US Universities Application FAQ V.2

[clep]

Originally Posted by gman

i would actually like to ask for the advice of those who are well versed in the commonapp arts supplement. my situation is basically like this. i participated in a performing arts competition and hence, would like to make it part of my application. however, in the part in which they request a letter of recommendation from an instuctor, do i need to get one from a qualified (degree,etc.) and experienced in this field or can i just get my teacher who was in charge of this competition to write it?

thanks a lot.

A senior told me it should be someone who is well-versed in the field, and who preferably knows you. Cos the recom should reflect your achievements within that field itself.

[Matt]

Originally Posted by AaronLo

Actually my Mid Year were just so-so. Exactly why I hesitated at sending the Mid Year. I am not sure if sending just the SPM, PMR and final year would accentuate the omission of the Mid Year result, which would then suggest that something fishy is going on or I have something to hide. Do you think so?

Yea I think it'd probably be best to send in your mid-year results as well, even if you didn't do too well. Because US applicants have to send in their results from both semesters, so I think it's only right that we send in everything too

[ntyf]

hey actually regarding the transcripts, what if my counselor only wants to send in like, my spm results, form 4 final year results and pmr results? she's done the whole common app thing before, so she says that i shouldn't clutter my app with all the other transcripts and stuff. but i still don't know if i should continue to persuade her to include my other results (mid-terms, trials), considering that everyone else is doing so. advices?

[caramel_nut]

Originally Posted by ntyf

hey actually regarding the transcripts, what if my counselor only wants to send in like, my spm results, form 4 final year results and pmr results? she's done the whole common app thing before, so she says that i shouldn't clutter my app with all the other transcripts and stuff. but i still don't know if i should continue to persuade her to include my other results (mid-terms, trials), considering that everyone else is doing so. advices?

I actually agree with your teacher on not cluttering the secondary school report. I personally only sent in my PMR, Form 4 end-of-year exam results, Form 5 end-of-year exam results and SPM plus my A Levels forecast results.

[Wiz]

Originally Posted by Jeryliza

I'm not sure about INTEC, but for INTI-UC, I think the minimum GPA applies to the first semester mainly. I've heard of news that a senior wasn't allowed to fly because he got 3.49 or something. Perhaps you should e-mail the JPA officer in charge of your batch to confirm.

I am not sure about INTEC too. But here's what I know for INTI-UC:
I have received confirmation from JPA officer that they look at the CGPA before flying i.e. at the end of Semester 2 in INTI, and not only at the end of Semester 1 as popularly purported.

It's not all doom and gloom if a person gets CGPA lower than 3.5 for 1st Semester. All the person needs to do is to slought really hard in the 2nd Semester in INTI to pull up the CGPA to pass the 3.5 cut-off point. If the CGPA of 3.5 is not reached or exceeded at the end of 2nd Semester by a person who got admitted into Ivies and Ivy Standards and intends to fly off in Fall 2009 to the States, then it is truly Game Over. The person must then appeal, but rarely if not never at all will JPA bend the rules on CGPA. JPA is very strict on that.

And on the fact that a senior was not allowed to fly because he got 3.49. It is true, BUT, that CGPA is taken at the end of Semester 2 i.e. the CGPA from both Semester 1 and Semester 2.

The confusion on the CGPA arises because JPA officers told us during the briefing that they will look at the CGPA prior to applying to the Ivies and Ivy Standards. Hence, people took CGPA before applying as CGPA from 1st Semester only (because we apply into those universities during our 1st Semester). However, when INTI's guidance counselor enquired JPA officers personally, the officers say they will look at the CGPA prior to flying i.e. the CGPA at the end of 2nd Semester. 3rd Semester will be spent on the remaining 1 MPW subject for those who have only completed 1 MPW subject or who needs to retake an MPW subject. Hope that clears things up.

Please do pass this news around, especially to friends in INTI who got CGPA lower than 3.5 for 1st Semester. Thank you! : )

[padfooter]

Originally Posted by caramel_nut

I actually agree with your teacher on not cluttering the secondary school report. I personally only sent in my PMR, Form 4 end-of-year exam results, Form 5 end-of-year exam results and SPM plus my A Levels forecast results.

Would I be at any disadvantage if I send it my form four and five results for the whole of both years, i.e: Montly, mid year, finals. This is because my teacher just took photocopies of the report card (in malay) and translated them into identical English copies and got them certified. Im very tempted to go back to school and get it redone.

[KJ-C]

HI. I am one of the students from INTEC who is going to apply to US. I have some inquiries regarding the common app forms.

I am filling my school i attend now as my secondary school. (I fill with such because i do it on the basis of the words in the parentheses "school you graduated"). As for INTEC, i fill it in the other secondary school section.

If so, what should i fill in the "school i attend now" section in the TE, SSR and MYR forms? And what should i fill in the courses i am currently taking? I do want to fill the column with INTEC, with the courses are those i am taking now in INTEC, but it sounds so confusing. Can anyone enlighten me with this? Thanks a lot!

[caramel_nut]

Originally Posted by padfooter

Would I be at any disadvantage if I send it my form four and five results for the whole of both years, i.e: Montly, mid year, finals. This is because my teacher just took photocopies of the report card (in malay) and translated them into identical English copies and got them certified. Im very tempted to go back to school and get it redone.

Sorry guys, I looked back at my previous docs and realized that I included my midyear and trials exam results for Form 4 and 5 as well because the results were all on the same page as the end-of-year exam results. XD

[padfooter]

Originally Posted by KJ-C

HI. I am one of the students from INTEC who is going to apply to US. I have some inquiries regarding the common app forms.

I am filling my school i attend now as my secondary school. (I fill with such because i do it on the basis of the words in the parentheses "school you graduated"). As for INTEC, i fill it in the other secondary school section.

If so, what should i fill in the "school i attend now" section in the TE, SSR and MYR forms? And what should i fill in the courses i am currently taking? I do want to fill the column with INTEC, with the courses are those i am taking now in INTEC, but it sounds so confusing. Can anyone enlighten me with this? Thanks a lot!

well, what i am doing is filling up each form according to school. As in for SSR, i filled in my SPM subjects as courses im taking and in the MYR, of course, the ones im taking in INTEC. I plan to attach a letter explaning the difference in info. I.e : we only have 11 years of schooling so im taking an additional year in UiTM to fulfill their 12 year requirement. With that letter, it shouldnt be a problem. I think =)

[pinkpau]

Originally Posted by syamil_1

omh i have not been here for ages.

well i read soemwhere in a university webpage that they would prefer you to use paper clips instead of staple.

this is true. most (actually, i was going to say all of them, but that cant be right) of the schools i applied to last year insisted upon paper clips. i think it was chicago that had a huge DO NOT STAPLE warning on their forms. haha.

Originally Posted by AaronLo

Actually my Mid Year were just so-so. Exactly why I hesitated at sending the Mid Year. I am not sure if sending just the SPM, PMR and final year would accentuate the omission of the Mid Year result, which would then suggest that something fishy is going on or I have something to hide. Do you think so?

then just send in your finals

as long as you meet the minimum requirement of the college, you can add or remove the miscellaneous stuff to produce the most flattering application

ie if your mid year results are lousy, dont put
if your Form 1-2 results are really good, put
PMR results good, put
PMR trial results good, put
you get the idea

but generally a good thing to not clutter. i kinda broke this little rule because my high school had a really nice documentation system where all my Form 1 -3 grades were arranged nicely in one sheet. so i just sent that in.

edit: WOW THIS NEW AUTOMERGED DOUBLEPOST FUNCTION IS AWESOME!!!! O____O