Applying for university in USA

[LittleFrieda]

My son is interested in exploring the possibility. His school don't have any experience of US applications.

Has anyone done it? Can you give me a rough idea of the timetable - for SAT or ACT and subject SAT? We have signed up for a Fulbright seminar and fair in Kensington at the end of the month but a friend said today that her nephew has already done his admissions test and he is in the same year (lower sixth).

Admissions to US schools (to me) are simpler and much more clear-cut than university admissions in the UK.

Your DS should take the SAT the year prior to applying to schools. It is not a difficult exam - a maths section, and english section (vocal and comprehension), and a short writing section. A couple of months with a good practice book and some timed tests should suffice.

The summer prior to the year of applying, you call around to the Universities to receive applications. They usually consist of 1-2 personal statements, plus some shorter written parts, a copy of your son's school transcript (sent directly by the school), 2 external recommendations (can be teachers, head, mentor and also send directly by the referee), a copy of SAT results and any achievement tests taken (these are subject tests - just a couple chosen ones are taken, are they are not immensely important - just show how your DS does in a subject compared to the national average).

One key area whose importance is greater in US Uni applications are your sons extracurricular activities - these should be done to a high level, and really differentiate him. High level sports, political involvement, meaningful volunteer work are all helpful. I personally know someone who was a B/C student with mediocre SAT scores who was admitted into Harvard because he had written and published 2 comic books whilst in High School.

Due dates for admission are usually in October (for Early Admission/Early Decision) to November. Mid April is the time most decisions are mailed out.

There are many more excellent universities in the US than in the UK, and they are not just Ivy League. There is a whole tier of Universities with no graduate departments (so only focus in on the undergraduate) which are called Liberal Arts Colleges which are superb (Amherst, Williams, Swarthmore, Haverford, etc). Some top non-IVY universities are MIT, Cal Tech, University of Chicago, Stanford, Duke, Wash U (Missouri). There are also top State Universities which are as good as the privates, but have a different feel (great College football teams for a start!) such as University of Michigan and the California schools. As you can see, loads of choice (I have omitted at least 30 other big names)and diversity.

Additionally, the very well endowed schools (and there are a large number of them) offer extremely generous financial aid packages (eg, for parents with a combined income of less than £75,000, Harvard will provide tuition, stipend, and air fare).

Good Luck!

Interesting information.

DS is considering a University in the USA, he has just started year 10 so has a couple more years to think about it yet.

Oh wow, Mominatrix, that's so useful, thank you so much.

So he does need to sit the SAt now then. Eeek.

I'm very interested in this thread!

Does anybody have any experience with applying to Harvard? I was listening to BBCRadio4 a few months ago, and it was mentioned that Harvard helps with fees etc.

I would consider it for my daughter (who is only 10, but I like to dream about her future - We were walking around Harvard and I so wanted to go inside the library, but you are allowed only if you are studying/teaching at Harvard).

What if the extracurricular activity is playing an instrument, and let's say get to grade 8 by 17 years of age. Would that be good enough? And possibly ballet, what grade I don't really know.

I read that you have to have perfect SAT scores for Harvard. Not true?

Harvard is very over subscribed this year 30 000 + applicants for just over 2000 places and the numbers applying is increasing year on year.

The US-UK Fulbright Commission is an excellent source of information. It's also worth looking at the websites of the specific universities you're interested in - US universities have extremely informative websites.

All of the top US universities are extremely oversubscribed with 8% acceptance rates being common. They really are looking for excellence, and just being grade 8 on an instrument is not enough - if you wanted to highlight a musical instrument, they would be looking for competition winning levels. Perfect SATs also are not necessary, as long as the rest of the application is stellar.

Key to success is the extracurriculars because ALL of the candidates will have superb academic credentials. Find something your child is good at, and have them take it to the top levels in a way which will make them stand out from the crowd. Another example of a successful applicant to Harvard was someone who was able to show that they were the National Twister Champion (I kid you not!)

We are going to a fulbright seminar in Kensington town hall in sept.

Outside of Ivy League, getting in is mostly about high ability to pay, although some also require very high academic achievement (like MIT or CalTech).

Lljkk, that is a highly ignorant and ill-informed view. To say that getting into a school like Swarthmore is mostly about having the means to pay the tuition is laughable. There are many, many excellent universities outside of the Ivy League. In fact, for the undergraduate, they are preferable to the Ivys as the undergrad will get a better education in a place where the emphasis is on them, not on research and the graduate divisions.

