ATAR Notes: Forum
Uni Stuff => General University Discussion and Queries => Topic started by: thatisanote on December 11, 2011, 06:01:35 pm
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I remembered a thread on US apps, couldn't find it so made a new one.
Anyone else apply/get decisions?
Lots of PMs asking for advice:
Steps to take:
1. http://www.educationusa.info/melbourne Go to the undergrad info session
2. Register for, study for, and sit the SAT & 2 subject tests (subj tests optional) (disclosure: i procrastinated on the study for the SAT, but the earlier you start the better. take a practice test right now on collegeboard.com - it is a past official test)
You'll want some books for that.
http://imgur.com/a/oCBh2
Check out that, that is a picture of the books I have and are selling.
3. Do other stuff to boost your application, read books on it, especially books on the essays
4. Start essays early (disclosure: I didn't.)
5. Around september get your teacher recs and school stuff organised - you'll probably need to help your head of school with this. they ask for all kinds of weird stuff (including an ATAR estimate!).
6. Apply! I applied early to stanford, deadline was nov 1. And SAT 1 I took in may, sat 2s i took in october. So clogged up this year a bit!
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You got into Stanford? Brilliant!!!
CONGRATULATIONS!
You went early action?
Hahaha yeah I just finished my application for the US colleges, not expecting much though, especially with my low SAT.
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Congratulations, make sure to stay away from the eastern side of Palo Alto though ;)
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You got into Stanford? Brilliant!!!
CONGRATULATIONS!
You went early action?
Hahaha yeah I just finished my application for the US colleges, not expecting much though, especially with my low SAT.
Cheers man :)
Yep, early action.
Decisions came out 10am our time sat morning.
Funnily enough, I happened to check a forum where i discovered they were coming out early, otherwise I would've only found out when I casually checked my emails!
Where did you apply?
I applied to USC as well - i'd consider if I get the scholarship, but Stanford's looking pretty nice ;)
Congratulations, make sure to stay away from the eastern side of Palo Alto though ;)
Dodgy area? :P Cheers for the tip, any more?
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HYP
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Congratulations, make sure to stay away from the eastern side of Palo Alto though ;)
OMG I know someone who lives in Palo Alto /irrelevant
@OP congratulations!!! I still find it weird how kids can get accepted to US unis without finishing VCE. I know a girl who got accepted and left in the middle of year 12 for Princeton. She never had to finish VCE :S I'm so jelly!
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Dodgy area? :P Cheers for the tip, any more?
Back in the (mid?) 90's it was the deadliest city in America, but I would assume it has improved since then.
Although, my friend stayed there for a month or so a few years back (maybe 4 years) and 2 people were shot in drive-by's during the time he was there so who knows...
It was an area where the bloods and crips were predominant so that was why, I'm not sure that they still are, though.
I doubt it would be the entire city of EPA anyway, because it's quite a populated area.
HYP
Harvard, Yale, Princeton?
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^ I always thought of Palo Alto as the nerdiest city in America *shrug*
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Congratulations, make sure to stay away from the eastern side of Palo Alto though ;)
@OP congratulations!!! I still find it weird how kids can get accepted to US unis without finishing VCE. I know a girl who got accepted and left in the middle of year 12 for Princeton. She never had to finish VCE :S I'm so jelly!
Me too! Surely we're not thinking of the same person though - but my friend did HSC......O.K?
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^ I always thought of Palo Alto as the nerdiest city in America *shrug*
I guess everywhere except the eastern part! It's pretty big, easy for me to avoid epa.
And thushan, gl for HYP. I only applied to Stanford, USC, and Vanderbilt (lol- just for the scholarships because there were no extra essays, but in the end the scholarship deadline is dec 15th so I won't end up doing that).
Deadline for all of those would be ~Jan 1 I assume?
Have you sorted out all the commonapp stuff? That's a real bitch to do if your school has never done it before...
And I got an estimated atar, but I couldn't just stop VCE (if this had been a few months ago) as you have to update them with grades even after acceptance.
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Yeah I've finished my application. Waiting until 16th to submit (nothing to do with ATAR).
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Wow! Congratulations!
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Congratulations, make sure to stay away from the eastern side of Palo Alto though ;)
@OP congratulations!!! I still find it weird how kids can get accepted to US unis without finishing VCE. I know a girl who got accepted and left in the middle of year 12 for Princeton. She never had to finish VCE :S I'm so jelly!
Me too! Surely we're not thinking of the same person though - but my friend did HSC......O.K?
If you're talking about a girl from NSW who went in the middle of this year, yes.
