<p>Graduating early will not hurt you; but check whether the fact that you are taking classes in college will make you a transfer student rather than a student applying as a freshman.</p>
<p>Awesome, thanks. I have checked with tons of schools regarding how I should apply (transfer or freshman). Most schools have told me that as long as I am not enrolled full time, and not working towards a degree I can apply as a freshman. A few schools have told me that I have to apply as a transfer simply because I have already graduated high school, but just a couple. Any other comments/suggestions are welcome.</p>
<p>samuck, S didn't apply to Harvard so didn't see that app. Point well taken. However, of the schools ex-pat S applied to, all four made it clear on the app that he was NOT considered an international student--although he was, of course, grouped into an international region for adcom admin. Also, S NOT considered international student now that he is a student.</p>
<p>AS for the state by state vs inernational pool stats....I saw those recently on a National Merit page listing that number of points required to get commendation etc. Anyone else have more specifics?</p>
<p>Limkid:</p>
<p>The schools that told you you must apply as a transfer because you have graduated are wrong. As long as you are not enrolled full-time in a college, you can be considered to be taking a gap year. Go to the Harvard admissions website and see what Harvard has to say about the value of a gap year.</p>
<p>Cheers:</p>
<p>For NMS, I read the same stats, i.e., that international students (meaning anyone overseas whether US citizen or not) are held to the same cutoffs as DC, MA and MD--222.
For adcom admission, US citizens applying from abroad are put into an international pool, but my understanding of the label international is that it applies to things like eligibility for financial aid (whether from the college or other sources0, visa issues, and the demographic profile of the student body. In the latter case, a US citizen would not appear in the international students statistics.</p>
<p>Samuck - no wonder you are confused -so are we! Our situation is unusual, but we will persevere. I'm like you in that D's school has no experience with American uni apps, but that has helped as they will listen to us about what is required. We created the transcripts after A/S level results and included copies of her certificates when and if they were required. I never said a word to her school until they began to talk about her uni applications last spring, and then we told them what we'd need. She's applying this year, even tho' we are not sure of where exactly. One main issue we've found is that whatever you use for a transcript, the envelope must be sealed with clear tape and have the school's stamp over the tape a couple of times to make it "official" (prove it hasn't been opened since leaving the school). It appears to be a formality for most schools, who really want copies of her certificates, but don't know that's what they want. The ivys and the UCs seem to have a better understanding with the exception of that "send us your A level grades" bit.</p>
<p>LimKid66 - Wish I could help you, but I shall watch to see what answers you get as I would like to know the same things. I'm guessing it depends on how many foreign resident students (citizen and non-citizen) a school normally has as to whether your foreign experience is a good thing...</p>
<p>Thx again, US mom, I am copying your advice into a document to save for next year's applications! As to whether the foreign experience is an advantage, I agree 100% with 2applying - its how you present the experience that counts. I have interviewed too many Americans abroad who stay within the Little America enclaves of their schools and clubs - in those cases, it is almost a negative - ie. ithey haven't engaged with the host culture or taken advantage of the incredible experience living abroad can offer. In your daughter's case, as I posted in response to her question on the 'college selection' forum, the fact she goes to a selective state school makes her quite unnusual and an attractive candidate to schools who are used to getting applications mostly from the private sector.</p>
<p>samuck - we are so out of the American enclaves that we just found out we missed the chance to show an interest in schools (and even interview) at the American School's college fair. Hopefully, it will work to D's advantage to be so very British. If the SAT scores from a year and a half ago just matched her state school results, we would have many fewer problems. She hopes to score well on the November SAT IIs, but we don't know if that will mitigate the SAT I....</p>
<p>For my apps, I sent my GCSE and AS Levels results... </p>
<p>I didn't sent my A2 results at all... I got my results on the same day I flew off, so I just handed a photocopy of it two weeks after I arrived in Yale.</p>
<p>So by 'completed A levels', Yale is actually referring to the official AS scores - that's useful to know - thx, Upandover. My d will be visitng New Haven over the halfterm and will ask the question then - but its good to learn of your experience. USmominUK, could your d retake SATs in Nov and forget the SAT 2s? Not all schools require them and going by upandover's experience, maybe others besides Yale would be willing to substitute AS grades instead? I remember from the other forum that your d doesn't want to retake - I fully empathize. It is very difficult to get motivated for these US tests that nobody else has even heard of - my d got a lot of flak from friends for taking 'the sats' - ie. the benchmark assessments in UK schools. Having said that, I do believe US schools will take view lower SAT scores within the greater context of your d's UK academic achievements.</p>
