Son raised in US applying to UK unis - any recs for a 'consultant'/ service to help?

[Expatmum2023]

Hi all

My son wants to apply to UK unis from the States where we live right now and where he's mostly gone to school apart from a few stints in Italy. (I grew up in the UK and went to UK unis but am sure a lot has changed since the dinosaurs roamed ..) I need someone/a consultant to guide him through the process, in particular someone who knows how various subjects are taught in various places. E.g. if you like hands on engineering go to X, whereas more theoretical go to Y. There seem to be lots of 'consultants' online but I have no clue who is good or bad.. Has anyone used them? I'm looking for something that won't break the bank but will be active in hold his feet to the fire so to speak in terms of writing the essay and turning things in on time.. Better I outsource this and preserve my mum-son relationship (: he's that kind of kid.. Thanks all

OP, if your son isn’t yet sure what subject he wants to study, he would be much better either taking a year out to decide (as many unsure students in the UK do), or going to a US university and coming here for postgrad study.

People suggesting that being unsure of subject will be a problem are not being “mean” - we have all seen people taking the wrong subject out of desperation (just picked something, anything) and they universally do badly. Sometimes they can switch subjects, sometimes they can’t and are stuck with it.

In particular, he is not going to get into Oxbridge or Imperial without evidence of passion and significant outside learning beyond schoolwork. I’d say the same to any UK applicant as well.

The AP misinformation is down to you saying his school didn’t do them. You cannot blame people for not being psychic.

It is just a link to the British Council which a very respected organisation that fosters international collaboration and hasan interest in international students in the UK. The link tells you about international agents which is probably what you need

Consultants in the UK just help match students with appropriate places. Good ones learn about matching Teaching and Learning styles. They stay on top of who is in trouble with their Overseas targets and willing to flex (never Oxbridge or Imperial). So they do perform a function for families.

@poetryandwine we have quite a few PG students who have come to us thrrough agents. This is normal with international students, but slightly different from an individual consultant working for a family. Good agents see that PhD students, for example, are happy in my department- we have a number of female ME students who prefer to work with female professors & we have quite a few of those!

So we’re used to national agents sending us students. But I think this is different from the bespoke service that @Expatmum2023 wants to buy. I doubt such a service will solve what seem to me to be more fundamental problems with her DS.

I’m a great believer in a gap year. If I ruled the world, it would be compulsory!

If you are expecting all replies to be relevant, then you are clearly new to mumsnet! To be honest, despite the lack of consultant names, you have received good advice on this thread: gap year, foundation year, take a levels, Scottish universities, natural sciences as an option…etc.
It may not have been exactly what you wanted, but many of those who replied have dcs at university now or how have graduated recently and have current information and I think this is also useful when deciding where to study.
My son studied in the uk (had never lived here before he started at university) and I am aware of the challenges he faced and also how I felt as a parent when he was 5000 miles away from home.
with regard to your son being a self starter or needing help, you know him better than anyone replying to your post, but current information on pastoral care and the level of independence expected is useful for your ds to make an informed decision. I asked Dd what would happen if she missed two weeks of lectures/seminars etc and she replied that security might come to your room to check you were still alive.

We do, too. I was thinking of UG students when I wrote

I got stuck at "not a self starter" but "yes he's Harvard material".
Am not sure how both could be true.

Sounds like OP has a plan she likes, which is good.

My nephew ended up at an Ivy League... he was closely involved with his mom planning how to get him into Ivy League from age 13/14. Very self-starter, basically. Nephew got disappointed that he couldn't do an MSc in UK, though. The magic money tree (for not-high income but clever USA kids) ran out at that point.

I got stuck at "not a self starter" but "yes he's Harvard material". Am not sure how both could be true.

So did I, which wasn't what the OP wanted to hear. Also, not knowing what subject to study. These replies are relevant because if she wants to know about UK universities she, and more importantly her son, needs to know this, plus the recommendation to look at Scottish universities as there are more subject options in the first few years.

US unis do not put too much weight into external exams. Families pay $$$ because the private schools place well into good US universities. They do not require AP scores - indeed, many top privates do not even offer APs as they find the curriculum limiting and they have good reputations with top US unis so the unis take the private school's word for it when the private puts an A on the transcript based purely on internal exams / assignments.

St. Andrew's is quite generous/flexibile with US admissions. In fact, home students are quite chuffed about it. I would look into it if I was OP. They also have a joint degree with William and Mary in the US. But the most important fact is the amount of US students there would make it less of a social and culture shock.

