SAT2 Score Analysis (Using Thailand Case Studies)

It's 2am. I would stop reading essays for now first. I know this means that for some of you, your essays feedback would be delayed by 1 day, but my brain is tired after reading essays for the past 4 hours. So, would do this for the rest of the night. :) (Not long more, before I called it a night).

Today, December SAT Reasoning Test/SAT Subject Test results were out. And there were happy and sad moments.

Thinking of how I should synthesize the importance of SAT Reasoning Test and SAT Subject Test scores, I decide to analyze it this way using results from the Thai scholars. You can find their scores here .

What I would do is that I would analyze based on the average score for those who get admitted, wait listed and rejected for each of the main universities.

Harvard University
Admit (2 students):- CR (665), Math (800), Writing (685) Essay (10), SAT2 (2400).
Wait List (2 students):- CR (585), Math (795), Writing (605) Essay (8.5), SAT2 (2350)
Reject (2 students):- CR (515), Math (790), Writing (575) Essay (8), SAT2 (2365)

Princeton University
Admit (1 student):- CR (710), Math (800), Writing (710) Essay (10), SAT2 (2400)
Reject (1 student):- CR (570), Math (800), Writing (640) Essay (8), SAT2 (2400)

Yale University
Admit (3 students):- CR (667), Math (800), Writing (657) Essay (9.67), SAT2 (2400)
Reject (5 students):- CR (570), Math (770), Writing (586) Essay (8.2), SAT2 (2248)
(there is one candidate who got rejected with SAT2 of 1960, if remove that candidate, the average for rejected for SAT2 is 2320.

Columbia University
Admit (7 students):- CR (569), Math (796), Writing (584) Essay (8.57), SAT2 (2347)
Wait List (6 students) :- CR (505), Math (787), Writing (533) Essay (7.33), SAT2 (2345)
Reject (2 students):- CR (455), Math (760), Writing (505) Essay (7.5), SAT2 (2180)

Cornell University
Admit (16 students):- CR (539), Math (785), Writing (568) Essay (8.5), SAT2 (2348)
Wait List (2 students):- CR (465), Math (780), Writing (510) Essay (6.5), SAT2 (2260)
Reject (11 students):- CR (477), Math (758), Writing (507) Essay (7.54), SAT2 (2205)

Brown University
Admit (3 students):- CR (543), Math (797), Writing (607) Essay (7.67), SAT2 (2370)
Wait List (6 students):- CR (519), Math (792), Writing (542) Essay (7.83), SAT2 (2318)
Reject (2 students):- CR (515), Math (740), Writing (535) Essay (8.5), SAT2 (2275)

Dartmouth College
Admit (5 students):- CR (600), Math (794), Writing (634) Essay (8.6), SAT2 (2356)
Wait List (1 student):- CR (530), Math (680), Writing (520) Essay (7), SAT2 (1910)

University of Pennsylvania
Admit (10 students):- CR (585), Math (792), Writing (599) Essay (8.6), SAT2 (2369)
Wait List (2 students):- CR (525), Math (770), Writing (570) Essay (8), SAT2 (2300)
Reject (3 students):- CR (487), Math (793), Writing (510) Essay (7.33), SAT2 (2227)

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Admit (3 students):- CR (693), Math (800), Writing (727) Essay (10), SAT2 (2400)
Wait List (1 student):- CR (610), Math (800), Writing (580) Essay (8), SAT2 (2400)
Reject (11 students):- CR(551), Math (791), Writing (568) Essay (8), SAT2 (2359)
(1 of the rejected candidates score 2070 in SAT2, if taken that out, average SAT2 for rejected is 2386.)

Stanford University
Admit (7 students):- CR (633), Math (792), Writing (650) Essay (9), SAT2 (2400)
Wait List (1 student):- CR (600), Math (800), Writing (580) Essay (8), SAT2 (2400)
Reject (22 students):- CR (512), Math (777), Writing (532) Essay (7.78), SAT2 (2303)
(2 of the rejected candidates score 1910 and 2070 respectively, if taken those two out, average SAT2 for rejected is 2339.)

