<p>Wait – does melissaj want to get it in at age 16?</p>
<p>I wish I had known about AP self-studying earlier. My advice is to self-study for a whole range of AP exams, get 5’s on all of them, which will buffer good exam results, since I assume she’s applying for the class of 2014.</p>
<p>^ True. Then AP can substitute for her A-levels.</p>
<p>first of all, hello fellow singaporeans!!! 
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<p>I can’t tell you guys how glad i am to find this thread because i have so so so many questions to ask. i’ve been going around international forums to ask people which was kind of troublesome because we have all these different terms and education systems which really confused both parties. -.-</p>
<p>anyway, i’m a sec 4 student, currently studying in one of the top five schools in singapore. however, my grades are pretty average. my GPA for the entire last year was 3.53, percentage was around 74.5. i kinda have a gist of what i want to be in the future which is a zoologist (yea i know kind of a unique choice). unlike many of my classmates, i dont mind studying in singapore but i dont thinK NUS actually offers this subject am i right? then again i heard the best uni to go to would be MSU(Michigan State Uni) in US, again am i right? are there any better unis to go to? of course, i still have a little bit of time to pull up my grades.</p>
<p>also i was wondering. honestly are my grades very far off if my dream uni is in the ivy league? also, what do universities, generally, look into? the grades, qualities, or the participation in service kind of thing? what kind of activities should i take part in school to have a good record to show when i apply? what are the requirements to get into good universities? like what grades in the a levels, SAT scores etc.</p>
<p>also, is it too early for me to start thinking about these when I just started sec 4? haha :D</p>
<p>i say, go enjoy, have fun, but keep tabs.</p>
<p>drifter19_8:</p>
<p>NUS do actually offer zoology, I think. And I think Singapore is actually a great place to do that, considering the Singapore Zoological Garden to be one of the very best in the world.</p>
<p>Sec 4 is a bit early to think about college major, but if you’re so sure, there’s no harm in having a goal. What can be done is perhaps to secure a H3 or H2 subject in biology as a starter. Participation in volunteerism with the Zoo will also be very beneficial. I think these are specific goals that can be achieved at your stage.</p>
<p>^^</p>
<p>Sec 4 isnt too early to think about this. I mean, he/she mentioned MSU, that school probably accepts O level. I might be wrong, but I know U Michigan- Ann Arbor accepts O level. So, why wouldn’t MSU accept that too.
If you wanna go to MSU after taking the O level, you should really do your college research now.</p>
<p>Pardon me if anyone’s already asked. Anyway, how do you guys deal with the ‘winter clothes problem?’. Buy them locally, or get them when you need them over at the school? Which option is more er… economical? I have friends who bought them a year ahead from China [cheaper], though they’re not 100% sure if they’d get accepted. Would that be wise at all? What do you think?</p>
<p>^ I suspect buying your winter clothes over in America will be slightly cheaper and give you more variety. Of course, you might end up going to Berkeley, Stanford or UCLA, where you won’t need a lot of winter clothes at all (unless you are going to travel, of course).</p>
<p>hey,</p>
<p>i received a verbal confirmation that i would be attending a foreign college come August so i guess it brings to the tables some queries that maybe your could answer? Due to the disappointing results in the O levels especially HCL which i scored an E8 due to the fact that i wrote out of point (my scores are normally a solid B), i was wondering if your could tell me whether it is possible to take the H1 cl in Singapore before i leave in August, provided that MINDEF doesnt get happy and prevent me from leaving the country. Also, i was curious too if any of you out there could tell me whether SAT I maths is tougher than JC1 maths? i hope to perhaps take it before i leave too to get a rough gauge of my abilities?</p>
<p>^ I think you could take H1 CL in June, but I am not sure how to go about registering for it (or if the registration is even available to private candidates). SAT I math is definitely much easier than J1 math, but the point for most Singaporeans is to score 800s, not pass. In that respect the SAT Math has much less tolerance for carelessness.</p>
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<p>Hee hee I know a conditional A*STAR scholar (he’ll get it if he gets As in phys chem and math, and a 2100 on the SAT) who flipped out when he got 760 on the SAT I Math. Funny thing is, even if he’d gotten 800, he still wouldn’t have hit the 2100 mark.</p>
<p>Hermann: I don’t know about H1 CL, but have you looked at HSK? I think they test year-round, and it’s much more recognised than H1 CL. I hear it’s tough, but if you’re planning to study/work in any field requiring Chinese proficiency chances are you’ll need it anyway.</p>
<p>ok…but with regard to the HSk, you mean like it is more well-known internationally? i heard of it before but wasn’t so sure of it…i think i can try that…anyway, so the SATs should be like a go between JC and secondary maths? because i feel that this might be the only section that is pulling me back as of now because my english has all along been rather consistent?</p>
<p>SAT Math won’t hold you back, really. Go borrow the Big Blue Book from the library and just get yourself familiar with the style of the questions. SAT Math isn’t even anywhere near O Level Math, I’d say.</p>
<p>Have a look at the sample questions here: [SAT</a> Multiple Choice](<a href=“College Board - SAT, AP, College Search and Admission Tools”>College Board - SAT, AP, College Search and Admission Tools)</p>
<p>HSK is definitely more well-known internationally. It’s like the TOEFL for Chinese.</p>
<p>Speaking from personal experience, it’s so goshdarn difficult to get an 800 for Math. I took 4 times altogether (SAT reasoning twice, Math 1, Math 2) and NEVER reached the damn perfect score. I just gave up. Lol
The annoying thing is it’s so easy, and you can finish in a quarter/ half the allocated time and rechecked until it gets on your nerves and still have a few questions wrong. But then again, it might just be me.</p>
<p>Fyi, my scores were 750, 780, 760, 780.</p>
<p>Why are so many people getting worked up at Sec 3 & 4? 
