Hello, my name is Lexi, and I have quite an over, protective mom. I want to go to a college in the UK as I have seen some great opportunities over there and know they have great internships. Also, it is quite inexpensive. Also with me wanting to go into international business they have way better programs then here in the US. When I even bring up to my mom of going out of state for college and freaks out, today she even told me that I am going to UCSD, and I’m not going out of state I didn’t even bring up out of the US. I have no idea what I should do when I apply do I apply to the colleges I want and go behind my mother’s back or give up on my dream and follow what she tells me to do? Her only reasons are personal reasons, not expenses or any other sort.
What about study abroad options? Like for a semester? Might be a good compromise for the two of you.
If you can finance international study on your own, then you can do it. If you are relying on your mother to pay for college, you are rather stuck with her rules. You can, of course, research the options and present them to her. Study abroad is also a great option either through UCSD or another school. You could agree that you will start in California and transfer after two years. You could work for a few years and go to college in UK when you are older and able to finance it.
Your mother might be over-protective, but she also might be right. UK schools aren’t necessarily better, or cheaper, or a good idea for you. It is hard to have your kids 2000 miles away for college (but still in the US), but much harder 6000 miles and a country away. If you go to the UK, could you work while in school, would your medical coverage work, would you have funds to come home in the summer or at Christmas? I’ve been looking at my daughter going to London for just a semester and it is hard enough to plan for that and consider everything for just 6 months. It doesn’t surprise me that your mother is looking at you, (16?17?) and thinking ‘no way am I sending my child away for the rest of her life.’
Who is paying for you to attend college? If your parents are paying…I can’t see how you can “go behind your moms back” when you apply.
What year are you in HS?
Agree…study abroad is an option you should consider…maybe a full junior year abroad.
Or there is the option of getting a graduate degree abroad.
I would not let my own kid to be in UK for ANY reason whatsoever, so I am on your parent’s side. Sorry for that! However, you absolutely do not have to give up your dreams for anybody or anything. I went to engineering because my father wanted me to do so. I hated it with all my heart and after working in the field for 11 years, I went back to school in my mid 30s and switched to what I have always wanted to do - CS. I have been very happy with my decision for 35 years.
So, while you depend on your parents, do not go against their wishes, you need their support much more and for much longer than you realize now. Then once you are an adult on your own, do with your life whatever you wish. I pretty much made sure that my own kids did what I wanted them to do and both of them are very thankful for that, expressed their gratitude many times over. They basically thanked me for using my “dictatorial” powers with them, looking back they realized that mom knew better. Both are adults and very much happy with their (a.k.a mine) decisions.
However, ultimately, it is your choice. Frankly, I would not listen to many others but your parents, they are the only ones who are always wholeheartedly and unconditionally are on your side, even when it does not look this way.
Not sure why you think UK programs are better: can you articulate that?
If you can convince adults on this forum you may be able to convince your mother a bit more.
For the UK, you’ll need several AP’s: typically, for international business Calculus AB or BC, Macro and Micro Economics, English Language, a foreign language, and another one of your choice. A 4 or 5 would be expected on Calc, Econ, and Foreign Language.
At this point, buy a Fiske Guide and start reading. 
The best International Business program is at USC Columbia, by the way. It’s very hard to get into though.
@MiamiDAP you contradict yourself in your own post! You say you got an engineering degree because your dad wanted you to and you hated it, so you went back and did something YOU wanted. Then you say you forced your daughters to do what YOU wanted. Do you not see the hypocrisy there?
I second the option to look into U of South Carolina. Their International Business program is ranked number one, you spend at least a full year abroad and they offer several merit scholarships. As noted it is highly competitive to get a direct admit to this program.
Some of you asked why I believe the programs are better in the UK, and so I’ll give you guys a list. I recently went to a college fair and talked to several different representatives of universities in the US and the UK. The UK ones had these traits in common:
They each guaranteed a paid internship for at least a year
The college is only three years for bachelors instead of four
You are required to study abroad at least once if not twice
The tuition for most of them was exceptionally cheaper including room and board
Also, I have never been outside of the US and have only been outside of San Diego once since I want to do international business and travel why don’t I start with the college that I would like to go to. Also, I would most likely not be depending on my mother’s income or for her to pay as I am highly qualified for scholarships. I have worked hard to get where I am at, and I will work quite hard to get farther as I have a 4.0 average and am going to take college classes next year and many other different programs. I have tried my best with school and with obeying the rules at home as I don’t drink alcohol, do drugs or sneak out. I have also looked at the colleges in the US, so I’m not just talking about studying in the UK, but she doesn’t want me to leave the state or even the city. Even if I don’t study in the UK, I still don’t necessarily want to study in a school in my hometown. Also thank you for all of your comments and feedback.
@MYOS1634 I am already planning on doing AP classes and am already taking a foreign language and will take macroeconomics and microeconomics hopefully soon. Thank you for the advice, though, but I put very high expectations for myself which is why I want to go somewhere that will help with my learning experience and help me grow.
Threads like these really highlight the hypocrisy on this site. If the OP had said she was interested in applying to Harvard, NO ONE would ask her to justify her choice, because people assume that if it’s what they themselves would choose, the choice must be valid. But because the OP wants to do something a little less common, instead of answering her question, people are asking her to justify her choice to apply to a UK school.