<p>samuck - I've thot of that, but D seems more willing to make an effort in physics, chemistry (and math IIc) as she finds the US science teaching supplements the UK teaching in the areas that are different, which she did not feel the SAT I did at all. I would hate to think that both countries just teach to their tests instead of to educate, but I guess we'll find out in Nov. I know she's really good by British standards, but motivation is a problem when she isn't sure that hard work will pay off. She knows kids in the US who have taken those tests 9 or 10 times (and of course their highest score is now higher than hers) and who have paid lots of money for SAT prep that we can't afford so that puts her off, too. We are really banking on some adcoms looking at the "greater context" you mention, and really we have no objection to the tests if they are viewed in that context. Our main problem is that many merit based scholarships have minimum SAT scores; for us, that's a bigger problem than getting admitted!</p>
<p>D has recently experienced a new problem in communicating with American universities and I wondered if anyone else experienced this. One school sent her an email with the wrong name requesting information which might or might not have been for her file. The confusion was sorted out; they had the wrong name and didn't understand the situation. But the same kind of thing happened today with a different university and I know the information they are asking for does not pertain to her. We have tried so hard to read all application directions carefully and send exactly what they ask for, and I wondered if anyone else has had a problem with receiving emails from admissions people addressed to the wrong person and asking for things they don't need. Is it just us?</p>
<p>I'm actually a UK citizen, so I can definitely sympathise with the puzzlement a lot of you guys are feeling. When I applied, I sent copies of my GCSE certificates and also of my Record of Achievement - not sure if that still exists but it was designed for people who leave school at 16. My school had end of year exams in all academic subjects and all my results were on that record of achievement, so it was possible to calculate some kind of GPA (although they were on a reverse 6 point scale, so I dread to think how that would have worked!) The places I applied just asked for a school stamp on the copies to prove they were legit. When I applied again I also sent in copies of my A Levels (I was the last year to do the old-style ones, so now AS grades for me.)
As far as damning with faint praise - this question came up at the College Fair when I was there, and I expect it does every year. All the people on the panel said that they were aware of the differential levels of encouragement and effusiveness, and took it into account when reviewing apps.
I didn't decide to apply to US colleges until my junior (L6) year, but luckily our sixth-form co-ordinator (AKA GC) was one of my teachers so I was able to work quite closely with her on the apps - in the end she submitted copies of my UCAS recommendation with the required forms and a note explaining everything.
We must have done something right because I ended up being accepted to a good school!
Good luck to everyone who is/has kids applying.</p>
<p>Haha, had a laugh over that one. How true....of course they think the American 'soft sell' is terribly unattractive and crass. </p>
<p>As for confusion. Well, there was the small matter of S1 putting different names (with and without middle name) and different SS #s on the SATs (whoops). That was confusing and took a call to Collegeboard--but had nothing to do with being an expat. (Definitely got the feeling from Collegeboard that SAT II takers normally get their name and SS# down correctly:rolleyes: ).</p>
<p>We did run into mail problems--not outgoing but incoming mail. We received most west coast mail THIRTY to FORTY days late as it meandered across..... Europe. Go figure. Sometimes we missed deadlines and opportunities.</p>
<p>The delayed responses might have come across as 'lack of interest' --and hurt S1 at one school in particular. S2 plans to apply to same school and we will follow up with more emails and phone calls and 'interest', lol.</p>
<p>I missed the original thread, so this post may be redundant. If your D is interested in competitive swimming and her times are competitive Div III times, she might be able to get an admission boost at selective LACs and midsize universities that have Div III swimming. (Some excellent schools in the latter group: Washington U, Emory, Tufts, Johns Hopkins, CMU etc.) This boost could minimize the UK/US academic comparison issues. </p>
<p>She should contact the coaches at schools of interest if this applies.</p>
<p>lauraanne - yes, that UCAS recommendation will be included with D's apps, too. It just makes sense to send the predictions as well as the AS cetificates and school has been good to give us copies.</p>
<p>Cheers - we are short some expected incoming mail and I wonder if it is meandering somewhere out there. With copies of everything, I can't see any mistakes we've made in that the info D has provided has been consistent. But after verifying that she didn't need to send transcripts until acceptance as it is self-reported academics(and we didn't), she got an email requesting a translation into English! Makes us feel like they don't know who she is....</p>
<p>reidm - what does she do if she sends an email to a coach and doesn't hear back? Obviously she doesn't expect them to pay for a recruitment trip from Europe, but she can tell from the website when her times are in there or almost. Is it wrong to send a follow-up email?</p>
<p>On another thread, I read that at some schools you can't participate unless you are a recruited athlete - does anyone know if this true for swimming? One coach said no money but on the team - that would be OK</p>
<p>A follow-up email never hurts, though no answer may mean too many athletes in Ds events, better times from other prospects etc. I would cast a very wide net. If any of the coaches that know her (UK or US) know US college coaches that would be another route to go, too. </p>
<p>I am no expert on scholarship/participation issues, but i do know there are no athletic scholarships at Div III schools, or at Div I Ivies. Div I scholarship athletes need amazing times - just check the NCAA tournament times. But recruited athletes can get an admissions boost at Div III schools and Ivies. At Div I schools, given the needs for relay teams etc I understand there is room for walk-ons. . .certainly for athletes "recruited" to walk on. More chance for unrecruited athletes at Div III schools, though, in general.</p>