考美國大學一問

Shootastar

回覆 simonlawht2 的帖子

I think the colleges would consider your application against your own background.
If you study Physics, Chem, Biology and Math +English +Chinese in the curriculum of HKDSE, you cannot achieve my AP (with score 5).

In the context of the result published [SAT: 2,390, Math, Chem and Phy (800 each), plus 3 AP (score 5), the result is excellent in my opinion. I agree that this result may not be competitive enough for an Ivy this year, if the student can maintain high GPA plus taking several humanity subjects in the first year, there is a good chance of transfer.

twosonspa

回覆 lijacq 的帖子

I totally agree.

Also from the poster's comment below, Pomona sound like a very good LAC in STEM majors for students want to study in CA.

I'm a current Pomona physics major on the astrophysics track. The professors are very accessible. I frequently socialize with them outside of classes/office hours through lunches, dinners, and off-campus activities/department outings (camping trips are common). Due to the small size of the department, you get to know all the professors after a while, even if you haven't had a class with them. There are roughly an equal number of professors as there are physics majors in your year.

Research positions are easy to come by. I've been doing research since freshman year through the Carnegie Observatories program. This past summer I went down to Chile to observe at the Magellan Telescopes. Research is also done on campus through our SURP, but I haven't done one. Opportunities are plenty, don't let the LAC image fool you about research. This summer I'll be doing one-on-one research with a Caltech professor, working on a computational astrophysics problem.

Class size varies with course number, where lower division courses tend to be more traditionally sized (by LAC standards) at 20-30. Two of my upper-div courses have 4 and 5 total in the class (including me), one of which is at Harvey Mudd. Professors take advantage of the small class size to teach some courses in a tutorial style where you present problems worked on the day before. You feel more motivated to learn the material when you constitute 25% of the class alone (good luck trying to not be noticed if you're absent).

You end up taking several of your major classes up north at Mudd (especially if you're astrophysics), and in general I've enjoyed Mudd physics classes more than Pomona's, although this is mostly due to personal preference and the professors teaching the course. Mudd astro students usually end up taking Pomona's astro (and physics) classes as well; the department is joint taught.

I became an astro major spring of my first year when I took intro astro to fulfill a general ed requirement (I was math before). I don't know what else to say except I liked the material/class. Majoring in physics has been a combination of having my room covered in problem sets and gallons (liters?) of coffee. Wouldn't have it any other way (except maybe more sleep would be
nice).

lijacq

From the statistics, Pomona is just as selective as UC Berkeley and UCLA and Harvey Mudd can be same as MIT!! But they are famous in California and west coast.  But not many oursiders know these names.
These are good colleges to build connections, do undergraduate research, and have good in class discussions with classmates and professors and very good for graduate school preparation, and medical school preparation as well.
Williams is terrific as well and more well known than these Claremont colleges.  But being in California helps a lot as Silicon Valley and the new Playa Vista is in LA for CS major.
UC Berkeley as terrific reaearch university as well and recognised worldwide.

simonlawht2

Shootastar 發表於 16-4-15 18:55
回覆 simonlawht2 的帖子

I think the colleges would consider your application against your own backg ...

I mentioned that he is not good enough to apply for some elite universities when compared with students from Mainland China because my friend told me that lots of students from China got an excellent score from their Gaokao, or the National Higher Education Entrance Examination in China, as well as their SAT and SAT subjects tests.   They also got very good grades from their AP scores, and they took seven to ten subjects on average.   Some Ivy League universities might consider towsonpa's son admission as soon as he can get a 5** on most of the subjects on his HKDSE examination.  

My friend is currently working as an advisor in an Ivy League university.  

simonlawht2

而家好多大學要學生玩多一樣嘢, 就係要在大學報名前三年參加一些有關暑期班, 例如想讀工程就要讀有關Engineering 的 Summer School, 仲要係有quality 的Summer Program (例如 Johns Hopkins SET http://cty.jhu.edu/set/ ), 要俾學校睇到學生係有誠意讀呢個系, 而香港好多學生忽略了這個項目。

Shootastar

回覆 simonlawht2 的帖子

Thanks for your sharing. Agreed.

simonlawht2

如果呢個係唔係男生, 而係女生的話, 情形又不一樣了, 學生可以用這個成績報Wellesley College, 入到去再報MIT-Wellesley double-degree program:

http://www.wellesley.edu/advising/classdeans/engineering/dd

twosonspa

回覆 simonlawht2 的帖子

Thanks for the information. Do you know how to re-apply the schools with DSE result? Thanks.

simonlawht2

twosonspa 發表於 16-4-18 22:50
回覆 simonlawht2 的帖子

Thanks for the information. Do you know how to re-apply the schools with DS ...

I have no idea about the procedure to reapply for the fall 2016 semester since the application deadline has passed.   Your son can email MIT's advisor and let them know he will get his HKDSE results in July, 2016.   I think the advisor might consider his application for fall 2016 semester or ask him to apply as a transfer next year if he gets a very good score from his HKDSE examination.

twosonspa

回覆 simonlawht2 的帖子

Thanks for the suggestion.

simonlawht2

twosonspa 發表於 16-4-19 22:12
回覆 simonlawht2 的帖子

Thanks for the suggestion.

