<p>Ah, I doubt that things like these are gonna happen again. So better remember them while they last. =P</p>
<p>LOLOLOLOL AT VISCERAL_VERVE. I’m sorry Colin, but you look so typical it hurts. In fact he looks so much like my friend Yiliang. Hot damn. Yeah Tet is a big deal in Vietnam, Chuc Mung Nam Moi Ngoc. 
My Vietnamese bestie has begun to call it CNY though, due to her four years that she spent in Singapore :P</p>
<p>Chuc Mung Nam Moi </p>
<p>gong xi</p>
<p>lol im Vietnamese and Chinese </p>
<p>happy CNY… </p>
<p>lol CNY is a hectic partying time for me. My parents are divorced and remarried so its like i have 4 families… so that means going to 4 reunion dinners… and visiting all the relatives… LOL</p>
<p>He is hot lah, that’s an undeniable fact! And find me another I_O winner who’s as hot as Colin. I don’t know him personally, but we should all vote for him just because nobody comes close to being a complete package. And he was one of us. It costs nothing and who knows, one of you here might get into Harvard <em>ahem</em> and you can tell him you voted :)</p>
<p>1234d: yes he was, and his A-level scores are to die for.</p>
<p>Hey guys. I am in RG, Sec 3. I know it is kind of early to be thinking of preparing for college and picking out likely. But then, I am the kind who hates to rush, so I though its better to just start early right? I have pretty decent grades (GPA-3.8) and takes part in Humanities research programme. However, my other areas are most likely not that strong since due to laziness and hatred for fulling up forms last year, I missed out all the chances to join the PSB and overseas service learning and exco and stuff. Any activities that you guys suggest that I should take this year? </p>
<p>P.S.: Btw, I am aiming for Cambridge/ Princeton/ Dartmouth/ Penn.</p>
<p>^ CCA Ex-Co? You might want to run for that. Any competitions that you can join (and have a chance of winning)? You still have 4 years ahead.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>You don’t have to do a school activity you know.</p>
<p>You could found your own. You could found / find organisations outside. There are so many things you could do than just signing up forms or running to be an officer of something. </p>
<p>Just be productive.</p>
<p>If all else fails, work. Colleges actually look very highly upon that.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Take a deep breath.</p>
<p>It’s not about whether you can make it to those schools. If you do, and when you have to make financial decisions – I ask you – just exactly what do you want out of your education?</p>
<p>As a sec 3 student, I think it’s definitely quite too early to start counting the chickens. Are you sure you know what you’ll like in 4 years? I’m a fairly ambitious person, and I have absolutely no blinking idea what grad schools I’ll be considering a few years from now. You’re probably around 15 years old, give or take a standard deviation for sec 3’ers. Sure, you want to start thinking about schools, but the fact that you’re saying that you’re aiming for school X, Y and Z tells me you’re thinking about this the wrong way.</p>
<p>Competitions, erm. I am actually thinking about HP Global Business Challenge.
