I am a part homeschooled british student in Year 11 and really want to go to Uni in the USA. I have spent a lot of time there and love it and my parents fully support me going if I want to (i know how expensive it is but we may be able to manage)
I want to know the likelihood of getting into a good Uni there as I’m not that familiar with there admissions ext.
I have mainly B’s in my GCSE results which is not that great however in my A levels I am predicted: Art- A, English Lang and Lit- A, Philosophy- A and Chemistry- B
When I was younger I was in all the sports teams and tournaments but not anymore haha! I have a lot of work/volunteer experience such as with disabled children, at a wildlife rescue and at a cosmetic company. I am also going to the USA to do some work experience in the summer and to check out some Unis.
I am taking the general SAT and 2 SAT subject tests in Chem and Bio. Hopefully I can get really high scores in these with a lot of hard work.
With this info could anyone tell me what kind of university I should look at while in the USA or what sort of ranking of the University should I be looking at.
Some that I am really interested in are Rice University and Washington University in St Louis. Do you think I have a chance with these?
Rice University and WUSTL are virtually out of reach if your main grades are Bs. These two are hard to get in even with straight As and whatnot. Plus, you being an international student will make it to <1% chance.
Activities done before HS don’t count
Do you have 60~65k dollar for college per year?
How much can you pay per year? Since your main grades are Bs, top schools are virtually zero.
For American posters: Remember that a British B is an American A-. So Op likely has the equivalent of a 3.75.
Op
As a year 11 how can you have gcse results already? And since As selection hasn’t taken place how could you have those AND predicted results? Are those hypothetical?
Sorry yeah i meant year 12!! Thanks for the replies by the way. Here in England when applying to Unis GCSE grades don’t really matter. As for the homeschooling I do Art at school and then my other subjects at home but I take my chemistry practical course in a lab.
@aveena, Correct me if I wrong, but in the UK, Grade 11 (5th Form) is actually equivalent to Grade 12 in the US. That is, in the UK, students typically do their GCE (GCSE?) in Grade 11. They then do their A’Levels in Grades 12 and 13, graduating at round age 18. As far as I know, only a minority of students actually go on beyond their O’Levels (GCSE), with the majority of students leaving High School at Grade 11 (age 16). At least this is how I remember the process when I did O’Levels and A’Levels many years ago.
That being said, almost any kid staying intending to go on to university does the 2-year sixth form (years 12 and 13) and then leaves at 18. Depending on the school, the 6th form can offer A-Levels, The International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma, or the Cambridge Pre-U (though only a few schools offer that last one).
For the OP, for impartial advice for British students thinking about university in the US (or actually vice versa), your best bet is the Fulbright Commission (http://www.fulbright.org.uk). They are a non-profit and their advice service and seminars are superb.
Oh ok thanks! Can anyone give me an idea of what sort of uni’s I could get into? I know its kind of difficult to say as GCSE grades here don’t count for anything really but A levels are everything. I’ve done some SAT practice papers and am getting almost 2300 which I think is quite good. I’m also trying to get 800’s in my 2 subject tests. How much could this boost my chances?
Look at the likely tier of unis you would expect admission into in the UK, you can probably work out what sort of uni is comparable in the US, coming the the US for a tippy top school as an outstanding student is one thing, coming paying through the nose for a school that could easily be equalled or bettered in the UK seems pointless. Do I read that your O levels are mostly B grade but you expect a 2300 SAT and 800 on sat subjects? Get those done ASAP and you would be in a much stronger spot. Look at the common data sets of school for international admissions stats and run the numbers, 60K a year plus flights, health insurance, visa limitations on work hours, all should be taken seriously unless you are a rich posh kid LOL.
The key is to balance the costs and the benefits. If you can get into one of the six schools that are need blind for internationals, and full-need for aid, then that education will likely cost appreciably less than the equivalent UK education (those being Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Yale, Dartmouth and Amherst). But admission to those is very tough.
The MIT international admit rate for example hovers around 3%. That being said, if you get into one of those schools all of the aid is merit-based. If your family income is less than around GBP£45000, then tuition will be free. The best last year was Princeton, where some 74% of students graduated without debt, and the median debt for the remaining 24% was approximately USD$5000/GBP£3200, which compares very favourably with almost any English Institution. Of course, that is the best figure. MIT for example has only 60% graduate debt free, and the median debt is USD$19000. Not nearly as good, but still better than almost any English institution.
But be aware that only these 6 guarantee full need. If you drop down even a little bit in the US rankings, then aid is likely to be much less generous. There are also US institutions that are generous with academic scholarships, but they tend to be a bit less prestigious.
Wherever you apply, the officer will be familiar with the british system. There is usually one reader assigned for international students. Having said this, they will be most focused on your A level grades. It seems you have done well, try to shoot for A or A* on at least 3 A-levels, and you should be fine.
If you are serious about Rice and Wash U, strive for at least 700+ on each section of the SAT I. Same for SAT II scores.
The next thing you are probably not familiar with being from the UK is that for American schools extracurricular activities matter. A lot. Your ECs seem a bit weak compared to most of the other students you will be competing against. Try to improve this before you apply. Good luck
Looking at some of the selective US University, the will look at both your GCSE and GCSE A-Levels for Admission. Assuming you get good SAT scores (>2100), you should be looking at Universities in Ranked in the 30+ range on the US News and World Report Ranking. You did not indicate what you intended major is, which would help with University Selection.
The USA has MANY excellent Universities, so prepare and take the SAT/ACT and once you have your scores in hand, we will be in a better position to offer advice, instead of relying on prediction of A-Level results, Your O’level results doesn’t support your optimist A’Level results, given that O’Levels are considerably easier than A’Levels. BTW, A’Levels are equivalent to the first two years of University level work. Also, you have not taken any advance Mathematics courses (Calculus or Additional Mathematics). Are you planing on doing Pre-Med an/or going back to the UK after completing your Undergraduate Degree? Apart from the Ivy League Universities, what US Universities are popular or well known in the UK? That will help steer you in the right direction as far as US Universities to target. To be honest, Rice University and Washington University in St Louis are probably high reach for you, based on your GCSE results.
My intended major is something in the social sciences such as Anthropology or Sociology. I just wish I put more effort into my GCSE’s. Not much pressure was put on us at all and I was told many times that they would not matter very much when applying to Universities.
@aveena I’m from the UK and I’m applying for US Schools this year. Forgive me if this sounds harsh, but I feel like the kind of person who would thrive in the type of environment of the schools you mention would have been determined enough to achieve high grades at GCSE without requiring external pressure.
If you won’t require financial aid, that’s a huge plus point as you won’t be restricted financially in terms of where you can apply. Have you looked at public schools (UT Austin, UWashington, UCLA, UCSD, UVA etc.) which still rank highly internationally but are less rigid in terms of grade profiles of accepted students?