UK student looking to apply for US college, doesn't know what colleges to look at

College Search & Selection
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<p>I have just finished A levels, underperforming vastly and only getting A*ABB (native language, Maths, Physics, Economics), although I am fully to blame for this, as I did no work whatsoever during my two years in sixth form.</p>

<p>I did not apply to university for 2012 entry and instead will be taking a gap year.</p>

<p>I would very much like to do both my undergraduate and postgraduate in the US.</p>

<p>I plan on studying Economics (preferably in a quantitive form)</p>

<p>I have a few questions.
Firstly, how much time will the application process (including doing all the required test) take up? I have not planned my gap year yet, but would like to know if I should maybe considering putting off traveling or work experience until after january? Furthermore, how much would work experience in my gap year (in the field I will be looking to major in) help my application? Would a few months of work experience/internship at a small hedgefund in New York do me any favour? What could I do, other than work experience, to improve my chances?</p>

<p>I believe I can do very well on the SATs and those sort of tests (I have scored top percentile on IQ test when I was younger).</p>

<p>With a 98-99th percentile SAT, my grades and an internship/work experience. What sort of colleges should I be looking at? I am a very ambitious person and living with a lot of regret about my A level grades, knowing I could have easily achieved at least A<em>A</em>A*A with a normal amount of work.
I will only be doing two SAT subject tests: Maths 2 and physics. I don't have the knowledge to do any others.</p>

<p>I understand that I don't have the strongest application, if someone could give me the sort of range of colleges that I should be looking at, being positive, as well as the range that I should look at realistically, I would very much appreciate it.</p>

<p>I don't have any ECs of note as there was no emphasis on this in the UK system. The most I've got is four weeks of work experience at an asset management firm in the 2011 summer holiday.</p>

<p>Last question: I went from a tough time at school, skipping four days a week for almost a whole schoolyear, getting expelled the next year and thereby effectively missing over a year of school in total. Then taking myself out of my comfort zone by going to another country (from west Europe to England) and doing quite well (A*ABB). Is this story worth sharing with colleges and will this add something to my application? </p>

<p>I hope this is the right place to ask this. If it isn't, I would appreciate it very much were someone to guide me to the right place.</p>

2

<p>What can you afford?</p>

<p>Sadly, that’s probably the number one question you need answered. An international student can expect to pay well over $50,000/year for tuition and room/board. Substantial financial aid is usually awarded only to extraordinary students (international Olympiad winners, etc.) or recruited athletes. </p>

<p>If money isn’t an issue - that’s great. There are many schools which will welcome you with open arms. I’d recommend you sign up for SATs/ACTs right away. You will need the results before the January application deadlines at most schools. Contact teachers/mentors regarding letters of recommendation. Speak to your high school officials about the necessary transcripts. </p>

<p>Don’t worry too much about ECs - you won’t be held to the same expectations as American students. And yes, you could certainly write about how you overcame your academic/personal struggles in a new school/country. That’s the sort of experience schools like to hear about. </p>

<p>As to which schools to appy to - all that depends on your finances and, once you have them, your SAT scores. Then it’s a matter of choosing part of the US you’d like to live in and the type of school - big/small? urban/suburban/rural? research university/liberal arts college, etc. You can do a preliminary search using popular search engines such as the one on this site, plus on princetonreview.com or collegeboard.com</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

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<p>Bear in mind that you should send in all your transcripts from all schools you attended for years 10-13. The total cost of the application will depend on how many schools your apply to and the cost for posting the documents.</p>

<p>Top 50 liberal arts colleges offer financial aid to international students. I’m under the impression that the UK applicant pool is a rather competitive one, but I could be wrong on this one. Call up EducationUSA to set up an appointment and see what help they can offer you.</p>

<p>Further, you should learn about the colleges you’re applying at. If you aren’t a good fit, you probably won’t get in. At least, it would appear so.</p>

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<p>A*ABB are not that bad as far as A-level grades are concerned. Sure, you won’t get into Cambridge or LSE economics with those grades, but I assume there are several UK universities which would still take you in and are probably less expensive than colleges in the United States.</p>

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<p>I understand that I don’t have the strongest application, if someone could give me the sort of range of colleges that I should be looking at, being positive, as well as the range that I should look at realistically, I would very much appreciate it.</p>

<p>You will be limited by how much your parents will pay each year. What are they saying about how much they’ll pay?</p>

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<p>Thank you all for the replies!</p>

<p>I can’t seem to figure out how to quote people properly, so I will just answer each reply individually.</p>

