Applying to America for undergraduate degree

[Americabound]

My DD just mentioned that she would like to apply to an American university. She says she has done some research and actually it’s affordable. We earn about £100k as a household and she seems to think somewhere like Harvard has so msny bursaries that we would only have to pay about £10,000 for tuition accommodation and food per year.

she also pointed out that only 40 people go to Harvard from the UK each year so does realise it’s a tad unrealistic

i just wondered if anyone had any knowledge. She’s on for 3 A * Thanks

Check those bursaries are available to international students.

Thanks. Yes apparently Harvards bursaries are equally available to international students apparently. But I would doubles check

Tuition, accommodation and food for only £10k? Surprising, but she must have done her homework. What about flights, could you afford more than one return per year?.

If she's a Harvard graduate, it'll certainly open a lot of doors for her.

We had a year 13 from my school go- similar grades to your DD but very low income family. He got a full scholarship.

i think it’s only some of the bigger names that do a needs blind assessment including for international students
Ivr just gone through the Harvard one with her and put in UK and it does come out at that sort of figure. And you don’t end up with student loans

i think wr would be in a position to pay for a couple of flights a year plus the £10k. My friend was at Nottingham open day yesterday and some of the halls there were approaching that.

I wish she had told me sooner though as I think it’s a bit like applying for medicine. You need to put in the ground work and be selective

I have a friends DD who went to the states on an academic and sports scholarship. She doesn't pay a penny, they even pay for her flights home twice a year.

Wow that's amazing! Do you mind me asking at what level of sport she was playing at? Local / regional / nationals / international?

I follow a few gymnasts who won medals at the Olympics, and they have American university scholarships just wondered if it's possible at a lower level.

Where I teach, we had a boy get a sports scholarship to an American University. He played at an international level, unsurprisingly, he's now a big star. I think the only problem was that he was quite limited in how often he could come home.

@HolaPepper she played at international level in football.

It is amazing and she's loving it over there. She did also get 3 A * thus the double scholarship.

A classmate of DS1 went to Princeton on a sports and an academic scholarship, she was initially approached at a hockey tournament IIRC. She was definitely County/regional level, can’t remember if she was international level. She was at least 3A at A level. It was an indie school if relevant.
When DS2 was looking there was a presentation on application to US by a company called Mayflower I think with quite a lot of tips and hints, I think that things like DOE are valued. There are some sort of recruitment evenings in London about this time of year I think. We didn’t follow it up.

Check out https://fulbright.org.uk they have tips and guidance. Also they do a USA College Day when lots US universities together will be in London.
Good luck!

I have 2 DDs in Ivy League schools. We live in Ireland but have US passports so had a wider choice of colleges that gave full funding.

You need to look at what colleges are needs blind for international students and which colleges are fully needs met for international students. Ideally you want a college that is needs blind and fully needs met for international students.

This article explains what needs blind means and lists the colleges that are currently needs blind for international students

https://interstride.com/blog/need-blind-u-s-universities-for-international-students/

This article explains various needs met funding

https://blog.collegevine.com/schools-that-meet-100-percent-financial-need

The application process is very time consuming. Both DDs have excellent grades and excellent US test scores. One also has a non sporting extracurricular at international level. The other doesn’t really have any extracurriculars so it must have been her application essays or video application.
If you are not an international sports star, Nobel prize winner or legacy/child of donor a lot of it is just luck.

The Ivy League schools don't offer academic or sporting scholarships but they do have strong financial aid programs based upon demonstrated need.
You might get offered a place based upon sporting or academic success but they can only offer financial aid if the student meets the criteria, there are calculators on all the university websites to help give you an idea of how much financial help your student would be entitled too.
There are plenty of excellent universities outside of the Ivy League that do offer merit based scholarships so it's worth taking the time to investigate all options.

Lots of great ideas here, OP. On a similar thread recently someone else posted a link to another comprehensive resource.