Also, apparently East Palo Alto and Palo Alto are different cities, with polar opposite demographics...Palo Alto = Silicon Valley brains, East Palo Alto = Silicon Valley rejects. (according to wikipedia)
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@Funky -> Yup, that's the person!
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Congrats Thatisanote!
EDIT: and Thushan for applying ;D
....but can someone explain how this works? Do you just apply to each university like a normal American student? :o
This sounds so cool!
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Woah wait a moment! I'm applying, I didn't get an offer!
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Congratulations, make sure to stay away from the eastern side of Palo Alto though ;)
@OP congratulations!!! I still find it weird how kids can get accepted to US unis without finishing VCE. I know a girl who got accepted and left in the middle of year 12 for Princeton. She never had to finish VCE :S I'm so jelly!
Me too! Surely we're not thinking of the same person though - but my friend did HSC......O.K?
If you're talking about a girl from NSW who went in the middle of this year, yes.
Also, apparently East Palo Alto and Palo Alto are different cities, with polar opposite demographics...Palo Alto = Silicon Valley brains, East Palo Alto = Silicon Valley rejects. (according to wikipedia)
Yeah that's pretty much it.
Also, sorry thatisanote, for leading this discussion off on a tangent.
What course are you doing at the university?
Woah wait a moment! I'm applying, I didn't get an offer!
Maybe he's just a very good bloke and is congratulating you on the effort of applying. Yeah, lets go with that... ;)
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^ they have 4 year degrees, the first year is general/multidisciplinary, then students can select a major in 2nd year. I like the system, but going overseas isn't really an option for me.
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Congratulations thisisanote :) Huge achievement.
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Just for perspective for those who don't know the magnitude of this achievement, MIT (another US school in the same league as Stanford) only takes 1 student from Australia/NZ/Oceania combined.
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Wow... Congratulations thatisanote! All the best for next year :)
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Congrats Thatisanote!
EDIT: and Thushan for applying ;D
....but can someone explain how this works? Do you just apply to each university like a normal American student? :o
This sounds so cool!
Cheers :) Yep, though the process is pretty annoying and complicated, unless your school already knows how to do it all.
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Just for perspective for those who don't know the magnitude of this achievement, MIT (another US school in the same league as Stanford) only takes 1 student from Australia/NZ/Oceania combined.
Holy shit! I had no idea about that!
Though I do know that at Stanford, roughly 50% of people with an atar equivalent of 99.98 (yes, top 0.02%) get rejected.
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Hah you mean a 2400 SAT? LOL I have no hope, I only got 2170...stupid CR.
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Hah you mean a 2400 SAT? LOL I have no hope, I only got 2170...stupid CR.
Yep. Definitely not no hope man, SAT score is only ~15-20% of application decision apparently.
At HYP that score would have a very very slight negative impact or no impact i'd think. Though a bit more of an impact at Yale than the others, yale is score heavy.
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Okay I updated the OP with some advice
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Hi,
Is it compulsory to take the SAT to US uni
and what about something called IELTS?
What if I'm planning to go to London Imperial, do I need another test(I assume not SAT)?
Why do you need to take the SAT test as you got your VCE?
I heard ppl saying IB doesn't require any SAT exams or stuff though. You will get in with a score of 43 above.
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Wenhao,
You can either take the ACT or the SAT for US unis.
IB students also need to take the SAT/ACT and follow the normal procedures for applying to US unis.
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Wenhao,
You can either take the ACT or the SAT for US unis.
IB students also need to take the SAT/ACT and follow the normal procedures for applying to US unis.
Hey there, thanks. So is ACT or SAT better?
What about Uk unis?
So IB still have to do the same procedures, but I thought IB is more recognised.
tq btw :)
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Wenhao,
You can either take the ACT or the SAT for US unis.
IB students also need to take the SAT/ACT and follow the normal procedures for applying to US unis.
Hey there, thanks. So is ACT or SAT better?
What about Uk unis?
So IB still have to do the same procedures, but I thought IB is more recognised.
tq btw :)
In Melbourne, you can only do the SAT, nowhere offers the ACT.
UK - no idea. Yep IB still same procedures, only advantage over VCE is that you don't have to study much for SAT subject tests as the material is more similar than the VCE courses. (I studied Math 2 and Physics subject tests, had to learn quite a bit extra in 4 days!!)
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Wenhao, I'm not sure if you can do the ACT here but there are definitely SAT exams in Aus; this year some of them were held at Scotch, Haileybury and Mentone if I remember correctly.
Most students I know who applied to the US chose to do the SAT (perhaps for convenience?). A quick google search of "SAT or ACT" might help you out :)
As for UK unis, I didn't do much research on them but off the top of my head, I think there were extra admission tests required for some courses such as economics at Cambridge -> TSA.
