I’m an IGCSE student from the middle east, I would like to study in the US, faculty of architecture. I am to take my SATs and IELTS this October, and I have a job at a multinational company, where I communicate with english speaking foreigners. I took 8 OL’s and 2 AS’s, which I know is nothing at all. Apart from my job I don’t have extracurricular activities, because at my school we didn’t have any clubs. Also, it’s very rare at my country for someone my age to have a job. My scores are not out yet, but my GPA so far is 3.7. I took classes in piano and art but that’s about it. My question is, am I eligible for an international scholarship to a US university?
How much do you need is the important question?
http://www.scholars4dev.com/6499/scholarships-in-usa-for-international-students/
http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/the-scholarship-coach/2012/03/22/an-international-students-guide-to-us-scholarships
P.S: I didn’t mean a scholarship, I meant whether I would get accepted at all. Because I am aware that some universities offers financial aid which is not merit based.
Yes, you can get accepted to a US college, but you need SAT scores and usually some outstanding EC’s if you need financial aid and/or merit aid.
Even without AL’s? And lack of extracurricular activities?
It really depends upon which schools you are targeting. I am not familar with your school system, so that is why you probably need to post in the International thread. I am just saying it is possible to be accepted to a US school, just not familiar with your specific issues.
Alright, thank you so much. ^^
ECs are not just school clubs. Having a job with an international company is an EC. So is doing art and playing the piano. So is anything that you do in your spare time in which you spend multiple hours every week outside of school, have developed a level of expertise and involves real effort. So don’t sell yourself short.
As for specific advice, you need to go to the forum for international students on CC and start there.
Start by reading through everything here: https://educationusa.state.gov/
Then contact the counselors at the advising center closest to where you live. They are expert at helping students educated in your country find good places to study in the US: https://educationusa.state.gov/find-advising-center
While is is almost certain that you will be able to be admitted somewhere, what matters is whether or not you can be admitted to a place that will make it likely that you will be able to find a good job after you graduate. Most colleges and universities in the US do not care about ECs at all. Even those that do care recognize that international students have different opportunities and come from different educational systems than US students do. You do not need to be just like a US student to be admitted here. Rather, you need to meet that college or university’s specific requirements for international applicants.
Wishing you all the best!
Thank you both so much! I was starting to lose hope. I will check the links.
Aren’t you enrolled in A-Levels right now since you took AS?
No, I only had 12 years not 13, so only 3 years of IGCSE. and I didn’t take any A2 (to complete an ALevel) my AS grades were out and I did horrible (no surprise) so I gave up that dream entirely. Thank you for your interest.