hey noungning, so what's the one thing they're looking for? just curious, maybe it'll help me out when i apply to med school.
ok for instance. the applications i was looking over were for biomedical engineering grad school. i was looking for someone who had both lab experience and somewhat tech savy who can use medical devices, been in the lab disecting something, and someone who can also hop on the computer and not be illiterate. additionally, their experience, how they write. what their essay says and is it even making much sense to what they are applying for? i know it may sound a lot... but u have to consider that 1. u are applying for grad school, 2. it's an ivy league school, and 3. you are competing with thousands.
as for undergrad, i would think u need to show some dedication and interest in that field... i.e. voluteering, showing leadship skills, activities, grades, recommendations, references, ESSAYS! rewrite rewrite rewrite. always read it over, you don't want to submit an essay to a school u really want to enter starting off with grammatical problems. and for your field med school, like what i tell my younger sister, if you really want to do it, u have to be focused. get a volunteering gig at a local hospital, and that's what she did, which she's also working partime weekends, and doing other club activities. while also sticking to school and trying to get the most help with SATs and preparation.
*off topic*
noungning and KhoOnxNouxWanxJai , some questions, is it possible to get into harvard or any ivy league with GPA like 3.8 and only join the sports team in sch (no other activities or community services or AP courses..but just an international student) just wondering... SAT 1 and 2 700++, TOEFL 100.
and im a soph now, i wanna get into a good college. if my high sch tat im gonna transfer next year is a good high sch (many students get into harvard each year)...(im not aiming for harvard though, too hard to reach, just a good college) what other things should i do? join clubs and sports in my school? what if it's too late to take AP courses??(i cant take any AP courses) just wondering, how many AP courses did you take?
if an international student have a GPA of 3.8, great recomendation letter. SAT about 700+ for math and eng. and 100+ for TOEFL. but no sports, or clubs no AP courses, just 1 or 2 Honors class. do you think she would get into a good college? but the problm is, she've been into 4 high schools in her high sch years(transfer every year, will tat make her look bad or anything?)
I came to USA a bit too late...so i(and the other 2 examples) can't take any AP courses or Honors courses. im a soph, and i dont think i can get any Honors next year(cos my eng teacher thinks my eng is not good enough) and im already gonna take 2 science(bio and chem) at the same time next year, so i cant take Honors. and i also cant do tat for math. is it possible to get into a good college?
Well one thing, if you're MVP of your sports team and are very noticeable on your sports team, that will be one very good thing for you to enter any school. They'd like to have an athlete make them more noticeable too. As for SAT and TOEFL scores... i don't know what the standardized scores are anymore... so I can't determine if that's good or bad. But it does certainly help... for instance, if your class ranking isn't so good, because u messed up on a class and it pulled you down. This score will help you look good because they can say wow look at that, the test says good but their ranking is lower because of some hardship during school in that period or whatever... and as for AP classes, it's not a necessary thing to do, but it's something you should consider doing because it does show the schools u are applying to that you are trying to excel at the academic level by taking college level classes.
I don't think the transfering of school will affect her negatively if her scores were always constant. like if she didn't drop from 3.8 to 2.10 then it is still good. for one thing, the goods and bads of an international student. some schools LOVE international students because that means they have to pay for full tuition... meaning the school doesn't provide financial aid and etc. and the student comes to the school paying for full tuition and possibly dorming too... although, that international student may be coming to the school with their scholarship, but the school still gets everything so it's all positive.
however, the negative can also be... they do a comparison of is this student who is international, any better than the person that is domestic? because if they bring an international student into their institution, they will have to deal with legal paperworks and such like visas and sometimes providing permits, it can be a hassle and the domestic candidate will outweigh the international candidate. it is a hit or miss though... and it is up to the person reading the application. but as an international student, if your grades are good and you can provide good recommendations and references, and u live in the united states... definitely go and get an interview, talk to a faculty and ask them to recommend u. YES, this is possible.
ok, i've wrote a novel, hope that helps u 2 a lil. and if you have more questions just ask and i'll come back to check this thread back out.
i asked my guidance counsellor and she said i was too young to think about college so i had no where to go for advice and i was so depressed for the past few days, i thought i wasnt gonna get into college for sure since im KNOW im not gonna take AP/honors classes. lol. and my bro got accepted into penn state U! so i guess i DO have a chance of getting into a college.