Note: This post was not written by me. This post has been contributed by a friend who wishes to remain anonymous. I am merely copying and pasting what someone else wrote here for you all to see.
Applying to Oxford, should/shouldn’t I?
You should, because:
1. The university is older, yet the place is more industrialized and dynamics. So if you think of having an internship during your study, Oxford is generally more preferred.
2. In Oxford, you can start specializing in Maths/Physics/Chem/Bio in the first year. In Cambridge, the Natural Science curriculum is somewhat less focused.
3. Oxford’s PPE is more famous than its counterpart in Cambridge. (If you are inclined to Econs/Politics).
4. Oxford’s international interview application form (IIAF) is much simpler than that of Cambridge. Take a look at the application form last year. For this year, you don’t even need to fill up any form beside the UCAS. Applicants from Singapore will be interviewed through Skype.
5. School year starts as late as end of September, and lasts only for 24 weeks of solid, intensive, hardcore, nerve-racking, hectic, hellish mugging. The remaining 30 weeks of the year are up to you to enjoy.
6. Because there is no NUSH student has ever studied in Oxford before.
You shouldn’t, if:
1. You think it’s easier to get into Oxford than Cambridge. It’s true “that school in Bishan” got 24 offers from Oxford last year, but for our school, only one person managed to get an offer for the past two years.
2. You abhor Oxbridge interview and walk out the interview room thinking that “OMG, it’s finally over. I can now focus on my other uni apps”. It’s possible for the selection committee to interview you several times before giving you their final decision. Plus, there might be a few tests to take, depending on the course that you apply.
3. You don’t enjoy the entire admission process or don’t really know what “tutorial system” really means. The entire admission process gives you a glimpse into what’s going to happen everyday at Oxford.
4. Your senior told you that Oxford is stronger in Humanities/Social Sciences and you faithfully believed it.
5. You want to study Architecture. Simply because Oxford doesn’t offer this course.
Click here for the Oxford International Interview Application form.
Compare the Oxford International Interview Application form to the Cambridge Overseas Application Form.
This here is a link to essays on Oxford's tutorial system. Please read it - its good food for thought.
[Vio - Note that for Oxford admissions for 2011/deferred to 2012, there is no other form besides the UCAS form and your interview will be done over Skype. Similarly, the deadline for Oxford application does not differ from that of UCAS, which is 15 October 2010. :)
Also, Cambridge applicants have to pay an additional 100 pounds for the Cambridge interview which will take place in Singapore and 25 more pounds for the COAF in addition to your UCAS fees.]
Showing posts with label uk applications. Show all posts
Showing posts with label uk applications. Show all posts
Friday, September 24, 2010
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Medicine tests (UK and Australia)
I am going to cover four of the medical tests: the UKCAT, BMAT , ISAT and PQA, which I took. The first two are fo applications to the UK, the last two are for applications to Australia. I will focus will be on what you cannot find on the websites e.g. my thoughts and feelings, my recommendations and test-taking strategies for juniors.
1. UKCAT (UK Clinical Admissions Test)
http://www.ukcat.ac.uk/
This test is for a loooong list of UK universities. Some of the universities require you to take the UKCAT for dentistry too.
How to prepare for it?
You need to get used to two things: the UKCAT test structure and computer testing. I did all the practices tests available on the UKCAT website. The practice tests are a computer programme, so it is good in the sense that it will give you a fantastic idea of computer testing. I did the first practice test twice through because I freaked out the first time I did it and read less than half of the questions.
I freaked out so much after my first practice test that I went to the British Council to practice on this book called Passing the UKCAT and BMAT (2007) by Taylor, Hutton and Hutton. The book really works through all the questions with me, which I don't get on the official practice tests except for the Abstract Reasoning section. The book will also give tips on the abstract reasoning section. The extra practice really boosted my confidence, esp for the verbal section. (Read more about the different sections below.)
Another friend says that you can actually find helpful extra practice on the abstract reasoning section online but I didn't get to try these on time.
Where to take it?
All UKCAT exams in Singapore are held at the Pearson Vue testing centre in Tanjong Pagar. The whole office is filled with computers where people do all sorts of tests. When you enter, they will check your passport (for Singapore testing, Pearson requires that you bring your passport as your identification), get you to sign and even check that your signature matches that on your passport. You then put your stuff into a locker. You can bring ABSOLUTELY NOTHING into the testing room except the stuff they give you, that is, a stone-age calculator, a laminated piece of paper (for your scribblings) and a whiteboard marker. They will check your pockets.
There will be other people testing in the room too, which means that you'll have typing/clicking sounds. So Pearson provides you with this super cool headphones that block out the sound. Use it! If you need more paper, just raise your hand and the eagle-eyes examiner will get it to you.
What is in the test?
From the website: The test assesses a wide range of mental abilities and behavioural attributes identified by university Medical and Dental Schools as important.
Now it comprises of five sections. You are STRICTLY TIMED for each section.
First, the verbal reasoning section. You're given a passage to read, then you read statements and figure out whether the statements are true or false, or that you "can't tell" if the statement is true or false. This section was very difficult for me because I read slowly (I like to thoroughly understand every sentence) and it wasn't easy to decide whether the statements were true or false. After some practice, I gather that "true" means that the passage EXPLICITLY STATES or IMPLIES that it is true, "false" means that the passage EXPLICITLY STATES or IMPLIES that it is false, and "can't tell" means that the passage doesn't explicitly state or imply the statement. Remember, the minute you can, using your pre-trained academic capabilities
SIGNPOSTS for the "Can't tell" option: unclear definition of words and phrases, lack of credibility of a particular quote in the passage (i.e. the statement is found in the passage but appears to be from a doubtful source), unlinked ideas (e.g. the cause-effect relationship is confounded).
Second, the quantitative reasoning section. As mentioned, you'll get a calculator. If you can immediately process the question and punch in the numbers, good for you! People like me who need to write out the information on paper are disadvantaged because time is tight, though not as tight as the verbal section. NUSH students should not find this section a big problem.
Third, the abstract reasoning section. From my practice book, this section tests your ability to "understand the underlying logic" and your "innate capacity to reason".
The UKCAT website explains this best: "In this subtest, you will be presented with two sets of shapes labelled 'Set A' and 'Set B'. All the shapes in Set A are similar in some way, as are the shapes in Set B. Set A and Set B are not related to each other. For each pair of Set A and Set B, you will be presented with five 'Test Shapes'. Your task is to decide whether each test shape belongs to Set A, Set B, or neither. You will be presented with a total of thirteen pairs of Set A and Set B. For each pair, you will be presented with five items."
This is the second killer section. You just don't know what to look out for in each set! For this section, KEEP PRACTISING; sorry.
Fourth, the decision analysis section. You are given a whole new coding system. Your tasks are to figure out what coded statements mean in plain english, to figure out how to say certain english sentences in code language, and to decide what new codes should be added to the system so that you can better express certain english sentences. This is my strongest section. I personally quite like it because this section tests your sense of logic.
Last section is a personality test. The questions that came out were exactly the same as that for the PQA (more later). No sweat for this. Just relax and be truthful.
Scores
The minute I stepped out of the testing hall, my score sheet was tossed into my hand. This is the ONLY EVIDENCE that YOU have of your score. If you lose it and need a reprint, you need to pay Pearson. After you register on UCAS, Pearson will miraculously coordinate with the universities and send over the scores. So this is NOT like the SATs, where you have to send to individual schools.
Each section is scored between 300 and 900. The executive summary in the UKCAT website will tell you more details on the mean score of all the sections, which ranges from 582 to 677. I did a rough calculation of my percentile using 68-95-99.7 rule and can tell you that if I took the UKCAT in 2009 and got the same overall score, I will be approximately in the top 2.5% of UKCAT examinees.
2. ISAT
(Congrats if you are still reading! You really want to do Medicine ;))
http://isat.acer.edu.au/
ISAT is for application to a couple of Australian universities: Monash, Western Australia, Tasmania and Queensland.
I agree with May Fong on this: "Try to take it so that your results are available when you are doing your applications, and that would require you to plan ahead." For example, if you are planning to complete your applications at the March IDP Medical and Health Sciences Fair, you must have taken your ISAT the year before. If you haven't, you must rush to take it before June because some universities have a June deadline. Plus it takes some time for your results to be processed. They say 3 weeks but mine took 1 month to be processed because I tested early in the testing season.
Testing this year takes place 1 April to 29 Oct 2010.
Preparation
I will quote Acer on this because I agree with them:
"The purpose of ISAT is to assess your abilities in a range of cross-curricular skills. ISAT measures skills acquired over a period of time, including the ability to reason, make logical deductions and form judgements. The test does not draw on any particular subject knowledge. There would therefore be little benefit to be gained by ‘cramming’ or coaching. Your best preparation may be to read widely and to think critically about what you read. However, some familiarity with the question types typically presented in ISAT is an advantage. For this reason, some sample questions are provided on this site."
Where?
You get to choose from a couple of testing sites in Singapore. I chose Central Plaza (Tiong Bahru). I recall that it was a sort of computer-skills training centre. They had this small testing room. Again, nothing is allowed in except for what they give you--a whiteboard, a whiteboard marker and a duster--but your stuff is just outside in a locker so I ran out to drink some water midway through. I certainly cannot remain seated for a whole 3 hrs.
What?
I quote May Fong from her earlier post: It’s pretty much like a logic test.. with those puzzle-like things.
I didn't think of it as a logic test. It comprised of ALL SORTS of questions! 3 hours of a whole variety of questions. Acer says that the questions fall into two categories: critical reasoning and quantitative reasoning (http://isat.acer.edu.au/content-of-isat/). Perhaps the closest analogy to this is a mash-up of the critical reading and mathematics section of the SAT Reasoning. I found it tougher than the SAT though.