I know that these 10 universities are not complete representation, but I would stop here. If any of you could help me to churn out this stats for other universities, that would be much appreciated. I would quote you for your calculation.

Some points to note:-
1. Do note that the figure above are all average, which means technically about half of them got better than that score and half got worse than that score.
2. We see some correlation of higher SAT and admit rate, but it is not conclusive.
3. I would safely say that SAT2 is much more crucial. Do note the high score of their SAT2.
4. English score for Thais are a little lower, but their SAT2 are impressive. That's the case for SAT2 for most other students too. So, students from Malaysia need to buck up on this.

Please feel free to quote these figures to share with others.

Am hoping to conduct a similar analysis for Malaysia come this April 2009.

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Click here to read more of Chen Chow's posts

Would encourage any of my blog readers to share with me any event that you come across. As long as the event/activity/initiative is education/charity/youth oriented and is not-for-profit, I would be more than happy to post it to share!

Charis Loke (Brown University Class of 2013) Sharing on her Early Decision Application to Brown University

Congratulations to Charis again for getting into Brown University Class of 2013 for Early Decision.

Similar to Boon Jim, I also asked her to write an article to share her experience. And similarly, she managed to write this interesting and long article to share her experience within half a day. Kudos to the enthusiasm and commitment displayed by both Charis and Boon Jim! Hope that this sharing would help all of you who are applying to pick up some tips! Good Luck!

This post is quoted fully from Charis's post in ReCom.org

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Hi everyone! I’m Charis, aka UPSAND Banana (Useless Person Standing Around Nothing Doing), and I’m writing this as a way to thank all my seniors, teachers, friends, parents, siblings, Recommers, and anyone else who helped me during my applications to US Universities. My heartfelt thanks to all of you! As you can tell from my tone, I am absolutely exhilarated right now. I hope that my experience applying can be of some use to you in these last weeks of application‐writing as well as the months after that. I like to tell stories, so the following may not be the most concise guide on earth. Be forewarned.

I remember one particularly caffeine‐fueled night in which I sat typing out an attempt at an essay at 3 in the morning, and one of my seniors at Penn was online chatting to me. It was a great encouragement and served as a reminder to me of what lay in store at the end of the frustrating and depressing road of applications. You’ll come to the end of that road soon enough, so don’t worry, do your best for now!

Some numbers.
I’m reluctant to post these, but I want to get them out of the way as soon as possible, so oh well, here goes:
SAT 1 – 2370/2400 (800 CR, 800 Math, 770 Writing)
SAT 2 – 800 Math II, 800 Chemistry, 760 Biology‐E
TOEFL – 112/120
But I have to stress that these scores mean little in the context of your entire application. They serve to consolidate what is in your transcripts and grades e.g. if your Chemistry teacher says you’re the next Kornberg or Curie, but you get 500 on the SAT II Chemistry, it casts doubt on your teacher’s recommendation. I think there’s an increasing trend towards universities placing less weight on SAT scores than before. It’s probably too late to retake, with only one more available testing date on January, so don’t stress too much about what’s done.

On to the paperwork.
I had the unusual opportunity of sending in more than usual recommendations; I had two secondary schools not counting INTEC, so I could send in two Sec School Reports with two different recommendations by different counselors. For one of the Sec School Reports, I got my counselor to send in a ‘term report’ which had summaries of the different subjects I took, as well as notes by my teachers, so in essence I had 7 extra short recommendations. (But risky, this may p**s off grouchy adofficers because extra materials may not be welcome) I was also lucky that the teacher I asked to be my SMK counselor had worked with me for over 4 years on a variety of projects – website, robotics etc – so she could write a lot about me.