I taught at a world Top 20 in my field in America for about 15 yrs, which occasionally features on this board. I’m writing now to mention an option we don’t have in the UK, the elite four year colleges. Some offer needs blind admissions and/or aid with parity for international applicants. Examples of such colleges (ignoring the aid question) include Amherst, Swarthmore, Oberlin, the Seven Sisters, Reed, the (five) Claremont Colleges, Williams and a number of others. I am almost sure that Amherst offers parity.

The staff are superb. At some point - in STEM, usually after a postdoc - they made the choice to put teaching first, although many still keep a hand in research. Classes are small and all taught by academic staff, not PG students. (At the Ivies like all research universities, almost all tutorials are led by PG students). There is greater interaction with staff, greater chance for a supervised reading course, etc. Also meaningful UG academic employment.

Preparation for the best PG programmes and graduate employment schemes is superb, as are alumni networks. A MNetter recently said on this board that she’d had a DC at Oxbridge, a DC at an an Ivy and a DC at one of the colleges. The college student had the best experience.

I have taught a number of doctoral students from these colleges in America and for the most part their prior education has been second to none. They’ve also really seemed to enjoy it.

DS (UK passport) has just started at Princeton and has a generous financial aid package. It's costing him / us less than it would be to attend a UK university this year. But it's worth noting that this has to be self funded, no access to UK Student Finance for study in the US.

DS is a international athlete in his chosen sport and was contacted by multiple colleges after GB selection. He chose Princeton after visiting Harvard, Yale and Princeton on 'official' visits. These are fully funded trips to look at each campus.

Am I correct in understanding that you have to remain at international level in your chosen sport to retain a sports scholarship? Or did I pick that up wrong?

Are aid packages just at Undergraduate level or is this something that can be accessed at Masters level please? My Ds spent 2 weeks at Centennial College Toronto & was verbally invited to study thete. As we are a very low income (as in Income Support) household we didn't follow it up. Now I wonder if we should have?

There is this: https://fulbright.org.uk/our-programmes/fulbright-scholarships-to-the-usa/uk-postgraduate/

@IWillNoLie - DS has financial aid so continuing as an athlete wouldn't impact his funding. A scholarship is normally linked though.

I taught a student who turned down Oxbridge and went to Browns in the US. I don't know the details but I remember him saying that with bursaries it was a financially better decision.

@Americabound what are Ur DD's extracurriculars?

hi @Lambiriyani
reading this I realise we are probably a bit lacking. I would say drama. She’s done grade 8 Lamda I think in a couple of subjects. Acting and Shakespeare? She has worked on a couple of films as an extra, small speaking part in one. Works at the local theatre and helps at productions. But nothing sporty and nothing at a national level!

What does she hope to major in? Is she willing to study the SAT and ACT? The Harvard website say they are no longer required but it would help.

She needs to open a CollegeBoard account asap.

She needs to research all the universities and liberal arts colleges that offer financial aid (basically a waiver of tuition and room/board). There are lists online. Harvard is not the only one by a long shot. They are all extremely selective universities.

She needs to start writing the sort of compelling personal narrative US universities require of applicants. List hobbies, community service, sports, part-time jobs, and formative experiences. Create a narrative.

You need to look at the CSS Profile, which is the private university and liberal arts school application for financial aid.

Buy yourselves Calleire minutes (or other very cheap international phone minutes) and she needs to call admissions offices/ international student admissions offices of all the universities and colleges on the list of places that offer finaid to international students.

She needs to find out what standardized tests, if any, the universities/ colleges require, and she needs to prepare seriously for them. This would be the SAT or ACT.

She needs to find out details like forwarding her grade transcript, having it standardized if necessary, teacher recommendations (are they needed, how can teachers correctly format and upload recommendations...)

Common App or no? Common App plus individual institution application?

There are big questions and little ones.

NB Financial aid is not the same at all as an NCAA sports scholarship.