This is in response to Y5 parent's query on the college destinations of the recent alumni, by which I assume he or she is referring to the Class of 2009. I wouldn't want to link names to particular colleges for two reasons: (1) not everyone likes having their college destinations being revealed by an 'unauthorized' party (2) the only information with real value to a parent is where our students have been accepted, not where they ultimately choose to enroll. In fact, I'd say that the places where our students have been accepted is far more important because it reveals more about the capabilities of our graduating class, instead of ultimate enrollment decisions which are shaped by things such as financial constraints or preference for one location/culture over another and so on. I hope you also understand why I am not including the number of acceptances because once again, it will add little value while possibly creating misconceptions about one's probabilistic chances (when with universities of this caliber, it's often just a crapshoot).
Since there's been no official document collating all our acceptances, I'm compiling to the best of my knowledge an admittedly incomplete list of places where members of the Class of 2009 have been accepted. If anyone would like to add on places that I have either overlooked or am unaware of, please do. (Vanessa: I've added what I've gleaned from Open House.) For now, here's the list:
Singapore
Nanyang Technological University
National University of Singapore
Singapore Management University
Singapore University of Technology and Design
US
Brandeis University
California Institute of Technology
Cornell University
Duke University
Harvey Mudd College
Johns Hopkins University
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Princeton University
Reed College
Rice University
Stanford University
Tufts University
University of California (Berkeley)
University of California (Los Angeles)
University of Chicago
University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign)
University of Michigan (Ann-Arbor)
University of Texas (Austin)
Wellesley College
Yale University
Australia
University of Adelaide
University of Melbourne
University of New South Wales
University of Queensland
University of Western Australia
UK (England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales)
Bristol University
Cambridge University
Durham University
Imperial College London
King's College London
Oxford University
University College London
University of Edinburgh
University of Glasgow
University of Nottingham
University of St Andrews
University of Warwick
University of York
Last updated: 25th April 2010
Showing posts with label uk admissions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label uk admissions. Show all posts
Monday, April 19, 2010
Thursday, March 11, 2010
How LSE Would Choose (Or More Frequently, Not Choose) You
I noticed a little comment about LSE's take on the APs on the chat thing so I decided to pitch in here both to share my thoughts and to set the record straight. This is a matter that I've personally dealt with in the past and what I'll share will be useful if you're an NUS High student planning to apply to LSE in the near future.
For the uninitiated, I'll contextualize just a little bit: the London School of Economics (LSE) carries the status of an elite among social science institutions. I won't wax lyrical about its reputation because odds are, you've heard about it (my assuredness should clue you in). I'm more interested in telling you a little bit more about the institution that underlies the brand name and the global repute, facts that might be important in your evaluation of the school but which might slip by you if you're preoccupied with rankings and course choices and other 'typical' factors that you'll definitely have to consider before you apply.
The first of these things is that LSE is an incredibly hard institution to be accepted to. So far, NUS High has one alumna there and to the best of my knowledge, no one else (myself included) has been accepted. This is not to say that NUS High has no rapport with LSE (perhaps we do and perhaps we don't, for reasons to be evaluated in a bit) but that LSE is simply an incredibly selective school. In fact, for those of you interested in superlatives, LSE is the most selective undergraduate institution in the world (among those following a comprehensive selection process, thus excluding the uber-selective exam-based admission systems present in several Asian countries). Some of its courses, including one that I applied for have admissions rates in the range of 2-3%. This might not be new to those of you who've gotten used to the idea that reputated institutions are also highly-sought after but for those of you who're evaluating your chances, you should know that the likelihood of rejection is far greater than the possibility of acceptance.
Second, LSE is the most internationalized school in the world, with the student body split roughly in half between internationals and domestics. This is open to two interpretations. On a positive note, this means that you, as an international, will not stand the risk of being a marginalized minority or of being treated as an exotic species (not always a bad thing). This also means exposure to the people (and by extension, to sing a hackneyed tune, the culture, politics, blah blah) of every part of the world. However, not everyone flies halfway across the world and spends a small fortune looking for the same experience. Having an international community is important, but having too large an international community compromises the opportunity to experience assimilate another culture for several years. It's very plausible that at a school with as many internationals as LSE, you'll forget that you're at a British institution and consider yourself part of an international convention that just happened to convene in London for the sake of convenience, which might not exactly be your cup of tea. One of things that makes overseas study (and again, as an LSE reject, I'm speaking broadly) exciting for me is the opportunity to meet people to whom I'm an exotic species and where I'll actually be able to patiently explain that Singapore's not a part of China. Once again, it's a matter of personal preference, but the extent of internationalization will almost certainly affect your LSE experience, so it's a good idea to be aware of it before you think about applying.
The third thing you should know about LSE is a broader UK-wide thing which might be reason enough to turn down the UK altogether, but if like me, you're an aspiring social sciences student who just can't pass over trying for LSE, it's a structural issue to be considered. The reason why I never thought too deeply about the UK (in fact, I applied only to two schools there - LSE and UCL) was its structural rigidness. There's none of that mix-and-match academic freedom that characterizes college in the US which, if you know me, is a recipe for disaster especially since my serious academic interests include at least four or five subjects. Before you judge me, I must clarify that this doesn't make me whimsical or undecided (I am both of those things, but no logical link exists here); it only shows that I see the social sciences as an interconnected whole. My strongest interests are in economics and political science, but give it some thought and you'll see how my interests in history, international studies, sociology, philosophy and mathematics play strong supporting roles. But I digress. The point is this: the UK system, depending on your views of things, might be guilty of oversimplifying some these subjects, drawing boundaries where none should exist, and in a student who doesn't supplement his formal schoolwork with a broad-based worldview, this can result in a dangerous outcome. LSE, despite its preeminence, is a victim of the same problem. Attempts at merging subjects either in equal or in major/minor configurations are obviously signs that LSE is trying to rectify the problem, but the underlying rigidness of the UK system might prove unsuitable for the intellectually diverse student.
A fourth consideration should be about your plans after undergraduate school. To say 'consideration' would be a little bit of a mistake because of the versatility of LSE's graduates, which would make this more of a 'reason for relief'. For this reason, this important factor in institutional comparisons comes nearer the end of this post. LSE manages to strike that elusive balance between schools with careeristic (or pre-professional) focuses and institutions that are decidedly academic in character. To say it another way: LSE is one of the few schools that'll train you both to be an investment banker on the fast lane at a bulge bracket (LSE graduates are incredibly popular in London's financial district) or to be a scholar at the cutting-edge of economic policy (if the 'dismal science' really does have a 'cutting-edge' to speak of). It's easy to overlook how rare a characteristic such versatility is, especially in an age where schools are becoming known for producing certain sorts of students who will be channeled in truckloads into certain industries (Wharton grads into Wall Street, Caltech grads to Silicon Valley, Harvard grads into world-domination, and so on). Curiously enough, the flexibility that LSE (like any other UK school) lacks is made up for in kind when the time comes for its graduates to decide upon their career objectives.
Finally, I come to the bit that's relevant only to students at NUS High (here in Asia, we take care of our guests first). The brevity of this part will make my title misleading but this is important: in case you didn't already know, LSE does not accept the NUS High School Diploma at this point. My own interest in this began when I asked LSE's Dean of Undergraduates (when she visited) about how an NUS High kid would be selected for admission. She said, in no uncertain terms (in fact, I made her repeat it thrice) that the NUSHS Diploma would not be part of the admissions process. It would be a lie to say I was stunned - surprise surprise, a school of economics and political science chooses not to embrace a qualification focused on mathematics and science - but I was understandably elated (this would make a lot of sense if you knew what my earlier grade reports at NUSHS looked like). But the important fact is this: LSE considers NUS High students solely on the basis of APs. In LSE's own words:
Another important thing you should think about is your choice of which APs to take, bringing new relevance to Yingzhen's recent thoughts about this matter (which I may not fully agree with). The subjects LSE classifies as relevant are:
These subjects were until recently (actually, as recently as when I was applying) known as Group 1 subjects and APs not on this list were Group 2, which didn't count among the standard offer based on 4-5 APs. Perhaps the one AP that you'd find 'missing' from this list is AP Statistics, which might be something to bear in mind. From my conversation with the Dean, I can also share that AP Calculus BC is given some importance, so if you have the option to take it, don't turn it down.
In summary, if you're considering applying to LSE you should know that: (1) it's really hard to get in (2) it's an extremely internationalized institution (3) its adoption of the UK system might stifle your intellectual breadth (4) your post-college plans couldn't be better, at least within the UK (5) if you're from NUSHS, they're looking at your APs, not your school grades. I hope some of this has been new and useful to you LSE-prospectives and wish you (for what it's worth) the best of luck.
For the uninitiated, I'll contextualize just a little bit: the London School of Economics (LSE) carries the status of an elite among social science institutions. I won't wax lyrical about its reputation because odds are, you've heard about it (my assuredness should clue you in). I'm more interested in telling you a little bit more about the institution that underlies the brand name and the global repute, facts that might be important in your evaluation of the school but which might slip by you if you're preoccupied with rankings and course choices and other 'typical' factors that you'll definitely have to consider before you apply.