The two teachers I asked to write my recommendations knew me quite well; one even said that she was going to write about my weaknesses. Bad? In retrospect, it showed me in a more realistic light, and perhaps contributed to my getting in. My teachers also asked me what I wanted them to highlight, so I hinted at different things – one covered my personality, the other the extra work I used to put in for his class. I had English and Chemistry teachers recommending me, a nice balance between humanities and sciences.

In summary, find teachers who know you well, give them enough time to write a good one, and don’t forget to THANK YOUR TEACHERS. You can never thank someone enough.

Essays.
What I want to stress here is to be yourself and trust your instincts: if what you’re writing doesn’t feel like you, or you find it difficult to say, it probably is not reflective of your true self.

My Common App essay was started the night before the application deadline, and I finished ten minutes before the deadline. DO NOT DO THIS! EVER! The only good thing that came out of it, I suppose, was that I was forced to write in my own voice, not thinking about what other people would say. Maybe that’s where my personality “came through”. I basically told a story about my art, how as a toddler I was against the Buncho Rainbow Colouring style, and how I later confronted that bias, and realized it was because of my penchant for creative freedom and, according to one of my friends, my “headstrong” nature. Haha. It sounds so deep to me now. And wow, I don’t know how I got in with that essay. (Sorry, this probably isn’t helping you much now…)

A better example would be my academic experience essay. I spent a long time on that and had many people proofread it. Because it was about my favourite class, I had no problem finding words to write. I wrote about how I was before the class, what I discovered there, how I changed, and a consequence of me changing. I had to fix certain angles and issues with details in my initial draft, thanks to acute observations by my proofreaders, and it is this that convinces me that proofreading is important. Have people proofread your essays. THANK THEM afterwards too.

To get ideas, talk to your parents and friends, and ask them what stands out about you. My friends pointed out thing that I had totally overlooked about myself; I was awed by that. You can then decide how to shape your application to showcase that aspect of your personality. Also, universities have different overall characteristics, so depending on where you’re applying to, you might like to highlight different traits. You need to show the university why they are a good fit for you, why you are a good fit for them, what you can contribute, and what you can learn from them. When you’re writing your apps, you will know which unis are ‘right’ for you by the ease with which you answer the “Why X University” questions. For example, Brown likes self‐starters and looks more at extra‐curriculars than scores. After doing research on my potential universities, I really felt that Brown would be a great place for me, couldn’t imagine myself elsewhere - which is why I applied ED ‐ and I guess I was able to articulate that in my “Why Brown” essay and interview.

Also, you will somehow ‘know’ which topic to write about for the Common App essay – something which means a lot to you, and you couldn’t bear not to tell the admissions committee about it. Trying to force yourself to write something you don’t like is a disaster waiting to happen. A good piece of advice from an admission officer goes like this: find a message you want to convey. Then think of an anecdote to illustrate that message.

Find a time/place where you write well, and stick to it. This could involve using your favorite fonts, handwriting the essay first, hiding under the bed, a theme song, sitting at ping pong tables and so forth.
Anything that helps you. ☺

Resume.
I sent in a ‘resume’, but in hindsight it was rather pompous and pretentious of me to call it a ‘resume’, so I suggest that you call yours ‘activity list’. It was mainly to put in some minor activities that I didn’t have space for on the Common App, and to elaborate more on some of my activities. I also put in some big activities from Form 2 that I couldn’t list on the Common App due to it not being in Grade 9 and above. For this, I will credit Andrew because I followed the format of his sample resume, which I’m sure most people reading this have seen already.

Check check double check triple check everything before sending in. Take note of the small, occasionally hidden, but important instructions, such as including your name, birth date, school name etc on every bit of paper you send in, even the electronic uploaded documents like essays. Print preview your application a lot and get others, if possible, to proofread it before submitting.

I sent in a cover letter explaining my three schools (2 sec, 1 pre‐u) and how ADFP was Grade 12. I also stated there very clearly that Brown was my absolute first choice. Doesn’t hurt to remind them of that .

