around prelims. Of course, don’t take chances. Get the Collegeboard book and work through it so you’ll be prepared.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/international-students/439358-what-would-like-if-i-applied-universities-colleges-only-o-levels.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/international-students/439358-what-would-like-if-i-applied-universities-colleges-only-o-levels.html</a></p>
<p>Doesn’t give a very encouraging picture, but I definitely think it will be the NAFA/Lasalle performance that sways it, especially if you can tie your CCAs, internships/work experience, art exhibition, and art school experience in with your intended major. If you’re looking at NYC, seriously consider looking at NYU Gallatin and Steinhardt, because if you look around, Gallatin in particular places a huge emphasis on essays and individuality. But if you’re looking at advertising/comm/journalism the NYU school to apply to is Steinhardt. I don’t know if you can arrange for a Gallatin concentration in advertising, though - I think it should be possible. Best of both worlds :P</p>
<p>I don’t know enough about other schools in NYC (I’m planning to major in film so film schools were what I looked at).</p>
<p>Im very sure alot of universities in the US accept just o levels, i’ve asked and they have said yes. </p>
<p>The official statistics Given to me but the USEIC ( US education international center singapore branch) Is 80 % of American colleges ACCEPT JUST O LEVELS! (plus of course their required tests , SATS,TOEFL ect… )</p>
<p>I think its important that more people know that . Yet definitely ask the college you are interested in. </p>
<p>yeah i really did slack off to the point i only went to school 2 days a week,and slept in class… : P </p>
<p>i am planning to get some SAT books tomorrow!Im aslo planning to take 2 SAT subject tests ( Literature and history)</p>
<p>As of today,i can also tell them that I have published work in the newspapers, so im hoping with all this that I can at least get into good private schools!! (OMG i wanna go to NYU!!!)</p>
<p>which schools are you looking at? I heard UCLA has good film, and NYU tisch…</p>
<p>^ Well, problem is most Singaporeans would rather go to NUS/NTU/SMU over those 80% of colleges (you get quite a good education locally and it is really cheap). </p>
<p>In fact, most Singaporeans on CC are probably exclusively considering Top 30-35 in the rankings (both research universities and LACs).</p>
<p>hi Frankchn, i totally get what you are saying. But many of those top 30-35 will accept o levels only, alot of that 20% that dont are usually state schools.</p>
<p>This is just what i have come to find, i would like to know if you have found out otherwise.
And im talking about schools excluding the Ivies.</p>
<p>I took the A Levels, but I know of at least two people who went to Texas straight after the O Levels. I applied to NYU, Texas and USC. Looked at UCLA too, but you can only enter their film school as a junior - I would have needed to fulfill two years of general education requirements first, and there’s no guarantee I would be accepted into their film program. Would have been hard to transfer into another film program if I didn’t get accepted because many film schools start the film production classes right from freshman year.</p>
<p>I also looked at Boston U, was prepared to apply there, then discovered Communications majors (which film is under) needed two SAT IIs, while Visual Arts (which I thought film was under) didn’t need any. Completely overlooked Northwestern until last Aug or Sept, which didn’t need two SAT IIs but decided not to apply because app fee vs chance I will actually go there, because NYU and Texas are my top two choices.</p>
<p>Considered Florida State but their structure is one year general education, three years film, and I want to do quite a number of courses outside of film too (and in most liberal arts fields FSU doesn’t match up to the likes of NYU, NU, Texas, USC). Also because I wanted to go to a big city - willing to make a concession for Austin because of the live music and cycling scene and the “weird” culture, but Tallahassee doesn’t appeal to me as much (and anyway Austin isn’t that small). Plus I didn’t want to put up with questions - “You went all the way there to get a degree from Florida State?” It’s got a great film school, the rest of the school is reputable by American standards, but because NUS and NTU Engineering are rated so high internationally you will find most Singaporeans expect you to go abroad to receive an education from at least comparable schools. </p>
<p>Oh and also I wanted different weather. Sad, but true. </p>
<p>Didn’t want to go to a specialised art school like CalArts or SAIC or SVA because I wanted, again, to do courses outside of film production, and also because I wanted big schools (none of the schools I seriously looked at have < 15,000 undergrads - I like getting lost in crowds, and I work very independently, so I didn’t think I’d be comfortable in a small place where everyone knows each other).</p>
<p>Ah yeah I have reasons for applying to NYU and Texas and USC too, but I think based on the above you can more or less figure it out, lol. NYU is definitely my first choice. Unfortunately my parents can’t pay so it’s scholarship for me or else (specifically the Loke Cheng Kim scholarship or the MDA scholarship <- still not enough). Hopefully I’ll see you there! :D</p>
<p>Two days a week and slept in class is… wah. That’s pretty serious.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Yes, definitely true. NUS is ranked 30th on the THES and USNWR. I was looking at the USNWR rankings the other day and found some results that some might consider surprising - NUS is ranked 30th internationally for arts and humanities, 17th for social sciences, and 11th for engineering (NTU engineering comes in at 26th internationally!) I think it’s safe to say that if you don’t want to got to NUS for whatever reason, the considerable amount of money you’d have to fork out had better be worth it, and “worth it” means name brand, top schools.</p>
<p>Of course what you think of the USNWR or THES rankings is another thing, but the fact that they exist, they’re widely referenced, and NUS is so high on those rankings affects the way people view the value of the education they will get at, for example, Vanderbilt or Emory. Good schools, but why pay so much to go all the way there?</p>
<p>sigh i totally feel that pressure too… i dont know im suddenly feeling very stressed LOL</p>