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seheea
Member
| Joined: | Sat Sep 22nd, 2007 |
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| Posts: | 13 |
| Mana: |  |
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Posted: Sun Sep 23rd, 2007 08:05 am |
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I introduced myself before as an international student who lives in South Korea and that I'm a senior. But I guess I didn't really talk about myself in a way that could let others know more about me. I'm hoping by posting this second introduction people will be giving me more advice.
First I used to live in Bellevue, Washington for five years. It was during 3rd grade of elementary school and 7th grade of middle school. I came back to South Korea and have been studying here ever since. I decided to study abroad when I became a freshman of my high school 2~3 years ago. (I'm a senior now.) To tell the truth my GPA isn't great... I guess it could be an average GPA...
I thought about majors that could suit me and I came down to two majors: mass communications and business. I'm hoping I could get accepted to schools that have good programs regarding these majors. However, I know those top schools are hard to get into. I haven't done many extra curricular activites that stand out since I think in my country the ecs are limited for high school students. It's hard to get even an internship since no one wants any high schoolers as interns. However, I'm trying my best studying for the SATs and ACT. I'm having problems w/vocabs and math, but I'm hoping I can get over it. I already registered for October SAT and ACT, but I'm not that confident I can get a high score on them. So really really important question!!! Is it ok to take the SATs THREE times? Because I heard that in some universities (I don't know which ones) get the average of all three SATs. And I know that would be a demerit.
Also, about the application essays!!! I'm working on them right now, but I have to say it's too hard. I know I have to write about something that only I have experienced or felt. But it's hard to find something like that. I tend to have all these ideas I could write about, but fail to write a good essay with those topics.
Well, this is it for my second introduction. I still don't know how to use this site well, so I'm hoping others could teach me how to do everything around here. Thank you for reading my introduction~
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Descartes
Super Moderator
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Posted: Sun Sep 23rd, 2007 04:23 pm |
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Certainly its fine to take these tests three (or more!) times. In fact, it can only help. Most schools will consider your highest score in any one sitting to be "official", some will even "superscore" your test by considering the highest score you get in any section of your tests to be "official". For example, if you take the SAT three times and get 580, 610, and 630 on the Critical Reading and 550, 540, and 510 on the Math parts, your highest combined score in one sitting would be 1150, but some schools will assign your final score as 1180 (using 630 and 550 as your highest section scores). Why? Well, in part because they like to keep applicants happy but also because it makes them look good. They can then consider these "superscores" to be the score they report in the applicant statistics, and the higher these statistics, the more desirable the school appears.
You need to check the admission policies of the individual schools to which you apply because practices vary, but I don't know of any that would average scores from multiple tests. Carolyn might know otherwise. The practice of superscoring is more common with SAT results than with ACT.
Studies show a tendency for testers to improve their scores as they take more of these tests...up to a point. After about three sittings, improvement slows considerably or stops altogether.
You should also know there are quite a few schools that don't require SAT/ACT scores for admissions. See http://www.fairtest.org/optinit.htm.
Those essays are tough for everyone! Carolyn has posted quite a few tips on this site about writing essays. One example is at http://collegehunt.blogspot.com/2005/06/telling-your-story-admissions-essays_13.html. It is advisable to take your time with them.
One more thing: in my experience, it can take a few days for people to read and respond to recently posted messages on this site. Most people who post here do not come here every day, so don't think you're being ignored if you don't see a lot of responses after only a day.
Last edited on Sun Sep 23rd, 2007 04:29 pm by Descartes
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Canadian
Member
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Posted: Sun Sep 23rd, 2007 05:14 pm |
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Hello again, Seheea,
I'm glad you wrote us more about you!
I don't know anything about business schools, so I will leave that to others.
You have some things going for you right away in that you are an international student (colleges like that) and your English sounds good from the way you write. I'm sure other folks here will direct you to schools where you could be accepted. You don't have to be in a "top" (like Ivy) school to find a really good business program that can teach you the skills you need.
"I know I have to write about something that only I have experienced or felt. But it's hard to find something like that. I tend to have all these ideas I could write about, but fail to write a good essay with those topics."
This is hard for many kids, here, too. Students are taught to write in an analytical way and not to write about themselves.
Probably any of your ideas would work as long as you make them personal, so people learn something about who you are. But I'll give you a few ideas that you could practice on, and then use your own. I hope you have a teacher or counsellor who understands about these essays to give you some feedback.
I'm sure you've done lots of book reports. You could take a character that you identify with, and write how that character reflects things about your feelings, life, and aspirations.
Maybe you have a teacher or relative you really respect & love. You can write about what you have learned about yourself and life through that person's example and your relationship with him or her.
You said that you were in WA for 7th grade. That is a very social time for many girls filled with lots of changes. I would imagine that anyone would have difficulty being transplanted to a new school and new culture at that time. You could write a great essay about how you dealt with that.
Anyway, you get the idea. I'm not trying to tell you what to write on, just to practice your "personal writing" on a few ideas till you find something that feels authentic to you. Schools just want a personal reflection of who you are.
Also, try this site for lots of advice on essays:
http://admissionsadvice.com/
Hope this is helpful!
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