Admission into undergraduate college, US citizen in Asia

Applying to College
1

My son holds US citizenship. We have moved out of US and he did schooling in Asia. He is going to give his SAT. I have the following queries

  1. Will colleges in US consider this curriculum with good SAT score
  2. What will be the fee structure
  3. What will be the requirement if he wants to do engineering course there
  4. Is there a possibility for any scholarship based on merit
  5. Will he require recommendation letters from teacher

Can anyone please clarify or suggest where to post the query

2
  1. Sure, you can apply to any university no matter where you're from.
  2. You have to pay to apply, and pay tuition/room and board with the amount dependent on how much financial aid you get. I don't know if your son will be treated by admissions as international or domestic student, but some schools don't provide good aid to international students.
  3. Some better schools require SAT subject tests in two subjects--typically one is Maths and one is either Biology/Physics/Chemistry.
  4. Sure, if your son has good enough scores. However, top schools don't give merit aid, only need-based aid.
  5. Yes, he will almost certainly need recommendations from teachers.
3

Your son is a US citizen educated abroad. There are many students in his situation. The colleges and universities will be able to interpret his application, don’t worry about that!

For financial aid, your son is a domestic applicant who can file the FAFSA. This will require both the students and parent income and assets converted to US$ at the exchange of the day.

His applications will be read by admissions officers who are familiar with the school system that he is studying in.

Because you are living abroad, he will not have in-state residence status anywhere, so he needs to make sure that he checks the costs for out of state students. In recent years, some states including Utah, Missouri, and Texas made it relatively easy for students to acquire in-state status on thier own. This can change a lot from one year to the next, so he needs to check this for every public college or university on his list.

There are a number of places that offer significant aid based on merit. Start with the thread on Automatic Scholarships that is at the top of the financial aid forum.

You aren’t on your own with this! There is a lot of information here at CC. You claos can get good help closer to where you live at the closest EducationUSA advising center. Use the search engine at www.EducationUSA.state.gov to locate it.

Wishing you all the best!

4

Thanks. This is very useful information.

5

The grading scale will need to be indicated: what percentage students get each score? When they get that score at this particular school, how does that translate in national examination and (ie, a 7 at your school results in an 8 on national exams… A 7… Or, alas, a 6).
If his/her school is not on a recognized, external exam system such as IGCSE, IB, A level… Then an explanation may be necessary.

He won’t be considered in-state for tuition purpose, anywhere. However he’ll be in the ‘domestic’ pool and have access to all scholarships US residents have.

Get a Fiske guide. S/He needs to find affordable colleges s/he likes with varying acceptance rates and selectivity. (anything 25% acceptance and below is considered a reach for everyone).

6

Thanks. This is very useful information.