1) 有冇幫你個仔申請加州Occidental College 或 Pomona College?  這二間院校跟Caltech合作有一個3/2 Program, 在Occidental College 或 Pomona College讀三年, 另外在Caltech 讀二年, 拿兩個大學學位。

参考:

https://www.admissions.caltech.edu/content/32-program

2)  Dartmouth College 也是有類似的型式, 跟其他院校合作舉辦Dual-Degree Program:

http://engineering.dartmouth.edu/academics/undergraduate/dual/

3)  Columbia University 同埋Occidental College 或其他院校合作舉辦Combined Program, 畢業時也是拿二張文憑 (美國總統Obama也是用這途徑在Columbia University 畢業):

http://undergrad.admissions.columbia.edu/learn/academiclife/engineering/combined-plan-program

http://undergrad.admissions.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/combined_plan_affiliates_2014.2015.pdf

或者你可以想一下以上途徑，問請楚大學Advisor 再申請。

twosonspa

回覆 simonlawht2 的帖子

Thanks for the information.

我個仔沒有申請加州Occidental College 或 Pomona College, 他報了東部的Williams College, 現時是waitlist.

simonlawht2

twosonspa 發表於 16-5-2 12:18
回覆 simonlawht2 的帖子

Thanks for the information.

希望Williams College 會取錄他, 到時可以報Williams College 同埋Columbia University 的 3-2 Program:

https://physics.williams.edu/pre-engineering/

https://wso.williams.edu/wiki/index.php/3-2

或是Williams College 同埋Dartmouth College 的Dual-Degree Program:

http://engineering.dartmouth.edu/academics/undergraduate/dual/

twosonspa

回覆 simonlawht2 的帖子

Thanks again for the prompt reply.
Any comment between UCB and Williams!
Best,

lijacq

I went to UCLA and Stanford back then and my two brothers went to UC Berkeley.  The classes are so big that you dont need to even show up if you are confident you can handle tests and exams.  One professor did notice me and asked if I want to do some research, but upon knowing I am an international student, he did not bother anymore. So my point is, the amount of interaction between professors and a student in undergrad is not much.  
At the end of the day, we do get a degree from a highly respected university that would help very much with getting a good career.
But if your son wants to pursue post graduate studies, he may want more personal relationship with professors, advisers and probably more research work opps.

simonlawht2

twosonspa 發表於 16-5-2 13:19
回覆 simonlawht2 的帖子

Thanks again for the prompt reply.

Hope these help!

http://colleges.startclass.com/compare/270-2014/University-of-California-Berkeley-vs-Williams-College

http://www.ratemyprofessors.com/campusRatings.jsp?sid=1072

http://www.ratemyprofessors.com/ShowRatings.jsp?tid=1718788

https://physics.williams.edu/people/graduates/

twosonspa

lijacq 發表於 16-5-2 13:45
One professor did notice me and asked if I want to do some research, but upon knowing I am an international student, he did not bother anymore ...

What happened to international student?

twosonspa

回覆 simonlawht2 的帖子

Thanks.

twosonspa

2016年 UC Berkeley 收生資料

https://news.berkeley.edu/wp-con ... -statistics-750.jpg

twosonspa

Ranked data for the Ivy Leagues (share from a poster):

Total Applications:
1.Cornell 44,966
2.Harvard 39,041
3.Penn 38,918
4.Columbia 36,292
5.Brown 32,390
6.Yale 31,349
7.Princeton 29,303
8.Dartmouth 20,675

RD acceptance rate:
1.Harvard RD 1119 out of 32868 (3.4%)
2.Yale RD 1177 out of 26793 (4.4%)
3.Princeton RD 1109 out of 25074 (4.4%)
4.Columbia ED/RD 2193 out of 36292 (6.0%)
5.Penn RD 2326 out of 33156 (7.0%)
6.Brown RD 2250 out of 29360 (7.7%)
7.Dartmouth RD 1682 out of 18748 (9.0%)
8.Cornell RD 4939 out of 40084 (12.3%)

Early acceptance rate:
1.Harvard SCEA 918 out of 6173 (14.9%)
2.Yale SCEA 795 out of 4662 (17.1%)
3.Princeton SCEA 785 out of 4229 (18.6%)
4.Brown ED 669 out of 3030 (22.1%)
5.Penn ED 1335 out of 5762 (23.2%)
6.Dartmouth ED 494 out of 1927 (25.6%)
7.Cornell ED 1338 out of 4882 (27.4%)
8.Columbia ED (no data)

Total Acceptance Rate:
1.Harvard 2037 out of 39,041 (5.2%)
2.Columbia 2193 out of 36,292 (6.0%)
3.Yale 1972 out of 31,349 (6.3%)
4.Princeton 1894 out of 29,303 (6.4%)
5.Brown 2919 out of 32,390 (9.0%)
6.Penn 3661 out of 38,918 (9.4%)
7.Dartmouth 2176 out of 20,675 (10.5%)
8.Cornell 6277 out of 44,966 (13.96%)