Applying to UK universities from US school system

[ColoradoMum]

We are a British family but moved to the States when DS was a baby. He is just entering high school here in the US so is starting to consider his options for university, and studying in the UK, Ireland or elsewhere in Europe are all on the table for now.

My question is about the criteria that British universities use when looking at an application received from a kid from the States. Over here has the option to sit the SAT or ACT, plus there seems to be a lot of pressure at his school to take several AP courses. Do British universities care about these? Do they prefer the SAT or ACT? What else should we be aware of when applying from the US?

Would love to heat from anyone with experience of applying from the US, or anyone who works in the Admissions office of a UK university! Thank you!

You would be better off figuring out which course and uni your kid wants to go to and then just looking up their entry requirements for international students. It will vary from uni to uni 🤷‍♀️

We are going through this now, UK family based in CA with kids in US high school. The courses they are interested in ask for 3 A levels from UK applicants and 3 AP's in relevant subjects from US applicants, sometimes with an SAT over a certain minimum (1200 for standard universities, 1460-1480 for Oxford) Oxford will take 4-5 AP's instead of any SAT contribution. They also stipulate they want total AP's taken over a max of 2 yrs and you have to list any retakes, (which they prefer you not to do.) plus any Oxford exams / essays / interviews that may be required.

@poetryandwine has been particularly helpful from an admissions point of view

Fees for international students are often 2-3 times those of UK residents. It is up to each admissions dept what to charge you in terms of tuition, depending on circumstances, but unless your kid is in a uk residence and school for the 2 yrs prior to attending a university they are generally classed as "international".

I know they make exceptions to this because I took an MFA recently and the uk university granted me uk fee status as I'm a "trailing spouse".

The best place to start looking is the university websites international pages. If you want to DM me I will help in any additional way I can with regards info. but pretty much all I know is contained here.

They will definitely want APs in relevant subjects, and specifically grades in the exams not just taking the courses in HS. If a uni wants Maths A level for a subject, they will expect Calc BC at AP as the closest equivalent.

What does DS want to study at uni?

Like others say, depends on course. Uk unis are well versed in international qualifications and equivalence to a levels. It will depend on the degree your child applies to. Admissions teams can advise. There's also the option of foundation years to support entry if grades aren't quite enough.

@Ellmau It's a little early for DS to know what he wants to study yet, but he is (so far) on track to do AP Calc BC, so good to know that that is considered an equivalent to maths A level. At this stage I'd say he's likely to either go for something science/engineering-y, or Mandarin 🤷‍♀️

@JesusWeptLady Super helpful, thank you. DS is just starting 9th grade so at the moment this is more about me getting my mental ducks in a row to know what questions to ask his school in the next year or two, but I may very well reach out to you at some point in the not-too-distant future!

We are aware of the international fees situation, but as I understand it they wouldn't be (that much) worse than many of the options over here... Sigh.

Thank you for the kind words, @JesusWeptLady

I would be happy to help if I can, OP. The Fulbright Foundation website is supposed to be very good (I haven’t looked at it personally in quite a while). It is worth knowing that elite British universities will want evidence of supercurricular activities - a genuine show of interest above and beyond school work in the major subject, or tangential to it -but care less about well roundedness and evidence of leadership than American universities.

A pupil representing their (American) state at sport, acting professionally, achieving Grade 8 at music - those things are worth a mention because they show time management skills as do employment, caring duties, etc. Best wishes to your DC

Yes, you're right about the fees. Depending on where they go, there's even a saving to be had. If both of ours go to a university charging around 20-25K sterling per year for 3 years we'd still save about $80k off the cheapest, in-state option (for 4 yrs). Big incentive!

If possible, have you DS on track to take Calc BC and Physics C during Junior year if he's looking at Engineering or Maths related courses. This will give him the best chance of an unconditional offer and put him in an excellent position to do well in any entrance exams that Oxbridge, Imperial etc require.

