Reading through this thread quickly multiple issues come to mind.
One issue is that the US is very, very large. Let’s hypothetically suppose that a kid is accepted to 4 schools in 4 different cities. Visiting all four in one trip might be difficult simply because of the distance. This will depend however on which schools you would want to visit and which cities. There are some cities such as Boston that have a lot of universities relatively close together.
Another issue is that the US has a very large number (thousands) of colleges and universities. A large number of these are very good. There is however a rather wide variation and they are not all very good. Which schools you are looking at will matter.
University in the US can be expensive. You should not even start university here unless you are confident that you will be able to afford to finish.
Also, the UK has many very good universities. For a UK citizen or permanent resident, in many cases (not all) they are likely to be less expensive than universities in the US, depending upon how much financial aid you get in the US. One relative has a son who was born in the UK (they were in UK for a few years on business) and they were pleased when he got old enough to attend university because it was going to be less expensive compared to high school. This would generally not be true in the US.
What happens if your son should get injured or decide not to play any more, will he lose his scholarship.
What happens if your son were to lose interest in esport, will the school have other majors your son would be interested in.
US college tuitions are probably the highest in the world. Other than some very top tier schools, I don’t think I would send my kid to the US when there are other options at home.
elements of specialization in one academic area, including pre-requisites to understand the more advanced/specialized domains in the field = the major
elements of broad culture necessary to form an informed citizen’s mind = General Education
freedom to explore, develop intellectual curiosity, complete one’s specialization with another one: electives (which, clustered together rationally, can form a minor).
I assume you’ve probably read what’s available on line, but just in case, I googled “college esports recruiting” and found some useful materials, including this one: Collegiate Esports Recruiting 101 - Gaming Concepts The search also pulled up information on a number of schools that are doing this. It seems that esports recruiting is similar in some respects to college sports recruiting in general. The first step is to contact the coach and complete whatever questionnaire, etc. is posted on the school website. For example, I looked at the Harrisburg site, and there is a “Tryout” button on the team page. One difference between esports and other sports is that, in many cases, sports scholarships may only be offered in compliance with NCAA rules. Those rules would not apply to esports scholarships, so a school might have more flexibility in offering esports scholarships. Your initial post asked about college visits. If your son is interested in playing on the school’s esports team, he should contact the coach before you visit and ask if you can meet with them. If they are interested in your son, the coaches would also be the best source of information on scholarship possibilities. In arranging a visit, your son might also want to ask the Admissions Dept. whether it would be possible to meet with someone from the department, either a professor or a student. As the US academic year typically ends in mid-May, it may not be possible to sit in on a class, but it might be worth asking. A typical college visit includes a more generic information session and a campus tour. You can usually make a reservation on the school’s admissions page. Things might be slower in the summer, as the US academic year usually winds up by mid-May.
@em7609
Our son attended college in the US and the first time he saw the college was the 1st day of term. Even US students don’t always get to visit accepting colleges - especially when money is tight. Ours had to attend the college that offered him the most money.
Correctly @DadOfJerseyGirl says that the US visa department state that you have to prove for the entire duration. This can take a while to get together - it did in our case as money was tied up in investments/savings/pension and all the paperwork had to be gathered and if I remember correctly even though there was a scholarship involved we had to prove all the money - I think maybe because we were showing payment ability to the college at that point. (Sorry can’t quite remember all the details.)
Because we had applied in the December we had plenty of time to get all this together. I, like you, most probably wouldn’t like the ‘rush’ and I think I would be asking the college for a deferral.
I might be talking out of turn here too, but a college offering a ‘lovely’ scholarship at this very late stage in the game is most probably not in the ‘top’ tier. I don’t mean Ivy or even the Swarthmore’s etc but way down the list - if I were to give a British equivalent it would be Preston/Teeside/West of England. Would you be keen to pay all that money for your child to live in Middlesborough for four years?
Yes there is a lot to be said about the experience of studying in the US and it really suited my lad and while he had a very good scholarship it still costs, as it is not a 4 four car journey but a £2000 flights/accommodation trip and it is only once or twice a year if you are lucky and then it is his flights home.
They also can’t work except on campus and this is limited. (Especially if your son is in a sports team as there will be so much time required for training).
I haven’t read all the thread @Twoin18 paged me - so I might be repeating things.
If he has got a good scholarship he most probably is a good candidate - so wait and do it in the proper scheme of things. The colleges come to London in September for an event where they all lay out there stalls. It is a great day and really worth a visit with lots of organisations there: Sutton Trust, Morehouse, US visa department.
Ask the college for a deferral and see what they say. If they say no and do the hard sell - I’d most probably back away. If someone wants you to sign straight away usually it is a bad idea from buying a secondhand car to a college education.