The first of these things is that LSE is an incredibly hard institution to be accepted to. So far, NUS High has one alumna there and to the best of my knowledge, no one else (myself included) has been accepted. This is not to say that NUS High has no rapport with LSE (perhaps we do and perhaps we don't, for reasons to be evaluated in a bit) but that LSE is simply an incredibly selective school. In fact, for those of you interested in superlatives, LSE is the most selective undergraduate institution in the world (among those following a comprehensive selection process, thus excluding the uber-selective exam-based admission systems present in several Asian countries). Some of its courses, including one that I applied for have admissions rates in the range of 2-3%. This might not be new to those of you who've gotten used to the idea that reputated institutions are also highly-sought after but for those of you who're evaluating your chances, you should know that the likelihood of rejection is far greater than the possibility of acceptance.
Second, LSE is the most internationalized school in the world, with the student body split roughly in half between internationals and domestics. This is open to two interpretations. On a positive note, this means that you, as an international, will not stand the risk of being a marginalized minority or of being treated as an exotic species (not always a bad thing). This also means exposure to the people (and by extension, to sing a hackneyed tune, the culture, politics, blah blah) of every part of the world. However, not everyone flies halfway across the world and spends a small fortune looking for the same experience. Having an international community is important, but having too large an international community compromises the opportunity to experience assimilate another culture for several years. It's very plausible that at a school with as many internationals as LSE, you'll forget that you're at a British institution and consider yourself part of an international convention that just happened to convene in London for the sake of convenience, which might not exactly be your cup of tea. One of things that makes overseas study (and again, as an LSE reject, I'm speaking broadly) exciting for me is the opportunity to meet people to whom I'm an exotic species and where I'll actually be able to patiently explain that Singapore's not a part of China. Once again, it's a matter of personal preference, but the extent of internationalization will almost certainly affect your LSE experience, so it's a good idea to be aware of it before you think about applying.
The third thing you should know about LSE is a broader UK-wide thing which might be reason enough to turn down the UK altogether, but if like me, you're an aspiring social sciences student who just can't pass over trying for LSE, it's a structural issue to be considered. The reason why I never thought too deeply about the UK (in fact, I applied only to two schools there - LSE and UCL) was its structural rigidness. There's none of that mix-and-match academic freedom that characterizes college in the US which, if you know me, is a recipe for disaster especially since my serious academic interests include at least four or five subjects. Before you judge me, I must clarify that this doesn't make me whimsical or undecided (I am both of those things, but no logical link exists here); it only shows that I see the social sciences as an interconnected whole. My strongest interests are in economics and political science, but give it some thought and you'll see how my interests in history, international studies, sociology, philosophy and mathematics play strong supporting roles. But I digress. The point is this: the UK system, depending on your views of things, might be guilty of oversimplifying some these subjects, drawing boundaries where none should exist, and in a student who doesn't supplement his formal schoolwork with a broad-based worldview, this can result in a dangerous outcome. LSE, despite its preeminence, is a victim of the same problem. Attempts at merging subjects either in equal or in major/minor configurations are obviously signs that LSE is trying to rectify the problem, but the underlying rigidness of the UK system might prove unsuitable for the intellectually diverse student.
A fourth consideration should be about your plans after undergraduate school. To say 'consideration' would be a little bit of a mistake because of the versatility of LSE's graduates, which would make this more of a 'reason for relief'. For this reason, this important factor in institutional comparisons comes nearer the end of this post. LSE manages to strike that elusive balance between schools with careeristic (or pre-professional) focuses and institutions that are decidedly academic in character. To say it another way: LSE is one of the few schools that'll train you both to be an investment banker on the fast lane at a bulge bracket (LSE graduates are incredibly popular in London's financial district) or to be a scholar at the cutting-edge of economic policy (if the 'dismal science' really does have a 'cutting-edge' to speak of). It's easy to overlook how rare a characteristic such versatility is, especially in an age where schools are becoming known for producing certain sorts of students who will be channeled in truckloads into certain industries (Wharton grads into Wall Street, Caltech grads to Silicon Valley, Harvard grads into world-domination, and so on). Curiously enough, the flexibility that LSE (like any other UK school) lacks is made up for in kind when the time comes for its graduates to decide upon their career objectives.
Finally, I come to the bit that's relevant only to students at NUS High (here in Asia, we take care of our guests first). The brevity of this part will make my title misleading but this is important: in case you didn't already know, LSE does not accept the NUS High School Diploma at this point. My own interest in this began when I asked LSE's Dean of Undergraduates (when she visited) about how an NUS High kid would be selected for admission. She said, in no uncertain terms (in fact, I made her repeat it thrice) that the NUSHS Diploma would not be part of the admissions process. It would be a lie to say I was stunned - surprise surprise, a school of economics and political science chooses not to embrace a qualification focused on mathematics and science - but I was understandably elated (this would make a lot of sense if you knew what my earlier grade reports at NUSHS looked like). But the important fact is this: LSE considers NUS High students solely on the basis of APs. In LSE's own words:
Peter's wishes evidently didn't help, but I must confess that I'm feeling a little self-satisfied when I think about everyone who was skeptical when I told them what the Dean had said. But before my smugness prevents me from finishing this post, the important takeaway is that LSE considers you on the strength of your APs.
Dear Srinath,
Thank you for your email. You are correct that LSE does not currently accept the NUS High School Diploma. If you are taking AP examinations we would base any offer of admission on your performance in these qualifications. Our standard offer is four or preferably five AP subjects with grades of four or five in each subject. We do not use SAT scores in our admissions process.
Best wishes
Peter
Peter Williams
Student Recruitment Officer
London School of Economics and Political Science
Houghton Street, London, WC2A 2AE
Another important thing you should think about is your choice of which APs to take, bringing new relevance to Yingzhen's recent thoughts about this matter (which I may not fully agree with). The subjects LSE classifies as relevant are:
- Biology
- Calculus AB
- Calculus BC
- Chemistry
- English Language and Composition
- English Literature and Composition
- European History
- French Language
- French Literature
- German Language
- Italian Language and Culture
- Latin Literature
- Latin: Vergil
- Physics (B and C)
- Spanish Language
- Spanish Literature
- United States History
- World History
These subjects were until recently (actually, as recently as when I was applying) known as Group 1 subjects and APs not on this list were Group 2, which didn't count among the standard offer based on 4-5 APs. Perhaps the one AP that you'd find 'missing' from this list is AP Statistics, which might be something to bear in mind. From my conversation with the Dean, I can also share that AP Calculus BC is given some importance, so if you have the option to take it, don't turn it down.
In summary, if you're considering applying to LSE you should know that: (1) it's really hard to get in (2) it's an extremely internationalized institution (3) its adoption of the UK system might stifle your intellectual breadth (4) your post-college plans couldn't be better, at least within the UK (5) if you're from NUSHS, they're looking at your APs, not your school grades. I hope some of this has been new and useful to you LSE-prospectives and wish you (for what it's worth) the best of luck.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
UK unis for Class of 09
I will be relying on Zhongming to edit this post because although I know some statistics, I definitely don't know the full picture.
Imperial & UCL: If you applied for a science course and your subject and overall CAPs > 4, you probably received an unconditional offer.
Oxford: I know one person has gotten an offer for physics. I don't know if it has conditions though (or which college it's from).
Cambridge: Summarised in table form below; all offers are unconditional, which was surprising considering the Class of '08 received conditional offers.
Cambridge statistics for Class of 2009
4 offers, 2 unknowns, 3 unsuccessful.
If you have any updates, keep me posted. Thanks!
Imperial & UCL: If you applied for a science course and your subject and overall CAPs > 4, you probably received an unconditional offer.
Oxford: I know one person has gotten an offer for physics. I don't know if it has conditions though (or which college it's from).
Cambridge: Summarised in table form below; all offers are unconditional, which was surprising considering the Class of '08 received conditional offers.
Cambridge statistics for Class of 2009
4 offers, 2 unknowns, 3 unsuccessful.
If you have any updates, keep me posted. Thanks!
Thursday, October 29, 2009
UCL Chemistry
If you are applying to a course in UCL's chemistry department, be prepared for a long, drawn-out email interview, where the admissions tutor asks you a lot of chemistry questions and continues asking about every detail in your answers, and you end up exchanging a flurry of emails :D
Not that it's particularly dreadful - it's fine, really, but I haven't touched physical chemistry in a long while. I daresay this is more stressful than my Cambridge interview.
As far as I know, other science departments at UCL (math, physics, biology) do not interview, so if you're headed that way, good for you!
Not that it's particularly dreadful - it's fine, really, but I haven't touched physical chemistry in a long while. I daresay this is more stressful than my Cambridge interview.
As far as I know, other science departments at UCL (math, physics, biology) do not interview, so if you're headed that way, good for you!
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Cambridge COAF - why do I want to study in Cambridge
I dont recall ever posting this, but this is what I wrote in that small segment in the COAF.
Unlike other universities which may be inclined to have courses in strictly chemistry or biology, Cambridge puts all of it together in Natural Sciences. I love the way we can go into all these aspects of science in our course of study instead of studying only 1 subject – after all, all branches of science are interlinked and we should be given the freedom to study all these branches in a holistic manner to get a good picture of how everything links up. Cambridge Natural Sciences course gives me that opportunity.
