Anyone's DC going to Uni in USA???

[Cblue]

Hi all

Has anyone's DC applied/gone to USA Universities in the last few years?

DD in Y11 very keen so we are off to Boston/NYC to see some Unis.

Reading up on it, it seems like there are some good bursaries and scholarships open to International students at the Ivy Leagues which would make it viable.
Do any of the lesser Unis have the same?

We have been to the Fulbright University Fair in London and that just made her even more determined.

Has anyone got any tips??
And has anyone else done it!??

Thanks

If the issue is that she is struggling to narrow down her choices and she wants a liberal arts type, broad-based degree there may be some more affordable options in Europe.

You should look couses taught in English in Northern Europe eg in the Netherlands where some of my friends' kids are studying. Sciences Po in France has an English-speaking campus in Reims and if your daughter has good grades it's worth considering an application via their "international procedure". My DD was offered a place at one of the international Sciences Po campuses for next year and I'm happy to share our experience if you are interested. Course fees are means tested for EU students, obviously brexit may put a spanner in the works ...

Further to my prior post about the admissions process being like casting a movie once applicants are screened for minimum academic qualifications, I saw this in an article about some legal trouble Harvard is having;

www.marketwatch.com/story/harvard-university-is-fighting-to-keep-its-secretive-admissions-process-under-wraps-2018-06-28

In many cases, colleges hope to create classes that are diverse on a variety of different levels, including, yes, race, but also geography, academic interests, economic background and more, Ivey said. For example, three college admissions experts interviewed for this article each noted that something as seemingly distant as changes in the lineup of the school’s orchestra can affect the priorities of the admissions office.

“As the admissions officer you might get word that the orchestra really needs to fill that trombonist spot,” Ivey said.

I honestly think that one reason my son got into his first choice was because he rows crew and the schools crew team is mostly women. They only had 3 men rowing and needed one more to complete a four man boat.

Agree MissConductUS.

In the UK DD would be studying really really hard for her A levels on the assumption that that would be the main factor getting her into where she wanted to be.

She just got 3 more AP grades today, but TBH I don't think it'll make all that much difference to whether or not she gets into a college of her choice.

She's chosen her courses for her senior year at school, and she's consciously decided to do fewer AP courses so that she can do harder non-AP college-level courses that her (slightly unusual) school chooses to offer. Not much idea if they will really help her get into college.

She's done loads of great non-academic stuff in her junior year that frankly screwed her up academically to some extent, but it all makes her application look much better.

Who knows?!

For example, three college admissions experts interviewed for this article each noted that something as seemingly distant as changes in the lineup of the school’s orchestra can affect the priorities of the admissions office

And I'm sure that being a fluent-Spanish-speaking England-born Jewish-heritage flute-playing female who wants to study math won't do DD any harm at all, especially if she applies to college in Texas. The whole thing is bizarre.

She's chosen her courses for her senior year at school, and she's consciously decided to do fewer AP courses so that she can do harder non-AP college-level courses that her (slightly unusual) school chooses to offer. Not much idea if they will really help her get into college.

My DD wants to sign up for all AP and honors classes with no concern for the fact that taking AP physics, AP algebra and honors French might just possibly make her head explode. She braved it out in 10th, I just hope 11th grade ends as happily.

Your DD sounds like a fabulously interesting applicant that any US college would be happy to have. My advice would be to avoid Texas if at all possible. It's beastly weather there and there are so many great options in New England.

@Semster
That's the funniest thing ever. One side of my family is Jewish and the other side Spanish (yes, genuinely). Her great uncle was a Jewish Supreme Court judge in NYC (died about 10 years ago). Now.....if only she played the flute!!!! Will an electric ukulele do? Hahaha

Ooops forgot to mention she wants to major in maths and IT and is born in England.

My DD wants to sign up for all AP and honors classes with no concern for the fact that taking AP physics, AP algebra and honors French might just possibly make her head explode. She braved it out in 10th, I just hope 11th grade ends as happily.

That sounds like DD's 11th grade. It's possible, they just have to be really organised and stay on top of their work. DD is not organised and did not stay on top of her work! Sigh...

One minor oddity of American English is that we don't pluralize math for some reason, even though it's short for mathematics. So for the purposes of your applications to US colleges you might want to express an interest in majoring in math and IT, or use the full word mathematics.

Your way makes much more sense, but it will sound odd to an American reader.