I had multiple-choice comprehensions and calculation questions. No calculator for this test so calculations are simple. Rather, they like to know that you know HOW to manipulate quantitative information.
Score
I quote the acer website: "The scoring process is complex and requires substantial development and analysis by ACER's psychometricians. Candidates cannot calculate their own scores... ISAT scores for Critical Reasoning (CR), Quantitative Reasoning (QR) and Overall Reasoning (OR) are on scales with ranges of 100-200."
The raw scores did not make a lot of sense to me. So I was just concerned with the percentile, which tells me my standing relative to the rest of the test-takers (AP Statistics anybody?). Like May Fong said, we have no idea what percentile is required in order to secure an interview but we are guessing it is a minimum of 90%. Both of us got above 90%, as did another friend who took the ISAT.
3. Personal Qualities Assessment (PQA)
http://www.pqa.net.au/
The University of Adelaide does not use the ISAT. Instead, it developed its own test with the University of Newcastle--the PQA. Now, you need to pay AUD300 to take this test ON TOP of your Adelaide application fees. As a result, some people may be discouraged from applying to Adelaide. Read May Fong's post on Adelaide and decide whether you really want to go to Adelaide. Then discuss with your parents on whether they are willing to pay.
Preparation
No way to prepare. Shorter version of ISAT i.e. still testing your verbal reasoning and quantitative reasoning, with two more sections assessing "how honest you are about yourself" and your personality.
Where?
Everybody who chooses to take the PQA will be gathered together on one day at a hotel. This year, it's Carlton Hotel; it's probably going to be the same again next year. There are about 50 people in this large conference hall setting. Bring a jacket!
What?
Four sections.
1. Mental Agility Test: IQ test. Testing your verbal and quantitative skills. I did not have enough time and hence left many questions blank (about 3-5 questions) for this but still passed it.
2. and 3. MOJAC and NACE: From the website, this test "reflects their value system and what they believe is appropriate in each situation.
4. Personal qualities inventory: A zillion questions to assess whether you are honest about yourself.
MAT is timed separately from the other three sections. The other three sections contain questions and statements that are identical to the last section of the UKCAT. In mathematical terms, the UKCAT questions are a subset (though not a perfect subset) of the PQA Personal Qualities Inventory questions.
I recommend that you work quickly through the first timed section and do the rest slow but steadily. I rushed through sections 2-4 and was quite bored by the time the exam ended.
Score
You will never know your PQA score. Adelaide will just tell you whether you have "passed the PQA testing round". I think there is a way of requesting for your score but I cannot remember the conditions under which they will release the score, if they will even release the score at all.
4. BioMedical Admissions Test (BMAT)
http://www.admissionstests.cambridgeassessment.org.uk/adt/bmat
This is a test for admission into certain courses (most notably Medicine) at five of the most competitive UK universities, namely University of Cambridge, Imperial College London, Univeristy of Oxford, Royal Veterinary College and University College London. Everybody in the world takes this test at 0900 (GMT+8hrs). We in Singapore get to take it around 3-4 p.m..
Preparation
The BMAT is most DIFFERENT from the rest of the tests because it tests you on science and math knowledge i.e. something that you should revise for. YAY! Not. This section tests knowledge up until O Level knowledge. If you have O Level textbooks, go ahead and read them inside out. Our school library currently doesn't have any books that focus on O Level content only; we only have a practice book for O Level Chemistry and A level revision notes at best.
So... You can buy some books from Kinokunya. Currently, there are two books on stock:
1. How to Master the BMAT: Unbeatable Preparation for Success in the BioMedical Admissions Test -US-Tyreman, Chris / Publisher:Kogan Page Ltd Published 2009/10
SGD46.51
2. BMAT and UKCAT Uncovered: A Guide to Medical School Entrance Exams (PAP) -US-Osinowo, T. O. / Weerakkody, R. A. / Woodward, H. W. / Allen, Chris / Publisher:B M J Books Published 2008/09
SGD65.24
I did not really read the two of them in detail but I think the strength of these books is that they have really good reviews of the "scientific skills and applications" section. We are trying to get our college counsellors to put them in the school library for next year's batch of BMAT students =)
As for me, with only two weeks to prepare for the BMAT, I dilligently and very fearfully did all of the practice tests available online. I NEVER finished the tests on time so go figure how nervous I was when I sat for my BMAT. I also went down to the British Council to read up on two books:
1. Preparing for the BMAT: The official guide to the BMAT. Heinermann, Cambridge Assessment. This will be advertised on the BMAT sign up site. Personally don't find this book particularly useful except for giving extra practices.
2. Passing the UKCAT and BMAT (Same book I used for UKCAT). This book is a little outdated, but otherwise inspires confidence in the reader, especially when talking about the writing section
My recommendation: get your hands on those kinokunya books, go down to the British Council only if 1) you have read the kino books cover to cover and still have 2 weeks to go before your BMAT 2) cannot afford the books (it is truly expensive, I understand). Buy them from seniors (I am 100% sure all of them will want to sell), borrow them from the school library (hope and pray that we can get these on the shelf asap), buy them yourself.
Do NOT be lazy when practising for the essay section. When you practice, write at least 3 essays in full within the 30 min time limit. The reason for this is that you need to get used to fitting your whole argument into the box that they give you (like the SAT). You also need to get used to planning your time properly so that you can answer all of the questions (see What? section) in time. You can just draw brainstorming diagrams for as many other essay topics as you can lay your hands on. Practise thinking about both sides of the argument.
Where?
Three of us (including myself) were privileged to be able to take the BMAT at our school. I do not know of any other schools in Singapore that is registered as a test centre. Everybody else took the BMAT with the British Council, which will hold the test at various examination rooms across Singapore-- for example, my friend had her test at Republic Poly.
Personally prefer our school because:
i) We're comfortable in the familiar school environment
ii) It costs about SGD300 less than a test with the British Council. Compare this http://www.admissionstests.cambridgeassessment.org.uk/adt/bmat/datesandcost and this http://www.britishcouncil.org/singapore-exams-cambridge-admissions-tests.htm#bmat. This is because British Council needs to pay its proctors, pay for the rooms and pay for the shipping of the test papers back to Cambridge. Those who test at NUS High also need to cover the shipping fee but we get to choose our carrier. We naturally chose the cheapest yet reliable one--DHL.
Then again, you may like the British Council because they are an experienced test centre.
What?
Three sections.
1) Verbal and quantitative reasoning (this is the name I have given this section).
It is likely that after this whole paragraph, you still won't understand what this section is about. So go do the practices =)
By the time you have done the UKCAT and ISAT, you would be pretty experienced with the thinking skills required on this section. I read this advice that I personally go by: read the questions carefully, EVEN if you are running short of time. Carelessness can cause you to lose marks even though your calculations were perfectly alright.
2) Scientific skills and application.
This is my worst section. I left about 5 questions unread (though not unanswered) and guessed about 3 others. No negative marking on the BMAT so I guessed.
This section tests on O Level Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry and Physics. The Science curriculum is at the Double Award standard so the knowledge required is NOT immense. The tricky part is that the questions might present the information in novel ways and for slow readers like me, it is difficult to the digest the question and link it to the relevant knowledge quickly.
I cannot remember why I couldn't immediately know the answer to some of the questions. Any BMAT-testers out there who know what are the difficulties of the BMAT questions?
The A level students would be mugging before and after the BMAT, so the knowledge is probably fresher in their minds. But NUS High Students who did their APs in June need not fret! We all have the knowledge; we just need to revise it (see Prep section).
3) Writing task
You are given a statement related to science or medicine. There will be three questions asked with regards to this statement. You must answer all three of the questions in your essay. Usually, the questions require you to i) Explain what is meant by the statement. ii) Discuss how you would support the statement and how you would oppose the statement. iii) Resolve the two viewpoints. Sometimes the question will tell you what conclusion you must reach. For example, the last question specifically asks you to give an example in favour of one side of the argument.
From 2010 onwards, four statements will be printed with their respective questions (previously, only three choices were given). You must choose one of these four statements.
This is not an essay. So you can write your arguments in outline style. But it still must be in full sentences. You can even draw diagrams, so some of the books I read say, though I have yet to see any essays with drawings.
I strongly recommend that you put in good arguments and tone down on the examples unless the questions specifically ask you to give exampleS. If not, one example for each side of the argument, and perhaps one more for your resolution, will do.
Score
The first two sections are scored on a scale of 1.0 to 9.0. Apparently, according to the book by Cambridge Assessment, 5.0 is the average score, 6.0 is relatively high and 7.0 is exceptional. The scores of all the students is approximately a bell-shape centred at 5.0.
Two markers will read your response to the last section. The last section is scored, from this year onwards, with two criteria. First, quality of content: scores are awards on a scale from 1 to 5. Second, quality of English: each marker gives you either A, C or E. If both give you an A, you get an A. If one gives you A and the other, C, you get a B.
THE END
Congratulations on reading to the end! ;) Don't let the tests scare you; they are the FIRST in a series of many many (~hundred?) tests you'll take in the medical profession.
I'd like to end with a food for thought: Orphan interns and blundering bureaucrats, Editor, Medical Journal of Australia. http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/193_06_200910/martin_200910.html
1. UKCAT (UK Clinical Admissions Test)
http://www.ukcat.ac.uk/
This test is for a loooong list of UK universities. Some of the universities require you to take the UKCAT for dentistry too.
How to prepare for it?
You need to get used to two things: the UKCAT test structure and computer testing. I did all the practices tests available on the UKCAT website. The practice tests are a computer programme, so it is good in the sense that it will give you a fantastic idea of computer testing. I did the first practice test twice through because I freaked out the first time I did it and read less than half of the questions.