Also, uni grades are primarily based on a single exam rather than assignments, so it can make procrastination very tempting for those with ADHD.

Why would an Ivy grad want/need a UK MSc?

I didn't say it was a sensible career move, Muu9.

Liked the feel of St Andrews - uni in smallish city

Not sure if I would refer to a small town of about 20,000 as a ‘smallish city’ though do Americans refer to towns as cities?

Lots of US students on the Masters in Econometrics and Mathematical Economics that DS took at LSE.

For Economics there seems to be a bit of a kink in the system. US PhDs, at least the one he took, are six years and include a two year taught Masters. However competition for places/funding is such that you effectively need a masters to be in the running. There are exceptions for the truly brilliant at Ivies etc who are able to take masters level courses when UGs. (And indeed DS knows someone, recipient of many glittering prizes who made a direct leap from a UK.UG degree.) But these are exceptions. If you are at somewhere like a junior Ivy like William and Mary, or a good University without a strong PhD/Masters programme, or chose your major late, an efficient way of bridging the gap is to take a one year Masters in the UK.

I don't know if the same applies for other subjects.

My DN school invited back their four recent Oxbridge students to talk to their high-fliers. The school was decidedly unimpressed when all four said they wished they had gone somewhere else!

But they don’t do engineering.

I do think OP does need to get a consultant for her son actually, if school do not offer it. But not for applying to uni. She needs someone to sit down with her son and help him work out what he is interested in.

Hi OP

If your son is applying for Harvard etc in the US, realistically, in the U.K, it's only worth coming over for unis with a comparative global reputation - ie

Oxford or Cambridge
Imperial
UCL

All these are top 10 global institutions, alongside MIT, Harvard, ETH Zurich, as I'm sure you know.

If he was interested in Economics, there is also LSE which, although not ranking particularly highly in QS (for some reason), still is a recognised name.

If he gets into Harvard or similar, let's be honest, he's not going to trade that to come over here for the likes of Warwick, Bristol, Durham etc.

You mention St Andrews - seems to be well-known by Americans. It is small and self-contained though and obviously quite far north / remote. Could he cope with that for 4 years?

The most important thing at this stage, obviously, is for him to decide on a degree subject.

If it's sciences or Engineering, look at what's in offer at Cambridge, Oxford, Imperial, UCL. There are only so many options.

If Economics, look at those 4 plus LSE.

Then, in terms of a consultant, you could contact Crimson Education, Oxbridge Admissions or U2 (they deal with Oxbridge, I think). All if these can give PS advice, mock interviews, subject mentoring etc.

I'm sure you know that the way the PS is written over here is VERY different to the US. They don't give a hoot about being president of the football team, or whatever - it has to be ALL subject specific for Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial and LSE. UCL may be a bit more interested in extra-curricular, but only marginally.

DS has just graduated from Cambs. There were international students there who used consultants, so your question is not unusual. I have no personal experience of using them - however, when DS started out, I did ring Oxbridge Admissions (the consultancy company, not admissions at the actual unis), and found them very helpful. I had a couple of hours chat for free, which was helpful as I was totally clueless and it's a steep learning curve. You only pay if you sign up to one of their programmes.

Good luck!

He may be applying to Harvard. That isn’t at all the same thing as admission. OP inferred that there may have been multiple SAT attempts and extracurriculars, sporting and otherwise, and possibly a legacy component, bolstering some of DS’ American uni applications.

None of that will be helpful to British applications absent a very very large donation. I wish the money did not matter but right now it might.

With 5 choices there should be one aspirational, two or three well in line with predicted grades (these would include the remaining AP grades) and one or two safety choices including the eventual Insurance choice ( if sure you are coming to a UK university).

It is to the credit of the DS that he organised ‘a couple’ of AP exams for himself in Y11. I do not see why he can’t get enough under his belt now for a standard American application. As grades were not discussed they might be another matter.

St A’s is indeed big with Americans and has a well deserved reputation for excellent T&L. STEM research is not generally noteworthy. Perhaps they will assess transcripts and show flex with multiple SAT attempts? I would be most surprised if any place else listed by you or OP would.

Again, QS is easily gamed. Shanghai and the Times rankings use more rigorous metrics

I'm sure you know that the way the PS is written over here is VERY different to the US.

It isn’t a ‘personal statement’ anymore - it is a series of questions.

They don't, but OP gave engineering as an example in her first post, then later said that he didn't know what he wanted to do, but probably STEM of some kind and maybe Economics. So it's still worth considering for other subjects, especially as he has visited and liked it, and it has a fairly flexible/well-informed approach to US high school qualifications.