Despite IB being more internationally recognised, IB students are not exempt from the SAT/ACT for admission into US unis (with the exception of a few unis not requiring the SAT). Unsure if the IB makes a difference for entrance into UK unis.
EDIT: Oops, didn't see thatisanote's reply. Listen to thatisanote instead! seeing as he actually went through the entire process :)
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Ok, but thanks a lot first and where can you do ACT?
Lol, so uk unis will be harder to enter compared to US unis?
So basically when do I have to apply in yr12?Is it compulsory ti
get 99+ to get in? Tq :)
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It all depends on which uni/s you are planning to apply to...
UK is incredibly expensive to study in. You must factor in costs before applying as it's pretty difficult to get a scholarship as an international student in both the UK and the US.
It's quite a lengthy process so my careers advisors told me to notify the school by May, start preparing by mid years, sit SATs, ask for college/personal references in term three... etc etc. I never followed through with the application so probably look straight to thatisanote or thushan for more help :)
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Okay what if I didn't get the scholarship, can I still apply?But I assume it will be expensive.
So what's SAT all about?...what do you require to study?
Let's say I wanna apply for standford, do I need a 99+ ATAR?
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Have a look here: http://www.collegeboard.org/
And a look here: http://www.stanford.edu/dept/uga/basics/selection/prepare.html
Tuition fees for Imperial: http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/registry/studentfinancialsupport/tuitionfees/2012-13fees#UG
http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/registry/studentfinancialsupport/livingcosts
Stanford is extremely competitive to get into as Thushan has already mentioned previously. A friend got a 99.80 but didn't get into Stanford; it's more than the ATAR score that they're looking at.
Edit: more links added.
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Wenhao - they take a wide range of things. Grades, SAT (SAT is basically like the GAT here in VIC), extracurriculars, personal essays. It's a crapshoot. And US Ivy League colleges dont give scholarships, but only need-based financial aid. So if you get a place and apply for financial aid, they give you what you NEED, but it doesnt have anything to do with merit.
Getting into these schools is a crapshoot. Thing is, there are sooooo many perfect specimens (like thatisanote) out there that it essentially is a pick of the draw.
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Have a look here: http://www.collegeboard.org/
And a look here: http://www.stanford.edu/dept/uga/basics/selection/prepare.html
Stanford is extremely competitive to get into as Thushan has already mentioned previously. A friend got a 99.80 but didn't get into Stanford; it's more than the ATAR score that they're looking at.
Hey and thanks for the website. It seems that it's indeed competitive to enter this Uni. But can I apply for a few, like Stanford, Harvard, London Imperial(I wish to go there)? I hope you guys can make more post talking about uni though as I seem to know nothing much.Thanks :)
Wenhao - they take a wide range of things. Grades, SAT (SAT is basically like the GAT here in VIC), extracurriculars, personal essays. It's a crapshoot. And US Ivy League colleges dont give scholarships, but only need-based financial aid. So if you get a place and apply for financial aid, they give you what you NEED, but it doesnt have anything to do with merit.
Getting into these schools is a crapshoot. Thing is, there are sooooo many perfect specimens (like thatisanote) out there that it essentially is a pick of the draw.
Hey thushan, did you get into stanford?Well, very tough though.Is there a possible chance if I'm doing ESL to enter this kind of Uni?
So they don't give full scholarship? and can I study for SAT?+ what do you mean by extracurriculars?
Sorry Im asking to much but hope you can answer me with details. TQ very much ;)
Yeah, I agree as it's like a lucky draw though which doesn't depends on ur score(what azure said)..
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Did I get into Stanford? Nup, I didn't apply for it. Applied for Harvard, Yale, Princeton. Will get outcome on March.
If you're ESL I think you need to sit the TOEFL I think
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Did I get into Stanford? Nup, I didn't apply for it. Applied for Harvard, Yale, Princeton. Will get outcome on March.
If you're ESL I think you need to sit the TOEFL I think
Ya check the schools website, either TOEFL or a certain score on the CR section of the SAT.
Also, I didn't apply for finaid - if you apply for finaid, you basically can't get in (to Stanford at least - harvard is need blind for internationals).
And to study for the SAT, I just use d the books in the picture - which i'm selling, so let me know if you are after any of them. I purchased them while in America.
BTW - if anyone buys the whole lot, I'll let you drill me for a few skype sessions about the application process (though there is only so much I know and can help with).
In terms of resources, I had nothing.
I did:
1. college confidential.