I freaked out so much after my first practice test that I went to the British Council to practice on this book called Passing the UKCAT and BMAT (2007) by Taylor, Hutton and Hutton. The book really works through all the questions with me, which I don't get on the official practice tests except for the Abstract Reasoning section. The book will also give tips on the abstract reasoning section. The extra practice really boosted my confidence, esp for the verbal section. (Read more about the different sections below.)
Another friend says that you can actually find helpful extra practice on the abstract reasoning section online but I didn't get to try these on time.
Where to take it?
All UKCAT exams in Singapore are held at the Pearson Vue testing centre in Tanjong Pagar. The whole office is filled with computers where people do all sorts of tests. When you enter, they will check your passport (for Singapore testing, Pearson requires that you bring your passport as your identification), get you to sign and even check that your signature matches that on your passport. You then put your stuff into a locker. You can bring ABSOLUTELY NOTHING into the testing room except the stuff they give you, that is, a stone-age calculator, a laminated piece of paper (for your scribblings) and a whiteboard marker. They will check your pockets.
There will be other people testing in the room too, which means that you'll have typing/clicking sounds. So Pearson provides you with this super cool headphones that block out the sound. Use it! If you need more paper, just raise your hand and the eagle-eyes examiner will get it to you.
What is in the test?
From the website: The test assesses a wide range of mental abilities and behavioural attributes identified by university Medical and Dental Schools as important.
Now it comprises of five sections. You are STRICTLY TIMED for each section.
First, the verbal reasoning section. You're given a passage to read, then you read statements and figure out whether the statements are true or false, or that you "can't tell" if the statement is true or false. This section was very difficult for me because I read slowly (I like to thoroughly understand every sentence) and it wasn't easy to decide whether the statements were true or false. After some practice, I gather that "true" means that the passage EXPLICITLY STATES or IMPLIES that it is true, "false" means that the passage EXPLICITLY STATES or IMPLIES that it is false, and "can't tell" means that the passage doesn't explicitly state or imply the statement. Remember, the minute you can, using your pre-trained academic capabilities
SIGNPOSTS for the "Can't tell" option: unclear definition of words and phrases, lack of credibility of a particular quote in the passage (i.e. the statement is found in the passage but appears to be from a doubtful source), unlinked ideas (e.g. the cause-effect relationship is confounded).
Second, the quantitative reasoning section. As mentioned, you'll get a calculator. If you can immediately process the question and punch in the numbers, good for you! People like me who need to write out the information on paper are disadvantaged because time is tight, though not as tight as the verbal section. NUSH students should not find this section a big problem.
Third, the abstract reasoning section. From my practice book, this section tests your ability to "understand the underlying logic" and your "innate capacity to reason".
The UKCAT website explains this best: "In this subtest, you will be presented with two sets of shapes labelled 'Set A' and 'Set B'. All the shapes in Set A are similar in some way, as are the shapes in Set B. Set A and Set B are not related to each other. For each pair of Set A and Set B, you will be presented with five 'Test Shapes'. Your task is to decide whether each test shape belongs to Set A, Set B, or neither. You will be presented with a total of thirteen pairs of Set A and Set B. For each pair, you will be presented with five items."
This is the second killer section. You just don't know what to look out for in each set! For this section, KEEP PRACTISING; sorry.
Fourth, the decision analysis section. You are given a whole new coding system. Your tasks are to figure out what coded statements mean in plain english, to figure out how to say certain english sentences in code language, and to decide what new codes should be added to the system so that you can better express certain english sentences. This is my strongest section. I personally quite like it because this section tests your sense of logic.
Last section is a personality test. The questions that came out were exactly the same as that for the PQA (more later). No sweat for this. Just relax and be truthful.
Scores
The minute I stepped out of the testing hall, my score sheet was tossed into my hand. This is the ONLY EVIDENCE that YOU have of your score. If you lose it and need a reprint, you need to pay Pearson. After you register on UCAS, Pearson will miraculously coordinate with the universities and send over the scores. So this is NOT like the SATs, where you have to send to individual schools.
Each section is scored between 300 and 900. The executive summary in the UKCAT website will tell you more details on the mean score of all the sections, which ranges from 582 to 677. I did a rough calculation of my percentile using 68-95-99.7 rule and can tell you that if I took the UKCAT in 2009 and got the same overall score, I will be approximately in the top 2.5% of UKCAT examinees.
2. ISAT
(Congrats if you are still reading! You really want to do Medicine ;))
http://isat.acer.edu.au/
ISAT is for application to a couple of Australian universities: Monash, Western Australia, Tasmania and Queensland.
I agree with May Fong on this: "Try to take it so that your results are available when you are doing your applications, and that would require you to plan ahead." For example, if you are planning to complete your applications at the March IDP Medical and Health Sciences Fair, you must have taken your ISAT the year before. If you haven't, you must rush to take it before June because some universities have a June deadline. Plus it takes some time for your results to be processed. They say 3 weeks but mine took 1 month to be processed because I tested early in the testing season.
Testing this year takes place 1 April to 29 Oct 2010.
Preparation
I will quote Acer on this because I agree with them:
"The purpose of ISAT is to assess your abilities in a range of cross-curricular skills. ISAT measures skills acquired over a period of time, including the ability to reason, make logical deductions and form judgements. The test does not draw on any particular subject knowledge. There would therefore be little benefit to be gained by ‘cramming’ or coaching. Your best preparation may be to read widely and to think critically about what you read. However, some familiarity with the question types typically presented in ISAT is an advantage. For this reason, some sample questions are provided on this site."
Where?
You get to choose from a couple of testing sites in Singapore. I chose Central Plaza (Tiong Bahru). I recall that it was a sort of computer-skills training centre. They had this small testing room. Again, nothing is allowed in except for what they give you--a whiteboard, a whiteboard marker and a duster--but your stuff is just outside in a locker so I ran out to drink some water midway through. I certainly cannot remain seated for a whole 3 hrs.
What?
I quote May Fong from her earlier post: It’s pretty much like a logic test.. with those puzzle-like things.
I didn't think of it as a logic test. It comprised of ALL SORTS of questions! 3 hours of a whole variety of questions. Acer says that the questions fall into two categories: critical reasoning and quantitative reasoning (http://isat.acer.edu.au/content-of-isat/). Perhaps the closest analogy to this is a mash-up of the critical reading and mathematics section of the SAT Reasoning. I found it tougher than the SAT though.
I had multiple-choice comprehensions and calculation questions. No calculator for this test so calculations are simple. Rather, they like to know that you know HOW to manipulate quantitative information.
Score
I quote the acer website: "The scoring process is complex and requires substantial development and analysis by ACER's psychometricians. Candidates cannot calculate their own scores... ISAT scores for Critical Reasoning (CR), Quantitative Reasoning (QR) and Overall Reasoning (OR) are on scales with ranges of 100-200."
The raw scores did not make a lot of sense to me. So I was just concerned with the percentile, which tells me my standing relative to the rest of the test-takers (AP Statistics anybody?). Like May Fong said, we have no idea what percentile is required in order to secure an interview but we are guessing it is a minimum of 90%. Both of us got above 90%, as did another friend who took the ISAT.
3. Personal Qualities Assessment (PQA)
http://www.pqa.net.au/
The University of Adelaide does not use the ISAT. Instead, it developed its own test with the University of Newcastle--the PQA. Now, you need to pay AUD300 to take this test ON TOP of your Adelaide application fees. As a result, some people may be discouraged from applying to Adelaide. Read May Fong's post on Adelaide and decide whether you really want to go to Adelaide. Then discuss with your parents on whether they are willing to pay.
Preparation
No way to prepare. Shorter version of ISAT i.e. still testing your verbal reasoning and quantitative reasoning, with two more sections assessing "how honest you are about yourself" and your personality.
Where?
Everybody who chooses to take the PQA will be gathered together on one day at a hotel. This year, it's Carlton Hotel; it's probably going to be the same again next year. There are about 50 people in this large conference hall setting. Bring a jacket!
What?
Four sections.
1. Mental Agility Test: IQ test. Testing your verbal and quantitative skills. I did not have enough time and hence left many questions blank (about 3-5 questions) for this but still passed it.
2. and 3. MOJAC and NACE: From the website, this test "reflects their value system and what they believe is appropriate in each situation.
4. Personal qualities inventory: A zillion questions to assess whether you are honest about yourself.
MAT is timed separately from the other three sections. The other three sections contain questions and statements that are identical to the last section of the UKCAT. In mathematical terms, the UKCAT questions are a subset (though not a perfect subset) of the PQA Personal Qualities Inventory questions.
I recommend that you work quickly through the first timed section and do the rest slow but steadily. I rushed through sections 2-4 and was quite bored by the time the exam ended.
Score
You will never know your PQA score. Adelaide will just tell you whether you have "passed the PQA testing round". I think there is a way of requesting for your score but I cannot remember the conditions under which they will release the score, if they will even release the score at all.
4. BioMedical Admissions Test (BMAT)
http://www.admissionstests.cambridgeassessment.org.uk/adt/bmat
This is a test for admission into certain courses (most notably Medicine) at five of the most competitive UK universities, namely University of Cambridge, Imperial College London, Univeristy of Oxford, Royal Veterinary College and University College London. Everybody in the world takes this test at 0900 (GMT+8hrs). We in Singapore get to take it around 3-4 p.m..
Preparation
The BMAT is most DIFFERENT from the rest of the tests because it tests you on science and math knowledge i.e. something that you should revise for. YAY! Not. This section tests knowledge up until O Level knowledge. If you have O Level textbooks, go ahead and read them inside out. Our school library currently doesn't have any books that focus on O Level content only; we only have a practice book for O Level Chemistry and A level revision notes at best.
