Hi all
I want to go to America for college and I was wondering if stood a chance getting into the top tier ones. My academic results are quite strong and I am confident that my ATAR will be above 99 but I have limited/weak ECs. I do a lot of sports but none at a high level. Would I be able to get into like a top 20 college with this on my profile, if not I will just stay in Australia. also, would the IB be a better option for international study? and do most people do SATS and apply during year 12 or after they've finished HSC (srry for noob question).
Thanks
im in year 11 right now
There's a lot of total bullcrap that goes around the place about how to get into overseas unis. First, academic results do matter from school (ATAR above 99 is great) but not an enormous amount, and SAT scores really don't matter if they're above a certain point. So as long as you don't completely fail them, nobody is going to reject you just because you didn't score 2400. As for extracurricular activities, they are of course impressive - but in no way the crux of the application.
Essentially, US colleges have a very different concept of what constitutes university admissions than in Australia. In Australia, the idea is to take the candidates with the 'objectively' best results and scores - typified in the ATAR system. There is no such ranking system in the States, and no amount of extra-curricular activities is going to say "student X is objectively better than student Y". Instead the admissions system is much more about getting to know you as a person - hence you have an interview with an alumnus, and write 'personal' essays, and submit several references written by teachers. Of course they will look at your extracurriculars and results, but someone with amazing school results and a fantastic range of sport and music activities may very well not get in if that person displays absolutely no personality.
As for doing SATs, do them at any time - I did mine just after my HSC finished (so last november/december) but that was basically the very latest you could do them and most of my friends who did them did them much earlier (like near the beginning of year 12). Whatever suits you.