After the paperwork and submission of application.
Oh yeah. If you find a mistake in your application after you submit it, DO NOT HESITATE TO CALL IN/EMAIL TO CORRECT IT. They’ll see that you are concerned about your application and that’s a good thing. Stupid me put my graduation date from INTEC wrongly, but I called the admissions office, and the people were very nice and helped me to correct the information.

Interviews!
My Brown one was done over the phone, and luckily my interviewer was a very understanding and nice guy; he began by reassuring me that the interview was more on the informational side and that I shouldn’t be nervous. My response: to babble some nonsense about how many people applied to Brown from Asia. OOPS! So think before you speak, really. On a more serious note, I was able to highlight some things that I didn’t address in my application, like how in INTEC I don’t get to choose my subjects and thus could not take Chemistry and Physics beyond O‐Levels (SPM). He was very interested in this; I was then able to explain that I self‐studied those subjects.

I also told him a story about what my classmates (you know who you are!) and I at INTEC do for fun (sit and talk in the KTM train!) because that really mattered a lot to me and I wasn’t concerned about appearing intellectual or trying to say only what they wanted me to say. Then I asked him a lot of questions on the “softer” side: what was your favourite class, what crazy things did you do at Brown for fun, what do you think about this issue at Brown etc. I think it made the interview more fun and more personal than dumb questions like “What majors do you have?” and “How can I do research?”. You get to have your interviewer reminisce about his/her presumably happy times at the college, and that can only be good for you.

If you’ve done a lot of research about the university, it will show in your interview to your benefit. Hint: read the university newspapers, great source of information. Talk to current students.

I also have to mention my fantastic Rice interview and my fantastic Rice interviewer.

Lastly, FOLLOW UP THE INTERVIEW WITH A THANK‐YOU NOTE. It’s only common courtesy to do so. In your note, maybe you could mention additional thoughts on something the interviewer had said in the interview – it shows that you were really paying attention, and thought a lot about what was said.

Results and final words
Rejection doesn’t mean that you’re not good enough. It just means that you are not perceived to be a ‘fit’ for the school. So what have you got to lose by showing your true personality? If they like you and think you’ll fit in, then good! If not, at least you won’t wind up feeling that you’ve doublecrossed yourself by pretending
to be someone you aren’t. BE TRUE TO YOURSELF.

Finally, and this is important to me: if you have a religion, well, I can sincerely say that faith goes a long way in motivating you and supporting you in the whole application process.

And approach the whole thing from a humble perspective. BE GRATEFUL that you are even in a position to apply to universities in the States; don’t feel as if you’re obligated an education there. It will show through in the way you answer the questions on the app, and the way you talk in the interview. Show them what you have to offer, tell them what you are looking for in their university and why your attendance would benefit them and you, and yes, be rightfully proud about your accomplishments, but NEVER EVER BRAG. If you
are mentioning things for the sake of mentioning them, and have no real passion or reason for doing so, then it’s likely that you are bragging. Small things really, really count.

I got depressed at many points along the way, when hearing about the awesome things that other international students have done. But I learnt from seniors that you have to be confident in yourself, and emphasize what you have to offer to the university. You are unique. Use that.

Good luck with your applications!

FINIS

Best wishes and bananas,
‐Charis

Addendum – the (Visual) Art Supplement
Okay, I’m not the best person to talk about this since I submitted my art supplement according to the wrong guidelines (haha) but this is what I did anyway:

Burn a CD with 20 images* of my artwork in it. I think it’s better to send paper prints. Ask the Art Department of the university (or whoever will review your Art Supplement) which they prefer.
Make a list of the twenty images*, with dimensions, titles, and medium used.
Send in an ‘art resume’. Follow instructions on the Common App for this one.
Get someone who has experience or qualifications in your field of the arts to write you a recommendation letter. This is another way in which I got an additional recommendation in for me.

*Confirm your image limit first. I think I went way beyond my recommended limit. Ack.