The thing I really love about Cambridge is the multidisciplinary approach they have towards courses and their emphasis on making sure that students learn well. Some universities simply have lectures with their students to make up their courses, but in Cambridge, there is a follow-up, such as seminars, practicals and the supervisions. I believe that I will be challenged mentally and will be pushed to the forefronts of science, especially with fellow like-minded students and staff to guide me along and make my Cambridge experience out of this world.
Unlike other universities which may be inclined to have courses in strictly chemistry or biology, Cambridge puts all of it together in Natural Sciences. I love the way we can go into all these aspects of science in our course of study instead of studying only 1 subject – after all, all branches of science are interlinked and we should be given the freedom to study all these branches in a holistic manner to get a good picture of how everything links up. Cambridge Natural Sciences course gives me that opportunity.
The thing I really love about Cambridge is the multidisciplinary approach they have towards courses and their emphasis on making sure that students learn well. Some universities simply have lectures with their students to make up their courses, but in Cambridge, there is a follow-up, such as seminars, practicals and the supervisions. I believe that I will be challenged mentally and will be pushed to the forefronts of science, especially with fellow like-minded students and staff to guide me along and make my Cambridge experience out of this world.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Writing essays and personal statements
Nowadays I am a little free-er before I get busier in 1 month's time (when school starts), so maybe I will post a bit more...
Today I will talk about writing essays (I am not an expert, Fiona is but maybe I will share some 'cliche' tips about what I know).
When I first tried to write my essays, I didnt know how to start either. Your essay seems like the key to let people put all your achievements into perspective and it seems to be the only thing that is really entirely within your control at that moment (you cant really change your grades by very much nor can you suddenly accumulate 5 years worth of extracurriculars, but you can change your essay) and you want to make it good.
The difference between UK and US essays is, from my opinion, US essays tend to be more 'storytelling', while UK essays tend to be more 'matter-of-factly". In US essays, they want you to tell them a story that will show them what your personality is like, instead of you telling them what you are like. In UK essays, you can emphasize all the achievements you want and they will be happy to take it.
To me, UK essays were easier to write, simply because all I needed to do was to write a list of my best academic achievements, put in some grades and elaboration of courseload, and then list more achievements again. One more reason why you can get away with a laundry list in the UK personal statement is that there is nowhere else you can list them other than your personal statement. There is no section in UCAS that says "extracurriculars" or "leadership positions" or "academic achievements". That gives you more reason to put it in your personal statement and emphasize your intent and passion for the course that you are applying for.
US essays are a little more tricky because they require you to tell a good story about yourself. Now it would be easy to talk about your friends wouldnt it, but it's always harder to talk about yourself. It is even harder to think of an incident that characterizes who you are, because you have been living with yourself for as long as you can imagine and you dont understand what makes you you. When you thought of that incident that characterizes who you are, then it's hard to show people what you are like instead of telling them.
Mr Allan told me that my aim in the essay is to make the reader (in this case, the admission officer) want to come up to me and shake my hand. So that's quite a useful tip, to know what you are aiming for.
The starting is always the hardest part, so I have a few suggestions:
1. Brainstorm. Think about the things that you enjoy, a turning point in your life, a conflict and how you resolved it, etc. Please dont write cliche things like how you went for a mundane CIP project and you felt so touched witnessing the smiles on someone's faces, because I think it sounds overused and uncreative. If you want to write about that, perhaps use a different choice of words or something?
2. How do you know if you are having a problem telling instead of showing: You write "I am a very happy person" instead of "I am always smiling", or "I like physics a lot" instead of "I am always seen with a physics book in my hand".
How to resolve it? The best tip I can give is to think about 2 words: For EXAMPLE. If you want to tell your friend that you like physics a lot, what will you say? "Oh I like physics a lot. For example you will always see me with a physics book. If you dont believe me I can show you 2 physics books in my bag right now". So you think about how you would tell your friend what your point is and support it using "for example", and there you have it, showing but not telling.
3. Start early. Cant emphasize this point enough. Starting early = more time for people to look through your essays = more time for corrections = hopefully better essay
4. Dont hesitate to rewrite. Expect many many drafts. Margy had 20 drafts, and I had maybe 10? or 15? including minor edits.
5. Dont assume that just because one person says it's bad, it's bad. One very important thing I have learnt is that every person views your essay differently. For instance, in one of my essays, there was this line that garnered many different responses. I thought it was funny. Some agreed that it was. Some felt that it made me seem pompous, some felt that it was extremely irrelevant, and some thought it captured the essence of my essay. So dont assume that just because 1 person thinks it's bad, it's bad - even if that person is the college counsellor because the other college counsellor may not think so. *winks*
6. It's your essay. When you have differing opinions about some of your content, remember that it is your essay and you decide whether it should be in or not. For me, I left that line in because I really liked it and I dont think it hurt me.
7. You = your essay, not your essay = you. See the difference?
8. Ask your friends/relatives/seniors/juniors/whoever to read your essay because you never know what they may say about it. Sometimes they may point out something that you never noticed, or offer a fresh perspective on yourself/some issues that you wrote in your essay, tell you that you spelt something wrongly, or even just give you encouragement by saying "I think it's very well written". Making that effort to ask may lead to a totally new inspiration for a better essay, changing minor details to reflect better English usage, or whatever - and ultimately a better essay. And all you have to do is just ask! Reading other people's essays to repay that favour may give you some inspiration too for your own!
9. Dont worry about the word count when you first start writing. Just write, and get something going. And people will then tell you which parts are redundant as they read your essay.
10. Every word is important, and can affect the meaning and tone of a sentence. In addition, 1 word saved is 1 more word you can use to express yourself.
11. Borrow books from Mr Allan. :) There is this green book by Harry Bauld which is quite good, and some others that are quite worth reading. --> THIS applies to year 4s too, it's never too late to start reading these books before people from your level borrow it away as deadlines approach!
As a guide, your essay should be about 1 page on Microsoft Word.
After submitting the essay:
1. Relax. Even if you regret writing some stuff in the essay, it's too late now. You have done what you can, so just let the adcoms do the rest.
2. Even if you dont get in the school of choice, remember that admissions involves a lot of luck, dont feel worse about yourself just because the school rejected you, at the same time, dont be cocky if you got accepted, because the place that you were offered may have easily gone to another candidate who was equally qualified but rejected because he/she was just unlucky.
Today I will talk about writing essays (I am not an expert, Fiona is but maybe I will share some 'cliche' tips about what I know).
When I first tried to write my essays, I didnt know how to start either. Your essay seems like the key to let people put all your achievements into perspective and it seems to be the only thing that is really entirely within your control at that moment (you cant really change your grades by very much nor can you suddenly accumulate 5 years worth of extracurriculars, but you can change your essay) and you want to make it good.
The difference between UK and US essays is, from my opinion, US essays tend to be more 'storytelling', while UK essays tend to be more 'matter-of-factly". In US essays, they want you to tell them a story that will show them what your personality is like, instead of you telling them what you are like. In UK essays, you can emphasize all the achievements you want and they will be happy to take it.
To me, UK essays were easier to write, simply because all I needed to do was to write a list of my best academic achievements, put in some grades and elaboration of courseload, and then list more achievements again. One more reason why you can get away with a laundry list in the UK personal statement is that there is nowhere else you can list them other than your personal statement. There is no section in UCAS that says "extracurriculars" or "leadership positions" or "academic achievements". That gives you more reason to put it in your personal statement and emphasize your intent and passion for the course that you are applying for.
US essays are a little more tricky because they require you to tell a good story about yourself. Now it would be easy to talk about your friends wouldnt it, but it's always harder to talk about yourself. It is even harder to think of an incident that characterizes who you are, because you have been living with yourself for as long as you can imagine and you dont understand what makes you you. When you thought of that incident that characterizes who you are, then it's hard to show people what you are like instead of telling them.
Mr Allan told me that my aim in the essay is to make the reader (in this case, the admission officer) want to come up to me and shake my hand. So that's quite a useful tip, to know what you are aiming for.
The starting is always the hardest part, so I have a few suggestions:
1. Brainstorm. Think about the things that you enjoy, a turning point in your life, a conflict and how you resolved it, etc. Please dont write cliche things like how you went for a mundane CIP project and you felt so touched witnessing the smiles on someone's faces, because I think it sounds overused and uncreative. If you want to write about that, perhaps use a different choice of words or something?
2. How do you know if you are having a problem telling instead of showing: You write "I am a very happy person" instead of "I am always smiling", or "I like physics a lot" instead of "I am always seen with a physics book in my hand".
How to resolve it? The best tip I can give is to think about 2 words: For EXAMPLE. If you want to tell your friend that you like physics a lot, what will you say? "Oh I like physics a lot. For example you will always see me with a physics book. If you dont believe me I can show you 2 physics books in my bag right now". So you think about how you would tell your friend what your point is and support it using "for example", and there you have it, showing but not telling.
3. Start early. Cant emphasize this point enough. Starting early = more time for people to look through your essays = more time for corrections = hopefully better essay
4. Dont hesitate to rewrite. Expect many many drafts. Margy had 20 drafts, and I had maybe 10? or 15? including minor edits.
