I caught the fever & flu bug twice this month. My health seems like it is deteoriating, probably at the mercy of pre- Preliminary Exams stress (And I'm not kidding- this month remedial lessons of all kinds suddenly crop up from nowhere; I'm not used to staying back so many times a week, and some of the lessons are unfulfilling and occasionally miserable), or maybe my body desperately needs some metabolism charge. But you know something? I can be sick anytime except during my Preliminary or O Level Exams period. I cannot let my illness to hinder me to take my exams. If that happens, I'll force myself to the exam hall, with a mask of course, or ask for services to isolate me while I do the exam. But for now, my fever is granting me a good rest- and an opportunity to catch up with things I used to not have time with. Like sleep, internet and read. HaHa. But also self-revision for exams. I'm not as carefree about exams as you think I am.
Does anybody have an idea whether dropping 10 points by Prelims and another 10 by O Levels is possible? I need to get from 29 points in Mid Year Exams to 9 in O Levels for my L1R5 aggregate. I still don't know whether the effort I'm currently putting in is enough. I am worried my results will be stagnant again. I want to get into St Andrew's Junior College! I will not allow my future schools to as 'average' as my secondary school. I want to break the status quo, so I have to study like the top students from the elite schools. But I have no idea how they study, not only in skills, but how much time is allocated, what kind of habits they possess, and so on. Currently I'm only studying assessment books for self-revision based on a revision timetable I drew up, as well as doing homework. Is that enough? I hope so.
I have chosen my top universities that would be seriously considered based on their academic programs (which is, to gauge, the availability of Bachelor's Degrees in Architecture, as that is what I'm most likely to enrol in), admissions issues, features of the college, financial issues (availability of financial assistance and ease of covering costs), location & campus setting, level of competitiveness and performance in top university rankings:
1) Columbia University-Barnard College
2) Massachusetts Institute Of Technology
3) University Of Pennsylvania
4) Princeton University
5) University College London
6) University of Cambridge
7) McGill University
8) University Of Toronto
9) Cornell University
10) Rice University
11) University of California, Los Angeles
12) University of California, Berkeley
13) University of British Columbia
14= University of New South Wales
14= University of Sydney
16) Pennsylvania State University
17) Carnegie Mellon University
18) Cooper Union
19) University of Tokyo
20) University of Southern California
21) University of Notre Dame
22) National University Of Singapore/4th university
This is the result after doing much research online and questioning counsellors and admission officers. OK, I've come up with a plan. I will prepare for and take the SAT next year, and then start applying for external financial aid such as scholarships. I will gather, complete and mail applications to the first 8 universities. If I unfortunately don't even get into 1 of the 8, I will apply to the rest in the list. It's gonna be very exciting to see the opportunity of studying abroad getting nearer and nearer, as I prepare step-by-step. Oh yes, I have renewed hopes of getting into Columbia University, as its affiliate Barnard College offers a major in Architecture.
The end of secondary school is going to be both happy and sad. Happy to have finally graduated and am able to continue to my next stage in my academic life, which means new things to study, new constructive challenges, new friends and new opportunities. Also happy to be seperate from Thaddeus' 'gang' of friends. Sad to seperate from friends and those precious school moments I had (the good parts). Also sad to leave behind the humble life that my school is unique for. But we must move on (and I'm happy to anyway). So here's to the last lap towards the O Levels! (LOL)
This is a song for motivation as well as a heartlifter for those who are suffering under stress and pressure that feels like hell: WHEN YOU BELIEVE by Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston
0 comments:
Post a Comment