So... You can buy some books from Kinokunya. Currently, there are two books on stock:
1. How to Master the BMAT: Unbeatable Preparation for Success in the BioMedical Admissions Test -US-Tyreman, Chris / Publisher:Kogan Page Ltd Published 2009/10
SGD46.51
2. BMAT and UKCAT Uncovered: A Guide to Medical School Entrance Exams (PAP) -US-Osinowo, T. O. / Weerakkody, R. A. / Woodward, H. W. / Allen, Chris / Publisher:B M J Books Published 2008/09
SGD65.24
I did not really read the two of them in detail but I think the strength of these books is that they have really good reviews of the "scientific skills and applications" section. We are trying to get our college counsellors to put them in the school library for next year's batch of BMAT students =)
As for me, with only two weeks to prepare for the BMAT, I dilligently and very fearfully did all of the practice tests available online. I NEVER finished the tests on time so go figure how nervous I was when I sat for my BMAT. I also went down to the British Council to read up on two books:
1. Preparing for the BMAT: The official guide to the BMAT. Heinermann, Cambridge Assessment. This will be advertised on the BMAT sign up site. Personally don't find this book particularly useful except for giving extra practices.
2. Passing the UKCAT and BMAT (Same book I used for UKCAT). This book is a little outdated, but otherwise inspires confidence in the reader, especially when talking about the writing section
My recommendation: get your hands on those kinokunya books, go down to the British Council only if 1) you have read the kino books cover to cover and still have 2 weeks to go before your BMAT 2) cannot afford the books (it is truly expensive, I understand). Buy them from seniors (I am 100% sure all of them will want to sell), borrow them from the school library (hope and pray that we can get these on the shelf asap), buy them yourself.
Do NOT be lazy when practising for the essay section. When you practice, write at least 3 essays in full within the 30 min time limit. The reason for this is that you need to get used to fitting your whole argument into the box that they give you (like the SAT). You also need to get used to planning your time properly so that you can answer all of the questions (see What? section) in time. You can just draw brainstorming diagrams for as many other essay topics as you can lay your hands on. Practise thinking about both sides of the argument.
Where?
Three of us (including myself) were privileged to be able to take the BMAT at our school. I do not know of any other schools in Singapore that is registered as a test centre. Everybody else took the BMAT with the British Council, which will hold the test at various examination rooms across Singapore-- for example, my friend had her test at Republic Poly.
Personally prefer our school because:
i) We're comfortable in the familiar school environment
ii) It costs about SGD300 less than a test with the British Council. Compare this http://www.admissionstests.cambridgeassessment.org.uk/adt/bmat/datesandcost and this http://www.britishcouncil.org/singapore-exams-cambridge-admissions-tests.htm#bmat. This is because British Council needs to pay its proctors, pay for the rooms and pay for the shipping of the test papers back to Cambridge. Those who test at NUS High also need to cover the shipping fee but we get to choose our carrier. We naturally chose the cheapest yet reliable one--DHL.
Then again, you may like the British Council because they are an experienced test centre.
What?
Three sections.
1) Verbal and quantitative reasoning (this is the name I have given this section).
35 questions in 1 hr.
Comprises mostly of multiple-choice questions but also comprises some questions where you have to fill in a number, or write true or false. The MCQs come from one of three kinds: i) You are given a passage and have to pick out the strength, weakness, flaw, assumption, implication or conclusion. Sometimes you are given three statements and are asked to pick out which will strengthen the argument. Usually, every paper will have only one long passage (~8 paragraphs) while the rest are one-paragraph passages. ii) You are given a word problem (think primary school word problems with more complex calculations) to solve. You need to be able to pick out the relevant numbers from the irrelevant. iii) You are given a complex series of graphs, data and paragraphs. You will have to combine the information correctly. Questions may require calculation.It is likely that after this whole paragraph, you still won't understand what this section is about. So go do the practices =)
By the time you have done the UKCAT and ISAT, you would be pretty experienced with the thinking skills required on this section. I read this advice that I personally go by: read the questions carefully, EVEN if you are running short of time. Carelessness can cause you to lose marks even though your calculations were perfectly alright.
2) Scientific skills and application.
This is my worst section. I left about 5 questions unread (though not unanswered) and guessed about 3 others. No negative marking on the BMAT so I guessed.
This section tests on O Level Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry and Physics. The Science curriculum is at the Double Award standard so the knowledge required is NOT immense. The tricky part is that the questions might present the information in novel ways and for slow readers like me, it is difficult to the digest the question and link it to the relevant knowledge quickly.
I cannot remember why I couldn't immediately know the answer to some of the questions. Any BMAT-testers out there who know what are the difficulties of the BMAT questions?
The A level students would be mugging before and after the BMAT, so the knowledge is probably fresher in their minds. But NUS High Students who did their APs in June need not fret! We all have the knowledge; we just need to revise it (see Prep section).
3) Writing task
You are given a statement related to science or medicine. There will be three questions asked with regards to this statement. You must answer all three of the questions in your essay. Usually, the questions require you to i) Explain what is meant by the statement. ii) Discuss how you would support the statement and how you would oppose the statement. iii) Resolve the two viewpoints. Sometimes the question will tell you what conclusion you must reach. For example, the last question specifically asks you to give an example in favour of one side of the argument.
From 2010 onwards, four statements will be printed with their respective questions (previously, only three choices were given). You must choose one of these four statements.
This is not an essay. So you can write your arguments in outline style. But it still must be in full sentences. You can even draw diagrams, so some of the books I read say, though I have yet to see any essays with drawings.
I strongly recommend that you put in good arguments and tone down on the examples unless the questions specifically ask you to give exampleS. If not, one example for each side of the argument, and perhaps one more for your resolution, will do.
Score
The first two sections are scored on a scale of 1.0 to 9.0. Apparently, according to the book by Cambridge Assessment, 5.0 is the average score, 6.0 is relatively high and 7.0 is exceptional. The scores of all the students is approximately a bell-shape centred at 5.0.
Two markers will read your response to the last section. The last section is scored, from this year onwards, with two criteria. First, quality of content: scores are awards on a scale from 1 to 5. Second, quality of English: each marker gives you either A, C or E. If both give you an A, you get an A. If one gives you A and the other, C, you get a B.
THE END
Congratulations on reading to the end! ;) Don't let the tests scare you; they are the FIRST in a series of many many (~hundred?) tests you'll take in the medical profession.
I'd like to end with a food for thought: Orphan interns and blundering bureaucrats, Editor, Medical Journal of Australia. http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/193_06_200910/martin_200910.html
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Typing in PDF files
Some organizations ask applicants to type or print into a PDF application form. Now this might be slightly irritating, especially to people with bad handwriting, have a lot to write, or have forgotten how to write by hand. Some programmes allow people to type onto PDF form, such as this one here.
I've upload a few pictures of an example of how this programme might work if you want to type out the COAF/ other similar application forms. There are others out there, so do let me know if you know a better one. What I like about this is that its webbased, so you don't need to bother installing anything, and can use it on a computer where you aren't the administrator.
Happy Teacher's Day!
I've upload a few pictures of an example of how this programme might work if you want to type out the COAF/ other similar application forms. There are others out there, so do let me know if you know a better one. What I like about this is that its webbased, so you don't need to bother installing anything, and can use it on a computer where you aren't the administrator.
Happy Teacher's Day!
Monday, May 17, 2010
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Cambridge applications part 2
Just to supplement Lay Kuan's post:
I applied for Natural Sciences (Biological) at Cambridge last year, and there were some things that I did differently for the COAF.
Are there any aspects of the course at Cambridge that attracted you to apply here?
I like the flexibility of the syllabus in the first year, and how the course narrows down until you eventually pick your area of specialisation in third year. I'd like to see how high school subjects (sciences at least) are taught in university before making a final decision.
Were you able to take all the AS and A level (or equivalent) subjects you wanted? Please comment.
I found it interesting that Lay Kuan said "yes" because I was instructed by Mr Allan to say "no". I wrote "No. The school only offers math and science APs."
Please outline briefly the MAIN areas/topics you have already covered in each of your AS level and A level/IB (or equivalent) subjects:
Let me say here that this is the most annoying part of the COAF. You need to squeeze all the topics into the tiny box they give you.
English - Essay: discursive, argumentative; summary writing; comprehension; critical evaluation; debate
Major in Mathematics - Statistics, calculus, sequences, series, math induction, vectors, indices, surds, sets, coordinate geometry, functions, matrices, trigonometry, inequalities, complex numbers
Major in Chemistry - Equilibria, phase chemistry, electrochemistry, kinetics, thermodynamics, periodicity, molecular structure, organic chemistry, inorganic chemistry, chem synthesis
Major with honours in Chemistry - Aromatics, nucleophilic addition, reactions at alpha-carbon, organometallics, biochemistry, MS/IR/UV/NMR spectroscopy, plate theory, GC, HPLC
Major in Biology - Cell biology, plant and animal anatomy and physiology, genetics, evolution, ethology, ecology, biosystematics, biochemistry, molecular biology
(Ethology is the "cheem" term for animal behaviour and biosystematics is how life is catalogued, i.e. all the stuff you memorised for Biodiversity).
Major with honours in Biology - Functions and adaptations of plants and animals; enzymes; protein extraction, detection, purification; bioinformatics
Major in Music - History (Baroque to modern), music theory, composition, appreciation, technology, aural training, music in cultural persepctives, performance, senior recital
Qualifications completed
I did spam as much as possible here. Besides English and my majors, I also added in Olympiads, APs, and book prizes.