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<p>I spoke to my parents yesterday about the money issue. In the UK I would have had to pay for it myself using a student loan. My father said that if I were to go to the US they would pay for it if I deemed it a good investment. For me, this really pushes the idea of wanting to get in to as good a college as possible, so I don’t feel like I’m throwing away the money.</p>

<p>How many recommendations should I get? I wasn’t always a great student at my school, but I know of one or two teachers who liked me a lot and said I was the smartest kid they’d ever had at their school. (the last comment happened to be from the deputy headmaster, would a recommendation from him be good?)</p>

<p>What do you mean exactly by “transcripts”?</p>

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<p>That would be fantastic. I was very worried that I had messed up my chances in the US already by not having been working on my application since a young age.</p>

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<p>I did use the search engine on this site, which helped me narrow it down a little, but it is near impossible for me to assess what universities I have a realistic chance of getting in to, assuming I want to get in to the “best” possible university that meets my criteria.</p>

<p>An idea of the highest ranking schools I could get in to with my grades/speculated scores (big, research university, preferably not too remote) would be very helpful.</p>

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<p>I am not too sure what you mean by this? What exactly does a transcript entail?</p>

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<p>How do I know if I’m a good “fit”, exactly?</p>

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<p>They aren’t bad grades, they just aren’t what I was hoping for. I was planning on applying for some top 5 UK universities, but I seem to missed the scores needed for those.</p>

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<p>As embarrassing as it is to admit this, money isn’t really an issue for my parents, and they have agreed to pay for it if I decide to study in the US.</p>

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<p>Transcripts are official records of all your courses and grades.
Check for recommendation letters requirements for each school. Many ask for 3
Without your SAT scores or knowing your regional preferences – east coast, west coast, etc. – it’s hard to advise you since there are over 3,000 colleges and universities in the US.
I’d begin by reading up on the schools recommended for you by the search engine.
A few guidelines: each state has a main public research university/system. Among the best public schools are University of California, Berkeley and Los Angeles; University of Michigan; University of Virginia; University of Texas; University of Wisconsin.
You will read a lot about the “Ivy League” - a leage of schools in the American northeast. They’re private schools and considered to be very prestigious (and difficult to get into) They are Harvard, Yale, Princeton, University of Pennsylvania, Cornell, Columbia, and Dartmouth. Among other highly regarded private universities are MIT, Stanford, University of Chicago, Rice University, Duke. There are also many very good private ‘liberal arts colleges’ (LAC) that are outstanding: Amherst, Williams, Claremont-McKenna colleges are the first few that come to mind.</p>

<p>“Fit” is how well the school matches what you want in terms of academics, size, campus life, etc. </p>

<p>To see how these schools are ranked, check here:
[Best</a> College Rankings, Best Graduate School Rankings, Best Hospitals, and Best Health Insurance Companies - US News Rankings](<a href=“http://www.usnews.com/rankings]Best”>http://www.usnews.com/rankings)</p>

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<p>I have done quite a lot of reading the last few days, I assumed I wouldn’t have any chance with Ivy League, despite UPenn looking very attractive. I am right to assume this, right?</p>

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<p>Maxyend, without your SATs, no one can tell you whether or not you have a chance for UPenn. But it is a tough school to get into for anyone.</p>

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<p>I fully understand that, but just for the sake of giving me an idea</p>

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<p>Which would translate to 2200+. So taking that, and the rest of my application as I have described it, would I have any chance at all?</p>

<p>I obviously hope for as near to 2400 as I can get, though. ;)</p>

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<p>Here’s where your SAT score would place you relative the percentage of admitted students</p>

<p>SAT
2300 - 2390 8.0%
2200 - 2290 19.5%
2100 - 2190 23.2%</p>

<p>Keep in mind, UPenn in general accepts few international students - only about 11%. So your competition isn’t really other American students - it’s other students from around the world, most of whom have impeccable test scores. </p>

<p>In other words - you do have A chance. But don’t bank on it. The usual suggestion is to apply to several schools, ‘safeties’ (where your SATs place you in the very upper range of incoming students) ‘matches’ and ‘reaches’ (Ivies, MIT, Stanford, etc.)</p>

<p>[University</a> of Pennsylvania (UPenn, Penn)- SAT Scores](<a href=“http://www.satscores.us/sat_scores_by_college.asp?college_id=215062]University”>http://www.satscores.us/sat_scores_by_college.asp?college_id=215062)</p>