Stevenacademy
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ACADEMY STUDENT TESTIMONIAL
합격수기 section
Yeonjun Cho
Nationality: Korea, Graduated from: Palm Valley School (U.S.A), Years studied overseas: 3 years (from 10th grade)
SATI: R=700 M=800 W=770 (2270), SATII: Physics (770) / Math II (800), GPA: 4.58/4.0, AP: Physics(5)/World History(4)/Calculus AB(5)/Calculus BC(4)/Chemistry(4), TOEFL: 102
Extracurricular activities: Student council vice president, math club president, Varsity Tennis, internship in POSTECH lab
Award: AMC 12, AIME finals, Palm Springs’ Chess competition championship, math award in school (first place out of all students in school)
As I entered high school, I suddenly decided to go to the States to focus on my favorite subjects, math and physics. I was worried because I started sophomore year in the States without being fully proficient in English. Fortunately, I have frequently read English books, which helped me to adapt the new environment. There was no problem in communicating with others and receiving grades, but PSAT was a real problem. It was very difficult, and the result was tragic. PSAT is a type of mock exam of SAT, so 160 in PSAT is equal to 1600 in SAT. Although my math scores is perfect, my English score was unsatisfactory and I was very disappointed to myself for not developing linguistic ability in English.
When I returned to Korea during break, I found Steven Academy. Besides SAT all-inclusive classes, there were classes that are focused on a specific section, and I thought it was a perfect class for me to improve my weaknesses in reading and writing. Before junior year begins, I just got the idea of SAT tests for a month. Before becoming a senior, I began preparing for SAT in Steven Academy. Memorizing words that frequently appear on SAT, learning effective sentence structures and strategies in writing essays from Steven, and improving my sense of learning instead of just memorizing in short term improved my score in a very short time. As a result, I received 2270 from my last SAT test. It is surprising how a foreign student who is better in math and science can improve this much rapidly.
One thing I regret is that I lacked time and information when preparing for college application. I applied high-ranking universities such as MIT and Stanford University and some other universities that are more likely to be accepted. I think I gave the interviewers a good impression because interview took much longer than I expected, but the results were not satisfactory. I think my application was the biggest problems. Since I did not have a clear idea of myself, I only listed my experiences in the cover letter without any creative or distinctive ideas that can differentiate myself from others. I hope other students to keep in mind that they have to show their insights and creative opinions in their cover letter and prepare applications well.