Guide to applying for USA Universities 2015/2016 (including Yale-NUS)

Transcription

1 Guide to applying for USA Universities 2015/2016 (including Yale-NUS) A Before you start You will need to check the method of application and application deadlines at the websites of your desired universities. Usually, application is done through the online Common Application portal ( Yale-NUS application can be done via CommonApp or Yale-NUS website. request for predicted grades from Mrs Celine Lim (see below) Ensure you have the following: Credit card for payment of application fee addresses of your School Counselor (or school official) and 2 teacher recommenders (see below) Official transcripts of O level, PW, MT, Promo and Prelim grades Scan both sides, combine the transcripts and no more than THREE pdf files to School Counselor. Each file size must be less than 500kb. For Yale-NUS, combine all your transcripts into 1 file, less than 500kb. The promo exam and prelim exam certificates have been signed and issued to you. You should not be asking the school to re-issue these certificates. SAT / ACT test results and other test results (please check each university website for specific tests required) B Procedure for requesting for teacher references You will need to approach a suitable teacher to act as School Counselor for you. Note that your school counselor should be a teacher who knows you well both academically and nonacademically e.g. your Civics Tutor. The school counselor is NOT Mrs Celine Lim. Most top universities will require recommendations from two other teachers (preferably subject tutor). Your school counselor cannot be your teacher recommender. Please personally request your teachers to be the School Counselor and teacher recommenders by 2 Sep 2015 (for Early Action/Early Decision) 15 Oct 2015 (Regular Decision) You may send the teachers the invitation (via CommonApp) after getting permission. C Procedure for requesting for predicted grades For CommonApp applications, Mrs Celine Lim will your predicted grades directly to your School Counselor for upload into the Common Application Portal (including MIT portal and Yale- NUS). For applications that do not use CommonApp or do not require a school counselor, please ask the concerned university admissions officers for an address (or mailing address) to which the school can your predicted grades. For University of California, please leave the predicted grades column blank. Please inform Mrs Celine Lim (leow_kiat_peng_celine@moe.edu.sg) about your pending application by 15 Oct should contain Your name, class and NRIC Name and address of appointed school counselor List of universities that you intend to apply for address / mailing address that the predicted grades can be sent to (if you are not applying though CommonApp or do not require a school counselor). Provide your application number as well. D Tests All candidates should take the SAT reasoning test before application submission deadline ( Please check the website carefully for test registration deadline, test dates and test centres Some universities may require you to take additional tests i.e. SAT Subject Tests. Please check the websites for this.

2 Non-Singaporeans will have to take TOEFL Language test ( E Important deadlines to note Most US universities Regular Decision deadline is 31 Dec 2015 / 1 Jan However, please verify this by checking each university s website. The Early Decision / Early Action deadline is 1 Nov o ED can only be used for 1 university. Once accepted, you are legally bounded to enrol in the university. o EA can be used for more than 1 university and not legally bounded to enrol. F NS Deferment You need to check if the university accepts NS deferment In general, the university regarding deferment Apply next cycle if 1 year deferment allowed H Agencies EducationUSA Singapore is a good source of information if you need more advice on choosing an appropriate university ( Step by step guide to Common Application A. Account Registration 1. Access the Common Application web site and register for an account. 2. Upon successful registration, you should get an from Common Application. B. Selection of Universities 1. Click on "College Search" to start finding the universities you wish to apply to. 2. After you have added all the universities, go back to My Colleges page. You should be able to see all the universities that you have selected and added. 3. When you click on each university on your list, you should be able to see what questions and forms you have to complete for each university. 4. One of the questions may be Do you intend to pursue need-based financial aid?. Please state No unless necessary as (unless the university has a need-blind admission process) applying for financial aid may lower your chances of admission. 5. Some universities will also require you to submit supplementary forms. 6. The School Report, Midyear Report and Final Report will be uploaded by the School Counselor and Teacher Evaluations will be uploaded by your Subject or CCA teachers.

