As I stated earlier: USC is only their cause of the people who are willing to put me there. Under normal circumstances it would not be there.
The typical process assumes you’re only taking 8 semester units of classes but I need to take at least 9 over the summer and will most likely take 12. That’s the major issue at the moment.
You’ve already received excellent advice.
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Concentrate on your academics!! Your GPA at end of junior year is what most college’s will see.
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Show commitment to ECs where you can achieve results… while I applaud your entrepreneurial spirit, in my opinion you should not rule out participation in existing clubs or organizations where you can show sustained involvement, leadership and success in making a difference.
See what your actual situation is after completing sophomore year. Then start researching options that are realistic for your stats and budget. Your current plan is flawed and not realistic, but that is okay! You are only a sophomore. Start a Match Me thread this time next year and people here can help you with a realistic list.
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This would depend on your budget and the schools - but I don’t know that this is necessarily a true statement. There are many affordable schools - some by merit, some by pure price…but affordability depends on the budget. How much can you afford?
And then Lori Loughlin went to jail.
I can’t say for sure but I’m guessing that door has likely closed.
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Well my family makes 60-80k a year depending on commissions and we do not have any college savings. Realistically we can only spend 5k a year before needing to take out a loan.
I also do know that merit based scholarship schools exist, but the amount of money I need for a scholarship would require so much merit that I might as well just apply to a need-blind institution and get enough financial aid.
I believe your budget will rule out any UK options.
@collegemom3717 Do students have to show proof of 4 years of funds when applying for a UK visa, similar to international students applying to US schools?
But you don’t know what a college will say you need - and those that meet need are unlikely for you - and for anyone - but you’re already starting in a hole.
So it may be a four year close to home or a community college - and you must have missed the memo because there’s a crap ton of CEOs, Lawyers, Doctors and more who started at a CC in California.
Yes budget will be constraining to you but, for example, did your family fill out the net price calculator for USC?
Anyway - you are waaaaay too early - but if you don’t have a means for college, then a Roger Williams which you listed is a no go.
But you are looking at this far too early. Get your grades up. Get a great PSAT so you can be a national merit scholar, etc.
There are ways…but you need to be focused on school and not this…waaaaay too early.
Good luck.
I already said that my family is willing to do a lot of things to get me to go to the UK schools and I’m also willing to take out a loan to go there
Yes, I know how community colleges work. My point was that ordinary universities, such as a state u, are just fine for getting into a PhD program. Even with your GPA there is no reason- except affordability- not to go straight to a 4 year degree program. You can get into a good PhD program from a CSU, not just UCLA/UCB.
Speaking specifically, and purely pragmatically, to the question of Oxbridge:
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Cambridge is typically a harder admit for American students / students applying from the US;
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IB offers tend to be harder to meet than APs;
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The IB offer for math at Cambridge is 7,7,6 (to include a 7 for math), + the STEP paper (https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/applying/entrance-requirements/step). The IB offer for math at Oxford has been 7,6,6 (to include a 7 for math) + the Math Aptitude Test (MAT (Mathematics Admissions Test) | University of Oxford). (Note that the Oxford standard offer is expected to rise to 7,7,6 in the next round)
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I’m not quite sure what your thinking is when you say to are ok with doing a Math degree in the UK and then ‘hop over to major in theoretical physics’- do you mean to do a 3 year degree in the UK, then find a university in the US that allows second undergraduate degrees and do 4 years of a theoretical physics degree? that makes no sense.
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You can get FAFSA loans for the UK, but that’s it. You might be willing to take out a loan, but you have to find somebody who is willing to lend it to you, and that is neither easy nor sensible. To get a student visa you will need to show that you have funds for each year upfront.
On the US front: there are schools that give major rides for top test scores- they aren’t the brand names you want, but if you can qualify as a NMF you have many, many choices available to you- and if you are as clever as think you are, that is not an impossible goal.
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“There’s a bunch of CEOs and lawyers who started off at a CC”. Lebanon I believe is the nation with the highest density of billionaires. Does that mean it’s a good idea to permanently move to Lebanon? No. Just because someone managed to become a millionaire by going down one path does not mean that path is right for me. It just means that someone got rich. I want to go down the absolute best path I can and if that means struggling a bit in HS to make up for a poor freshman year GPA then so be it.
The point being if your budget doesn’t work, you’ll still have options.
You’re in 10th grade and you have a lot of I’m doing this but haven’t yet done it.
And my rank isn’t great and well…it’s time to focus on improving what you’re doing and gaining some output that you can demonstrate for a year from now.
Maybe they will “put” you there, but are they going to pay for it too? It is very unlikely you will get a scholarship at USC.
You need to please listen to everything that’s been said on this thread and let go of the magical thinking.
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Sit down with your parents and work out your budget for college. Run the Net Price Calculator on all schools of interest.
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You, as a student, will be able to take out a maximum of $27,500 for four years of college. The government is not going to give you any money to attend a foreign university. It is very unlikely you will be able to secure any private loans until you are 24 (I think). Are your parents prepared to take out private loans with high interest rates?
