<p>I thought this may be the best place to get my mind put at rest about something...</p>
<p>I'm a British guy, and right now I'm trying to put together everything I need in to enroll in a US based college starting in 2011. Although I'm pretty much on top of what I need to do, there is one thing that is really bugging me...</p>
<p>By the time I enroll, I'll be 24. When I left school at 18 I had no idea what I wanted to do when I grew up, never went to college and became a bit of a townie. Now, though, I know what I want to study and know I want to live in the States while I do it. Thing is, I'm paranoid that being a 24 year old freshman will just be... well... weird. </p>
<p>Am I being silly here, or would enrolling as a full time, dorm livin' student aged 24 be anywhere near normal? I know I'll be one of the oldest around, but would it be creepily old?</p>
<p>There’s nothing creepy about it. Many people start college older for various reasons. Many military vets start college in their 20s or later. </p>
<p>As for dorm-living. You probably won’t have to live in a dorm with 18 year olds if you don’t want to. There usually are other housing options. </p>
<p>You might feel more comfortable at a larger university, because it would more likely have more older students. </p>
<p>Keep in mind that many universities have students who are working on masters and PhDs on campus, too, so seeing students of varying ages is not weird.</p>
<p>Where do you want to go to school? Do you have the finances to go to school here?</p>
<p>“Creepy” depends on the situation and what you try to be involved in… My freshman year of college we had a 25 year old guy living by us that was also a freshman. He had just got out of the military. It was “creepy” because he wanted to blend in like all of the other 18 year olds and he would constantly hit on the 18 year old girls. Being of age he would always get alcohol and want to “show off” and get popularity by his ability to get alcohol. It was creepy.</p>
<p>It will really depend on the school. You probably won’t want to focus on small or rural schools which have campus centered social lives centered on 18 year old parties. You may well also want to consider non traditional student programs.</p>
<p>If you tell us what you want to study and how much you can afford to pay, we can give concrete suggestions.</p>
<p>As Redroses says, you need to be more specific. Remember, different colleges have different admission requirements and you are better off with large urban colleges, where you have students of all types. Again, being an international student, are you looking for aid or can fund the education yourself. If you need aid, then your choices are fairly limited. To answer your question, in some settings 24 is not old, but in some settings it can be.</p>
<p>Wow… You’ve all been really helpful… thanks! And I’ll make sure I check out that non trad forum as well. </p>
<p>To answer a few of the general questions - </p>
<p>I’m only really looking at big East Coast colleges anyway, as I do want a bigger campus and know Boston\Washington\NYC\etc and the surrounding areas quite well. I also know Las Vegas quite well too, but that is beside the point… Right now my ‘short list’ has 52 schools on it, so I’m narrowing them down to a more manageable few next week.</p>
<p>In terms of money, I’m going to try to pick a college which would let me pick up extra credits so I can complete a degree in 3 years. I’m aware it would be a lot of work, but I’m used to that anyway. If it is somewhere I can study for 3 years I’m budgeting around $30k a year, if not around $20k-ish. Although, if I’m able to pick up a grant\financial aid\etc. then that would obviously factor in. Again, this will become a bit more obvious when I don’t have a short list of 52 schools…</p>
<p>Also, I have no interest in being that weird older guy who does beer runs for the under age kids… mainly as that is just uber creepy, but also as I don’t want to do anything to jeopardize a visa. Unless you’re a super model, visas are REALLY hard to get to live\work\study in the States!!</p>
<p>*If it is somewhere I can study for 3 years I’m budgeting around $30k a year, if not around $20k-ish. Although, if I’m able to pick up a grant\financial aid\etc. then that would obviously factor in. *</p>
<p>With a budget like that, you’re going to have to broaden your geography. </p>
<p>There aren’t many schools - especially in the NE - that will educate an int’l for $20k-30k per year… The SUNY/CUNYs might be almost the only ones.</p>
<p>As far as aid is concerned, unless you have super stats, you’re not likely going to get accepted to the small number of colleges that give aid to internationals. Typically only the elite schools give financial aid to int’ls and those are by far the hardest to get accepted to…sometimes less than a 10% acceptance rate for int’ls.</p>
<p>Do you have any SAT/ACT scores? How were your high school grades?</p>