3 C. Assigning of Recommenders 1. Click on My Colleges and select the first university. 2. Click on Assign Recommenders 3. You will have to complete the FERPA release authorisation. You should waive your right to review all recommendations and supporting documents. Sign the waiver by typing your name, and click 'Save'. 4. You will be returned to the 'Assign Recommenders' page. Click on 'Invite Counselor'. 5. For 'Type' select 'Counselor'. Then enter your Civics Tutor s address Click 'Send Invite'. 6. Repeat the process to invite teachers who will be writing your subject recommendation letters. 7. Once you have completed your invitations, click 'Close' at the bottom of the page. You will be returned to the 'Assign Recommenders' page. 8. Click the 'Assign' button next to your subject tutors' names to assign them as your subject recommenders. 9. Note that Teachers are preferably your subject teachers while CCA teachers fall under the category of Other Recommenders. D. Common App Form Profile and Family 1. Under Profile, when you are asked if you qualify for application fee waiver, click No. If you really need to have a fee waiver, please approach Mrs Celine Lim. E. Common App Form - Education School 1. Click on Find School and search for Nanyang Junior College 2. Fill in the following: Date of Entry: January 2014 Is this a boarding school? No Graduation Date: 31 December Under Counselor, fill in the appropriate teachers s name and contact details Other School 1. Indicate your primary and secondary school 2. You will need to provide some information about your previous schools (Name and Location of School, CEEB Code (leave blank if the system does not have it), Dates Attended) Education Interruption Do not check any boxes College/University Courses Indicate zero CBO Indicate zero

4 Grades 1. Under Class Rank Reporting, click None 2. Under Graduating class size, type Leave GPA fields empty Current Year Courses 1. Include Project Work, H3, and Mother Tongue, if taken in JC. 2. The average student who doesn't take H3 will report 7 courses. 3. H2 courses are considered AP equivalent, and H3 courses are honors equivalent. H1 is not equivalent to anything For example: S-C GCE Cambridge General Paper H1 S-C GCE Cambridge Physics H2 (AP equivalent) S-C GCE Cambridge Mathematics H3 (Honors equivalent). 4. Leave course level blank 5. Enter '0' for credit value. 6. Courses schedule is Full year. Honors 1. Enter any academic awards you have received or H3 that you are taking e.g. Singapore Chemistry Olympiad 2015 Bronze 2. Grade level: Secondary 3 = Grade 9 Secondary 4 = Grade 10 JC1= Grade 11 JC2=Grade 12 Future Plans Enter accordingly

5 F. Common App Form - Testing Tests taken 1. Click Yes (if you want) to self-report standardised test scores. If not, you will need CollegeBoard to send the results to the university 2. You may enter results for more than one test. You need not take TOEFL/IELTS if you are native Singaporean 3. For Is promotion within your educational system based upon standard leaving examinations given at the end of lower and/or senior secondary school by a state or national leaving examinations board? : Indicate Yes 4. Fill in your test scores accordingly 5. For 'Number of Senior Secondary Leaving Examinations', enter 0 if you are a current student. If you have already graduated, enter the number of A level subjects you have sat for (H3 is considered a separate subject) and enter your actual grades. Check each university for additional test requirements e.g. SAT, SAT subject tests etc Singaporeans generally do not need to take TOEFL or IELTS. Please check with the university on this. All tests should be taken latest by early Dec (much earlier if you opted for Early Decision i.e. Oct) G. Common App Form Activities, Writing 1. Enter your CCA and work experiences since Secondary 3 2. It is advisable to type your personal essay in Microsoft Word before copying and pasting into the form 3. Only one essay per application so try not to choose courses that are too different as it will affect the focus of your essay 4. Please approach Mrs Koh Siew Leng (HOD of PE and CCA) or Ms Siva (from General Office) for SGC and CCA Record. Give one week s notice. H. Common App Form Submission Once you have completed the form, you can submit the form under My Colleges for any of your selected colleges. To do this, click Submission Common App. At this point of time, you will need a credit card to make payment (USD per university) After payment, do not forget to submit the supplementary essays to the colleges under Writing Supplement.