I haven't come across any preference for ACT or SAT, either one is accepted.
If they are applying for a course with an entrance exam, it's worth talking to your school early. DS had to sit both the MAT and TMUA and his school is a registered test center for both so he was able to sit them on site in familiar surroundings. I know of other students who've had to fly out of state just to find a registered center with availability

Agree strongly with the advice to get in extra Supra curriculars. DS should be taking part in any relevant academic tournaments and, if possible, summer courses offered to high schoolers by US universities offer some excellent opportunities for further in depth study. (Research these carefully, some are just a money making exercise but there are many run by first class professors)

Thank you, @poetryandwine - very helpful!

@BackToWhereItAllBegan Thank you. DS should be all set to do AP Physics C and Calc BC in his junior year, so that's good. Will start asking questions at school about MAT etc!

When I've looked I have found international fees in the UK to be more like £30-40k a year. Maybe just what I've been looking at but I'd double check your figures.

Does he have a British passport? Will he need a visa?

we’re doing the opposite (uk to Us). The hardest part was getting the UK schools to submit grades through the American computer system. They won’t accept grades via email or from the student, it has to be via some sort of document website. Our school didn’t do it correctly and it was a nightmare- so get on top of it early. I don’t know whether UCAS is the same- I’ve never used it.

You're right some of them are that high, but not all of them. Depends on subject as much as institution.

@toomanytonotice No visa requires as he has a British passport, and will soon have US and Irish too

I don't know if you're aware, @ColoradoMum but it looks like this might be the last year of the long 4000 character personal statement required in UCAS applications. I think they're changing to something like 3 shortish questions for next year so by the time your kid applies, they won't need to worry about that aspect.

@JesusWeptLady I was not aware of this - thank you! Good to know

Keep your options open - don't be set on UK or Ireland for university.

There are a lot of excellent engineering schools in the US. If your son will do BC calc in his junior year, and gets involved in math/ STEM related extracurricular activities in high school, especially any internships or research based classes, he might be a very appealing prospect for extremely selective private universities that offer to meet up to 100% of financial need, plus need blind admissions.

Citizenship, registering for the draft, filling out the FAFSA, and CSS Profile if he applies to private universities might result in a significant amount of financial aid.

You need to make an appointment with your son's counselor at the earliest opportunity and discuss the ins and outs of foreign applications. You should also discuss US applications. There is a lot to consider. The sticker price for a US university degree is not necessarily what you see on paper.

I’m not in your position but am helping my nephew with his application. My brother is British but has US citizenship & the kids have US & UK passports. They are based in Colorado & my nephew is headed to a Russel Group uni next month.

They have been informed they are liable for full international fees as the kids have not been in the UK for 5 continuous years prior to applying. My brother works abroad a lot for years at a time so the kids have been schooled in US-Europe-UK- Asia

@mathanxiety Extremely helpful, thank you. DS is about to start his freshman year so we will begin conversations with his school's college counselors soon...

I would echo @mathanxiety advice. DD applied to both US & UK Universities. She’s a strong but not exceptional student and we don’t qualify for any needs based aid. All the US universities offered her significant “merit” financial awards which basically reduced the cost of attending by approx 50%.
She will be heading to the UK to start Uni in September but this is actually more because she cannot study the subject at Undergrad over here (and she loved the Uni at the offer holder day). $ wise I think it will probably work out about the same as if she had accepted one of her US offers.

Us uni works out far cheaper for us as they have a sports scholarship.

they did get an offer for an Ivy League, which is needs based. I think everything is free if you earn under 50k, including accommodation etc, then there’s a sliding scale as your wage increases.

dc got in as they were wanted for their NCAA team, but obviously you need stellar academics to get in otherwise. Lots of us unis seem to offer bursaries and scholarships, academic, if you study in state etc, so that’s always worth looking into, as there’s nothing comparable in the UK.

Thanks so much to everyone who has jumped onto this thread - extremely helpful!

One more question that occurred to me is do UK universities look at high school transcripts (grades) in addition to SAT results like they do here in the US?

@ColoradoMum yes, the universities will want to know your DC's GPA as part of the application. Some of DS's UK offers were conditional on him maintaining a certain GPA until graduation.

The Irish passport will open options in EU countries if he wants to. Swedish and German universities have causes taught in English. And the fees in Germany can be as high s $300 a semester.

www.mygermanuniversity.com/articles/tuition-free-universities-in-germany-taught-in-english