5. Dont assume that just because one person says it's bad, it's bad. One very important thing I have learnt is that every person views your essay differently. For instance, in one of my essays, there was this line that garnered many different responses. I thought it was funny. Some agreed that it was. Some felt that it made me seem pompous, some felt that it was extremely irrelevant, and some thought it captured the essence of my essay. So dont assume that just because 1 person thinks it's bad, it's bad - even if that person is the college counsellor because the other college counsellor may not think so. *winks*
6. It's your essay. When you have differing opinions about some of your content, remember that it is your essay and you decide whether it should be in or not. For me, I left that line in because I really liked it and I dont think it hurt me.
7. You = your essay, not your essay = you. See the difference?
8. Ask your friends/relatives/seniors/juniors/whoever to read your essay because you never know what they may say about it. Sometimes they may point out something that you never noticed, or offer a fresh perspective on yourself/some issues that you wrote in your essay, tell you that you spelt something wrongly, or even just give you encouragement by saying "I think it's very well written". Making that effort to ask may lead to a totally new inspiration for a better essay, changing minor details to reflect better English usage, or whatever - and ultimately a better essay. And all you have to do is just ask! Reading other people's essays to repay that favour may give you some inspiration too for your own!
9. Dont worry about the word count when you first start writing. Just write, and get something going. And people will then tell you which parts are redundant as they read your essay.
10. Every word is important, and can affect the meaning and tone of a sentence. In addition, 1 word saved is 1 more word you can use to express yourself.
11. Borrow books from Mr Allan. :) There is this green book by Harry Bauld which is quite good, and some others that are quite worth reading. --> THIS applies to year 4s too, it's never too late to start reading these books before people from your level borrow it away as deadlines approach!
As a guide, your essay should be about 1 page on Microsoft Word.
After submitting the essay:
1. Relax. Even if you regret writing some stuff in the essay, it's too late now. You have done what you can, so just let the adcoms do the rest.
2. Even if you dont get in the school of choice, remember that admissions involves a lot of luck, dont feel worse about yourself just because the school rejected you, at the same time, dont be cocky if you got accepted, because the place that you were offered may have easily gone to another candidate who was equally qualified but rejected because he/she was just unlucky.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
University acceptances
Average CAPs for acceptances to universities of interest.
Berkeley: 4.68
UCLA: 4.13
Caltech: 4.76
Cambridge: 4.65
Cornell: 4.64
Duke: 4.55
Edinburgh: 3.81
Harvard: 4.76
UIUC: 3.72
Imperial: 4.18
JHU: 4.46
King's: 4.41
UCL: 4.28
MIT: 4.66
NTU: 3.74
NUS: 3.78
Princeton: 4.76
Queensland: 3.54
SMU: 3.82
Stanford: 4.59
Sydney: 3.63
Warwick: 4.13
Yale: 4.76
Make your own conclusions about these average scores. Please remember that this is only for the the first batch; it is a very small batch, and just about no school received more than 10 applications (besides the local universities) from our school. The acceptance rate is even lower, so the average scores are just indicators.
I have the full range of stats for all these universities including acceptance rates and average SAT scores. If you would like to see the list, please email me, tell me your connection to NUSH (student, parent, etc), and give me some proof, and I'll send it back to you. Alternatively, NUS High students, you can always go into Naviance and access this list yourselves.
Data on the lowest accepted CAPs are available for some of the universities but they aren't all conveniently located on one page, so if you would like the data please specify which school you want it for. Thanks.
Berkeley: 4.68
UCLA: 4.13
Caltech: 4.76
Cambridge: 4.65
Cornell: 4.64
Duke: 4.55
Edinburgh: 3.81
Harvard: 4.76
UIUC: 3.72
Imperial: 4.18
JHU: 4.46
King's: 4.41
UCL: 4.28
MIT: 4.66
NTU: 3.74
NUS: 3.78
Princeton: 4.76
Queensland: 3.54
SMU: 3.82
Stanford: 4.59
Sydney: 3.63
Warwick: 4.13
Yale: 4.76
Make your own conclusions about these average scores. Please remember that this is only for the the first batch; it is a very small batch, and just about no school received more than 10 applications (besides the local universities) from our school. The acceptance rate is even lower, so the average scores are just indicators.
I have the full range of stats for all these universities including acceptance rates and average SAT scores. If you would like to see the list, please email me, tell me your connection to NUSH (student, parent, etc), and give me some proof, and I'll send it back to you. Alternatively, NUS High students, you can always go into Naviance and access this list yourselves.
Data on the lowest accepted CAPs are available for some of the universities but they aren't all conveniently located on one page, so if you would like the data please specify which school you want it for. Thanks.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
A few clarifications.
I just thought I would make a few clarifications to my previous post, I should have talked about colleges.
Before colleges though, let's answer a few questions that my dear readers have with regards to CAP. Typically, whenever you apply for scholarships, schools, etc you fill out your results in that format as shown below. English, Mother Tongue, Math Major, Math Major with Honours, etc. So, Q & A:
1. Are honours modules, etc counted towards your overall CAP? Do we get extra credit for taking Higher Chinese instead of Chinese?
No. Our school does not weight our CAP.
2. Why does my CAP below show a blank for Major with Honours Chem?
At the point of submission (which was September), I hadnt done a single chem hons module (since they were in semester 2) but I completed 1 bio hons module, which was BL6401 Functions and Adaptations, so yes, I got an A- in that - hence the 4.5 CAP. You will see a more complete profile for the US universities because the school year was done by the time my application was submitted.
3. Must you put in your CAP for humanities?
I dont know. All my humanities modules were in history and lit, so it made sense for me to put them there. However on most applications the proper thing to put is your subject CAP for "humanities", not "history" or "lit" unless that's your major.
4. How accurate is your information?
Well, I try to make it accurate but obviously the college counselling office will be more accurate than me. With regards to CAP, I think things might change for subsequent batches and you will probably be given a briefing in time to come. In the meantime try to do well in your major modules (probably only English left isnt it) and your honours modules as well so that you dont regret it when the time comes.
Now for the rest of the information.
1. So what's this college thing in Cambridge and Oxford? Arent they colleges themselves?
Cambridge and Oxford are universities. From how I see it, college is a term for undergraduate education, and university is a term for undergraduate and graduate studies. So because Camb and Oxford are so big, they have individual colleges within the university - think of them as "houses" like in the Harry Potter movie. So you have your "house", you study there, you live there, but ultimately you are from Cambridge.
Each college has its own uniqueness. Cambridge has a site which lists down the websites of all the colleges. A few are reserved for graduate school, a few are female only, a few (like Homerton) are further away from the main campus. There is no ranking for Cambridge colleges (even though Trinity is widely regarded as the 'best' for science) but there is one for Oxford, known as the Norrington Table: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norrington_Table
2. Eeeek, only 5 out of 20+!
Well there were a few who applied to Cambridge medicine which is VERY HARD to get in, typically they accept only about, 10+ internationals? So I think all the people who applied medicine from our school to Cambridge were among those who were rejected. Then we had 5 people ranked top 10 from our batch who all applied to the same college, Trinity. Trinity is very popular for people doing sciences because they produce a lot of Nobel laureates, and that means more competition. Cambridge has 20+ colleges, ideally you would try to apply to a college that no one wants to apply to because you would stand out better - instead of competing with other qualified people in your batch - one of the reasons why I chose Homerton. In any case, even though Cambridge says on their website that you arent disadvantaged because you are applying to a college where others from your school are applying there, I wouldnt try for Trinity unless I am dead confident about my chances.
If you want to know, out of the 6 people who applied to Trinity, 3 were rejected, 1 was pooled, and I dont know what happened to to the last 2 people.
3. Pooled?
Ah, pooled. Let's just say for instance that I am a very qualified applicant, but not qualified enough to make it into, say Trinity. But Trinity thinks that I am good enough for other colleges. I will then be 'pooled', and after all the other colleges have taken others in, they will look at qualified people in the 'pooled' pile and possibly take me in. So pooled means you have a chance of admission, just not in the college you applied for.
Post any more questions you might have and I will try to answer them.
Before colleges though, let's answer a few questions that my dear readers have with regards to CAP. Typically, whenever you apply for scholarships, schools, etc you fill out your results in that format as shown below. English, Mother Tongue, Math Major, Math Major with Honours, etc. So, Q & A:
1. Are honours modules, etc counted towards your overall CAP? Do we get extra credit for taking Higher Chinese instead of Chinese?
No. Our school does not weight our CAP.
2. Why does my CAP below show a blank for Major with Honours Chem?
At the point of submission (which was September), I hadnt done a single chem hons module (since they were in semester 2) but I completed 1 bio hons module, which was BL6401 Functions and Adaptations, so yes, I got an A- in that - hence the 4.5 CAP. You will see a more complete profile for the US universities because the school year was done by the time my application was submitted.
3. Must you put in your CAP for humanities?
I dont know. All my humanities modules were in history and lit, so it made sense for me to put them there. However on most applications the proper thing to put is your subject CAP for "humanities", not "history" or "lit" unless that's your major.