<p>List some/most/all of the schools on your big list and we’ll weed out the ones that will be an obvious problem money-wise.</p>
<p>Right now the $20k-$30k are just ball park figures I’m using as starting points. Those can change based on a lot of things, from currency exchange to what I earn between now and next summer. If they need to go up by a certain percentage then so be it. At the end of the day, I want a good education and I’ve long accepted I’m going to be financially crippled for a while after this… whats another few thousand dollars worth of IOU’s?</p>
<p>I’ll pop a list of schools up at some point either in a different thread or on this one next week. Right now it is a mish-mash of ones I’ve had recommended and some which have popped up via criteria searches on a few different portals. A casual glance has already thrown up a few red flags for me, so I want to edit it down a bit before I show it to the world.</p>
<p>I’m also doing some practice SAT testing next week, as I’ve been doing a few practice questions but haven’t had the time to sit down and do a few full tests so I can at least get an idea of where I’ll end up in the scoring range. I’m not sitting my actual tests until the end of the year, though. Based on how I’ve faired so far, I’m projecting I’ll do very well in English and very, VERY averagely in maths. </p>
<p>High school grades were pretty good, at GCSE (taken at age 16) I picked up 4 A’s and 6 B’s and at A Level (which are taken at 18, and also can be used in place of SAT II testing) I picked up a B and two C’s, which was disappointingly to be honest. I have no idea how that would all translate into a traditional high school GPA though. </p>
<p>Up until now I’ve just focused on figuring out everything I need to do and learning the system\dates\practicalities\etc. of all of this. I’ve booked next week off work so that I can sit down and figure the finer details such as budget, realistic short list of schools, projected SAT scores, etc. </p>
<p>I just wanted to clear the age thing up now, really, before I got any deeper… that is a bit of a mental issue for me.</p>
<p>I think you need to take a hard look at the $$. It is doubtful you would get much if any aid given A levels and being from a well represented country. So if you will be full pay $20-$30K/yr will leave you with not the best opportunties. </p>
<p>I could see schools like NYU, the non traditional programs at Columbia and Penn, GW, American, BU, Northeastern-but all of these are $50K plus per year schools.</p>
<p>For less money you are looking at schools like SUNYs which are not in cities and you begin to wonder if it’s worth the expense. These schools won’t be well recognized when you return to the UK.</p>
<p>50k a year wouldn’t be the end of the world, but it would mean that I would have to get a degree in 3 years. As I’ve said, I’ve long expected this to financially cripple me in terms of IOU’s for a good few years :)</p>
<p>Redroses you’re right - I have no interest in doing this for the sake of doing it and going to a school where the degree isn’t going to be highly recognised and worth the cost\debt - I’d be better off going another route back here. </p>
<p>Still, I’m trying to stay optimistic about things, which is really hard for a British person…</p>
<p>I 'think age matters when it comes to getting an education, especially when you are in your early 20’s. My sister is 42 and she is in her third year of college and with her prospective career, she has about 6 or more years to go. :(</p>
<p>Have you read everything (and I do indeed mean everything) at [EducationUSA</a> | Study Abroad, Student Visa, University Fairs, College Applications and Study in the U.S. / America](<a href=“http://www.educationusa.state.gov/]EducationUSA”>http://www.educationusa.state.gov/) ? This is where any international candidate should start. Then, you should make an appointment with the counselors at the advising center closest to you. There are several in the UK. The counselors have experience working with nearly every imaginable type of college applicant, and they can help you sort through your list to find some good matches.</p>
<p>I am exactly the same position as you benh182.
It would be great if you gave me a few bits of advice as you have been 1own that road.
How are you fairing now? And did the certificates we get back in England for GCSE pass as “transcripts” here in the states?</p>
<p>I will be 23 at the time I intend to start university as a first year undergraduate. and I am worried about how I will fair considering the age difference between me and other first years.
I intend to study Human Physiology at Boston University which is top on my list although Umass,Tufts and any other close universities are still an option.
Intend to take the SAT or Act at some point.
I am on a permanent resident card with regards to my immigration status.</p>
<p>Any tips and advice will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.</p>