Only send the really good artworks/videos etc, though. The office may be swamped and they sure wouldn’t like to wade through tons of your latest doodles and so on. Put in pieces which won competitions. Also put in pieces which, artistic quality not compromised, show a bit of your personality. I sent a photo of a painting I made with (‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐). (Word removed to avoid unnecessary plagiarism). Suffice to say, it’s not something you would find every day, nor in a gallery.

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Click here to read more of Chen Chow's posts

Would encourage any of my blog readers to share with me any event that you come across. As long as the event/activity/initiative is education/charity/youth oriented and is not-for-profit, I would be more than happy to post it to share!

Boon Jim (Cornell University Class of 2013) Sharing on His Early Decision Application to Cornell University

Congratulations again to Boon Jim from Inti for getting into Cornell University Class of 2013 as Early Decision.

After he got in, I actually asked him to write an article to share on any tips he can provide for those who are applying this year or future years. Hope this sharing could be helpful for you guys.

It is amazing that he is able to write this whole piece within half a day of him getting the offer from Cornell University! Great enthusiasm and willingness to help other students! Hope this can be inspiration for other students!

Below is his sharing, quoting fully from ReCom.org - The Worldwide Malaysian Students Network

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My Cornell Application Checklist

1) Resume
2) Commonapp form + Essay
3) Supplement form + Supplementary Essay
4) 2 Teacher’s Evaluation Forms
5) 1 Secondary School Report
6) 1 Mid Year Report
7) Other recommendation letters
8) SAT 1 & SAT 2 scores (sent by Collegeboard)
9) TOEFL score (sent by ETS)

Resume:


I listed my achievements and activities with one or two sentences to explain every achievement and activity. You can also include your work experience if you have any. You don’t have to attach certificates, but it shouldn’t be a problem if you do.


I wrote about my skills e.g. computer skills, languages that I’m proficient in, musical instrument that I can play.


Do include anything about yourself that you think will interest the admission people.

Commonapp form + Essay:

The form is just plain and simple, like any ordinary forms that ask for a bunch of your personal details (name, date of birth, family details, bla bla bla).

For the essay, I chose a title which was mainly about ethical dilemma. My essay was about why I did not stand up to my belief and how I felt after that. Everyone’s essay should be unique, so I won’t disclose too much about mine.

You can choose the essay titles provided or you can write about any topic you want. The topics never change, so you can start working on your essay NOW! There’s no time sooner than now.

Give yourself plenty of time to think about your essays and do get comments from other people. To be unique, you must write about things that you think people will not usually write but don’t go off topic!

Although there’s no word limit, always try to be as concise and straightforward as possible. Do the admission officers a favor by not beating around the bush too much. Also, try to avoid using passive voice, use it only when it is necessary. Passive voice doesn’t sound good, but when the subject is unknown, it can’t be help.

Supplement Form + Essay:

There’s nothing out of the ordinary about the supplementary form, it’s easy to fill.

For the College of Arts and Sciences, the essay topic is Describe your intellectual interests, their evolution, and what makes them exciting to you. Tell us how you will utilize the academic programs in the College of Arts and Sciences to further explore your interests, intended major, or field of study. The word limit is 500 words.

I wrote about my participation in the Young Enterprise Program and how the program made me interested in Economics. In addition, I wrote about other programs in Cornell which caught my interest such as the Language House Program.

You should write about the activities that you have done which develop your interest in a particular field. Alternatively, you can write about something that happened to you and made you interested in the field you choose to pursue.

You should also browse through Cornell’s website and discover other programs in Cornell that you find interesting. In your essay, tell them about the programs that interest you. Remember to explain how those programs can be useful to you.

Teacher’s Evaluation

I approached my EST and Add Math teachers to fill in the Teacher’s Evaluation forms.

You’ll need at least 2 Teacher’s Evaluation Forms and recommendation letters from your school teachers and 1 Secondary School Report and recommendation letter from your school counselor.

