Due to circumstances out of my control, I am subject to a two-year home residency rule to my native country of South Korea. I am a currently a sophomore in high school in the United States, and have resided here for the past nine years and have definite plans to continue to live out my life in the country I grew up in. Getting a waiver for the home residency requirement is extremely difficult in my situation, and it seems like I will end up living in Korea for my junior and senior years of high school.
Unfortunately, my Korean is choppy and insufficient. I cannot function in a country that I cannot communicate in, and I don’t have the time to “adjust”, as my grades and performance counts as a part of my transcript. I can’t mess up, and I will if I attend public school in Korea. It’s too late to apply to international/foreign schools for the greatest amount of continuity possible in terms of my education, and I was hoping that if I took my GED before I left the country, I would be able to apply and attend college during what would be my junior or senior year.
My GPA is well above a 4.0, I am in the top pool of my grade, and got in the 97% percentile in the PSAT this October. However, my extracurriculars would be halved in terms of length, and my transcript doesn’t contain any APs (I was going to take three or four next year, but obviously most likely won’t be). I’m a lettering athlete, award-winning artist, and a consistent member of various clubs and organizations. I’m just so desperate to not let this hinder my future. If I were to drop out, take my GED, ace my SATs and ACTs, and write some fantastic essays, would my chances of being admitted into a ranking college be that damaged?
I’m readily looking into NYU, UChicago, Duke, University of Rochester, etc. NYU seems my best bet with the highest acceptance rate and one of the greatest numbers of international students in the United States. I have recieved letters of interest from all of the four mentioned colleges, and just really want/need to get past this residency rule without having the greatest amount of harm done.
Why is it too late to find an international school? Genuinely curious – maybe they are like private schools here, and the application cycle is over, is that why? Are you sure you can’t find something like that? You could take a HS gap year and apply to them for next year, then (possibly?) be back in the US senior year, or finish out there. That seems like a better plan than just not doing any more high school.
I really don’t think getting a GED is a good idea, or at least not the place to stop your education (I suppose you could get the GED, then dive into a school there almost like an exchange student and then explain to colleges here what you were doing.)
“Letters of interest” mean absolutely nothing – they are marketing materials, nothing more. They mean zip/zero/zilch when it comes to your admissions decision. Don’t be wooed by them in the least.
What is your financial situation? I know you have some schools listed here, but if you are full pay there will be more options open to you. There are plenty of very good schools in the US, especially if you can pay for them.
Yep, they’re like private schools, although most have a rolling admissions policy. I’m starting up applications, but however, I’d still be at the the bottom of the wait pool and possibility of actual attendance is extremely minimal.
I would give so much be able to continue my high school education. I want to be able to drive myself home from track practice, go to prom, complain about gross school lunches. I’m surrounded by friends freaking about AP tests and I would absolutely love to be in their position. But unfortunately, I can’t. However, I have no plans to stop my education in the slightest means. I’d get my GED, apply to college for what would be my junior (or senior) year, and continue on to medical school.
My finanical situation doesn’t benefit me in the least for college. I’m aiming for the maximum amount of financial aid possible.
I don;t know the whole situation, but two years of heavy immersion in Korean language and culture may be a really great experience for you. You are telling us you have basically completed high school requirements … and the internet can be your friend in taking AP classes, or even college classes. Do any of the Korean schools have any programs you can enroll in … with some earlier level Korean classes … and then continue on with rigorous math and science classes … symbols, chemistry may all be very non-Korean.
How about language tutoring paid by your parents, or can they tutor you seriously in Korea ?
Also language skills can advance really quickly with full immersion. If your parents speak Korean, how about you start only using Korean at home … now …
There are schools who have very different admissions policies. If you can, maybe visit a few local ones before you leave the US and discuss your situation. Maybe you can take AP tests in self-studied areas ?
I think life is getting in the way of your dream, which is to have 2 more years of US HS, but life is long and there are many paths to a good school, med school etc. There are many posters here who would recommend that you find a average undergraduate school, get a 4.0, study for the MCAT, and you will have a great chance of getting into med school (no idea if international students get into US med schools).
There are many countries with much lower educational costs than the US … including almost all European countries and likely UK, where you speak the language. Australia ? etc …
If you can’t get into an international school in Korea, maybe you could continue your HS studies from an on-line school or look into home schooling options? That’s not going to help on the social life you are mourning but it might give you a more robust transcript for colleges in two years’ time.
Is it possible to take the PSAT when you live abroad your junior year? Maybe look into that?
You might want to look into Stanford’s online high school: https://ohs.stanford.edu/admissions/enrollment-options
There are colleges that start at age 16. Bard at Simon’s Rock starts at 16 w/ no high school diploma. Clarkson university has an early college program.
Here’s more info – http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/early_college.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_entrance_to_college#The_Early_Admission_Program
Okay. But your problem is that you need financial aid, and only a tiny sliver of colleges (5 total now, I think) are need blind in admissions and meet need for international students. No way is a student with a GED after 10th grade is going to get into those schools (HYP, Amherst, and MIT). It just isn’t happening, unfortunately. There are some students that are not need blind, but will meet your need if they decide to admit you – but they are also quite competitive. Again… you aren’t getting in by completing 10th grade and getting a GED.
I do think there are issues with internationals getting into US medical schools as well – I am not well versed in the details, maybe someone else can post.
I hate to use Wikipedia as a source, but I like how they split things out.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Need-blind_admission#U.S._institutions_that_are_need-blind_and_meet_full_demonstrated_need_for_both_U.S._and_international_students
The section where they meet need, but are not need-blind for internationals – my take is that you need to be a really, really stellar (high stats) candidate for one of those schools. I think that if you can have moderate success in a Korean school, high test scores, and a compelling story about going back to Korea after X years in the US and immersing yourself in it as an adventure, you might have some luck. Or try the international school route if you can get into one.
U.S. med schools are extremely hesitant to take international applicants. I believe the main reason is that getting the appropriate visa for residency is complicated, and med schools want to produce graduates who can actually continue in their profession. It’s not impossible, but an international pre-med student should pretty much expect to follow a plan B career path.
@mom2collegekids Is the CC poster to ask about premed.
Very few US med schools admit any international students. Most of those that do admit them will require that all four years of med school tuition is paid up-front. If you are serious about studying medicine, you should plan to do that somewhere else, and then consider returning to the US for your medical residency later on.
Options for continuing your education in the US system include enrolling in a boarding school here, or finding a family in the US that will let you live with them while you finish at your current high school or another one. Lots of Korean families figure out how to do that. Is it within your family’s budget?
Some of the international high schools have specific provisions that allow students whose parents work for certain companies or who are diplomats to enroll without having to spend time on a waiting list. Your parents need to investigate the situation at the international schools that you could attend during this required period of home residency.
First of all, I am not sure I understand why you are moving to Korea. Is your family applying for permanent residency in the United States? Are you already a permanent resident? Is this required by Korea? After 2 years what will be your status? If you are permanent resident then Med School would be a non issue in terms of being foreign.
Assuming you have to live outside the US, does it have to be Korea? What about Canada? Could you get a waiver to attend a US boarding school? Canadian boarding school? British? I realize it is probably too late to apply especially as a FA candidate but it does not hurt to make some phone calls since your situation is unique.
There are many online high schools that you can now attend. Perhaps the time difference will be an issue but I am sure they encounter that problem. Then participate in some clubs or ECs in Korea for your sport or interests. Take some non credit art classes. This is more to have ECs and to maintain a social life and meet people.