Most of you must have known what am I going to pursue in my life. I was looking for universities that have great astronomy department, hopefully great natural science departments and aerospace engineering department too. Yup, I’m greedy, I want to indulge myself with many fields that I am curious to learn more.
Initially, I have quite a number of schools in my wishlist and most of them are in US. After looking into the details, I only found out that I had to take SAT Reasoning Test and SAT Subject Test which were compulsory for the schools in my list. Previously, I thought TOEFL + 2 SAT Subject Test would do but that’s just for MIT. I’ve taken my SAT Subject Test: Physics & Math Level 2 on 6 Dec 2008. Next will be the SAT Reasoning Test on 24 Jan 2009. I scored 800 in Physics and 670 in Math Level 2.
Now, let’s go on to the schools in my list.
United States
- U of California (Berkeley & Santa Cruz)
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- U of Texas at Austin
- U of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
- U of Chicago
- John Hopkins
- Princeton
- Mississippi State U
- U of Colorado at Boulder
- Purdue U
U of California (UC) was the first school that I applied to. The application was done in a hurry. I only submitted my application after 18 minutes of the deadline (30 Nov 2008). Luckily, they still consider me in time. Yeah! This is the school that I love the most. I applied to UC Berkeley (UCB) and UC Santa Cruz (UCSC). Both of them have very great astronomy program. Since UCSC earns top ranking in scientific impact of astronomy research, there is no reason for me to skip this UC campus.
The next school I applied was Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The application was also sent in the last minute too. My school transcripts, guidance counsellor and teachers’ recommendations letter were late too. Okay, I know I know.. I had a hard time to keep to the schedule. I will get rid of this last minute manner. I just realised that I don’t have to worry so much as the guys at the admission office will inform us if any document is missing, so do the U of Calif.
For your information, the schools I listed above have great astronomy programs. Mississippi State U, U of Colorado at Boulder and Purdue University are great at aerospace engineering. I read the background of the schools that I was interested at wikipedia.com and topuniversities.com for rankings.
Australia
Australian National University (ANU)
I ended up only applying to these 3 schools (2 UC campuses and MIT). What’s the reason? I was going to apply for U of Texas at Austin. Guess what? Serene Ding at IDP who handled my ANU application sent me the offered letter. I am so thrilled as they offer me Bachelor of Engineering / Bachelor of Science. It’s a double degree! I didn’t apply to the rest of the universities in US in my list as ANU is better than them in many aspects. Sadly, I was not selected for the full tuition grant scholarship by Malaysian ANU Almuni Association. So, I have to find my way to pay them AUD22,800 annually and my expenditure.
Canada
U of Toronto
China
Peking U
Tsing Hua U
I’ve not looked into them so I have no story to tell right now. XD
Singapore
National Technological U, Singapore
National U of Singapore
I’ve applied to NUS. I found out that Singapore univerisities are all about grades. They don’t care what you have achieved in extra curricular activities. I don’t feel good with them and I don’t quite like Singapore. They’re just my last choices as they’re cheaper and closer to my home.
Thanks for reading my story. My tertiary study has begun since the time I applied to schools. Wish me all the best 