[Get</a> Involved - Students - Events - Hewlett Packard Global Business Challenge](<a href=“Boundless Futures through Education | Junior Achievement USA”>Boundless Futures through Education | Junior Achievement USA)</p>
<p>@galoisien </p>
<p>Thanks for the part for the external organisations. </p>
<p>But for the part which you called my goal to get in the top schools “counting the chickens”, I would like to clarify something. Maybe we are different, very, since I know precisely which secondary school I want to go to in Primary 4. And no, it’s not the mainstream thought that helped picked me picked my choice, it’s the programmes. Fair enough?</p>
<p>Haha, you’re probably thinking too far,</p>
<p>Though it’s never too early to start something like this. Just that you’ll lose out on a lot. </p>
<p>I know, it really seems kinda cliched, and even when I’m applying, but schools (HYPSM) aren’t too important when you’re secondary 3. I remember my Secondary 3 years were spent playing, wrecking the classroom, ****ing off teachers, and a combination of that every day. But that’s just how guys have fun. </p>
<p>Well, my advice is wait 2 years, till you’re JC1, before thinking about these things. And it’ll not be too late, really; spend this time now doing other stuff… like play. Because from my POV, they don’t really care what you did during sec 3… it’s the latter part that counts. </p>
<p>Though going high profile now would definitely help your chances of doing so in JC… but to me that’s just kinda of a waste of time.</p>
<p>^ Yep, I second Zol. I actually took a look at Ivies+2’s admissions statistics when I was in Sec 2 or so then promptly thought “well, not in my lifetime” and did what I thought was fun and interesting instead of what looks good to the adcoms. Turned out I did alright, heh.</p>
<p>Wannadartmouth: I can tell you that from the end of sec 2 onwards, I was always working with the next two years planned out in detail, and with a definite idea of I was going to do after that. Even then, my plans were never set in stone - things happen. People make good suggestions, or inspire new ideas; you might have a life-changing epiphany, you might intern somewhere and decide you really like it/don’t like it and change your intended course of study, you might pick up a new skill and want to pursue it to a high level. Four years is a long time. If you put too much stock by what you think you want four years from now, you could miss a golden opportunity because it doesn’t fit with your plans. </p>
<p>There’s nothing wrong with having a goal, but #1 the schools you name are no certainties for anyone, no matter what you do between now and when you apply*, so don’t put too much pressure on yourself just to get into those schools, and #2 (again) four years is a long time. Enjoy yourself. That isn’t mutually exclusive with getting into a good school.</p>
<ul>
<li>unless you win an Olympic medal</li>
</ul>
<p>i agree that by the time you are ready to start applying to colleges you would have a really different mindset from now.</p>
<p>Just an example, two months back I was SO sure i wanted to pursue design, but after interning , I totally decided to go towards copywriting/communications instead. </p>
<p>So just keep an open mind, and try to be ready for whatever opportunities come your way. I definitely recommend internships in industries that you have an interest in.
Just get involved and do things that truly arouse your passion, and do not just do things for the sake of beefing up your EC list…</p>
<p>Kids today. 
When I was in RGS I was more bothered about who would get booted off Survivor than planning to go to Princeton.
Anyway, if you really want to - anything that anyone else won’t do. That’s how it works.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Heyy, I probably would have too. If not for the fact that I came back to Singapore in P5. But life changes.</p>
<p>It’s the programmes? Schools are more than just their programmes. Keep your mind open. Don’t shut yourself out to opportunities.</p>
<p>in sec 3 i was slacking like hell in school and putting in minimal effort for schwork. at that time my dream school was NUS… and well i might eventually end up there!</p>
<p>in pri 6 i was wondering if i could make it to any university at all, yes I wasn’t even sure about NUS. most probably due to ignorance than anything else. i still miss those days.</p>
<p>Haha. everyone’s already recounting their stories. Back to his comment about knowing exactly where he wanted to go in primary 4 - that’s no biggie, everyone knows which sec sch(s) everyone wants to go to.</p>
<p>I am a U.S citizen taking my A levels in Singapore and actually I hope to pursue my studies further in the U.S.I know that the necessity requirements are good A levels results and good sat scores to get into a top-notch uni in the U.S.My only question is that will I get in to freshman or junior year?If i were to get in to freshman year then I think it would be a waste to take A levels.I really am in a dilemma.
THANKS!!</p>
<p>^ Freshman year - though you may get some credits for your A-level exams. </p>
<p>Note that if you are aiming for the top notch universities (i.e. US NEWS Top 25 or so), it would be almost impossible to get in without stellar A-level results anyway and for anything below that, NUS and NTU are better choices edit: for a local - unless you are on FA or scholarship which brings your cost of attendance below that of our local universities. </p>
<p>edit: didn’t notice you are a US citizen. If you are a US citizen - the same applies re: getting into the US NEWS Top 25 etc since our A-levels are basically equivalent to their APs, but otherwise, you can get good FA elsewhere so the cost-benefit analysis would not apply to you</p>