To @snowflakelove15, I have no idea whether UK schools will be better for you. All I know is that you think they are. And this is fine. To make this happen, you need to ask your mother what you can do to show how serious you are. Make a spreadsheet showing the differing costs of a UK education vs a US one (the three year completion would be a selling point to me!). Look into the possibility of loans and scholarships. There may be rules requiring you to attend an accredited US school, for example. Figure out if you can pay for college in the UK all by yourself in case your mother refuses to pay a dime. Be prepared for the worst. You may not be able to go to the UK for university, but you can certainly spend a year studying there while enrolled at a US school. Keep an open mind, and you will end up where you are supposed to be.
@Massmomm Thank you very much for your comment, and ironically Harvard is one of my top choices, relating back to how I said I have colleges in the US that I also want to go to. Also, that is what I am trying to do is prepare for the worst and that is why I am asking for others opinions on what I should do in that situation. Once again thank you!
@massmom : actually, regardless of the college, whenever a student states my parents won’t let me apply to college x’ I ask for their rationale. If they can’t be convincing in a low stakes situation like this it On’t work with the parents either. It allows us and them to see how structured their reasoning is; we can point out flaws or missing points they can research to improve that rationale thus increase their odds of attending that college, and find out if they really know why they want to go.
There are no scholarships for the UK, except perhaps for £1,000. However you should be able to manage with 25k a year (a bit more in London).
@snowflakelove15 has researched the subject well but more investigation is needed
- do the universities find the internship for you or do you have to find it on your own?
- during the sandwich year, are you paid?
- how does the University help you for study abroad since you’ll be in a Tier4visa which won’t be valid for other countries? Or is your Tier 4 visa valid in the Eu too(assuming the UK stays in the eu )?
What schools are these?
@snowflakelove15 - Are you sure the reason your mom doesn’t want you to apply elsewhere is solely due to personal reasons and not finances? I only ask because one of the big reasons that I have seen with local friends who only want their kids to apply to UCSD is financial. For those CA families earning less than $80,000 a year, and who qualify for financial aid, the UC Blue and Gold Opportunity Plan covers tuition and fees, so for hometown kids who meet this criteria and can commute, they get a great education for basically free. Now, even for 4.0 unweighted GPA kids, UCSD is a very tough school in which to gain admittance, so you would definitely need to apply to others as well. You’ve been given some great advice on this thread especially from @Massmomm, and the questions raised in post #12 are important to consider.
@MYOS1634 I already asked those questions when I talked to them. They do find the internships for you, and they are paid internships. The only question I did not ask is the last one which I will have to ask when I request more information. Thank you so much for that information which I never thought of, your comments helped me quite a bit!
OK, good.
Look at the following universities: SOAS, UCL, Durham, King’s, LSE, Warwick, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Imperial, Loughborough, Leicester, Sussex, Bristol, pick 4 with varying tariffs/entrance requirements, and choose one safety from Queen’s Belfast, Royal Holloway, Brighton, or Heriot-Watt.
@Massmomm, I think it’s prudent to ask more when an American kid who’s never left her town is entranced by the idea of studying in England. The culture shock is huge (OK, a SoCal kid going to Harvard may suffer culture shock as well, but it would not be nearly as big).
I wonder if the OP understands that UK unis require a lot more independence and self-discipline than American colleges do.
The 3 years at a top English uni will be akin to the last 2 years of American undergrad+1 year of Masters in a subject (there’s a reason why the good English unis require A’s in A-levels or 5’s in AP’s; they’re expecting you to come in with as much knowledge as an American college sophomore). In most classes, your whole grade is dependent on your year-end final (even for classes taken in the fall). And they don’t grade easily, either. 70 is generally a good score and there are always kids who fail out after the first year.
There’s much less flexibility as well. If you decide that you don’t like your major/course or fail out, too bad; you have to start all over again.
Given all that, it’s not surprising to find that a good number of American kids who go to England for uni want to come back or end up with bad final marks (equivalent to a 2.0 GPA).
In any case, the chances of the OP being able to find a full-ride scholarship for study in the UK are miniscule.
@PurpleTitan I understand what you are saying but you also do not know me and are branding me a “traditional American teenager” I am quite independent in my studies. I am going to be taking an ap math class in my sophomore year which and junior humanities Mandarin Chinese. I also plan on having 5’s in all of the Ap tests I take and I also study on my own free time. I take classes over the summer time so that I can improve upon myself and I am learning three languages two of which are completely on my own. Also, I currently am looking for internships so that I can gain as much knowledge as I can and am hoping to be doing at least ten hours of community service a week. Also, I do know that it is not easy especially for a normal American student but I am not a normal American student and I will be able to amount to anything I set my mind to as I am an open-minded person. Instead of trying to make me minuscule and saying that I have almost a 0% of getting a scholarship or to even succeed you might want to not judge a book by its cover because I will amount to big things and I will succeed in what I would like to because I will never give up no matter how many people tell me how hard it will be. I may sound conceited but I am just giving you some information and am a genuinely confident person. Next time think about trying to give constructive feedback instead of unconstructive feedback. - A 15 year old AMERICAN female student
One last thing I have even taken into account what my majors will be an figured that out on my own I am going into international business and pre-med and or pre-law so that after I get my bachelors I can take the MCAT, LSAT, and GMAT and decided which grad school I go to, while having an international business degree to fall back on. So if you don’t think I expect it to be hard then you are quite wrong.