When requesting recommendation letters from your teachers, you should:

1)Choose 1 teacher who teaches arts stream subject (e.g. English, Economics, etc) and 1 teacher who teaches science stream subject (e.g. Add Math, Physics, etc). It would be even better if one of them is from your secondary school, and the other is from your preparatory college.

2)Choose teachers who know you well, preferably those who are close to you.

3)Approach your teachers early, give them enough time (at least 1 month).

4)Remind your teachers not to list down your achievements in the recommendation letters because the list should be included in your resume. Your teachers should write about your character and substantiate it with examples. Statements like “John is eager to learn.” must be supported by examples.

5)Discuss what they should write. Some teachers may not have written any recommendation letters before, so don’t be shy to tell your teachers what you want them to write about you, but never make them write things that they do not want to.

Secondary School Report

My Secondary School Report was filled by my secondary school counselor.

If your counselor doesn’t know you well, he can write about you based on your school records (academic performance and extracurricular achievements) from Form 1 to Form 5. If your school doesn’t have a counselor, then the principal can fill in the Secondary School Report and write the letter. Again, do give your counselor plenty of time and guide them through the Secondary School Report if they have doubts.

If your results have been consistently good, you can also get your school results from Form 1 to Form 5 and ask your counselor to attach it with the Secondary School Report.

Mid Year Report

My mid year report was filled by some admin lady in my preparatory college.

It is advisable to include your college result in your Mid Year Report if you enter college right after SPM / Form 5 because you want to show them that you have 12 years of formal education. However, remember to write a separate letter to explain that your college education is equivalent to 12th grade in US school system. Cornell mentioned here http://admissions.cornell.edu/resour...wer.cfm?num=15 that if you’ve done college level work, you shouldn’t be applying as freshman. So the explanation letter is very IMPORTANT!

Other Recommendation Letters

I was a St John’s Ambulance Malaysia (SJAM) member. So, I asked an officer from SJAM to write a recommendation letter for me. My piano teacher had also written a letter for me.

You should try to get additional recommendation letters unless you know nothing good will be written. These letters not only further explain your personality; they also describe the activities that you participated. You can get additional recommendation from:

1)Sports coaches
2)Part time job employers
3)Charity organizations that you’ve joined
4)Music teachers

SAT 1 & SAT 2

I scored 2090 for SAT 1, breakdown: CR 600 (I know, it’s horrible!), Writing 690, Math 800 and 2400 for SAT 2 (no typo, that’s the full score alright!) For SAT 2, I took Math 2, Physics, and Chemistry.

To prepare for SAT 1, all you need to do is a whole lot of practice! I don’t know of any other ways to prepare for SAT 1.

The 3 SAT 2 subjects which I took was easy because the syllabus was rather similar to SPM syllabus. Just try a few practice tests and you’ll understand how simple the questions are (if you can fully master SPM syllabus).

TOEFL

My TOEFL score was 113.

TOEFL is easy as long as you have a decent command of English. Many people can easily get above 110 without doing any preparation. Yup, that’s how easy it is!

However, do familiarize yourself with the format of the test before taking the test. There’re 4 sections all together (reading, listening, speaking and writing), each account for 30 marks.

Last Words

It was actually Chen Chow’s suggestion that I write this post. Hopefully, you will find it useful. Do feel free to publish it wherever you like, if you want to. =)


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Click here to read more of Chen Chow's posts

Would encourage any of my blog readers to share with me any event that you come across. As long as the event/activity/initiative is education/charity/youth oriented and is not-for-profit, I would be more than happy to post it to share!

Early Decision Statistic for Class of 2013

With Cornell University Early Decision for Class of 2013 results would be announced in 4 days' time (12th December 6am Malaysia's time), I just google around to find some sources of the trend of Early Decision statistic of other peer institutions.

Cornell, as usual, does not announce their stats as of this stage. But looks like it would be increased quite significantly too.

