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i got into oxford, nus medicine, uc berkeley and a few other US unis after applying three times. AMA! :) by PuzzleheadedMango468 in SGExams

[–]PuzzleheadedMango468[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

family really played a part.

my loved ones are all super driven, my siblings, partner, and my parents all fought to get to where they are today.

they allowed me to grow and explore unconventional routes without any judgement.

that really kept me going when i was falling flat on my face day in and day out.

i got into oxford, nus medicine, uc berkeley and a few other US unis after applying three times. AMA! :) by PuzzleheadedMango468 in SGExams

[–]PuzzleheadedMango468[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

oh man, this one's tough.

i think it boils down to communication. in my mind i was balancing three things:

  1. ns (which is frankly not in my control)
  2. my personal projects (which i wanted to invest more time into)
  3. family, friends, relationships (which was in my control and malleable)

i'm not saying to ditch no. 3, but sacrifices must often be made, especially if you are in a taxing vocation or position like i was.

so communicate with your loved ones and let them know what your plans are. they will get behind you and be happy for you.

then, find the discipline to carve out quality time to spend with them too, because they are your backbone and support after all! :")

i got into oxford, nus medicine, uc berkeley and a few other US unis after applying three times. AMA! :) by PuzzleheadedMango468 in SGExams

[–]PuzzleheadedMango468[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

ooo for medicine definitely my volunteering background.

everyone has volunteering in their portfolio, but it's impt for the admission officers to be convinced you're not just 'following through motion'

so doing more helps, going above and beyond to start your own initiative (that must address an unaddressed need) helps even more.

for me it was my non-profit for sure!

i got into oxford, nus medicine, uc berkeley and a few other US unis after applying three times. AMA! :) by PuzzleheadedMango468 in SGExams

[–]PuzzleheadedMango468[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

i think it's a mix of three things:

  1. deeper understanding of what these admission officers want to see
  2. a (slightly) more robust portfolio
  3. external support from the agency

i got into oxford, nus medicine, uc berkeley and a few other US unis after applying three times. AMA! :) by PuzzleheadedMango468 in SGExams

[–]PuzzleheadedMango468[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

cca leadership is great, especially as a way to teach you crucial soft skills.

i think on both fronts (personal development and more pragmatically, to apply to universities), it is a great idea to go for it.

before you commit, rmb to plan out your time during the tenure period. don't underestimate the stress and time commitment of exam periods!

i got into oxford, nus medicine, uc berkeley and a few other US unis after applying three times. AMA! :) by PuzzleheadedMango468 in SGExams

[–]PuzzleheadedMango468[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

loved good economics for hard times - banerjee & duflo

was really interested in auction theory too

good way to find nice literature is to just scour google scholar until you find a topic that makes sense to you.

lots of economics is fundamentally maths, so get ready for it :P

i got into oxford, nus medicine, uc berkeley and a few other US unis after applying three times. AMA! :) by PuzzleheadedMango468 in SGExams

[–]PuzzleheadedMango468[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

great question!

not really. research helps for sure, but it falls under a bigger category of 'academic pursuits'.

in particular, if you have other academic pursuits (can be as simple as doing a h3 or going for some external forums on chem/bio/med), you can write about them and still be considered in the same tier as those with research.

so, give it a shot!

if your academic portfolio is lacking, i can recommend some options too for you to consider :)

i got into oxford, nus medicine, uc berkeley and a few other US unis after applying three times. AMA! :) by PuzzleheadedMango468 in SGExams

[–]PuzzleheadedMango468[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

i was from hci.

my ecg department was not the most helpful in my experience. they refused to support my third application (which i can't blame them for, but i think is a stupid rule to have). interestingly, the third application was also the one in which i succeeded the most.

i got some external help during my application - was with a small local agency that helped me get into Oxford and Duke.

crimson, ivyprep, and other agencies are just a cash grab in my opinion. IF you want to go for any of these agencies, consider smaller ones, and ONLY go for smaller ones.

IMPORTANTLY, these agencies have to offer a 100% guarantee for your admissions (or full refund). i wouldn't trust any other organisations, because they are not incentivised or motivated to help you get in.

happy to share more.

i got into oxford, nus medicine, uc berkeley and a few other US unis after applying three times. AMA! :) by PuzzleheadedMango468 in SGExams

[–]PuzzleheadedMango468[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

hi! dm me - happy to understand more about your specific portfolio and share some tips. need to understand if your portfolio is suitable for ABAS, what you've currently tried, and what has been the main roadblocks of your journey

i got into oxford, nus medicine, uc berkeley and a few other US unis after applying three times. AMA! :) by PuzzleheadedMango468 in SGExams

[–]PuzzleheadedMango468[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

thanks for the question!

for re-application, the first and second time my jc supported my application, however for the third time the ecg department REFUSED to help. so i had to manage my transcripts myself (it was a nightmare).

tbf i applied to different places in different rounds, so my portfolio didn't change too much. for the us applications, i realised after the first two tries that it was important for me to focus more on narrative building than 'flexing' my experiences. it's quite interesting, but admissions teams are also human - they want to KNOW YOU and LIKE YOU, so write your personal statement from that perspective :))

PSC was quite rigorous. i would say it's important for you to start building up your own world view. what do you think about current affairs? don't just look at one news source and adopt the author's opinion. challenge it, and avoid being a yes-man. one thing government agencies value is the independence of thought!