Optional additional personal statement
I feel that Cambridge is the right school for me because of its rare lecture and supervision system. I have always been able to learn more in small-group environments; not only because I can clarify any doubts I have, but also because I can also ask about topics outside the syllabus, should my interest lead me. It gives me a clearer understanding of the details, and helps me make connections to form the whole picture.
Reference
A note from personal experience: The best referee to get is someone still teaching in school. If your preferred referee has left, you can ask him/her to write as long as it's been less than a year since that teacher left. Do not, I repeat, do not be "garang" like me and ask an ex-teacher who is living overseas. Getting your reference written and obtaining all the necessary signatures is hard enough without adding bodies of water between both of you into the mix.
---
My interview was in November and because I was applying for Natural Sciences, I had to sit for the TSA (thinking skills assessment). I might have written about it before; I can't remember. It's a 90-minute MCQ test of mathematical and logical reasoning skills. If you go to the TSA website you can try a mock test and get a feel for some of questions. Let's just say that while I was tackling it, the first half was pretty okay and I was done in half an hour, but the second half took the remaining hour.
The last question was particularly hellish. It's a question I will never forget. Basically they gave a drawing of three sides of a die, with the usual "two opposing sides always add up to seven". Then they gave pictures of five other dice. I had to identify which of the five dice was not the die in the question. Now you would think it would be something like a misplaced face (four dots where there should be three dots). But no, it wasn't. What was different about the wrong die was that the three dots were aligned in the opposite direction (instead of top left to bottom right, it was top right to bottom left). Charming.
Anyway the actual interview was about a week after that, and I wrote rather extensively about it here. My interviewer was Dr R J Barnes, a senior admissions tutor at Emmanuel College, which coincidentally was the college that I'd applied for. Usually the overseas interviewers simply forward their comments to your college's admissions tutor, but in my case, my interviewer was my college's admissions tutor, so he was essentially THE ONE deciding my place. Imagine that.
By the way, when you go in, it might be a good idea to carry your questions on a piece of paper, or you might end up like me, forgetting all my questions and asking a really dumb one: "are there really as many ducks in Emmanuel's ponds as the website says?"
So that was that. After the interview it was a semi-grueling two-month wait (I say semi-grueling even though it was a torture at the time; trust me, waiting for US results is much worse) until early January. It was a week after the official release date that I received my acceptance letter from Emmanuel in the mail. I was offered an unconditional place. I think I might frame up that letter just for the sake of it.
P.S. Dr Barnes happens look at your Facebook profile, too, though it probably doesn't play a role in admissions.
I applied for Natural Sciences (Biological) at Cambridge last year, and there were some things that I did differently for the COAF.
Are there any aspects of the course at Cambridge that attracted you to apply here?
I like the flexibility of the syllabus in the first year, and how the course narrows down until you eventually pick your area of specialisation in third year. I'd like to see how high school subjects (sciences at least) are taught in university before making a final decision.
Were you able to take all the AS and A level (or equivalent) subjects you wanted? Please comment.
I found it interesting that Lay Kuan said "yes" because I was instructed by Mr Allan to say "no". I wrote "No. The school only offers math and science APs."
Please outline briefly the MAIN areas/topics you have already covered in each of your AS level and A level/IB (or equivalent) subjects:
Let me say here that this is the most annoying part of the COAF. You need to squeeze all the topics into the tiny box they give you.
English - Essay: discursive, argumentative; summary writing; comprehension; critical evaluation; debate
Major in Mathematics - Statistics, calculus, sequences, series, math induction, vectors, indices, surds, sets, coordinate geometry, functions, matrices, trigonometry, inequalities, complex numbers
Major in Chemistry - Equilibria, phase chemistry, electrochemistry, kinetics, thermodynamics, periodicity, molecular structure, organic chemistry, inorganic chemistry, chem synthesis
Major with honours in Chemistry - Aromatics, nucleophilic addition, reactions at alpha-carbon, organometallics, biochemistry, MS/IR/UV/NMR spectroscopy, plate theory, GC, HPLC
Major in Biology - Cell biology, plant and animal anatomy and physiology, genetics, evolution, ethology, ecology, biosystematics, biochemistry, molecular biology
(Ethology is the "cheem" term for animal behaviour and biosystematics is how life is catalogued, i.e. all the stuff you memorised for Biodiversity).
Major with honours in Biology - Functions and adaptations of plants and animals; enzymes; protein extraction, detection, purification; bioinformatics
Major in Music - History (Baroque to modern), music theory, composition, appreciation, technology, aural training, music in cultural persepctives, performance, senior recital
Qualifications completed
I did spam as much as possible here. Besides English and my majors, I also added in Olympiads, APs, and book prizes.
Optional additional personal statement
I feel that Cambridge is the right school for me because of its rare lecture and supervision system. I have always been able to learn more in small-group environments; not only because I can clarify any doubts I have, but also because I can also ask about topics outside the syllabus, should my interest lead me. It gives me a clearer understanding of the details, and helps me make connections to form the whole picture.
Reference
A note from personal experience: The best referee to get is someone still teaching in school. If your preferred referee has left, you can ask him/her to write as long as it's been less than a year since that teacher left. Do not, I repeat, do not be "garang" like me and ask an ex-teacher who is living overseas. Getting your reference written and obtaining all the necessary signatures is hard enough without adding bodies of water between both of you into the mix.
---
My interview was in November and because I was applying for Natural Sciences, I had to sit for the TSA (thinking skills assessment). I might have written about it before; I can't remember. It's a 90-minute MCQ test of mathematical and logical reasoning skills. If you go to the TSA website you can try a mock test and get a feel for some of questions. Let's just say that while I was tackling it, the first half was pretty okay and I was done in half an hour, but the second half took the remaining hour.
The last question was particularly hellish. It's a question I will never forget. Basically they gave a drawing of three sides of a die, with the usual "two opposing sides always add up to seven". Then they gave pictures of five other dice. I had to identify which of the five dice was not the die in the question. Now you would think it would be something like a misplaced face (four dots where there should be three dots). But no, it wasn't. What was different about the wrong die was that the three dots were aligned in the opposite direction (instead of top left to bottom right, it was top right to bottom left). Charming.
Anyway the actual interview was about a week after that, and I wrote rather extensively about it here. My interviewer was Dr R J Barnes, a senior admissions tutor at Emmanuel College, which coincidentally was the college that I'd applied for. Usually the overseas interviewers simply forward their comments to your college's admissions tutor, but in my case, my interviewer was my college's admissions tutor, so he was essentially THE ONE deciding my place. Imagine that.
By the way, when you go in, it might be a good idea to carry your questions on a piece of paper, or you might end up like me, forgetting all my questions and asking a really dumb one: "are there really as many ducks in Emmanuel's ponds as the website says?"
So that was that. After the interview it was a semi-grueling two-month wait (I say semi-grueling even though it was a torture at the time; trust me, waiting for US results is much worse) until early January. It was a week after the official release date that I received my acceptance letter from Emmanuel in the mail. I was offered an unconditional place. I think I might frame up that letter just for the sake of it.
P.S. Dr Barnes happens look at your Facebook profile, too, though it probably doesn't play a role in admissions.
Cambridge Applications
As an overseas applicant from outside the EU, I had to download the Cambridge Overseas Application Form from here.
The form there is a pdf, so you most print out the hardcopy and physically take a pen to write everything in. My post here is on showing what I wrote for the sections in the form which may not be completely self explanatory. Please note that since the form must be filled in by hand, you need to plan carefully how to squeeze in everything you want to write. Be prepared to fill in the form multiple times as you are bound to make mistakes on a paper form. I redid my form at least five times to make sure there were no visible mistakes.
The course I applied for was Mathematics. More specifically, Mathematics with Physics, a course which allows you to choose to take the natural sciences track (physical) after your first year in Cambridge if you choose to do so. If you are planning to do Mathematics at Cambridge, or UK, do think about taking the STEP the year you apply, as taking the STEP is compulsory for students seeking to do Mathematics at Cambridge. I didn’t plan to apply for Mathematics at Cambridge at first; I had planned to do Physics initially, so I received the STEP as part of my conditional offer.
***
Are there any aspects of the course at Cambridge that attracted you to apply here?
I have a deep interest in both Mathematics and Physics, so the Mathematical Tripos is very attractive as it provides a rigorous grounding in both subjects, which are highly dependent on each other. The Mathematics department has world class research laboratories in many areas of Physics which I am interested in, such as Astrophysics. I hope to eventually take up a research project in my time there if admitted. I intend to apply for Mathematics with Physics as it allows me to decide later on if I prefer to specialize in Physics, or continue with Mathematics. I believe the rigorous grounding in Mathematics at Cambridge would enable me to succeed in whichever path I choose to take.
Fees and Funding
Residential category as given on your UCAS application: other
Fee code as given on your UCAS application: 09 overseas Agency
Source of funding(?): Scholarship application pending: Agency for Science, Technology, and Research; Defence Science and Technology Agency.
Were you able to take all the AS and A level (or equivalent) subjects you wanted? Please comment.
Yes, NUS High School being a school specially catered for mathematically and scientifically inclined students allowed me to read triple sciences and Mathematics.
Approximately how many students were/ are in your classes last year and this year?
Average size of class: Put the number of students in your ENTIRE level. My year was 88, so I wrote that in.
Level: NUS High School Diploma.
Subject: English Language; Mathematics major with honours; Biology major with honours; chemistry major with honours; physics major with honours
Can your school of college provide extra lessons, or other help if needed, to support preparation for Cambridge applicants?
No
Qualifications completed
List everything that gives bragging rights here. Even if you have already wrote them on the UCAS online form.