4. How accurate is your information?
Well, I try to make it accurate but obviously the college counselling office will be more accurate than me. With regards to CAP, I think things might change for subsequent batches and you will probably be given a briefing in time to come. In the meantime try to do well in your major modules (probably only English left isnt it) and your honours modules as well so that you dont regret it when the time comes.
Now for the rest of the information.
1. So what's this college thing in Cambridge and Oxford? Arent they colleges themselves?
Cambridge and Oxford are universities. From how I see it, college is a term for undergraduate education, and university is a term for undergraduate and graduate studies. So because Camb and Oxford are so big, they have individual colleges within the university - think of them as "houses" like in the Harry Potter movie. So you have your "house", you study there, you live there, but ultimately you are from Cambridge.
Each college has its own uniqueness. Cambridge has a site which lists down the websites of all the colleges. A few are reserved for graduate school, a few are female only, a few (like Homerton) are further away from the main campus. There is no ranking for Cambridge colleges (even though Trinity is widely regarded as the 'best' for science) but there is one for Oxford, known as the Norrington Table: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norrington_Table
2. Eeeek, only 5 out of 20+!
Well there were a few who applied to Cambridge medicine which is VERY HARD to get in, typically they accept only about, 10+ internationals? So I think all the people who applied medicine from our school to Cambridge were among those who were rejected. Then we had 5 people ranked top 10 from our batch who all applied to the same college, Trinity. Trinity is very popular for people doing sciences because they produce a lot of Nobel laureates, and that means more competition. Cambridge has 20+ colleges, ideally you would try to apply to a college that no one wants to apply to because you would stand out better - instead of competing with other qualified people in your batch - one of the reasons why I chose Homerton. In any case, even though Cambridge says on their website that you arent disadvantaged because you are applying to a college where others from your school are applying there, I wouldnt try for Trinity unless I am dead confident about my chances.
If you want to know, out of the 6 people who applied to Trinity, 3 were rejected, 1 was pooled, and I dont know what happened to to the last 2 people.
3. Pooled?
Ah, pooled. Let's just say for instance that I am a very qualified applicant, but not qualified enough to make it into, say Trinity. But Trinity thinks that I am good enough for other colleges. I will then be 'pooled', and after all the other colleges have taken others in, they will look at qualified people in the 'pooled' pile and possibly take me in. So pooled means you have a chance of admission, just not in the college you applied for.
Post any more questions you might have and I will try to answer them.
Friday, January 23, 2009
UK Admissions.
Today's post will be about choice of schools. Many people often ask how do you choose your school? My answer is that first, decide on your country of study, then choose your school based on course and culture.
I am not too sure about Australia other than that their school term starts in February and that UniMel and Murdoch are good for vet science, but I will talk about US and UK and what made me decide to go to US.
US:
- Broad based education (allows you to take a double degree)
- Flexibility in choice (dabble in anything you want)
- More holistic education
- Good in psych!
UK:
- Focused education (meaning if you know for e.g. you want to do only 1 degree and nothing else UK would be good)
- More academic oriented - evident from their admission process
- The UK culture has a certain allure to it, for me anyway but of course you have your opinions about it
The reason why it is easy for Singapore students to get into UK universities is because the norm for UK students is to take 3 A levels (and for the good ones get 3 As) but in Singapore it's 4 As for the good ones. However, for our school I guess the requirements are slightly different.
I will first talk about the admission process for UK and US unis before going to why choose 1 uni over others etc.
For UK unis, submission of any application is done through this portal, called UCAS. You can access it at www.ucas.com. Other than your particulars, you are also required to fill in your subject CAPs and any other relevant qualification. That would mean any APs, SAT scores if you want, even your HCl O levels would be helpful. Any employment history can be recorded as well, and then the personal statement and a referee's statement (which you will need - go find a teacher to write this for you). SATs should be filled in as much as possible because a good CR score (> 650) would exempt you from taking the TOEFL / IELTS which some schools require. Yes, you would notice you dont need to include your CCAs.
Of course, you choose the schools you want as well - under 2 schemes. The first scheme is that you only pick one school (and 1 course as well) and you pay less, the 2nd scheme is that you pick 5 schools (and 5 courses as well) and you pay slightly more. So it's either 1 or multiple (max 5). Regardless of which one you choose, only 1 of your choices can contain Cambridge/Oxford. Big universities like Cambridge/Oxford would require you to choose your college as well within the uni.
So my choices were something like this:
1. Cambridge, Natural Sciences, Homerton College
2. Imperial College, Chemistry
3. UCL, Chemistry
4. London School of Economics, Govt and Politics
5. UCL, Natural Sciences (this choice was added really late because I didnt know what I should put to use up my last choice)
Well I only needed 3 choices but since I was paying for 5 I thought I'd try my luck at LSE. If you dont know how to use up your choices yet, you can just fill a few first and fill up the rest of the choices later.
The moment you hit the send button on the UCAS form, the whole application goes to all of your choices simultaneously. Hence there is no way of modifying your personal statement to make it specific to each university you are applying to.
Your personal statement normally contains information about yourself, any achievements you want to highlight, why you want to study in the UK, and (very importantly) why that course. My personal statement was about why I liked chemistry, so little wonder I got rejected from LSE in the end - the 1st university that replied me. :P
Cambridge and Oxford have a supplement that is specific to them. I am not sure about Oxford - I am sure you can check it out - but for Cambridge, the supplement doesnt require any additional information you haven't already filled up other than your SAT score (if you didnt put it in UCAS) and a short essay on Why Cambridge.
Following that, the school may conduct interviews with you to determine your eligibility for them. They will make references to your personal statement and ask you questions about it. At this point I think I will post my profile for UCAS before I talk about my interview:
Qualification 1
Qualification type
SIPHSMSD (Singapore Integrated Programme High School Math and Science Diploma)
Date taken
01-Sep-2008
Examining body
NUS
Subject
Singapore-Integrated Programme-Nat Uni Singap
Module details
Date: 01/09/08 Title: English Grade: 4.34
Date: 01/09/08 Title: Higher Chinese Grade: 4.23
Date: 01/09/08 Title: Major in Biology Grade: 4.18
Date: 01/09/08 Title: Major in Chemistry Grade: 4.5
Date: 01/09/08 Title: Major in Physics Grade: 3.47
Date: 01/09/08 Title: Major in Mathematics Grade: 4.54
Date: 01/09/08 Title: History Grade: 4.17
Date: 01/09/08 Title: Literature Grade: 4.25
Date: 01/09/08 Title: Major with Honors in Chemistry
Date: 01/09/08 Title: Major with Honors in Mathematics Grade: 4.5
Date: 01/09/08 Title: Major with Honors in Biology Grade: 4.5
SAT I: CR 740, M 800, W 720
SAT II: Math Level 2 790, Chemistry 800
APs:
AP Biology, Stats, Calculus BC, Calculus AB, Chemistry, Physics B: 5
O Levels: Higher Chinese A
Personal statement: (I took out some parts that were sensitive and not meant for the public to see)
“I can never stand still. I must explore and experiment. I am never satisfied with my work. I resent the limitations of my own imagination.”–W. Disney. I can perfectly understand how he feels as I am also a person who simply cannot stand still.
I walk with that distinct bounce along the classroom corridors, a goofy smile constantly on my face. I jump, I skip, if I could I would fly to my destination, as time is always of the essence. Have an assignment for me? Don’t rush me, give me a deadline, give me the freedom to do what I want to do, don’t come at my ear giving me constant reminders, and I will give you your product coupled with a touch of my perfectionist streak.
Most of my academic achievements lie in research. I have worked on 2 projects in the field of spiders. The 1st project was a finalist at the Singapore Science and Engineering Fair (SSEF) 2007 and was presented at the International Students Science Fair 2006 and the London International Youth Science Forum 2007. The 2nd project won a silver award in SSEF 2008 and was presented at the Ritsumeikan Students Science Fair 2007. In addition, both projects were presented at the 12th International Society for Behavioral Ecology Congress in Cornell University.
My strongest subject is Chemistry, where I represented the school in the Singapore Chemistry Olympiad and won silver, and was selected for phase I of the national team training. I find chemistry an interesting subject as it is the foundation of all science; everything in the world can thought of as simple compounds, molecules and atoms. It amazes me that these atoms are the building blocks of life, bonded with other blocks in different combinations and concentrations to create different materials that can be used in so many different ways. Given my active nature, together with my friends, we set up a Chemistry Interest Group in our school, aimed at introducing the wonders of chemistry to our juniors through fun experiments such as creating ‘dye’ (which are actually acid-base indicators or complex ion mixtures).
I love organizing camps and teaching kids values such as leadership and teamwork. I have organized camps for organizations such as the Children’s Kidney Centre and other primary schools. My experiences in the school debating team, model UN conferences and leadership positions in school were certainly helpful in my work.
Student leadership is something that I am very passionate about. I have taken up various leadership positions, such as Vice Captain of Canoe Polo, President of Student Council and Vice House Captain, among others. In addition, I was also one of the authors for the book “50 Math and Science Games for Leadership”. Out of school, I am the Head of Volunteer Management and Development in ECO Singapore, an environmental organization that promotes environmental friendliness through youth-initiated projects.