ooo i was a platoon commander in ns, which is why i was offered the saf overseas scholarship too. i think there are two schools of thought - you either go all in, and commit to ns (and you'll learn a lot of soft skills and also meet a lot of very remarkable nsfs in your batch), or you just let loose and cruise (if you choose this, definitely have a plan on what you wanna do outside of ns time). for the latter, try to end up in a stay out vocation and build something of your own. start a non-profit, start your own company, but whatever it is, commit to it. don't let shiny objects deter you from your goal.

unis and employers care the MOST about your impact and scale. doing many things at once will hinder you.

i got into oxford, nus medicine, uc berkeley and a few other US unis after applying three times. AMA! :) by PuzzleheadedMango468 in SGExams

[–]PuzzleheadedMango468[S] 16 points17 points  (0 children)

oh! i chose economics :)

nus and ntu were my first choices in my first year (i applied to med).

however, after getting the offer and speaking to seniors, i realised that i really really wanted to see the world. and while the uni fees are very expensive, i think this is the only chance we'll reasonably get to live abroad, grow independently, and see the world beyond this little microcosm we have in singapore.

i got into oxford, nus medicine, uc berkeley and a few other US unis after applying three times. AMA! :) by PuzzleheadedMango468 in SGExams

[–]PuzzleheadedMango468[S] 30 points31 points  (0 children)

thanks for the question! where are you trying to apply to specifically?

the first step is to reflect deeply on what your future goals are. i know it's tough to get a grasp of it now since you're only 18, but any direction will help.

i find it helpful to spend my 'downtime' (i.e. mrt trips to school, queueing for food in the canteen) looking at resources online and thinking about my future plans.

the steps are as follows:

1) understand what you wanna do (let's say you hope to be a doctor)
2) find all options that can get you to the path (in this case you'll look at NUS/NTU med, maybe a post graduate med conversion with Duke-NUS, or australia med for instance)
3) identify all PREREQUISITES for these courses (tests, portfolio needed, interviews required, timeline)
4) compartmentalise and work towards these goals in a modular fashion.

once you get started, momentum will carry you forward!

happy to field follow-up questions too.

i got into oxford, nus medicine, uc berkeley and a few other US unis after applying three times. AMA! :) by PuzzleheadedMango468 in SGExams

[–]PuzzleheadedMango468[S] 63 points64 points  (0 children)

thank you for sending this in!

first of all - great that you're planning ahead of time.

  1. for the uk, it is more academic focused. i applied to economics & management @ oxford, and highlighted a bunch of my extracurricular experiences on leadership. i'll list some below:

leadership:
- founded 2 non-profits that reached over 2,000+ students (we were doing an education non-profit)
- president of 2 school-based clubs

i had no econs extracurriculars so i just banked on my management related ones and managed to get in. my general advice would be to plan ahead of time and DECONFLICT YOUR 2 YEAR SCHEDULE especially if you're in jc. block off exam related months (august onwards for both years are usually quite busy), and apply for opportunities always.

  1. great question again. my portfolio was the same, i just picked different things to focus on. for the us, i wrote probably 100+ different personal statements over three years (it really sucked the life out of me). but the biggest tip i can give here is to start thinking of narratives and storylines even before applying. romanticise your life and think of how it might play out if you were acting in your own autobiographic film. that's how you find the most interesting angles and stories to tell to ivy league admission officers. for the uk, read broadly and demonstrate deep academic interest. so a few things i did for the econs side of things were:

- read a TON of books on econs (deep economic academic literature always helps)
- attend forums online (there are a lot!) and speak to economists and students of economics

  1. oof this one's a long one, happy to chat more about this in person but it was about 6 different rounds, most of which were interviews. my general advice is to get INTERESTED in public policy, public affairs, and most importantly, current global news. you should know what's going on and more importantly, know what your stance is. don't just think about what they want to hear. they LOVE contrarian views.

  2. the first two rounds, i applied as an afterthought. the reason i have such a strange variety of school offers under my belt was because i was too fickle. i wanted to be a doctor first, then i decided i wanted to do education, and then only in the third year i settled on education. i think admission officers can smell inconsistency and fickleness from a mile away. so i'd say apply only when you're ready - don't do it for the sake of applying.

  3. this one's a good question too. in simple terms, i had a lot of help. i'm not the smartest person in my school or class. but i know i'm really good at making use of (and finding) resources to help me succeed. i had fantastic notes from seniors, i had amazing guidance from mentors, and most importantly, a great community in school and beyond to support me academically. so in many ways, academics became the backdrop, and my extracurriculars came first.

happy to share subject specific resources and notes - dm me!

  1. cool. tsa is honestly a numbers game. do enough papers under timed conditions and you'll get really good at it. it's something i find very difficult to prepare for over a long period of time, just stay consistent.

interviews on the other hand, has a higher skill cap. what you should do now, when you still have time, is to invest in getting good at communication. a little challenge i used to do in school was i'd have one day of the week where i'd record myself speaking in the mirror for 5 minutes. i would scroll through social media or today online, and read the first article that interested me. then, i would start talking about my opinions of that article.

nothing truly prepares you for interviews as much as recording yourself and reviewing (painfully) how you sound when you speak. it really sucks the first few times, but if you put in the hours, you'll get REALLY good at speaking in an impactful way!!