Example:
Date taken: 08/2009
Awarding body: Australia Science Innovations
Subject: Rio Tinto Big Science Competition
Level: Grade 12
Result: Distinction
Qualifications being studied/ not yet completed
List your schools
Example:
Month.Year: 12/2009
Awarding body: 1P/ Diploma
Subject: Biology Major with Honours
Level: NUS High School Diploma
Leave blank (I cancelled this out and wrote “Cumulative results so far”): 4.57/5.00
SAT Results
Example:
Date taken: 06/2009
Test: SAT II
Results: Biology(M), 790/800
Planning to retake: No
Modular AS/A level units taken
N/A
Modular AS/A level units currently being studied
N/A
Personal Statement
Enclose a copy of your UCAS personal statement
Optional additional personal statement
As an incorrigible scientist with a passion for the arts, I believe Churchill College will be a good fit for me because it emphasizes science and technology as well as humanities and the arts, which I believe complement each other. Subjects such as political science increasingly rely on analytical techniques like game theory to predict and explain outcomes, while research increasingly needs to take into account ethics before deciding on further directions. One hobby of mine is knitting and crocheting. There s a certain rigid pattern to making beautiful knitted pieces because one must be careful about the regularity of the knitting stitches done. The mathematical structure underlying lacy patterns fascinates me. for example, one must be careful with how the yfwd increase correlates with a knit decrease to scallop the edge of the piece evenly. There are many existing patterns, and I believe there are yet more beautiful patterns which can be discovered more quickly with the aid of a computer. Personally, I would prefer to research crochet patterns as most of them till today cannot be reproduced by machines, a great pity as crochet is admittedly a very tedious process if one is short of time, an all too common phenomenon today.
Very long paragraph to write, you can imagine what pains I took to squeeze it in that tiny space given in the form. Don’t hesitate to throw away a page if you think it’s smudged and doesn’t look nice.
Reference
Ask your referee to fill this part in. For the predicted grades, last year we were told to put down our average CAPs for your subject combination we had at the point of applying. Also ask your referee to print a copy of the reference he wrote for your UCAS application.
Payment
When you paid online to apply to Cambridge (£55 last year), you will receive an email receipt. Print this out and enclose in your application.
Notes
Photocopy/ scan a few copies of your Cambridge application form. Give a set to the college counselor and keep one for yourself. Just in case something gets lost in the mail, and also for you to read before your interview, to remind yourself of what you wrote. Some people choose to send a copy of the NUS High Diploma to Cambridge after it was ready. Not something I did, but it sounds like a good idea to me.
***
There was supposed to be a get-together for all the Cambridge applicants at our school to group in the college counselor's office together and send off everything at one go. However, I did not join them as I had to fix a mistake I made. To avoid being late, I got Fedex (speed postal service) to send it over.
***
A few months later, about everyone who applied got an email asking them to take a test and interview held at HCJC. For me, my test came first. It was a test on mathematics questions. To practice for it, I downloaded past year STEP papers and practiced them, and fished out my sister’s old A Level Mathematics papers and did them. Even then, I couldn’t finish the paper.
My interview was held a few days later. The night before, I practiced somemore STEP questions. I also checked the Cambridge website to view the mock interviews for an application for Mathematics. The interview is almost purely academic; you will be asked to tackle Mathematics questions. I arrived half an hour early and waited outside.
My interviewer was a Dr. Stuart Martin. I was told that the friend of a friend had him as an interviewer a few years back also. If you've played "pass the message", some things get lost in transit. When I first got into the (cold) interview room, Dr. Martin was looking through what looked like a photocopy of my Cambridge application form. There were also lots of pieces of blank paper and pens lying around on the table, so the interviewer could write down a question and the applicant could do their working there. He saw that I had written something on liking astrophysics, so I got a question relating to differentiation and the Hubble constant. I managed to do it.
My next question was on number theory. I got half the question correct. If I had more time, I could have done the whole thing, but well… The question was: When we consider all the prime numbers between two powers of 10, e.g. numbers between 50 to 60, we have 11, 13, 17, 19 as the primes between 10 and 20. Can this scenario ever be repeated?
After that, he told me a bit about Churchill College, and that Mathematics with Physics is one of the toughest courses in Cambridge. I was also asked what would happen if I didn’t succeed in getting a scholarship to Cambridge in the event I was given a place.
Admit rate to Mathematics at Cambridge
A very reliable source in our school (someone within the senior admin) said that one to two people from Singapore get admitted each year as the Mathematics course is very competitive and tough. However, a current mathmo (slang for a mathematics student at Cambridge) told me that Cambridge tends to offer more places to applicants seeking admission for Mathematics, since they think that some people might not be able to fulfill the STEP condition. You decide what to think.
After I was awarded a conditional place in Newnham College (for women only), I was sent an application form for a partial grant from the Cambridge Bursary fund. I had to do a writeup on things like: Why I wanted to study at Cambridge, my ambitions, interests, and achievements. I also had to ask a referee to answer some questions. I was told to mail in financial proof of an estimate of my funds available.
In almost every school, your showing proof of being able to finance your way throughout your years there is a condition of matriculation, even if you have already been admitted.
The form there is a pdf, so you most print out the hardcopy and physically take a pen to write everything in. My post here is on showing what I wrote for the sections in the form which may not be completely self explanatory. Please note that since the form must be filled in by hand, you need to plan carefully how to squeeze in everything you want to write. Be prepared to fill in the form multiple times as you are bound to make mistakes on a paper form. I redid my form at least five times to make sure there were no visible mistakes.
The course I applied for was Mathematics. More specifically, Mathematics with Physics, a course which allows you to choose to take the natural sciences track (physical) after your first year in Cambridge if you choose to do so. If you are planning to do Mathematics at Cambridge, or UK, do think about taking the STEP the year you apply, as taking the STEP is compulsory for students seeking to do Mathematics at Cambridge. I didn’t plan to apply for Mathematics at Cambridge at first; I had planned to do Physics initially, so I received the STEP as part of my conditional offer.
***
Are there any aspects of the course at Cambridge that attracted you to apply here?
I have a deep interest in both Mathematics and Physics, so the Mathematical Tripos is very attractive as it provides a rigorous grounding in both subjects, which are highly dependent on each other. The Mathematics department has world class research laboratories in many areas of Physics which I am interested in, such as Astrophysics. I hope to eventually take up a research project in my time there if admitted. I intend to apply for Mathematics with Physics as it allows me to decide later on if I prefer to specialize in Physics, or continue with Mathematics. I believe the rigorous grounding in Mathematics at Cambridge would enable me to succeed in whichever path I choose to take.
Fees and Funding
Residential category as given on your UCAS application: other
Fee code as given on your UCAS application: 09 overseas Agency
Source of funding(?): Scholarship application pending: Agency for Science, Technology, and Research; Defence Science and Technology Agency.
Were you able to take all the AS and A level (or equivalent) subjects you wanted? Please comment.
Yes, NUS High School being a school specially catered for mathematically and scientifically inclined students allowed me to read triple sciences and Mathematics.
Approximately how many students were/ are in your classes last year and this year?
Average size of class: Put the number of students in your ENTIRE level. My year was 88, so I wrote that in.
Level: NUS High School Diploma.
Subject: English Language; Mathematics major with honours; Biology major with honours; chemistry major with honours; physics major with honours
Can your school of college provide extra lessons, or other help if needed, to support preparation for Cambridge applicants?
No
Qualifications completed
List everything that gives bragging rights here. Even if you have already wrote them on the UCAS online form.
Example:
Date taken: 08/2009
Awarding body: Australia Science Innovations
Subject: Rio Tinto Big Science Competition
Level: Grade 12
Result: Distinction
Qualifications being studied/ not yet completed
List your schools
Example:
Month.Year: 12/2009
Awarding body: 1P/ Diploma
Subject: Biology Major with Honours
Level: NUS High School Diploma
Leave blank (I cancelled this out and wrote “Cumulative results so far”): 4.57/5.00
SAT Results
Example:
Date taken: 06/2009
Test: SAT II
Results: Biology(M), 790/800
Planning to retake: No
Modular AS/A level units taken
N/A
Modular AS/A level units currently being studied
N/A
Personal Statement
Enclose a copy of your UCAS personal statement
Optional additional personal statement
As an incorrigible scientist with a passion for the arts, I believe Churchill College will be a good fit for me because it emphasizes science and technology as well as humanities and the arts, which I believe complement each other. Subjects such as political science increasingly rely on analytical techniques like game theory to predict and explain outcomes, while research increasingly needs to take into account ethics before deciding on further directions. One hobby of mine is knitting and crocheting. There s a certain rigid pattern to making beautiful knitted pieces because one must be careful about the regularity of the knitting stitches done. The mathematical structure underlying lacy patterns fascinates me. for example, one must be careful with how the yfwd increase correlates with a knit decrease to scallop the edge of the piece evenly. There are many existing patterns, and I believe there are yet more beautiful patterns which can be discovered more quickly with the aid of a computer. Personally, I would prefer to research crochet patterns as most of them till today cannot be reproduced by machines, a great pity as crochet is admittedly a very tedious process if one is short of time, an all too common phenomenon today.
Very long paragraph to write, you can imagine what pains I took to squeeze it in that tiny space given in the form. Don’t hesitate to throw away a page if you think it’s smudged and doesn’t look nice.
Reference
Ask your referee to fill this part in. For the predicted grades, last year we were told to put down our average CAPs for your subject combination we had at the point of applying. Also ask your referee to print a copy of the reference he wrote for your UCAS application.
Payment
When you paid online to apply to Cambridge (£55 last year), you will receive an email receipt. Print this out and enclose in your application.