Being the eldest child and the first college entree of my family meant that I am often forced to find my own solutions to any problems that I may encounter in my life. I find this a blessing in disguise as I have the freedom to solve problems in any way I can. This meant lots of surprising discoveries along the way (it is possible to walk on a mixture of cornstarch and water), lots of learning (you can’t trisect an angle with just a compass), and of course, lots of accidents as well (pouring phenolphthalein on my shirt and it turning blue when placed in the wash), but it really isn’t a bad thing, is it?
----------
As you can see I didnt really talk about why I want to study in the UK, but I had a significant amount of my essay dedicated to my achievements and extracurriculars. I am not too sure if my extracurriculars were taken into consideration, because there was no mention of them during my interview at all.
Cambridge and Oxford require your app to be submitted by September, while the rest by January. It is then redirected to the college and faculty and they will contact you with regards to an offer / interview / whatever else. Offers normally come in 3 forms: Unconditional (you get a place regardless), conditional (fulfil XXX conditions or you arent coming, or rejected (sorry no go).
Imperial was the 1st successful one to respond for mine - sometime in October. It was an unconditional offer.
Then I received an invitation for an interview for Cambridge (most colleges have 1), which was to be held in RI, and the time to take the TSA, which was held on a Saturday at HCJC. Most colleges for Cambridge and Oxford require you to take a Thinking Skills Assessment test. You can try 10 questions of it here: http://www.admissionstests.cambridgeassessment.org.uk/adt/tsacambridge
During my Cambridge interview, I was asked about topics related to my course of study - natural sciences. I was first asked to describe my IR - which I did, both projects - and then told that they want to know if I am able to handle the coursework at Cambridge. So I was given some paper, and asked a few questions - I will quote from 1 of my previous posts about the details:
"After that she got me to estimate how many cells were in a person's body, I didnt really know the answer so she asked me how big was a cell. I didnt know either and she told me 10 microns long. So I said something to the effect of assuming it's a sphere, calculate volume of person via mass/density (assume density is equivalent to water) and divide accordingly.
After that she gave me a few math questions. First was to differentiate x^3 sin x. So I did that with a bit of ease though I was kind of caught unaware. Then it was to integrate x ln x, which I could do as well. And then she got me to graph y = xe^(-x), and I got stuck halfway because I could do y = e^(-x) but I wasnt too sure about y = xe^(-x) but I got the graph half-right so that's better than nothing.
Next she asked me about cornstarch and water and what happens when I mix them together. So we spoke a little about the structure of cornstarch (which I didnt know again but I knew the structure of carbohydrates) and how it changes as you add water. Then spoke about coloured compounds - why do they have colours? So I said conjugation, excitation of electrons make them jump up the orbitals - sigma, pi, n, pi star and sigma star and as they fall back down they release energy that corresponds to a frequency in the visible spectrum. She seemed really impressed at this juncture and asked did you learn this in school and I said yes. So she asked why doesnt everything produce colours then and I thought it was simple, because they might fall along other areas of the EM spectrum? And she seemed very happy after that.
Following that she kind of ran out of time on me but since I was the last person it wasnt so bad. She chatted with me about how she thinks Cambridge is a good fit for me and etc. "
------------
As you can see it is very academic/subject-oriented, I didnt expect that, but now you can expect that.
A few days after that I received a few emails from UCL with regards to their courses, etc but I think what's exciting you more is the following email:
"I hope this email finds you well. Thank you for your application through UCAS to study Chemistry at University College London.
My apologies for the slight delay in responding to you, as I been finalising our process for overseas applicant to ensure fairness.
As I am sure you are aware, it is our normal policy to interview all candidates. As we cannot do this face-to-face, the "interview" will
be conducted by email and followed-up by telephone if necessary.
On Monday I will be sending you some further information on the course at UCL and more general information, the
same information I give UK-based students on their visit.
I will shortly afterwards send a series of questions for you to respond to. I wish you to do this as if we were having a conversation - I do not
need essays, I need conversational responses (of course if you wish to attached drawn structures as scanned images then feel free).
You should not need to refer to notes or other sources. The aim is to allow us to judge if you are able to think about chemistry in such a
way to allow you realise your full potential here at UCL.
You should be able to complete the questions 20 minutes at most. I may then follow-up with further questions.
Please respond within 7 days of receipt of the email.
Once this process is complete, I will confirm if we will be recommending an offer and the Faculty Admissions Tutor should make an
offer within 5 working days of receipt of my recommendation.
If you have any questions, please feel free to email me or call me (I will call you back)."
A few days later, I received an email again from UCL:
"Thank you for your application to study with us in the Chemistry department at UCL.
I hope you found the mailing last week useful - do not hesitate to call or email me if you have any questions. I now wish you to provide answers to the following as part of our admissions process.
Could you write me some brief notes on the topics below. I would appreciate a reply within 7 days if possible.
I have two beakers of water, one at room temperature, the other at 50oC. Do you expect their pH to be the same or different? Why?
What property of constarch an water makes it possible to walk on? How is this possible?
Why did you shirt go blue?"
As you can see - once again, very subject-based. This was my reply:
"With regards to your first question about the pH of water being
similar or different at room temperature and 50 degrees C.
I would definitely expect it to be different. pH = - log [H+] and [H+]
is dependent on the K value of water, typically 1 x 10 ^ (-14).
Since 2 H2O <=> H3O+ and OH-, Kc value of H2O = [H3O+] [OH-]
However, K value is affected by the temperature of the surroundings
because of thermodynamic properties. deltaG of a reaction = deltaH - T
deltaS = - RT ln K. The temperature affects the direction which the
reaction would be more likely to proceed.
Offhand I dont exactly know the deltaH value for this reaction, but
given that temperature affects K -- which in turn affects the amount
of ions dissociated -- thereby affecting the concentration of H+ ions,
the pH of water in different temperatures will obviously differ -
although in this instance it wouldnt differ by a large amount due to
the small difference in temperature.
With regards to the 2nd question: It is interesting that you ask this
question too because it is a question that I get asked a lot many
times (in interviews, demonstrations, etc). A mixture of cornstarch
and water yields oobleck, a non-newtonian fluid which behaves like a
solid when pressure is applied to it and behaves like a liquid when
allowed to flow freely. Other non-newtonian fluids include quicksand
and ketchup whereby they don't follow typical 'newtonian laws'.
Honestly I have wondered about this question many times myself but
despite checks from other reference sources in the past I never really
got an answer to it. My guess is that given that cornstarch is a
polymer in itself, its addition to water actually disrupts the VDW
forces between the water molecules and causes the area within the
water to be 'more crowded' in a particulate sense. It is in the state
of balance between a solid and liquid (i.e. its particles are not
clumped together enough to be considered a solid, yet its particles
are also not spaced out enough to be considered a liquid - in
accordance with the Brownian motion). Hence when pressure is applied
to it, it causes the particles to now be clumped up together enough
for us to consider it a solid, but otherwise it would flow like a
liquid - not as quickly as a typical liquid like water would, but
still behaving like a viscous liquid (I did notice that adding a
cornstarch and water mixture to my vegetables while cooking actually
made the gravy more viscous as well!).
My shirt turning blue - I assume you are asking about the statement in
my UCAS personal statement? Well perhaps blue isnt that accurate, it
actually turned purple. It is again based on equilibrium.
Phenolphthalein is an acid base indicator which is colourless at a
normal pH but turns purple when exposed to an alkali solution.
Phenolphthalein itself is a diprotic acid - let's call it H2In. This
compound is colourless but when exposed to alkali solutions (which
gives off OH- ions that react with this acid), it gives us In2- ions,
which are purple. Hence, the more alkali the solution is, the more
purple my shirt would become.
In this scenario, the alkali solution is really the ammonia from my
detergent. Ammonia, NH3, is a basic solution that goes by the equation
NH3 + H2O <=> NH4+ + OH-, and is the prime reason for causing my shirt
to turn blue."
We exchanged another 2 more emails about the details of certain things, and he replied:
"Excellent responses - precisely why we interview: I want to know what you can find out, and you have that
ability in abundance. I will process your offer on Monday. Let me know if you have any questions."
It turns out that he was the faculty tutor for Natural Sciences as well, so I got an unconditional to both Natural Sciences and Chemistry.
Cambridge's offer came in January. Most offers come in January so Cambridge wasnt late, it was on time... a conditional offer. My condition was a minimum 4.2 CAP overall, 4.2 for English, 4.2 for Math, and 4.2 for Chem - which I fulfilled.
So how do you choose which UK school to go? I say it's easy because if you are only putting 1 choice chances are you already know what you want (typical choices are Cambridge, Oxford, LSE), and if you are putting 5 choices, you pretty much know what school you are willing to fund yourself to and what you arent. Here are the university rankings, according to Times: http://extras.timesonline.co.uk/tol_gug/gooduniversityguide.php.
Between Cambridge and Oxford: Cambridge is better in the sciences, but Oxford better in the Humanities. As a sidenote, if you are keen in going into humanities, consider the course PPE (1 of the hardest course to get in) in Oxford, which stands for Philosophy, Politics and Economics. In terms of culture, Cambridge and Oxford are like little towns of their own and has this old but traditional kind of feel - you really feel like you are surrounded with tradition there. I have been to Oxford before and it's a beautiful place, an open campus within that little town and you can see the Great Hall in Harry Potter there (you got to pay I think, my friend paid and this is what he taped).
