For internationals, NPC - (Federal Loan + work study), or"net price" + federal loan +work study gives a rough estimate of what an international would have to pay.
Op can do the NPCs on various colleges and bring the results to his/her parents, and use these as a basis for how much his parents plan to pay. They’d probably pay about $25-30,000 for him (tuition+R&B+fees, depending on accomodation choices) so Op’s best bet is to apply to schools that do NOT meet need but rather to schools that are need-aware- Duke and Brown, not Harvard and Yale, Williams but not Amherst… but even at Brown, Duke, or Williams, OP is likely to have to pay full price: are his parents willing to pay this much? If not, how much are they willing to pay? Even if it’s an approximation, getting a number from the NPCs will let him know what his parents think they can pay. From there, Op can decide where he can go.
Beside Dickinson and Tulane, Beloit and Grinnell, there are lots of schools that would give merit to a student with that many A*'s/A-Level A’s and $30,000. However, I’m not sure OP would want to attend them more than UCL or Cardiff.
(Op’s GPA-equivalent is a 4.0 with a series of 5’s in high level exams.)
My point is…the net price the NPC yields will NOT be helpful to,the international student. They will need to add in any federally funded aid the NPC spits out, plus they will have to add in costs for travel, food and lodging during breaks at many schools, and health insurance. And some schools give limited grant aid to international students…which would be the red herring using the NPC.
Given this students parent income, his family contribution will be in the $60,000 a year range. His parents would be expected to pay that amount.
He needs to look for merit awards.
But first…what schools is he targeting here. He ONLY wanted to attend Oxford…so what schools is he looking at in the U.S?
^we get it, but his parents may not. A range of prices may be helpful in that respect.
I agree that OP may not be interested in Beloit (or Hobart/William Smith or Birmingham Southern) if the only UK school he can consider is Oxford.
NPC and EFC are meaningless in that family income range.
What will they pay is important.
I went bowling with a friend and our kids the other day. It was going to be over $100 for all of us to bowl. We decided it was too expensive. It’s not that we couldn’t afford a hundred dollars, it’s that we thought the cost outweighed the benefit. We were outraged it was so expensive.
If your parents believe that current college costs are too much for them, whether or not they can afford it, then what can they afford. The only truly “cheap” options in the US are for in-state students at top state schools. You aren’t going to be able to access that.
So talk them down. If not 60K per year, how much? 50K? 40K? 30K? For each of those levels, you are ruling out more and more colleges.
Do you parents have any idea of what college costs are nowadays, and how much wealthier they are than the average American?
I don’t really see a US solution here. If nothing but Oxford is good enough, there is no school in the US that will be up to OPs standards, except those that are need-only. And with the different system, it may be difficult to write convincing essays and produce a credible story of extra-curricular and volunteer activities. People in India, China, and other places who have been targeting US schools for years will have an advantage here.
How about Canada or Australia (or France)? U Toronto and UBC are both highly rated, and may have merit-based bursaries.
Perhaps he could get an excellent education in the US from a school with merit scholarships, but a solution in the UK may be better.
U were rejected by Oxford, so u think ivy league schools in the US should give u FA because your £300k income parents w £millions in assets choose to spend their own money on expensive housing and private schools?
I am considering other universities in the UK. But because in the UK you have to choose what subject you specialize in right at the start, I am limited in university choice, and based on my academic record in the UK, many of the other universities I’ve applied to are quite a step down from Oxford and Cambridge.
Writing convincing essays and ECs is honestly the least of my problems.
Have you talked to your parents about costs? What’s their budget?
I’d consider a range of schools before I consider Purdue (beside UVA and William&Mary, you have UMaryland, Penn State, NCSU, Cal Poly SLO…) for a variety of factors, including ease of travel. You should also consider Top 25 LACs. A main issue would be cost, though. Considering how much your parents make, you won’t qualify for financial aid, so you’d only qualify for merit aid. Very few TOP 25 have merit aid - they already have top students, no need to entice them to come if their parents have the means to pay (as estimated by their financial services). Their financial aid is strictly need-based and since you have no need, even if you got into a Top 25 school your parents would have to agree to pay all costs. If not, you’d have to look into schools “a step down” from the top 25 that offer merit aid and actually sufficient merit aid for your parents’ budget. That’s really the first issue to solve.
Until you have an ACT or SAT score taken while you are IN high school, this is all noise. There is no signal. Let us know what your scores are when you (finally) get them.
