gap year before college

Applying to College
1

<p>Hey guys, i'm a senior in a high school & i'll be taking my o-levels this oct/nov. But right now i'm planning to apply for a college/uni in the US after taking my SATs & TOEFL but i was told that i need 12 years of schooling (i only have 11 years) in order to enter a college? </p>

<p>So this means that i'll have to take a gap year & the problem is i'm not sure wether to go to a community college or take my A levels locally or if there are any other choices? </p>

<p>Tbh, i'm not the smartest student but i'd also like to ask if the ivy league schools accept transfer students from idk community colleges or the place where i may take my A levels?</p>

<p>ALSO,
There are only months left for me to decide what i wanna do later in life or which course i want to take in college (medicine/engineering, etc.) but i'm still not really sure what i wanna do. Do i still have time or do i have to figure this out now? I was actually interested in medicine but i'm not so sure now bc it's a one path thing & i don't think i'll be able to try out other things like art or astronomy or anything. so right now i really have no idea!</p>

<p>please reply asap! :)</p>

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<p>First of all, a reality check: getting into an Ivy League school is INSANELY difficult. </p>

<p>As an int’l student who is admittedly “not the smartest student”, your chances of being admitted into an Ivy League school are ZERO, unless you bring something special to the table (e.g., elite athletic ability/talent/accomplishment, or your father is the prime minister/king/dictator of some country, or you have some interesting life story like being an award-winning filmmaker war-orphan). Gazillionaires try to buy their way in for their children, but can’t (google “Gerald Chow lawsuit”).</p>

<p>That said, there are plenty of good universities in the U.S. that are more realistic to consider.</p>

<p>I don’t know where you heard you need 12 years of schooling. There are many examples of students who entered college after GRADUATING in less than 12 years. In any case, I don’t know how a gap year will add up to 12 years of school.</p>

<p>If you go to a U.S. university, generally you are not expected to commit to a course of study (i.e. medicine/engineering, etc.) when you enter. As a university student you are expected to take a wide range of subjects and explore other interests like art, astronomy or anything.</p>

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<p>Hi guys! Before I ask my question, I’ll give you a brief intro about myself so that you have a better insight before answering me: I am an international student and have just completed my grade 12 this year. I recently gave the SAT reasoning test and am intending to give the subject tests in October or November. I want to major in business economics and public policy. However, I have decided to take a gap year.
Question: if I apply for the fall of 2014, would the ‘gap year’ aspect be a black spot on my application? Also, for the aforementioned concentration, which subject test should I opt for apart from math level 2?</p>

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<p>And when I converted my grade 12 grades into GPA - it turned out to be a 4.0.</p>

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<p>I am very keen on Wharton because it is one of the few colleges that offers this major : business economics and public policy. I know it’s difficult and ‘almost impossible’ to get into an Ivy League school; however, is it worth a shot? As in taking a gap year? My sole reason for taking a gap year is that I have to appear for all the standardized tests, which clearly I did not appear for earlier. I have given the SAT reasoning test but I have to give a couple of more tests.</p>

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<p>P.S. respond ASAP.</p>

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<p>Please create your own thread and stop spamming in someone else’s thread. </p>

<p>I don’t think you’ve completed your A levels . So, please don’t want us to say what you want to hear. And whole application process isn’t GPA+SAT based.</p>

<p>I don’t know why people post something like these.</p>

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<p>Sorry, admission*</p>

9

<p>Or this is your thread? Different accounts?</p>

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<p>I know it’s not just about the SATs and GPA. The admission process is not only lengthy but also difficult. It’s a lot more. I am sorry for interrupting your thread. It’s just that I am new to CC and I looked at the topic so I thought that I could get some help. There’s no need to be rude here buddy. Just because I am an int’l student does not make me ignorant as such. Nevertheless, thanks for the advice.</p>

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<p>Why don’t you make a thread? People will respond.</p>

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<p>Thanks! I’ll do that and I understand now. It just takes some time to get used to these portals. I didn’t intend to ‘spam’ someone else’s thread.</p>

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<p>shahirah6 and IAMSTRONG95 -</p>

<p>Both of you would benefit greatly from reading through all of the information at <a href=“https://www.educationusa.info/[/url]”>https://www.educationusa.info/&lt;/a&gt; After that, you should make appointments with the counselors at the advising centers closest to where you live: <a href=“https://www.educationusa.info/centers.php[/url]”>https://www.educationusa.info/centers.php&lt;/a&gt; Those counselors are expert at helping students in your countries find good places to study in the US. They will know where students like you have been admitted in recent years, and whether those students received the kind of financial aid that they might have needed. They also will know whether O levels are enough or if A levels are necessary for the colleges and universities on your application lists.</p>

<p>IAMSTRONG95 - You have not “given” the SAT. You have “taken” the SAT. Please practice that usage. In the US teachers “give” exams, and students “take” them. If you get it wrong here, people will wonder what you are talking about.</p>