I have never been to LSE before, but I have been to Imperial and UCL before. Imperial is in the middle of a busy road and looks a little old (I personally didnt like the vibes that I got from Imperial but you may like it). UCL, wow I love the place. I stayed at Ramsay Hall, which was near Warren Street (the Tube). It's in the middle of the tube line, but it's not too noisy. Imagine the kind of quietness you get from staying at a bungalow in 1 of those private housing areas in Singapore, but yet the NTUC-equivalent (called Sainsbury), food stores, coffee places, etc are just along the streets, opposite you, next to your hostel, everything. Very convenient, and the Tube is just a 5 minute walk. It's an open campus as well, and it's near King Cross Station - you can see platform 9 3/4 there! Let me post a picture of what it looks like:
Most dorms at UCL are singles - you get your own room. My room looked like that, with my own sink.
Not too bad, I felt. The conclusion is that I prefer UCL to Imperial, but it's your choice. Some people also include King's College London in their list of choices, but I didnt feel like including it.
Okay since it's time for dinner I wont continue this post anymore (this is a realllllly long post), but the next time I post I will write about the US admission side.
I am not too sure about Australia other than that their school term starts in February and that UniMel and Murdoch are good for vet science, but I will talk about US and UK and what made me decide to go to US.
US:
- Broad based education (allows you to take a double degree)
- Flexibility in choice (dabble in anything you want)
- More holistic education
- Good in psych!
UK:
- Focused education (meaning if you know for e.g. you want to do only 1 degree and nothing else UK would be good)
- More academic oriented - evident from their admission process
- The UK culture has a certain allure to it, for me anyway but of course you have your opinions about it
The reason why it is easy for Singapore students to get into UK universities is because the norm for UK students is to take 3 A levels (and for the good ones get 3 As) but in Singapore it's 4 As for the good ones. However, for our school I guess the requirements are slightly different.
I will first talk about the admission process for UK and US unis before going to why choose 1 uni over others etc.
For UK unis, submission of any application is done through this portal, called UCAS. You can access it at www.ucas.com. Other than your particulars, you are also required to fill in your subject CAPs and any other relevant qualification. That would mean any APs, SAT scores if you want, even your HCl O levels would be helpful. Any employment history can be recorded as well, and then the personal statement and a referee's statement (which you will need - go find a teacher to write this for you). SATs should be filled in as much as possible because a good CR score (> 650) would exempt you from taking the TOEFL / IELTS which some schools require. Yes, you would notice you dont need to include your CCAs.
Of course, you choose the schools you want as well - under 2 schemes. The first scheme is that you only pick one school (and 1 course as well) and you pay less, the 2nd scheme is that you pick 5 schools (and 5 courses as well) and you pay slightly more. So it's either 1 or multiple (max 5). Regardless of which one you choose, only 1 of your choices can contain Cambridge/Oxford. Big universities like Cambridge/Oxford would require you to choose your college as well within the uni.
So my choices were something like this:
1. Cambridge, Natural Sciences, Homerton College
2. Imperial College, Chemistry
3. UCL, Chemistry
4. London School of Economics, Govt and Politics
5. UCL, Natural Sciences (this choice was added really late because I didnt know what I should put to use up my last choice)
Well I only needed 3 choices but since I was paying for 5 I thought I'd try my luck at LSE. If you dont know how to use up your choices yet, you can just fill a few first and fill up the rest of the choices later.
The moment you hit the send button on the UCAS form, the whole application goes to all of your choices simultaneously. Hence there is no way of modifying your personal statement to make it specific to each university you are applying to.
Your personal statement normally contains information about yourself, any achievements you want to highlight, why you want to study in the UK, and (very importantly) why that course. My personal statement was about why I liked chemistry, so little wonder I got rejected from LSE in the end - the 1st university that replied me. :P
Cambridge and Oxford have a supplement that is specific to them. I am not sure about Oxford - I am sure you can check it out - but for Cambridge, the supplement doesnt require any additional information you haven't already filled up other than your SAT score (if you didnt put it in UCAS) and a short essay on Why Cambridge.
Following that, the school may conduct interviews with you to determine your eligibility for them. They will make references to your personal statement and ask you questions about it. At this point I think I will post my profile for UCAS before I talk about my interview:
Qualification 1
Qualification type
SIPHSMSD (Singapore Integrated Programme High School Math and Science Diploma)
Date taken
01-Sep-2008
Examining body
NUS
Subject
Singapore-Integrated Programme-Nat Uni Singap
Module details
Date: 01/09/08 Title: English Grade: 4.34
Date: 01/09/08 Title: Higher Chinese Grade: 4.23
Date: 01/09/08 Title: Major in Biology Grade: 4.18
Date: 01/09/08 Title: Major in Chemistry Grade: 4.5
Date: 01/09/08 Title: Major in Physics Grade: 3.47
Date: 01/09/08 Title: Major in Mathematics Grade: 4.54
Date: 01/09/08 Title: History Grade: 4.17
Date: 01/09/08 Title: Literature Grade: 4.25
Date: 01/09/08 Title: Major with Honors in Chemistry
Date: 01/09/08 Title: Major with Honors in Mathematics Grade: 4.5
Date: 01/09/08 Title: Major with Honors in Biology Grade: 4.5
SAT I: CR 740, M 800, W 720
SAT II: Math Level 2 790, Chemistry 800
APs:
AP Biology, Stats, Calculus BC, Calculus AB, Chemistry, Physics B: 5
O Levels: Higher Chinese A
Personal statement: (I took out some parts that were sensitive and not meant for the public to see)
“I can never stand still. I must explore and experiment. I am never satisfied with my work. I resent the limitations of my own imagination.”–W. Disney. I can perfectly understand how he feels as I am also a person who simply cannot stand still.
I walk with that distinct bounce along the classroom corridors, a goofy smile constantly on my face. I jump, I skip, if I could I would fly to my destination, as time is always of the essence. Have an assignment for me? Don’t rush me, give me a deadline, give me the freedom to do what I want to do, don’t come at my ear giving me constant reminders, and I will give you your product coupled with a touch of my perfectionist streak.
Most of my academic achievements lie in research. I have worked on 2 projects in the field of spiders. The 1st project was a finalist at the Singapore Science and Engineering Fair (SSEF) 2007 and was presented at the International Students Science Fair 2006 and the London International Youth Science Forum 2007. The 2nd project won a silver award in SSEF 2008 and was presented at the Ritsumeikan Students Science Fair 2007. In addition, both projects were presented at the 12th International Society for Behavioral Ecology Congress in Cornell University.
My strongest subject is Chemistry, where I represented the school in the Singapore Chemistry Olympiad and won silver, and was selected for phase I of the national team training. I find chemistry an interesting subject as it is the foundation of all science; everything in the world can thought of as simple compounds, molecules and atoms. It amazes me that these atoms are the building blocks of life, bonded with other blocks in different combinations and concentrations to create different materials that can be used in so many different ways. Given my active nature, together with my friends, we set up a Chemistry Interest Group in our school, aimed at introducing the wonders of chemistry to our juniors through fun experiments such as creating ‘dye’ (which are actually acid-base indicators or complex ion mixtures).
I love organizing camps and teaching kids values such as leadership and teamwork. I have organized camps for organizations such as the Children’s Kidney Centre and other primary schools. My experiences in the school debating team, model UN conferences and leadership positions in school were certainly helpful in my work.
Student leadership is something that I am very passionate about. I have taken up various leadership positions, such as Vice Captain of Canoe Polo, President of Student Council and Vice House Captain, among others. In addition, I was also one of the authors for the book “50 Math and Science Games for Leadership”. Out of school, I am the Head of Volunteer Management and Development in ECO Singapore, an environmental organization that promotes environmental friendliness through youth-initiated projects.
Being the eldest child and the first college entree of my family meant that I am often forced to find my own solutions to any problems that I may encounter in my life. I find this a blessing in disguise as I have the freedom to solve problems in any way I can. This meant lots of surprising discoveries along the way (it is possible to walk on a mixture of cornstarch and water), lots of learning (you can’t trisect an angle with just a compass), and of course, lots of accidents as well (pouring phenolphthalein on my shirt and it turning blue when placed in the wash), but it really isn’t a bad thing, is it?
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As you can see I didnt really talk about why I want to study in the UK, but I had a significant amount of my essay dedicated to my achievements and extracurriculars. I am not too sure if my extracurriculars were taken into consideration, because there was no mention of them during my interview at all.
Cambridge and Oxford require your app to be submitted by September, while the rest by January. It is then redirected to the college and faculty and they will contact you with regards to an offer / interview / whatever else. Offers normally come in 3 forms: Unconditional (you get a place regardless), conditional (fulfil XXX conditions or you arent coming, or rejected (sorry no go).
Imperial was the 1st successful one to respond for mine - sometime in October. It was an unconditional offer.