Yeah, we noticed the math/maths thing.
I had a guide book for New York and believe it or not it had a translation section at the back!!!
Had great fun with my cousins in going through the words.
They particularly enjoyed making DD say aluminium in her very private school accent

They particularly enjoyed making DD say aluminium in her very private school accent

All you Brits sound the same to us. Well, not quite, but almost.

The majority of British accents we hear on television programs like Sherlock or Masterpiece Theater are southern, fairly posh ones so that's what everyone expects.

If you are native to the American south the term Yankee is considered quite derogatory, as it's what they call us northerners. They're still a bit miffed about losing the Civil War, or the "War of Northern Aggression" as some call it. So be careful who you call a Yank.

And I'm sure that being a fluent-Spanish-speaking England-born Jewish-heritage flute-playing female who wants to study math won't do DD any harm at all, especially if she applies to college in Texas. The whole thing is bizarre.

Actually, funnily enough, When I applied to uni, I was a fluent-Spanish/Italian and French-speaking, Jewish-heritage, violin/piano playing, varsity soccer/field hockey playing female (with straight A's and almost perfect SAT scores) who wanted to study Economics and Biology and didn't get into any of the ivy leagues....the only schools that were willing to accept me were MIT and CalTech and UC Berkeley. My cousin who had a similar breadth of experience etc. in her application and also was denied, actually called up Harvard to ask why they didn't accept her and they told her that they had too many white jewish girls that year. This was in 1980....can you imagine a school admitting to that these days.

@Semster There are alternatives to the AP classes. My dc's took/are taking Community College classes instead of AP classes. There is far less rote memorization and much more critical thinking and true college level work. Apparently, the universities are now considering community college classes to be as good as or even in some cases better than AP classes. The idea is that they don't have to infer whether or not the applicant could do well in college, because they are doing well in college.

the only schools that were willing to accept me were MIT and CalTech and UC Berkeley.

you probably didn't mean that to sound as funny as it did :)

We were on a college tour in a group with a nice kid who played the bassoon in our city youth orchestra. The tour guide was in the orchestra too and would have made an offer himself to her there and then if he could.

they told her that they had too many white jewish girls that year.

Harvard is currently being sued for its practice of turning away Asian students for the same reason, as the article I linked to earlier details. I hope they lose big and lose publicly.

My son's college algebra and accounting classes his senior year were both taught by someone from our local community college and they come right into the high school to teach them. Those are probably the cheapest college credits we'll ever pay for. The accounting class got him a $1,000 scholarship from our state society of CPA's.

It's a wonderful trend.

you probably didn't mean that to sound as funny as it did

That gave me a laugh too pallisers.

cblue We are UK resident but travel once or twice a year to the US as a family. In Y10 our DC started to explore going to university in the US. We went to the London Fulbright presentations twice. There is a lot of emphasis that there is financial aid etc but that is not the full picture. Your DC will be an international student so fees are higher. Financial Aid is not usually available to international students so it would depend on what the institution would guarantee in bursaries etc.

DC did all the research, applying for tours, finding out about the financial rules, studying and applying. My only active role was to pay the various application fees and go on some of the visits. DC did a couple without us flying to visit from our holiday location.

We visited, over 2 years, about 10 US universities. Most professional tours - Boston U and U Chicago. Most challenging stats - Stanford. After A levels and with a deferred place at a UK university DC did a one week course on the SATs and then sat them twice in the Autumn - had to be on set dates. DC also applied to 8 US universities - both coasts and UChicago. We took the view that if DC was returning to the UK for employment it was important that the US university had a good reputation/was well known in the UK so the focus was not Ivy League but top thirty ranking. There is no UCAS system so each is a direct application and they all demanded different elements as well as SAT scores and Pers Statement eg 3 essays, 10 short answer questions. And there is an application fee each time.

We knew our income level would preclude any financial support so fees plus accommodation plus living cost plus flights have been £80k pa realistically. In context DC was at state school throughout and is one of about 50 UK citizens with no US family link at her large university and of the UK students she has met so far were at private schools before. Be very clear about what you are likely to pay and what you can afford.

DC received 4 offers, 2 reserve listed and two rejections. She is now at one of the offers and just finished her second year. Has taken advantage of all her opportunities and is thriving.