All the stats are for Early Decision/Early Action statistic for Class of 2013 compared to last year.

George Washington University Early Decision Class of 2013 - 50% increase
Wesleyan University Early Decision Class of 2013 - 40% increase
MIT Early Action Class of 2013 - 25% increase
Pomona College Early Decision Class of 2013 - 20% increase
Stanford University Early Action Class of 2013 - 18% increase
Northwestern University Early Decision Class of 2013 - 15% increase
Colby College Early Decision Class of 2013 - 13% increase
Haverford College Early Decision Class of 2013 - 13% increase
Cornell University Early Decision Class of 2013 - 10% increase (3,094 to 3,405)
Dartmouth College Early Decision Class of 2013 - 10% increase
Middlebury College Early Decision Class of 2013 - 10% increase
Yale University Early Action Class of 2013 - 10% increase
Hamilton College Early Decision Class of 2013 - 8% increase
Bowdoin College Early Decision Class of 2013 - 7.9% increase
Georgetown University Early Decision Class of 2013 - 2% increase
New York University Early Decision Class of 2013 - 2% increase
Brown University Early Decision Class of 2013 - 4.5% decrease (2,453 down to 2,343)
University of Pennsylvania Early Decision Class of 2013 - 8% decrease (3,917 down to 3,610)

Sources of info:-
1. George Washington Uni, Georgetown Uni and NYU info - here
2. Brown University - here
3. Bowdoin, Haverford, Colby, Dartmouth and Hamilton - here
4. Wesleyan, MIT, Pomona, Stanford, Northwestern, Middlebury - here
5. UPenn, Yale - here

Good Luck!

If anyone comes across any interesting info, please share it here. Thanks!

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Click here to read more of Chen Chow's posts

Would encourage any of my blog readers to share with me any event that you come across. As long as the event/activity/initiative is education/charity/youth oriented and is not-for-profit, I would be more than happy to post it to share!

ProProfs.com - Another SAT Resource

Thanks to Kenneth Hiew for highlighting this site. It seems to me a pretty good site for those who want to prepare for SAT!

It has a SAT Educators and Students wiki too, where you can help to contribute towards it.

Check it out at ProProfs.com



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Click here to read more of Chen Chow's posts

Would encourage any of my blog readers to share with me any event that you come across. As long as the event/activity/initiative is education/charity/youth oriented and is not-for-profit, I would be more than happy to post it to share!

More US Applications Resources

Thanks to my loyal blog reader for sharing this resource.

Some of the resources include:-

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1. IvyClassified.com .
2. FiskeGuide.com .
3. Raffles Junior College US Applications Guide
4. Liberal Arts College Review

If you do know of other resources, feel free to share with me too!
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Click here to read more of Chen Chow's posts

Would encourage any of my blog readers to share with me any event that you come across. As long as the event/activity/initiative is education/charity/youth oriented and is not-for-profit, I would be more than happy to post it to share!

Feedback on Table of Content on a Guide for Malaysians to Apply for US Unis

A bunch of us are trying to write an Unofficial Guide for US Universities Applications for Malaysians, and we have come out with the following Table of Content. Would appreciate any of you giving us feedback on which aspect that we missed out, which aspect that is redundant, and also if you know of any URL/article/resources that we could refer to in writing this book, please kindly share it here.

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Main Content:

(1) Why US?
(2) Types of US Colleges/ Universities
(3) Factors in Determining Which Colleges/Universities to Apply
(4) Timeline (from secondary school to pre-u)
(5) Application Requirements - SAT, TOEFL, CommonApp, letters, etc etc
(6) Funding
(7) Got the offers? Congratulations! What to bring to US?
(8) College Life in US
(9) What's Next After College
(10) Appendix (statistics, etc)

(1) Why US?
a. Why is U.S. education system more flexible/better?
b. Comparison with UK/Australia/NZ maybe?