Then I received an invitation for an interview for Cambridge (most colleges have 1), which was to be held in RI, and the time to take the TSA, which was held on a Saturday at HCJC. Most colleges for Cambridge and Oxford require you to take a Thinking Skills Assessment test. You can try 10 questions of it here: http://www.admissionstests.cambridgeassessment.org.uk/adt/tsacambridge
During my Cambridge interview, I was asked about topics related to my course of study - natural sciences. I was first asked to describe my IR - which I did, both projects - and then told that they want to know if I am able to handle the coursework at Cambridge. So I was given some paper, and asked a few questions - I will quote from 1 of my previous posts about the details:
"After that she got me to estimate how many cells were in a person's body, I didnt really know the answer so she asked me how big was a cell. I didnt know either and she told me 10 microns long. So I said something to the effect of assuming it's a sphere, calculate volume of person via mass/density (assume density is equivalent to water) and divide accordingly.
After that she gave me a few math questions. First was to differentiate x^3 sin x. So I did that with a bit of ease though I was kind of caught unaware. Then it was to integrate x ln x, which I could do as well. And then she got me to graph y = xe^(-x), and I got stuck halfway because I could do y = e^(-x) but I wasnt too sure about y = xe^(-x) but I got the graph half-right so that's better than nothing.
Next she asked me about cornstarch and water and what happens when I mix them together. So we spoke a little about the structure of cornstarch (which I didnt know again but I knew the structure of carbohydrates) and how it changes as you add water. Then spoke about coloured compounds - why do they have colours? So I said conjugation, excitation of electrons make them jump up the orbitals - sigma, pi, n, pi star and sigma star and as they fall back down they release energy that corresponds to a frequency in the visible spectrum. She seemed really impressed at this juncture and asked did you learn this in school and I said yes. So she asked why doesnt everything produce colours then and I thought it was simple, because they might fall along other areas of the EM spectrum? And she seemed very happy after that.
Following that she kind of ran out of time on me but since I was the last person it wasnt so bad. She chatted with me about how she thinks Cambridge is a good fit for me and etc. "
------------
As you can see it is very academic/subject-oriented, I didnt expect that, but now you can expect that.
A few days after that I received a few emails from UCL with regards to their courses, etc but I think what's exciting you more is the following email:
"I hope this email finds you well. Thank you for your application through UCAS to study Chemistry at University College London.
My apologies for the slight delay in responding to you, as I been finalising our process for overseas applicant to ensure fairness.
As I am sure you are aware, it is our normal policy to interview all candidates. As we cannot do this face-to-face, the "interview" will
be conducted by email and followed-up by telephone if necessary.
On Monday I will be sending you some further information on the course at UCL and more general information, the
same information I give UK-based students on their visit.
I will shortly afterwards send a series of questions for you to respond to. I wish you to do this as if we were having a conversation - I do not
need essays, I need conversational responses (of course if you wish to attached drawn structures as scanned images then feel free).
You should not need to refer to notes or other sources. The aim is to allow us to judge if you are able to think about chemistry in such a
way to allow you realise your full potential here at UCL.
You should be able to complete the questions 20 minutes at most. I may then follow-up with further questions.
Please respond within 7 days of receipt of the email.
Once this process is complete, I will confirm if we will be recommending an offer and the Faculty Admissions Tutor should make an
offer within 5 working days of receipt of my recommendation.
If you have any questions, please feel free to email me or call me (I will call you back)."
A few days later, I received an email again from UCL:
"Thank you for your application to study with us in the Chemistry department at UCL.
I hope you found the mailing last week useful - do not hesitate to call or email me if you have any questions. I now wish you to provide answers to the following as part of our admissions process.
Could you write me some brief notes on the topics below. I would appreciate a reply within 7 days if possible.
I have two beakers of water, one at room temperature, the other at 50oC. Do you expect their pH to be the same or different? Why?
What property of constarch an water makes it possible to walk on? How is this possible?
Why did you shirt go blue?"
As you can see - once again, very subject-based. This was my reply:
"With regards to your first question about the pH of water being
similar or different at room temperature and 50 degrees C.
I would definitely expect it to be different. pH = - log [H+] and [H+]
is dependent on the K value of water, typically 1 x 10 ^ (-14).
Since 2 H2O <=> H3O+ and OH-, Kc value of H2O = [H3O+] [OH-]
However, K value is affected by the temperature of the surroundings
because of thermodynamic properties. deltaG of a reaction = deltaH - T
deltaS = - RT ln K. The temperature affects the direction which the
reaction would be more likely to proceed.
Offhand I dont exactly know the deltaH value for this reaction, but
given that temperature affects K -- which in turn affects the amount
of ions dissociated -- thereby affecting the concentration of H+ ions,
the pH of water in different temperatures will obviously differ -
although in this instance it wouldnt differ by a large amount due to
the small difference in temperature.
With regards to the 2nd question: It is interesting that you ask this
question too because it is a question that I get asked a lot many
times (in interviews, demonstrations, etc). A mixture of cornstarch
and water yields oobleck, a non-newtonian fluid which behaves like a
solid when pressure is applied to it and behaves like a liquid when
allowed to flow freely. Other non-newtonian fluids include quicksand
and ketchup whereby they don't follow typical 'newtonian laws'.
Honestly I have wondered about this question many times myself but
despite checks from other reference sources in the past I never really
got an answer to it. My guess is that given that cornstarch is a
polymer in itself, its addition to water actually disrupts the VDW
forces between the water molecules and causes the area within the
water to be 'more crowded' in a particulate sense. It is in the state
of balance between a solid and liquid (i.e. its particles are not
clumped together enough to be considered a solid, yet its particles
are also not spaced out enough to be considered a liquid - in
accordance with the Brownian motion). Hence when pressure is applied
to it, it causes the particles to now be clumped up together enough
for us to consider it a solid, but otherwise it would flow like a
liquid - not as quickly as a typical liquid like water would, but
still behaving like a viscous liquid (I did notice that adding a
cornstarch and water mixture to my vegetables while cooking actually
made the gravy more viscous as well!).
My shirt turning blue - I assume you are asking about the statement in
my UCAS personal statement? Well perhaps blue isnt that accurate, it
actually turned purple. It is again based on equilibrium.
Phenolphthalein is an acid base indicator which is colourless at a
normal pH but turns purple when exposed to an alkali solution.
Phenolphthalein itself is a diprotic acid - let's call it H2In. This
compound is colourless but when exposed to alkali solutions (which
gives off OH- ions that react with this acid), it gives us In2- ions,
which are purple. Hence, the more alkali the solution is, the more
purple my shirt would become.
In this scenario, the alkali solution is really the ammonia from my
detergent. Ammonia, NH3, is a basic solution that goes by the equation
NH3 + H2O <=> NH4+ + OH-, and is the prime reason for causing my shirt
to turn blue."
We exchanged another 2 more emails about the details of certain things, and he replied:
"Excellent responses - precisely why we interview: I want to know what you can find out, and you have that
ability in abundance. I will process your offer on Monday. Let me know if you have any questions."
It turns out that he was the faculty tutor for Natural Sciences as well, so I got an unconditional to both Natural Sciences and Chemistry.
Cambridge's offer came in January. Most offers come in January so Cambridge wasnt late, it was on time... a conditional offer. My condition was a minimum 4.2 CAP overall, 4.2 for English, 4.2 for Math, and 4.2 for Chem - which I fulfilled.
So how do you choose which UK school to go? I say it's easy because if you are only putting 1 choice chances are you already know what you want (typical choices are Cambridge, Oxford, LSE), and if you are putting 5 choices, you pretty much know what school you are willing to fund yourself to and what you arent. Here are the university rankings, according to Times: http://extras.timesonline.co.uk/tol_gug/gooduniversityguide.php.
Between Cambridge and Oxford: Cambridge is better in the sciences, but Oxford better in the Humanities. As a sidenote, if you are keen in going into humanities, consider the course PPE (1 of the hardest course to get in) in Oxford, which stands for Philosophy, Politics and Economics. In terms of culture, Cambridge and Oxford are like little towns of their own and has this old but traditional kind of feel - you really feel like you are surrounded with tradition there. I have been to Oxford before and it's a beautiful place, an open campus within that little town and you can see the Great Hall in Harry Potter there (you got to pay I think, my friend paid and this is what he taped).
I have never been to LSE before, but I have been to Imperial and UCL before. Imperial is in the middle of a busy road and looks a little old (I personally didnt like the vibes that I got from Imperial but you may like it). UCL, wow I love the place. I stayed at Ramsay Hall, which was near Warren Street (the Tube). It's in the middle of the tube line, but it's not too noisy. Imagine the kind of quietness you get from staying at a bungalow in 1 of those private housing areas in Singapore, but yet the NTUC-equivalent (called Sainsbury), food stores, coffee places, etc are just along the streets, opposite you, next to your hostel, everything. Very convenient, and the Tube is just a 5 minute walk. It's an open campus as well, and it's near King Cross Station - you can see platform 9 3/4 there! Let me post a picture of what it looks like:
Most dorms at UCL are singles - you get your own room. My room looked like that, with my own sink.
Not too bad, I felt. The conclusion is that I prefer UCL to Imperial, but it's your choice. Some people also include King's College London in their list of choices, but I didnt feel like including it.
Okay since it's time for dinner I wont continue this post anymore (this is a realllllly long post), but the next time I post I will write about the US admission side.
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