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If you do very well for the rest of high school, keeping high grades and high rigor, there will be a number of fine colleges where you might be eligible for full ride or full tuition scholarships. You cannot count on getting one of the very few amazing scholarships offered at, say Wash U, or USC, that will make attendance affordable. You need viable alternatives. From what you tell us here, the only viable alternative is CC to a UC or CSU. That’s a very good option, btw.
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Post in the College Search and Selection forum. Provide your current stats. Explain the actual financial situation that will determine how much your family can afford to pay. Explain your probable majors and long term goals (postgraduate degrees.) Ask for suggestions of colleges that might be possible for you.
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My son has an offer at U of Louisiana Lafayette resulting in total COA of 8k.
Another merit offer at a private school has tuition at 7k.
My 3.3 gpa kid currently have over 500k/4yrs of scholarships.
There are hundreds of not top50 colleges that are very affordable.
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Actually, federal student loans can be used at foreign universities, as stated in this list:
https://studentaid.gov/sites/default/files/international-schools-in-federal-loan-programs.xlsx
I stand corrected. Even so, it will still be very expensive and you will have to add on room, board, and flights.
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You have still plenty of time but most colleges are need-blind like the UC’s and CSU’s but many will not guarantee that they will meet need. Your FA will be based on their definition of need, not what you want to pay or perceive your need.
Here is an example of a Chart for the UC’s. Depending upon your family’s income, the UC’s still expect a student and parent contribution. The UC’s and CSU’s offer good FA for eligible students, but you will not get a full ride. Merit scholarships are highly competitive and few are available.
Run some NPC’s on a couple of schools now just to get a ballpark if any of these schools are realistic.
I wouldn’t normally suggest this to a high school student since it might make you more anxious, but OP if you aren’t already on Reddit’s Applying to College subreddit (A2C), you might take a look just to see what other students you will be competing against in the effort to get into T20 schools. The reality is that although you sound motivated and full of promise, your current level of accomplishment doesn’t make you stand out in light of how competitive things are now.
Everyone above has given you very good advice so I won’t repeat, but I will say that you have excellent options here in California in the CSUs if you can’t get into UCs, and a community college to UC transfer seems like another good and affordable option. Good luck!
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I’ve read through this thread and am honestly wondering: why are you here? You are of the variety of posters who are in HS and come to the forum with a list of schools, and then spend all of your time arguing with people about why you’re right and they’re wrong. I’ve never understood what it is that posters with your profile get out of this kind of interaction. It’s become painfully clear that the very best response you’re going to get is, “Who knows?”; and a “I’m sure you can do it!” response doesn’t appear to be on the horizon … because nobody believes it to be the case.
You don’t have money so it has to be T50 (whatever that means), and then to attend school in the UK you will have money because your family will try. You’re a sophomore barely in the top 1/2 of your class, but again you’ll be top 30 (% or students?) in time for applications because you’re going to try. Your school sucks but that won’t matter. You had straight Bs at your sucky school because everyone gets straight Bs but you’re going to get As going forward … because you’re going to try.
I never do chance-me threads, but if you really have an auto at USC, I recommend you quit wasting your time arguing with people here and forthwith get in touch with the nepotism contacts and start working that angle. The chances of you seeing an admission letter from Brown, Oxford or Cambridge in a few years seem pretty slim from where I stand.
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I will be brutally honest.
You are a solid B student. Everything else that you have written is “I plan to”, “I predict that”, I hope", or “I will, in the future”, as well as “I’m confident”. A lot of plans, but no real evidence to support these claims.
So, if I asked your for your resume, I would see something like this:
This is a perfectly solid resume for a solid student. However, based on this resume, I would say, categorically that this student is not “on track” for colleges which have acceptance rates of less than 20%, nor is OxBridge a likelihood.
According to you, you have simply cruised through high school until now, without putting any emphasis on academics. Now, almost two years into your high school, you have decided that you want to attend an “elite” college.
You are asking us how you can now become competitive against applicants who have been putting lots of effort into academics and extracurricular activities for the past two years.
You can improve your academics, add some actual achievements, and enjoy high school. Admissions as a freshman to any of the “T20” colleges is highly unlikely.
However, if you still want to attend one of those, you can always go the community-college path. After graduating high school, attend a community college for two years, do really really well, and transfer to an “elite” college for your Junior and Senior years of college.
What do you mean “currently writing”? Have you solved the mathematical problem and you are struggling with the technical writing, or are you still struggling with the problem? Have you checked whether the problem has been solved yet? Do you have a mentor helping you?
OP, I don’t disagree with MWolf, but I want to add that you can get an elite education at a hundred universities in the US. You can attend Beloit and make it every bit as exciting and enriching as attending Williams or Amherst. You can attend U Wisconsin and come out just as well educated as having attended Dartmouth or Columbia.
The resources are there. The professors are there. The labs and libraries and classrooms and archives are there. The difference at EVERY college between the students who are there to get their ticket punched and the ones who are getting true value out of the experience is NOT the college- it’s the student. Yale has students who major in beer pong. So does Southern CT State College down the road.
Go be the student that focuses on getting an education. Take the energy you are expending worrying about getting into Oxbridge and focus on becoming the best YOU that you can be right now. There will be fantastic opportunities for you down the road once you clear some headspace for focusing on NOW and not on what you are going to publish, accomplish, etc.
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