(2) Types of US Colleges/Universities
a. Introduction: mention the distinction between “university” and “college” since the terms carry different meaning in the Malaysian context
b. Ivy Leagues
c. Ivy Standard Universities
d. Liberal Arts Colleges
e. Public Universities
f. Private Universities
g. Single Sex Colleges
h. Community Colleges

(3) Factors in Determining Which Colleges/Universities to Apply
a. University Prestige/ Ranking/ THES
b. Funding (write a short one here and refer readers to Main Content Bullet Point 6)
c. Size and Type of colleges/universities
d. Major/Field of Studies (mention US is NOT the place to go for medicine/law)
e. Location
i. Northeast/West Coast/Mid-west/ etc
ii. Urban/suburb/rural
iii. How happening the place is
f. Other considerations (referrals, etc)

(4) Timeline
a. Introduction: explain US schooling system and that Form 4 & 5 = Grade 10 & 11, Pre-u = Grade 12
b. Secondary School Grade 10 and 11 Preparation (Form 4-5)
c. Post SPM and before Pre-u (what to do?)
d. High School Grade 12 Preparation (explain the various common pre-u tracks)
i. STPM
ii. A Levels
iii. IB (Malaysian IB colleges, UWC)
iv. Transfer/ Twinning
v. Special Note on Uncommon Pre-U for US: Malaysian Matriculation, ICPU, SAM

(5) Application Requirements
a. Introduction: introduce CommonApp but mention that not all colleges use CommonApp, eg. MIT, UPenn, UChicago, Columbia
b. Form filling up.
c. Resume/CV
d. SAT Reasoning Test
e. SAT Subject Test
f. TOEFL
g. Application Essays
h. Secondary School Report
i. Mid Year Report
j. Final Year Report
k. Teachers’ Evaluation
l. Interview
m. Special Talent and other stuff.

(6) Funding
a. Scholarships from Malaysia
i. JPA
• Post SPM
• Post Pre-u
ii. BNM
• Post SPM
• Post Pre-U
iii. Petronas
iv. Shell
v. MARA
vi. Khazanah
vii. Not offering for US studies: SC, Sime Darby, Gamuda, UEM (need to recheck list)
b. College/University Financial Aid
i. Explain need-blind/need-based/need-aware
ii. Components of Financial Aid Package
iii. Application for Financial Aid
• College Board International Student Financial Aid Application (include a sample perhaps?)
• International Noncustodial Parent Statement
• Business/Farm Supplement
• Parents’ Income Tax Return Statement (translated to English)
• Approximate Deadline for Financial Aid Submission
c. Others

(7) Got the offers? Congratulations! What to bring to US?
a. Thank you notes to those who help.
b. Choosing universities.
c. Mailing in deposits.
d. Sending turning down offers to other universities.
e. Submit financial affidavit and Final Year Report.
f. Get I-20 and apply for visa.
g. Apply for housing and dining.
h. Pre-enrol in courses.
i. What to bring and what not to bring.

(8) College Life in US
a. Academic - Lecture, Recitation/Tutorial, Research, etc
b. Sports - Intramural, Inter-varsity
c. ECA
d. Greek Life - Fraternities & Sororities
e. Study Abroad
f. Summer – travel, internship
g. Life Online – Facebook, blogs, foruns, etc
h. Others

(9) What’s Next after College
a. Working
i. Wall Street.
ii. Silicon Valley.
iii. US
iv. Europe or other parts of Asia
v. Back home to contribute to our nation.
b. Going to grad school
i. Masters/PhD (course-based and research-based)
ii. MBA
iii. Law school
iv. Medical school

(10) Appendix
a. University Profile (I’m not too sure how this will play out, can decide on this later)
b. Rough Statistics of Malaysians Going to Top US Colleges/Universities
c. Other Resources
i. ReCom.org
ii. TinKosong
iii. Malaysian-scholarship.net
iv. We can expand on the list later
d. How to contact us?

Thanks.

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