<p>shahirah6 - It is all but impossible for international students to be admitted to Medical School in the US. The few Med Schools that do admit them will require that you pay for at least one year in advance before giving you a student visa (some will require that you pay for all four years in advance). Not to mention of course that in the US, Medicine is a post-graduate program and you would need to complete your undergraduate studies here first. If you are serious about Medicine, study it in your home country, and then come here for advanced training later. To learn how that could be done, see [ECFMG®</a> | Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates](<a href=“http://www.ecfmg.org/]ECFMG®”>http://www.ecfmg.org/)</p>

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<p>Thanks happymomof1 for correcting me. It was an inadvertent error. I’ll be more careful next time.</p>

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<p>Also thanks for the advice. Albeit I have a counsellor, I thought that taking some advice from people of my age and probably with the same experience could help. </p>

<p>I’ll start my own thread and you can respond to my queries there, only if it’s possible. Thanks!</p>

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<p>GMTplus7 -</p>

<p>haha i know, i don’t have any expectations at all! well i don’t really know why :confused: but for the gap year tht i apparently have to take, i’m suppose to take either a levels/go to a community college or wtv. i can’t not do anything. so i’m a little confused on deciding what to do?</p>

<p>happymomof1 -</p>

<p>ah i see, just what i needed! thanks a lot :)</p>

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<p>hi guys,</p>

<p>so i talked to my mum about it & she told me to take the UPP (university pathway program) in new hampshire for my foundation for 1 year. i don’t know if this is a good idea?</p>

<p>the real problem is that i’m currently interested in medicine & i’m considering in taking it but i don’t wanna miss out on the other classes like astronomy or history. is it impossible to try other things & do medicine at the same time? i mean i don’t think i wanna major in astronomy or history, i just want to take the classes! </p>

<p>please reply asap!!</p>

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<p>How serious are you about medicine? Does your mother understand that it will be all but impossible for you to study medicine in the US if you are not a US citizen or legal permanent resident at the time you apply to medical school? To be perfectly honest, if you do want to study medicine, you should do it in your home country.</p>

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<p>1° You cannot study medicine, even after A-levels. In the US, you can only study medicine if you have a bachelor’s degree. That degree can be in history if you want to, as long as you have 1/3 science classes and 1/3 social science/humanities classes. There is no “pre med major”, but a set of courses that you need to take at the undergraduate level and where you’ll need to rank among the best. You’ll also need to take the MCAT. And very few medical schools admit International Students. Even with that, 99% international applicants are rejected from medical schools in the US.
2° In addition to all other requirements, med schools in the US require you to have about $100,000 ready before they will admit you. Does your family have this much money ready, knowing you’ll have to pay for undergrad also?
3° If you go the community college route, you’ll have to pay full price for the last 2 years of university. Does your family have the money? There is no scholarship for international transfers (or very very few - one of the most generous schools, Penn, has FIVE such scholarships.) If you have the money to pay full price, choose a community college that has an agreement with a public university you’re interested in (such as TAG/TAP in California) AND that has excellent transfer rates.
4° In American terms, preparing O’levels does not make you a “senior”, it makes you a sophomore or a junior. Typically, you need to have passed 4-6 AS exams and be enrolled in 3-4 A2 courses in order to qualify for an American university.
5° A solution for you might be to major in neuroscience. You wouldn’t become a doctor but you could work on medical research. For this however you need A-A* grades on all your science O’Levels, in addition to passing grades in English.</p>

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<p>I think you are a little confused about how the O level/A level and American systems mesh.</p>

<p>In America, we call the last 4 years of secondary education, grades 9 - 12, which happen in years 10 - 13 “high school”. The reason that the grades and year levels don’t match is that what many countries call “Year 1”, Americans call “Kindergarten”. The next 4 years are called “college” and are also the beginning of a university education.</p>

<p>In some other countries, including England, they call the last two years (years 12 and 13) “college”, but they’re the equivalent of the last two years of high school. The O levels or GCSE are equivalent to 10th grade, the mid point in American High School. Just like you can’t go to University in England or other countries with just O levels or GCSE, you can’t go to an American University with just O levels or GCSE any more than you could go directly from the American 10th grade. </p>

<p>You aren’t being asked to take a “gap” year a gap year is when someone takes a year off after completing high school. By American standards, you haven’t completed high school. You’ve got a couple more years to go. You can meet this requirement by doing A level courses (“college” in your vocabulary, “high school” in American), or by completing an IB diploma, or by coming and studying in a high school or equivalent in the U.S… </p>

<p>Staying home and completing the A Levels is almost guaranteed to be the less expensive option. If money isn’t an issue, coming to the US and studying in a boarding school, either one that serves US students too, or a program like the one in New Hampshire that seems to be just for international students. Doing that, and having an American transcript might give you a subtle advantage, but it’s not huge and may not be worth the price difference.</p>

<p>As far as junior college or community college, those are equivalent to the first two years of uni in the British system, although they are often open to students with less education credentials. Generally you wouldn’t go to CC without a high school diploma (A levels/IB).</p>

<p>If you are truly interested in a American college (read uni) program now, one option would be to look at “early college” programs that are set up for students who skip part of high school. Simon’s Rock at Bard is one such program to investigate.</p>