And understand, there are very few ECs that will be your defining point in college admissions here. They are part of the whole package…not THE package.
I am curious- can you share the rationale for wanting to come to school in the US?
The cost of universities in the US per year is much higher than in the UK, and the time to graduate is normally a year longer (at 4 years), but can be longer than that if you cannot get classes because they are full or conflict with others in your schedule, and then the pre-req’s are strung out.
Why would you want to pay more and attend for a longer period, in addition to going to lower-rated schools (merit aid would dictate going to a school where you are in the top 25% of the class, and UCL, for example, would likely be equal or greater calibre)?
And then there is the language issue. Americans complain about difficulty in understanding the accents of some of the instructors. You are a polyglot, however you will have to deal with all of that as well as the customs.
What is the annual tuition cost of UCL for a citizen who graduated from a UK school? Can you commute to campus to save money? What is the cost of room and board? It seems to me that you are jumping from the frying pan into the fire.
UK universities are inexpensive for UK citizens, Last time I looked it was about 9000 UK pounds (plus living, like here MMV). The OP is in the dark re that SAT (why?),the O's and A's are no better than most well credentialed US students aimed at selective admission. I think sometimes people think the US is bereft of top students. Frankly I wanted my kid looking at UK schools so we could forgo the EC tango LOL and do a 4 yr BS with masters. He wasn't interested though.
I would love to know what a top US school makes of a kid who has the luxury of doing ECs in an extra year off vs normal chronological students who get to do all that stuff over the many years leading up to application. I see why some schools give kids from developing countries a break but a toff’s kid from the UK? I always wonder if that extra year is a negative.
@Alfonsia, that’s the drift I got as well. I looked at Cambridge for my kid at US rates and it wasn’t that bad, and UK rates were a steep discount. Plus, take the tube to UCL- what’s not to like about that? I am sure the parents could afford the 9K pounds (well, of course I am not SURE, but it is probably a discount from this year’s Public School tuition- am I right @Dominicoben?). And his EC’s are stellar already- playing along the Philharmonic &c.
This is a very fishy enquiry. Go to UCL or Edinburgh- it’s the best offer you are likely to get, and VERY respectable schools- and get along with your life.
The Scottish unis don’t force you in to a major from the get-go, do they?
What major(s) are you considering?
BTW, the top Canadian unis won’t be bargains for non-Canadians these days either. Plus, they’re more akin to our state schools here in atmosphere (sink-or-swim with grade deflation; well, they are all publics).
Finally, some schools do give college credit for A-levels in the States. Regardless, if you want to go to an Ivy/equivalent or even near-Ivy, you almost certainly have to pay full-price even if you get in (which may or may not be more difficult), which you seem unable to do.
Dunno why Edinburgh or Durham aren’t good enough . . . .
If most of the parents’ money is going towards London-living and tuition for younger kids, and going to college in the UK would be much cheaper, why would the parents pay for a $60k US school, even if he got a bit of FA. Would the parents pay $50k per year? If not, then this is all moot unless the student applies to schools here that get merit.
The student seems to think that qualifying for aid means qualifying for lots of aid. Not only would he qualify for none, but even if some crazy school thought that he qualified for “some,” then that “some” would be so small that I doubt it would make a difference. I doubt his family is saying, “we’ll pay $58k, but not $65k” (and for int’ls, you also have to add in int’l travel costs plus health insurance.
All courses I’ve applied to in the UK are 4 years, so the length is the same. Uk schools are £9000 per year. In the US there are a lot of universities at the top level. In the UK, you have Oxbridge, and then the next ‘top’ schools are quite a big step down. Based on my academic record, going to Edinburgh or Durham would seem, simply put, that I’m settling for 2nd best and not doing as good as I can.
That’s exactly why I’m only looking at the top schools in the US rather than ones which are a lot easier to get into and less competitive. There is no point in me applying to schools which are lower ranked in the US if I can get an education in the UK for 1/3 of the price at a better institution.
The top schools here are equivalent to Oxbridge, where you were not accepted. What makes you think you would be a stronger candidate for these tippy top U.S. schools?
A “step down” is in the eye of the beholder.
I’m not sure why you wouldn’t go to one of the colleges where you were accepted THIS round. I get it that you are disappointed about Oxford…but it’s time to move on from that one. Look at the positives in these other colleges to,which you applied.
Look at the cup,as half full instead of half empty. It’s a good life skill.