I run a foundation that offers, among others, undergraduate tuition only scholarships to British students majoring in STEM or business wishing to study full time in Texas. We look at combined household incomes of less than $40k and offer maybe $2k or $3k per student per academic year. We also offer similar to Texan students studying in Texas and they are juggling a dozen or so (tuition only) scholarships to make it through the year. It always strikes us how poor UK students are at extra curricular activities (leadership roles, community service, professional associations, honor role etc) in comparison to their US counterparts, which doesn't help put them at the top of the list.

I do realize it sounds funny....now. The absurd thing was that back then between the lack of college guidance and my oblivious scientist parents, I actually thought those three schools were appropriate back up schools and it didn't even occur to me that I might not get in. Oh well...you get wiser as you get older.

@BradleyPooper I'm sure you know this already, but the UK system doesn't really seem to leave kids much time or room to do extra curricular activities. I finished high school in the US a year early and did a year of A-levels in the UK (this was in 1980, but I'm not sure how much things have changed from what I can see on Mumsnet). In the USA, I took a full academic load, played 2 varsity sports and still had time to have a job and volunteer for several non-profits. In the UK all my time outside of school was spent studying.
In addition, here in the USA community service is a graduation requirement of most high schools and even some middle and elementary schools.

Having said that, I'm not entirely convinced that US system produces more aware or involved students than the UK system. I get the feeling that the kids who are aware and involved would be so even if it wasn't required. I am curious to know what your observation is of the correlation between high school community service engagement and college or real life engagement.

@SofiaAmes Yes, I remember well the workload in the UK (graduated there in 1995) but also remember working through my studies to support myself financially and there doesn't seem to be a huge amount of that among UK applicants sometimes. It's difficult to tell as it's all such a small sample but we do look at UK students with a different eye from their US counterparts and we understand that there are different constraints, priorities and opportunities.

We also offer a community service scholarship to students in Texas (and the UK) to study in Texas. This attracts students who have leadership roles in community service projects that they have set up or been active in organizing. Philanthropy and community service is huge in the USA. Americans have a long history of relying on each other rather than the government to build communities and provide services and students are still carrying on that tradition. Some of it may be driven by college applications but it's instilled at an early age and a habit that many carry on after college. When we look at our alumni, many are still giving back and many tell us even more so having benefitted from a scholarship.

There is no UCAS system so each is a direct application and they all demanded different elements as well as SAT scores and Pers Statement eg 3 essays, 10 short answer questions. And there is an application fee each time.

We don't have UCAS but we do have the common app, which allows applicants to submit their information and essays electronically. SAT scores must come directly from the College Board, but sending them to multiple schools is done on line and very simple to do.

www.commonapp.org/

Not all schools take it, but eight out of nine did when my son was applying last fall.

@BradleyPooper - are the scholarships limited to use at a specific school in Texas? If not, why the focus on UK students studying there?

Sofia your confidence back then was a good thing. It gave you courage and direction. I hope to see some of the same in my DD now that we're starting this whole process with her.

@MissConductUS The scholarships are for any UK student or Texas student studying at any (2yr or 4 yr) Texas school (and Texan students studying at any UK school). The non profit was set up in 2006 by the British American Business Council of Houston, hence the UK / Texas thing. We don't have many students crossing the Atlantic as many programs are reciproical and don't require academic funding but there are a handful each year. The majority of our beneficiaries are Texan students studying in Texas. In-state fees have more than doubled in the past 15 years and will rise again this year. We've awarded a total of over $1 million to more than 600 students since 2007. www.baftx.org

That's lovely Bradley. My only complaint is that my kids won't qualify.

I think studying abroad is a great thing and I hope my son gets to do it when he's in college. His school has a satellite campus in Madrid and exchange programs with schools in the UK and Australia.

In-state tuition has gone up everywhere as states cut the subsidies during the great recession and haven't restored them now that times are better and tax receipts are up. In NY the state schools used to be really affordable. Now private colleges can be cheaper depending on the aid package you get.

It's very short sighted for the states. States that have really strong higher ed institutions like MA and CA also have very dynamic economies. One minor concern I have about our son going to school in the Boston area is that he'll probably stay there after graduation and it'll be a four hour drive to see him.

@MissConductUS I agree with study overseas. I did a 3 month Erasmus course in Spain and 9 months working in France as part of my degree. In both cases, we were given an appointment time, a name and a phone number. In the pre-internet and pre-cellphone days, it was brilliant to have to find flights and accommodation (by calling through small ads at a payphone in a foreign language). I do think there is no substitute for travel and experiencing different cultures and one of the best times to do this is as a student.