Hi everyone, im 12 y o, from Kazakhstan, i want to apply to the best colleges of the world, don’t know anything about it, help
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It is nice that you care about your education and have high aspirations. But it is way too early to be thinking about college.
Do the best you can in school, and involve yourself in things that interest you. Don’t forget to be a kid!
Then come back here in 4-5 years to discuss college applications.
Good luck!
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You are way too young to be thinking about “joining” any college here. Please do well in your studies, and consider your college options in a couple of years. At this point, you have absolutely zero information that could contribute to helping you find colleges.
Also, when the time comes, make sure you find affordable options on your home country as well. But it’s way too early for that too!
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I would suggest that you set your goal at “grow up to be a responsible person”. Define “responsible” with the adults you trust, then translate to actual characteristics and tasks. At 12, in my opinion, you should be able to take care of your own basic needs, include but not limited to: make simple meals for yourself, do your own laundry, arrange your daily activities, navigate public transportation system, complete homework on your own, ask teachers for help on your own, remind parents to transport you to and from where you need to be (if you need them to drive you), have several close friends, help your friends and classmates without being asked, do something nice to a stranger once a while, read/listen a lot (books, news, TED talks, podcasts, etc.), always think and ask why, take on regular house chores (take out trash, clean table, wash dishes, sweep/vacuum floor, water plants, etc.).
These things won’t be on your resume or transcript, but being responsible and remaining so builds the foundation of a person who wants to claim a higher position in society.
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Other than working very hard to do your best, read a lot of books. Try to get books in English, in addition to your native language, and read, read, read. Also do your best in math. If instruction is not good where you are, try Khan Academy online. If your country has a best high school, try to get into and attend that. This will help position you for admission to better colleges at home and maybe abroad.
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You might look for an exchange program like Rotary Int. to spend a year in the US during hs. It may really improve your English (if needed) and give you a taste of US life and the colleges.
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Your English is very good and from your post you seem like a very smart student. Keep that up and achieve at the very highest level and you might get a scholarship to a US university, but the “best” US schools are also very selective – they are the universities every high achieving student wants to go to. So you would really need to stand out to get accepted and admitted.
US colleges and universities can be very good, but there are many other universities in other countries that are also very good. One thing that US universities are is very very very expensive. It is not possible for many students in the US to afford to attend college/university because of how expensive it is. I don’t know how much your family can afford. Average cost of attendance at a good school is around $25,000-$55,000 a year for 4 years, so over $100,000 to over $200,000. There are some schools like Berea College that do offer low cost tuition to students and offer a limited number of scholarships to international students.
In Germany, on the other hand, it is free to attend college/university. You just need to pay for housing and food. I think France, and Switzerland also offer low cost tuition.
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The tippy top colleges in this country cost $80,000 a year or so. And will likely be higher by the time you reach college age.
But really…you are 12. You won’t be applying to college for 5 years or so. Please study well, and take a strong courseload if you are able to do so. Enjoy some activities that you choose to pursue. Help,your family. Maybe have a part time job at some point.
When it’s time for you to start really looking at colleges, you will likely have a different point of view than you have now. And your interests could even change. So…try to enjoy the time you have left before the college search begins!
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Your English is already very good: keep working on it, watching tv shows (tv series), cartoons, films in English with subtitles until you can understand without subtitles (say, by the time you’re 15.)
Read. Read everything you can, in your native language of course, and in English if you can find books. They do not need to be serious books -just read whatever you like. To see if a book in English is easy enough, read the first page: if you can’t understand more than 10 words then it’s too hard (it’s normal not to underrstand everything but if less than 10 worss you should be able to get the general meaning.)
Try to do things outside of school and do them well. Sport, music, art, programming in Minecraft, helping older people… it can be anything you’re interested in. This will matter if you ultimately decide to apply to US colleges. Most importantly it’ll make you a better person.
You may be interested in preparing for a United World College. You would need to interview when you’re 15, fluent in English, curious about the world, able to bring your skills (in sports, art, music…) and experience (volunteering, leading a club…). Only about 2-3 people from Kazakhstan would be selected then sent to boarding school among students from the entire world. UWC students also receive scholarships to study in the US.
There are 3,700 colleges in the US, because it’s a country as big as a continent. 370 colleges are really, really, really good. Students there study with excellent professors, participate in labs and discussions, can do research for a professor, are part of a community with its activities and traditions.
An issue is cost: US colleges have a “given price” (called “sticker price”) that is beyond anything you can imagine, that would take 15 years of salary in Kazakhstan, just for one year. However some also offer discounts, called “financial aid” -based on your academic and non academic excellence and on your parents’ income. If your parents earn less than $65,000 a year, these colleges will cover the costs -but because you’d cost the college money, they’d choose perhaps ONE such student from your entire region of the world (usually a student who is at national level in a sport the college competes in, who won an international olympiad, who has distinguished themselves - think Malala Yousafzai, David Hogg …) Another way to get a discount is to score better than 99% American students on a standardized test called the SAT. This is called a “merit scholarship”.
You do not need to attend the best school in your country. You do need a school where teachers are generally present and generally qualified, where there are enough desks and books for students (pupils), where students are not unruly, where you’re well-prepared for the next level in your studies.
In my opinion, your next goal should be to try for a UWC - you have roughly 3 years to prepare AND have a plan B in case you’re not one ofbthe lucky few chosen.
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