Notes
Photocopy/ scan a few copies of your Cambridge application form. Give a set to the college counselor and keep one for yourself. Just in case something gets lost in the mail, and also for you to read before your interview, to remind yourself of what you wrote. Some people choose to send a copy of the NUS High Diploma to Cambridge after it was ready. Not something I did, but it sounds like a good idea to me.
***
There was supposed to be a get-together for all the Cambridge applicants at our school to group in the college counselor's office together and send off everything at one go. However, I did not join them as I had to fix a mistake I made. To avoid being late, I got Fedex (speed postal service) to send it over.
***
A few months later, about everyone who applied got an email asking them to take a test and interview held at HCJC. For me, my test came first. It was a test on mathematics questions. To practice for it, I downloaded past year STEP papers and practiced them, and fished out my sister’s old A Level Mathematics papers and did them. Even then, I couldn’t finish the paper.
My interview was held a few days later. The night before, I practiced somemore STEP questions. I also checked the Cambridge website to view the mock interviews for an application for Mathematics. The interview is almost purely academic; you will be asked to tackle Mathematics questions. I arrived half an hour early and waited outside.
My interviewer was a Dr. Stuart Martin. I was told that the friend of a friend had him as an interviewer a few years back also. If you've played "pass the message", some things get lost in transit. When I first got into the (cold) interview room, Dr. Martin was looking through what looked like a photocopy of my Cambridge application form. There were also lots of pieces of blank paper and pens lying around on the table, so the interviewer could write down a question and the applicant could do their working there. He saw that I had written something on liking astrophysics, so I got a question relating to differentiation and the Hubble constant. I managed to do it.
My next question was on number theory. I got half the question correct. If I had more time, I could have done the whole thing, but well… The question was: When we consider all the prime numbers between two powers of 10, e.g. numbers between 50 to 60, we have 11, 13, 17, 19 as the primes between 10 and 20. Can this scenario ever be repeated?
After that, he told me a bit about Churchill College, and that Mathematics with Physics is one of the toughest courses in Cambridge. I was also asked what would happen if I didn’t succeed in getting a scholarship to Cambridge in the event I was given a place.
Admit rate to Mathematics at Cambridge
A very reliable source in our school (someone within the senior admin) said that one to two people from Singapore get admitted each year as the Mathematics course is very competitive and tough. However, a current mathmo (slang for a mathematics student at Cambridge) told me that Cambridge tends to offer more places to applicants seeking admission for Mathematics, since they think that some people might not be able to fulfill the STEP condition. You decide what to think.
After I was awarded a conditional place in Newnham College (for women only), I was sent an application form for a partial grant from the Cambridge Bursary fund. I had to do a writeup on things like: Why I wanted to study at Cambridge, my ambitions, interests, and achievements. I also had to ask a referee to answer some questions. I was told to mail in financial proof of an estimate of my funds available.
In almost every school, your showing proof of being able to finance your way throughout your years there is a condition of matriculation, even if you have already been admitted.
Friday, May 7, 2010
The UCAS application process
To apply to UK, you need to have a UCAS online account, as well as your school’s buzz-pass, which the college counselor will provide. For every other school in UK (I think), all you need to do is to fill up the UCAS form, choose the school, and click submit.
Except, of course, for Oxbridge. Personally, I applied to Cambridge, so I will do a write-up later on applying there. As you should know by now if you are applying this year, you may only apply to either Oxford or Cambridge to do an undergraduate degree, not both. Oxford and Cambridge are traditionally the most sought after schools in the UK, so you can imagine why they have this policy, especially considering that they have a more detailed selection process for candidates.
The UCAS form has several sections. The “Personal details’ one is quite self explanatory, except for the “Date of first entry to UK”. If you have been to UK before, write… the date which you entered it. Otherwise, put the approximate date of entry into the UK if you were to matriculate into the college of your choice which has the earliest starting date (you may choose five colleges to apply to).
For the Residential category, put ‘other’ if you are a non EU member like me. And before I forget, in the section where you register your name, there’s this drop down list where you can choose your title. There’s a huge selection of titles to choose from, including titles such as ‘Lord’, ‘Lady’, ‘Prince’, ‘Your Royal Highness’, ‘Admiral’, etc. As the college counselor told us at the briefing last year, choose ‘Mr’ if you are male, ‘Ms’ or ‘Miss’ if you are female (I assume you are unmarried here), or good luck with trying to get in!
For the ‘Student Support’ category, choose ’09 Overseas Agency; if you are planning to pay your way through college by getting a scholarship from some Singapore government agency like me, or the title which best describes your financial plans.
“Nominated access”: This is what you put in case UCAS has urgent need to contact you but is unable to for some reason. Your nominee will receive the information on your behalf and pass it to you, so put a family member or school staff member you know will be willing to do this for you.
For “My choices”, I choose:
1. University of Bristol; Mathematics with Physics
2. University of Cambridge, Churchill College, Mathematics
3. Imperial College London; Physics with Theoretical Physics
4. University College London (University of London); Mathematics with Mathematical Physics
5. The University of Warwick; Mathematics with Physics.
For “courses”, you can choose up to five different courses, but do not choose courses which are too radically different from each other as you cannot modify your application to suit each college on UCAS. For US applications, however, this is possible. My courses, while different, allowed me to talk about why I wanted to study Mathematics and/ or Physics, which are quite closely interlinked anyway. What I am saying is do not ask to apply for PPE in Oxford but Chemical Engineering in Imperial College, or you will have to sacrifice something when writing your UCAS essay – to write about why you want to do PPE or why you wish to study Chemical Engineering?
In all choices, I said I did not want to live at home (impossible for me when my permanent address is in Singapore) and did not wish to defer entry. Guys should list differently from me on whether they wish to defer entry or not. Even if you are only interested in applying to say, Oxford, I’ll advice selecting four more colleges to apply to anyway, since you are going to pay the same amount for the application even if you only applied to Oxford alone. It’s always advisable to apply to more than fewer schools due to the uncertainty inherent in college applications in any case.
Education: List everything that gives you bragging rights here. If it’s not listed in the drop down list of qualifications, put if under “Other (International Non-EU Qualifications)”. If you are unsure which school to list them under, put it under NUS High, or the school you were studying in when you earned that qualification. For example, if I got Silver in the Singapore Chemistry Olympiad in 2008, the drop down list does not have such a qualification. So what I did was list in under “National University of Singapore”, under “Other (International Non-EU Qualifications)”, and type the name of the competition and the results I obtained there.
When you want to list you NUS High Results, list the average CAPs you have attained so far. When you apply to UCAS, you likely have not got your NUS High Diploma yet.
“Employment” If you have not held a paid job before, check the box but leave the section blank. Most Singaporeans are not employed at this time in their lives, so don’t worry too much about leaving the section blank. If you are already in NS by the time you apply, presumably you can list this fact down here.
“Personal Statement”: I’ve already uploaded the personal statement I wrote when I applied, as did Ying Zhen, so go have a look if you want examples on how to craft it. UCAS gives guidelines on how to write a personal statement here: http://www.ucas.ac.uk/students/applying/howtoapply/personalstatement/ Please type your personal statement separately and review it before uploading to UCAS, since the system has a timer which will log you out if you are inactive on a UCAS page for too long. The UCAS website also states “You can enter up to 4000 characters (this includes spaces) or 47 lines of text (this includes blank lines), whichever comes first.” So mind you be careful of how much you write as you go along, or you’ll have to do some serious editing when you try to upload your essay. The system will warn you if your essay is over the character limit when you upload your essay.
After everything is done and you are happy, click “submit”. If you truly made a horrible mistake in your application, you can ask the college counselor to “return application to applicant” on his side, but please try not to do that too often as it will inconvenience the counselors.
Referees: You must ask one referee (likely your school teacher) to submit a writeup about you, also not more than 4000 characters with spaces or 47 lines of text long. You can send the application online to your referee. The referee can submit their portion online or ask the college counselor to input it for them.
After you “submit”, you have to pay a fee. See this page for the details. http://www.ucas.ac.uk/students/applying/howtoapply/cost It’s not very expensive, certainly less than the cost of applying to Oxbridge or the US.
I sent in my application in early September due to the early Cambridge deadline for international students. UCL was the first college to accept me, one month later.
When a college makes a decision about you, UCAS will automatically send you an email to inform you of the status change. To see what has happened, follow the instructions given in the email to login to UCAS Track to check your status. I got an unconditional offer from UCL. If you have been offered a place, usually the college will send you a package containing information on them and the course you choose.
Bristol was the next college to accept me. It was a conditional offer. I was asked to get CAP > 4.00, which I fulfilled, and also a score of > 6.5 for all components in the IETLS, which I eventually decided not to fulfill. The IETLS is like the UK version of the TOEFL.
In around November I was called for interviews and test for my Cambridge application, which I will write about separately. Sometime after that, I was given a letter from Cambridge asking me to sign a release form for my application to be sent to all Cambridge colleges for review in the event I was pooled. (I guess I should have figured out I had been pooled then.)
In the second week of January, the Western world reopened after the Christmas break. I got an email saying I had been pooled into Newnham College. The formal letter took a couple more weeks to come, and I realized I gotten a conditional offer: I had to achieve grade I or higher for STEP II and III, and score > 7.0 or above for all components of the IETLS.
Imperial College gave me an unconditional offer in around February or March. Warwick I think was the last to reach a decision. I got an unconditional offer from both schools. Once all my colleges had reached a decision, I was told to reply to my offers no later the 7 June, 2010.
Except, of course, for Oxbridge. Personally, I applied to Cambridge, so I will do a write-up later on applying there. As you should know by now if you are applying this year, you may only apply to either Oxford or Cambridge to do an undergraduate degree, not both. Oxford and Cambridge are traditionally the most sought after schools in the UK, so you can imagine why they have this policy, especially considering that they have a more detailed selection process for candidates.
