Our S16 (international student) is preparing the admission process to colleges (fall 2024). He is studying the STEM branch in a very demanding HS (11th grade) and using some GPA conversion calculator gives him a 2.8. He combines his studies with competitive golf at a medium-high level in our country.
I wanted to ask you if the addition of STEM and golf can give him access to engineering majors even if his GPA is not high?
You could inquire with colleges about the application process for international students
Here is a specialty college in Arizona,Embry-Riddle Aeronatical , with top golfer.
Or Montana Technological University
https://mtech.edu/admissions-aid/undergraduate-admission/international/index.html
Or start at a junior college with pre-engineering courses.
See a list of junior colleges with golf.
Further inquiries about prepartion for engineering would be needed.
http://golfstat.com/index.cfm?event=public.teamRanking&gender=M&association=njcaa&division=5
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Three things…
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Most important: what’s your budget? Will you be needing financial aid?
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If your country uses a different marking system, the online GPA converter might not be accurate. If your country sends a lot of students to the US, admissions officers will be familiar with your original marking system. And maybe post that here too as there are many CC users here who know international schooling systems.
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Lastly, to avoid confusion among users - if your son is graduating high school next year, he’s an “S24”, not an “S16”.
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Our S24 (international student) is preparing the admission process to colleges (fall 2024). He is studying the STEM branch in a very demanding HS (11th grade) and using some GPA conversion calculator gives him a 2.8. He combines his studies with competitive golf at a medium-high level in our country.
I wanted to ask you if the addition of STEM and golf can give him access to engineering majors even if his GPA is not high?
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Montana Tech only requires 2.5 GPA for international students. Contact the golf coach.
The golfstat website shows all the college conferences. One can then look for universities of interest by major and admissions standards.
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Plenty of US universities offer engineering majors and are realistic for applicants with 2.8 GPA (e.g. Mississippi publics, South Dakota publics, etc.).
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@Richi1970, your son may get accepted into one or more of these schools, but what is your budget? Acceptance without affordability doesn’t help.
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27.000 $/academic year
My understanding is there will be lots of competition from students who participate in camps and tournaments in states like FL, SC, CA, AZ, etc.
And golf is an equivalency sport, where a coach may offer a partial scholarship, which may be a modest amount of a few hundred dollars.
Are you trying to figure out if your student’s golf skill will win admission and scholarship $ to a college with engineering?
Or, find a engineering program that will admit and allow him to play golf for fun?
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Rather than being part of a golf roster for fun, it would be to continue competing at the level that we did in our country (regional and national) and obviously knowing if there is a possibility of financial aid
Thanks.
@AustenNut, would you be able to suggest schools for this international student seeking engineering majors? 2.8 GPA, golfer with a $27,000/year budget.
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Contact coaches at Iowa State
Or Arizona State, to see if that is the level of competition that is appropriate. Iowa State is often affordable for international and out of state students.
See Arizona State admissions for internationals, whether there are scholarships as well or whether the GPA is converted correctly.
Montana Tech is about $41k for internationals.
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What is his golf handicap? Is he participating and doing well in the top tournaments in his area/country? If he has a golf coach, have they said what division/level he might play at in the US college system?
I agree he has to start contacting coaches, he is a bit late for recruiting for 2024s. I would email them and only fill out the website questionnaires if a coach asks him to.
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Playing intercollegiate sports in the US is not a hobby but a real time commitment between practices, conditioning and tournament play, often with events that require a full day of travel. If a 2.8 is in fact an accurate snapshot of your son’s academic level, I would question whether he would succeed in a tough major as engineering while also playing golf. What exactly are his priorities? Studying in the US? Studying engineering? Playing golf? What is his level of play (has he played in junior tournaments in the US or your region, what level was the competition and where did he place)?
Pull up rosters of programs that he might be interested in. Look at the player stats, backgrounds/bios and their majors to see where your son stacks up. I can assure you that you will find very few hard core STEM majors on any roster.
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At 29K/year for internationals, SD Mines comes close to budget, offers strong engineering programs, would be attainable with his GPA (2.75 is their minimum), and has a golf team :
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The academic level of our country and the level of demand of many of our HS is much higher than that of the USA colleges, so that conversion of 2.8 will have nothing to do with the 2.8 that will be found there and that they know in the admissions departments. This adds to the level of golf that golfers in our country usually have. Our son has done his first SAT last October (he will do another two in the next few months) with a score of 1200 with hardly any preparation. Maybe this can contribute something more
This is good to know. Still, even for US athletes, it is important for potential recruits to match their level of play, academic and environmental fit to targeted colleges as well as cost of attendance. Even a D1 golf scholarship is likely to be partial. If financial aid is going to be required, then different schools have different levels of generosity and often different policies with respect to international students. In terms of a Venn diagram, you will need to find that intersection of schools that fit academic, golf, type and place of campus, and financial requirements/limitations.
Some good suggestions on schools in this thread, but creating a target list of schools based on your son’s and your family priorities is a must do first step. Some (probably most) families start with school fit first (academics, type of school, location) and then see which have fitting athletic programs. Others go sport first, especially the super elite athletes. The initial list can be very large as it will be whittled down as you consider all the defining parameters, including cost.
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If you have time to look at Iowa State, they just announced new golfer from China, who is on the national team:
“A native of Shantou, Guangdong, China, Wu is a member of the Chinese National Team. In the last two years, Wu has earned a pair of wins and has seven top-10 finishes at World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR) events. Wu is currently ranked No. 596 in the WAGR.
….Wu has been ranked as high as No. 461 in the WAGR. He took fourth during the stroke play portion of the 2022 U.S. Junior Amateur, while turning in a third-place finish at the 2022 AJGA-Dave Stockton Junior Championship. Wu won the 2021 Volvo China Junior Match Play, while finishing 14th at the 2021 Volvo China Open. He is ranked No. 158 in the Junior Golf Scoreboard and 90th in the class of 2023.”
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I just saw the scores for the Iowa golf team. It’s around the average 76 strokes that our son currently hits.
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The OP is welcome to repost under their original account. Since Terms of Service prohibits multiple accounts, I am closing this thread.
I’ll further add that the OP may be doing himself and his son a disservice by trying to convert a foreign grading scale into an American GPA. My guess is the equivalent GPA is higher than a 2.2.