2. and people who I contacted (e.g. MGS careers advisor, Caulfield careers advisor - though these guys just basically said - go to educationusa)
Also, in terms of VCE, some things I was wondering:
uni enhancement won't really help or hinder. maybe a very slight help as it seems hard.
math2 subject test: mostly methods, i didn't do spesh so I don't know, but what was missing from my methods knowledge I learned in two intense days (regret cramming but worked out in the end). and you're allowed the n-spire in the math2 test, and no restrictions on having notes. I had notes, don't think I used them though.
Remember you'll always be more pressed for time in the real thing, so prac tests (I did 2 i think - from the books im selling) in ~60-70% of time.
physics subj test: vce physics does help, but only some sections, i had quite a lot to learn in 2 days, was very unsure if i would get the 800 (but I did in the end). still had stuff to learn in the car on the way to the test :/
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Did I get into Stanford? Nup, I didn't apply for it. Applied for Harvard, Yale, Princeton. Will get outcome on March.
If you're ESL I think you need to sit the TOEFL I think
Abbreviation of TOEFL?Lol, I'm pretty scared now but based on my standard of english I think it should be fine. So you will get it in march?Why did thatisanote get it so early? Well, do you actually know what course you will be getting or wanna go for it before apply...Btw Good luck with your outcome. I assume Harvard is pretty tough to enter.
Did I get into Stanford? Nup, I didn't apply for it. Applied for Harvard, Yale, Princeton. Will get outcome on March.
If you're ESL I think you need to sit the TOEFL I think
Ya check the schools website, either TOEFL or a certain score on the CR section of the SAT.
Also, I didn't apply for finaid - if you apply for finaid, you basically can't get in (to Stanford at least - harvard is need blind for internationals).
And to study for the SAT, I just use d the books in the picture - which i'm selling, so let me know if you are after any of them
Which website again?So it's easier for TOEFL...
So bascially is it good to apply for finaid?
Where is your post or could you pls give me more details of the selling stuff?TQ
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You can apply to as many universities as you like. There's also a Common App that is accepted by a lot of US universities, look here: https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/default.aspx so you don't need to keep filling in separate applications. Might be extremely hectic if you start applying to a lot of universities that are not listed on the common app though (writing many essays, individually filling out applications, school career advisors might hate you afterwards :P etc.).
Extracurriculars: Sport, music, drama, environmental/politics/human rights/make pov history clubs/societies at school..... etc.
Interesting life experiences, achievements, community work, work experience are also factored in if you write about them in your personal statement/essays.
UK universities particularly look at life experiences and things you have done to show why and how much you want to study a certain course at their uni. E.g. Career advisor at my school suggested (at the minimal) I join Amnesty International, keep up related community work, find work experience if I wanted any chance of getting into Law in the UK and of course you need great academic results as well...
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Haha he applied for Early Action (where you apply ONLY to one uni early, and you have to take the offer should you get one).
I'm doing regular action, so outcome on March. I'm not expecting to get into any of the unis in the US, I applied just for the hell of it. It's just too difficult, and there is no reason they should pick me.
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Did I get into Stanford? Nup, I didn't apply for it. Applied for Harvard, Yale, Princeton. Will get outcome on March.
If you're ESL I think you need to sit the TOEFL I think
Abbreviation of TOEFL?Lol, I'm pretty scared now but based on my standard of english I think it should be fine. So you will get it in march?Why did thatisanote get it so early? Well, do you actually know what course you will be getting or wanna go for it before apply...Btw Good luck with your outcome. I assume Harvard is pretty tough to enter.
Did I get into Stanford? Nup, I didn't apply for it. Applied for Harvard, Yale, Princeton. Will get outcome on March.
If you're ESL I think you need to sit the TOEFL I think
Ya check the schools website, either TOEFL or a certain score on the CR section of the SAT.
Also, I didn't apply for finaid - if you apply for finaid, you basically can't get in (to Stanford at least - harvard is need blind for internationals).
And to study for the SAT, I just use d the books in the picture - which i'm selling, so let me know if you are after any of them
Which website again?So it's easier for TOEFL...
So bascially is it good to apply for finaid?
Where is your post or could you pls give me more details of the selling stuff?TQ
Google about TOEFL, and for the school's website.
No, reread it - finaid HUGELY reduces your chance of admission.
http://imgur.com/a/oCBh2 - that's what i'm selling. click that link
Haha he applied for Early Action (where you apply ONLY to one uni early, and you have to take the offer should you get one).
I'm doing regular action, so outcome on March. I'm not expecting to get into any of the unis in the US, I applied just for the hell of it. It's just too difficult, and there is no reason they should pick me.
Yep, although stanfords is non-binding, so I don't have to accept. I haven't accepted yet, in fact.