Tell your son not to rush - 4 years is a long time to be away from home when home is thousands of miles away. It will be a very expensive mistake if it all goes wrong. If he is worried about going at 19 and not 18 I wouldn’t worry about that. At the smaller colleges classes are very mixed as there is the opportunity to study all subjects and so you have first/second and even third years in classes together so my son made many friends of different ages. The hardest thing will be that for a year in the UK he will have been able to drink and he won’t be able to do that for another two years until he is 21 in the US.
Thank you, really interesting. My son is almost 21 so has 2 years of post secondary school learning away from home already. He’s not really worried about anything but I think its better we try and view the colleges in person to minimise a possible problem later (should he realise it’s not what he thought it would be).
In the front of his mind is the course and the quality of the college team/ranking. Not really interested in top tier and he will tell you himself he’s no Einstein.
Regarding the proof of funds for the duration of the course, do you remember what form that took? Was it a bank statement showing 4 years of tuition fees plus expenses (for us would be around 120 thousand dollars).
Did he attend a UK college (UK meaning) or university? Did he complete A-Levels or BTech? What has he studied so far?
Things he/you need to be clear about:
unlike in the UK, he’ll have 4 or 5 classes a semester dealing with a variety of subjects. It will NOT all be “esport management” or even all’ management.
(Note: Based on his interests, I think you should actually look into colleges/universities that offer a U/X major, ie., user experience. Look into these universities: Bentley, Kennesaw State, NJIT, Winthrop, DePaul, Cal State Fullerton, Utah Valley College, Drexel, Cornell/CAL, Purdue. You’ll have to dig around as the subject may also be under Information Tech or HCI).
In the US, in addition to a variety of graduation requirements, there are more “contact hours” compared to the UK (ie., 15-16 hours in class a week is typical, to which to add labs, office hours, review sessions, etc.) Teaching/learning is not as hands off as in the UK: there are regular graded assessments, in some subjects there’s hw completion that’s electronically checked, in others there are problem sets or written work to turn in every other week or even every week, attendance and participation may be factored into the grade (with absence resulting in grade penalties and sometimes in failing the course). He has to understand he won’t be able to play if he doesn’t maintain a C average throughout - there’s no hail mary pass you can pull at the end.
There are international students decide they want to try for a US school and get on the horse at a very late stage. It can be done, but its not easy (you will be cutting some corners). Some schools do have rolling admissions past May 1st…usually its schools with low yield and spots to fill in their incoming class.
The crucial step in all this is the visa application; I would work backward from that time frame. From my understanding UK as most European cities is pretty quick for student visa applications, but I would still give myself at least a six week window to complete that process. To start that process you need to be admitted. Also its important to have your paperwork ready to go, particularly on the financials (scholarship plus personal funds for all four years). That doesn’t mean you’re going to tap into those funds as an obligation but you need to show proof that you can cover the cost of the education. We have kept excess funds in our accounts in order knowing that we will have to prove this in the next coming months.
As some have pointed out you may not be able to visit all the schools (or even any of the schools…not uncommon for internationals). Youtube tours and videos are your friend…it wont be close to the same thing but much better than going in blind. If you visit, I’d give priority to the most likeliest place. If you’re visiting more than one place 1-2 nights should be plenty of time. Also, Id highly suggest talking to current students, hopefully internationals so they will give you a fair assessment situation.
What was the main area of study for his BTECH? (Media, Engineering, ICT, Business&Management…)
For his F1 visa application, you will fill out how you’ll pay for his 1st year, then add what you expect to do year 2-4 (you can just copy/paste from Year 1). This will have to be backed up with your income tax statement, savings/investments, etc.
We had money tied up in Premium Bonds and had to send copies of the certificates. Also some investments and again had to request value statements and then send those as will.
Most colleges ask for proof of more than the bottom line figure of fees and accommodation as foreign students don’t have the opportunity to work and some colleges offer work but than the student doesn’t see that money as it is used to pay of some of the college fees. Didn’t apply to us but be careful on that front.
@MYOS1634 says the way of grading is completely different than UK unis. Every unit counts. Really suited my son as he didn’t do so well on a big exam at the end. Worked much better in smaller chunks about every 7 weeks or so but there is no ‘messing about’ in the first year where it is just a pass or a fail.
Going in at 21 again won’t be too much of a problem as many classes can be mixed but if he is living on campus for the first year he might feel a bit of an old boy. Also while he will be able to drink - none of the his friends will be able to join him in bars - though they will love him as he will be able to get the beers in as they can’t.
International students can work in certain jobs and make decent money (my S21 had had two different jobs at the university he attends). They can also work in the summer but theres paperwork they need to file with the university to get clearance (as well as getting a social security number). That income however should not be included in the paperwork for the consulate.