The UCAS form has several sections. The “Personal details’ one is quite self explanatory, except for the “Date of first entry to UK”. If you have been to UK before, write… the date which you entered it. Otherwise, put the approximate date of entry into the UK if you were to matriculate into the college of your choice which has the earliest starting date (you may choose five colleges to apply to).
For the Residential category, put ‘other’ if you are a non EU member like me. And before I forget, in the section where you register your name, there’s this drop down list where you can choose your title. There’s a huge selection of titles to choose from, including titles such as ‘Lord’, ‘Lady’, ‘Prince’, ‘Your Royal Highness’, ‘Admiral’, etc. As the college counselor told us at the briefing last year, choose ‘Mr’ if you are male, ‘Ms’ or ‘Miss’ if you are female (I assume you are unmarried here), or good luck with trying to get in!
For the ‘Student Support’ category, choose ’09 Overseas Agency; if you are planning to pay your way through college by getting a scholarship from some Singapore government agency like me, or the title which best describes your financial plans.
“Nominated access”: This is what you put in case UCAS has urgent need to contact you but is unable to for some reason. Your nominee will receive the information on your behalf and pass it to you, so put a family member or school staff member you know will be willing to do this for you.
For “My choices”, I choose:
1. University of Bristol; Mathematics with Physics
2. University of Cambridge, Churchill College, Mathematics
3. Imperial College London; Physics with Theoretical Physics
4. University College London (University of London); Mathematics with Mathematical Physics
5. The University of Warwick; Mathematics with Physics.
For “courses”, you can choose up to five different courses, but do not choose courses which are too radically different from each other as you cannot modify your application to suit each college on UCAS. For US applications, however, this is possible. My courses, while different, allowed me to talk about why I wanted to study Mathematics and/ or Physics, which are quite closely interlinked anyway. What I am saying is do not ask to apply for PPE in Oxford but Chemical Engineering in Imperial College, or you will have to sacrifice something when writing your UCAS essay – to write about why you want to do PPE or why you wish to study Chemical Engineering?
In all choices, I said I did not want to live at home (impossible for me when my permanent address is in Singapore) and did not wish to defer entry. Guys should list differently from me on whether they wish to defer entry or not. Even if you are only interested in applying to say, Oxford, I’ll advice selecting four more colleges to apply to anyway, since you are going to pay the same amount for the application even if you only applied to Oxford alone. It’s always advisable to apply to more than fewer schools due to the uncertainty inherent in college applications in any case.
Education: List everything that gives you bragging rights here. If it’s not listed in the drop down list of qualifications, put if under “Other (International Non-EU Qualifications)”. If you are unsure which school to list them under, put it under NUS High, or the school you were studying in when you earned that qualification. For example, if I got Silver in the Singapore Chemistry Olympiad in 2008, the drop down list does not have such a qualification. So what I did was list in under “National University of Singapore”, under “Other (International Non-EU Qualifications)”, and type the name of the competition and the results I obtained there.
When you want to list you NUS High Results, list the average CAPs you have attained so far. When you apply to UCAS, you likely have not got your NUS High Diploma yet.
“Employment” If you have not held a paid job before, check the box but leave the section blank. Most Singaporeans are not employed at this time in their lives, so don’t worry too much about leaving the section blank. If you are already in NS by the time you apply, presumably you can list this fact down here.
“Personal Statement”: I’ve already uploaded the personal statement I wrote when I applied, as did Ying Zhen, so go have a look if you want examples on how to craft it. UCAS gives guidelines on how to write a personal statement here: http://www.ucas.ac.uk/students/applying/howtoapply/personalstatement/ Please type your personal statement separately and review it before uploading to UCAS, since the system has a timer which will log you out if you are inactive on a UCAS page for too long. The UCAS website also states “You can enter up to 4000 characters (this includes spaces) or 47 lines of text (this includes blank lines), whichever comes first.” So mind you be careful of how much you write as you go along, or you’ll have to do some serious editing when you try to upload your essay. The system will warn you if your essay is over the character limit when you upload your essay.
After everything is done and you are happy, click “submit”. If you truly made a horrible mistake in your application, you can ask the college counselor to “return application to applicant” on his side, but please try not to do that too often as it will inconvenience the counselors.
Referees: You must ask one referee (likely your school teacher) to submit a writeup about you, also not more than 4000 characters with spaces or 47 lines of text long. You can send the application online to your referee. The referee can submit their portion online or ask the college counselor to input it for them.
After you “submit”, you have to pay a fee. See this page for the details. http://www.ucas.ac.uk/students/applying/howtoapply/cost It’s not very expensive, certainly less than the cost of applying to Oxbridge or the US.
I sent in my application in early September due to the early Cambridge deadline for international students. UCL was the first college to accept me, one month later.
When a college makes a decision about you, UCAS will automatically send you an email to inform you of the status change. To see what has happened, follow the instructions given in the email to login to UCAS Track to check your status. I got an unconditional offer from UCL. If you have been offered a place, usually the college will send you a package containing information on them and the course you choose.
Bristol was the next college to accept me. It was a conditional offer. I was asked to get CAP > 4.00, which I fulfilled, and also a score of > 6.5 for all components in the IETLS, which I eventually decided not to fulfill. The IETLS is like the UK version of the TOEFL.
In around November I was called for interviews and test for my Cambridge application, which I will write about separately. Sometime after that, I was given a letter from Cambridge asking me to sign a release form for my application to be sent to all Cambridge colleges for review in the event I was pooled. (I guess I should have figured out I had been pooled then.)
In the second week of January, the Western world reopened after the Christmas break. I got an email saying I had been pooled into Newnham College. The formal letter took a couple more weeks to come, and I realized I gotten a conditional offer: I had to achieve grade I or higher for STEP II and III, and score > 7.0 or above for all components of the IETLS.
Imperial College gave me an unconditional offer in around February or March. Warwick I think was the last to reach a decision. I got an unconditional offer from both schools. Once all my colleges had reached a decision, I was told to reply to my offers no later the 7 June, 2010.
Information you should give your referees
Fiona has done a write up about who should write your recommendation letter. Now I will elaborate on what you should tell your referees. Both my referees were school teachers who had taught me at some point of time when I was in year 5 and 6.
First off, you should give your referees a summary of what you have done, CAPs, earned. Here is where a detailed CV will come in handy. Next, you should prepare answers to some questions the college counselor would have for everyone (see below for details). I emailed to my referees my answers to those questions. I also gave them copies of my US Common Application essay (I detailed my CCA, Chinese orchestra), and the essay I wrote for UCAS. One referee asked for samples of a piece of work I did. Besides, I sent essays on certain accomplishments I considered significant, checked up the links and everything the referee had to do in order to submit their recommendation, and gave my contact details in case they wanted to ask me for anything I missed out. Unless you and your referee were unusually close, they are unlikely to remember everything you have done, so it’s best to have a convenient list of information about you for them to refer to. It’s not as much writing as you may think; many essays can be modified to suit applications to different colleges.
Questions for you to answer
1. What have you accomplished in the last 4 years to prove you should go to a good university?
2. What makes you unique?
3. You all graduated after completing an advanced research project. What did you do? Elaborate.
4. Not everything will fit in your application. What are some of the things left out?
5. Why don’t you have all As in your transcript? (Top American High School students generally have perfect or near perfect GPAs)
When you are applying, remember that there is a time and place for everything, and this is not the time to be humble. When it comes to college applications, you’re up against tens of thousands of bright, determined, diligent students of excellent character. If you don’t show the admissions officers how you stand out among the crowd, the place might just go to someone else who could do it better than you. Be proud of what you have done, and don’t shortchange yourself.
After you have made your choices, your referees would probably like to know about them, so update them when you can.
First off, you should give your referees a summary of what you have done, CAPs, earned. Here is where a detailed CV will come in handy. Next, you should prepare answers to some questions the college counselor would have for everyone (see below for details). I emailed to my referees my answers to those questions. I also gave them copies of my US Common Application essay (I detailed my CCA, Chinese orchestra), and the essay I wrote for UCAS. One referee asked for samples of a piece of work I did. Besides, I sent essays on certain accomplishments I considered significant, checked up the links and everything the referee had to do in order to submit their recommendation, and gave my contact details in case they wanted to ask me for anything I missed out. Unless you and your referee were unusually close, they are unlikely to remember everything you have done, so it’s best to have a convenient list of information about you for them to refer to. It’s not as much writing as you may think; many essays can be modified to suit applications to different colleges.
Questions for you to answer
1. What have you accomplished in the last 4 years to prove you should go to a good university?
2. What makes you unique?
3. You all graduated after completing an advanced research project. What did you do? Elaborate.
4. Not everything will fit in your application. What are some of the things left out?
5. Why don’t you have all As in your transcript? (Top American High School students generally have perfect or near perfect GPAs)
When you are applying, remember that there is a time and place for everything, and this is not the time to be humble. When it comes to college applications, you’re up against tens of thousands of bright, determined, diligent students of excellent character. If you don’t show the admissions officers how you stand out among the crowd, the place might just go to someone else who could do it better than you. Be proud of what you have done, and don’t shortchange yourself.
After you have made your choices, your referees would probably like to know about them, so update them when you can.
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.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Useful website for UK unis
I discovered this website recently - too bad I didn't find it before applying. There are lots of articles there, including buried gems like how the pooling process really works, what the accommodation really is like, how lectures proceed, food choice, etc.
There's also a forum if you'd like to discuss stuff.
The Student Room
There's also a forum if you'd like to discuss stuff.
The Student Room
Thursday, April 23, 2009
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