Additionally, there are non-Ivys with graduate departments which are just as good, if not better as all-round institutions. For example, most people would agree that the University of Chicago (non Ivy) is a better institution than Cornell (Ivy).

Do your research before spouting off such nonsense!

If your son sits his A-levels before going to the US to study a four year degree, if his grades are good, many students skip the first year. A-levels are the same as the 101, introduction classes, if the A-levels are in the same subject.

Kellestar, they might be able to opt out of the intro classes, but unless they are given credit for the work done at A level, it might be difficult to skip a year as there is a physical credit requirement at most schools for graduation.

As an American who visited & applied to Ivy League Unis (my dad was ready to remortgage the house if I got accepted), and who attended Cal Berkeley, I think my comments are rather well-informed.

One of my childhood friends got an MBA in International Business at Oxford about 7 yrs ago. He rejected Harvard as taking too long (too expensive). His mum was constantly asked "What does it take to get into Harvard or Oxford grad school?"

"Money!!" was her reply. (She's a die-hard lefty & enjoys a good tirade about privilege)

Remember that it's standard to run up big debts to attend US universities; and repayment terms are harsh compared to English deal. But if student resides out-of-country, I doubt they can get those loans within USA, so it's all payment up front each term, or loan from elsewhere. Non-resident students pay much higher fees just like in UK. And find it harder to get PT jobs to help pay those fees (whereas most USA undergrads have PT jobs, expect that to help make ends meet & keep debt down).

Sure you need fairly good academics to get into many US universities, but good academic achievement is not that unusual in a school leaver. Having money to pay overseas fees is, I think, rather more uncommon, much harder to achieve. And you can get into lots of USA unis with only iffy academics, meanwhile, as long as you have money to pay the fees.

I am always impressed by anyone who send their child abroad to study. The out-of-state tuition fees + living expenses would cripple us, in spite of our high percentile household income. At least my kids would have US nationality, though, could easily get a PT job, one less thing to worry about.

People on MN talk about USA Unis with enormous endownment funds to help poor but bright students, as though it's easy to tap into those funds unless you're filthy rich already: this may be true in Ivy League, but A) Ivy League very tough to get into at all, and B) relatively few other Unis can offer full scholarships. I had a few small scholarships, together they added up to the cost of about 5 textbooks and 2 months rent.

Oh, and remember most USA uni bachelor degrees are 4 years of FT study. So another year of fees & living costs to cover compared to UK.

Can anyone give a rough idea of the cost of the tuition fees/living expenses?

lljkk:

1: most of the top universities in the US are private - there is NO difference between what US residents and non-US residents pay!

2: All of the top Liberal Arts Colleges provide very generous bursaries, and are extremely well funded, just like the Ivys.

3: At the graduate level, there are many sources of funding, including fellowships and scholarships which are open to everyone. My husband (European) certainly did not remotely have anywhere near the funds to attend Harvard Business School, however they were able to link him up with several scholarships and endowed places, which he applied to and got, allowing him to only pay a fraction of the total cost

4: If one receives a financial aid package from a school, included are work packages where the student would make up part of their package (usually the stipend bit) by doing an on-campus job. These are extremely common as the vast majority of students are receiving some sort of financial aid.

Again, your information is incorrect, and you really should do some solid research before spouting such fallacies on a public forum!

Ragwort, try googling for "college student cost of living usa", lots of excellent links come up to give you an idea of living costs; they vary hugely depending where & how one lives.

Perhaps Mominatrix could apply for a 101 in basic manners! It's fine to disagree - but do it nicely

I certainly was not being rude, just pointing out that information bring given with such certainty was very far from accurate. I certainly did not make personal attacks, as was done to me, causing a post to be deleted. Guess I just have a different idea of basic manners.

We have differences of opinion, Mominatrix. You accused me being ignorant and spouting fallacies & I returned the compliment. That is all.

Some American Unis in Britain are doing trial semesters for British gap year students, for example Syracuse in London. Looks like a good way to find out what the differences are.

lljkk, but this topic had nothing to do with opinion, but facts. You were stating that things were a certain way (not an opinion), and I was just pointing out that the things you said were factually incorrect. I do believe that when people like the OP are looking for facts regarding Universities in the States, it is important to give accurate information, and not rumour-monger, which is unhelpful and confusing.