Tsk tsk kiasuism… I’d say just enjoy your life! Come back when you’re done with JC1 or something.</p>
<p>I only started researching during the end of year break at the end of my JC1. Then i just lost track of it when school started. Finally i started preparing everything around prelims. I knew i wanted to apply to Yale at some point, but i couldn’t decide when (early or regular). I never once thought that i must shape my school life in a certain way so that it’ll work in my favor for college application. I sort of just did what I wanted too do, and tried to be really good at them. I don’t see the point of joining truckloads of competition if all you’re ever going to get is the Certificate of Participation and the appearance of a busy school life. Same goes for boring seminars and talks. I don’t go for a whole lot of competition (I don’t go for seminars, ever) but when i do, i’ll get something (okay except SChO, which was a total disaster. But i didn’t sign up for it myself and had no motivation to do well.) I also never went for Math Olympiads or anything, but you guys probably should. I heard it’s not difficult to win some honours.</p>
<p>OMG!
What is SAT?
All of you are Singaporeans, am i right? So am I, but how come I don’t know anything about SAT? Thats bad!
Im planning to study in US next year, do you think I need to take up SAT?
And can someone explains what is SAT for me?
And what are those critical writting or reading and some maths tests score the US universities ask me to submit?</p>
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<p>I’m a sad case, but I cracked up laughing when I realised that since drifter is in a “top 5 school” and has a GPA, he/she probably has no O Levels. Yeah, I’m not a believer in IP. Anyway, just work hard. If your average percentage at Sec 3 is 74.5 (since I don’t know what to do with GPA) you should be well on track provided your school isn’t suffering grade inflation. If you’re going to RJ or HCI for A Levels, the teachers will know how much you need to work to be competitive. My guess is that you’ll definitely be fine.</p>
<p>kanz3n: the reading writing math thing is the SAT. Go google/wiki it now. You will almost definitely need it, unless you’re only applying to the SAT-optional schools. Even if you are, I think there’s very little harm in submitting SAT scores, since Singaporeans usually score way above the average - in fact, above the 75th percentile for many schools. (Although, of course, the international pool is much tougher, etc.)</p>
<p>-.- this may sound ironic but yeah, it kinda sucks being in IP. Just my personal opinion. I’m kinda worried tt i may not do too well for A levels and then having no O level cert. I’m thinking of taking private but then i wonder what’s the entire point. i could have just gone on to some other school without this programme, perhaps not as good, but i think grades still depend on oneself in the end.</p>
<p>i dunno the average age around here…but singapore students thinking about uni is quite common now since sec 2??? lol and my school isnt the top still haha. i do have a cousin in the top school who feels inferior when his GPA is 3.8. -.- dunno whether anyone sees this situation? well but kinda hard not to be worried when the MOE is like throwing A level stuff at you from sec 3 onwards…-.- (all going to change when i get to vote muahaha)</p>
<p>anyway, thanks for the replies! they’ve been helpful! and NUS actually offers zoology??? i did ask but that person told me it doesnt. if thats true then thats good cause then i dont have to spend so much. but honestly, there arent any good jobs in singapore that are related to zoology are they besides from a zookeeper?? </p>
<p>and regarding someone asking about HSK, it’s helpful if you want to study chinese even further and perhaps go china for uni. thats what i heard from my teacher. everyone was forced to take it. but the standard is quite okay. quite easy to get a ‘A’. but i took the easier level haha. there’s a higher one. :)</p>
<p>btw, there was some confusion some other place but the uni i stated was Michigan State Uni not university of michigan so ya, just clarifying.</p>
<p>ok this is super long and just bear with my kiasu-ness haha!</p>
<p>hey what do you guys think of Millennia Institute? Will It be a good idea for me to go there or better to go to a community college?</p>
<p>Gosh, dont go there. If you didn’t do well in your O level, taking A level may not be a good choice. So, you should try something different. Community college is better IMO. If you can do well in a CC, you might end up transferring to a top US school. But if you do well in A level at MI, you’ll only end up with all As without any S paper as the school doesn’t offer any. Hence, you’ll lose out to those applicants from top JCs with 2 S papers or more, when applying to top universities. Plus, spending 1 semester at a CC will give you more credits than getting an A level cert from MI. Bec one A level course equals to 3 to 5 credits…and they don’t count your GP and MT. So, you’ll at most have 15 advanced credits upon graduation from MI.</p>