Applying to top US universities from UK: SATs, essays and financial aid?

[phyllidafosset]

DD is in Y12, and so we have been discussing universities. The long and short is she doesn’t know what she wants to study, but she knows she wants to go to university (she is sure she doesn’t want to do a year out). After a lot of discussion we have started to wonder if a degree in the US would suit her because she can do a broad curriculum for a year or two and hopefully settle on what she loves. Career-wise she is focused on investment banking (!).

We have had a look, and some of the very top universities have good financial aid (and some do needs-blind admissions). She is doing 4 A-levels (maths/fm/econ/history), with a mix which I believe will be good for a liberal arts degree (or could lead to sciences/tech).

I know she would need stellar grades and stellar SAT results. I wondered how hard it is for UK applicants to achieve great SAT scores.

I am more worried about her ‘essay’ and her extra curriculars because they are going to be limited. She does do bits in school but she hasn’t done any of the stand out things I feel she might need. Has anyone got any experience of ‘normal’ UK students (with some supracurriculars) getting a place at a top US Uni?? Or any experience of applying? I am also unsure how far the financial aid goes (if you do get it) and what additional expenses (other than flights and visa) a UK student would have.

Realistically, is it too late to be considered this? Any thoughts/experiences would be appreciated!!!

Have a look at the Fulbright commision

Not what you asked but if she likes broad, the. liberal arts and liberal science degrees exist in UK. If she is truly stellar then PPE / HSPS at Ox/Cam also worth a look.

They don’t do undergraduate, sadly.

PPE is currently her UK choice, I just don’t think it is what she really wants to do. It is just because it isn’t one subject.

I don’t have experience of a UK student applying to US University but as a British Mum living in the US with a 20 year old DD I went through it over here.
It’s not impossible but it is very very late to start - how much of a challenge are you up for because it could take over your life for the next few months.
The application process is time consuming. The big college essay (abt growth/overcoming adversity….) which goes to all of them & lots of short essay questions specific for each application. It can get expensive as you pay for each application (~$75-$100). Also you will need to check that her school will be able to provide the additional information needed for the application (check the admissions applications requirements so you see what they will need) as it will be different from what they are used to.
I’d say a UK student would have a good chance of an excellent SAT score with a lot of past paper/study question book practice (I managed a relatively good score when helping my DD to prep with my rusty O’level maths & English 🤣) but you’re running out of time to do this. She should aim to sit at least twice to maximize her scores & needs the results before she applies (probably the August & October sittings would work best).
Lack of Supra curriculars could be a problem but you should just big up the stuff you do have as much as possible (that’s what the Americans do) & keep your 🤞.
Realistically if she does go for it it would be a long shot. It’s incredibly competitive so you have to decide if it’s worth trying given the amount of time you would have to invest.
Before wasting any of your time on the above do check if the financial aid is available to non US residents at the Unis you are interested in (it is at a few of the top schools but not all).
Also has she checked out the Liberal Arts degrees at some of the UK universities (I think Durham & Exeter do them, maybe elsewhere) or looked at Scottish Unis where the 4 year degrees can be more flexible?

But you said she didn’t know what subject…. PPE/HSPS/Liberal allow a broad year 1 and more specialised yrs 2 and 3 if wanted.

Don’t they? They partner with Education USA to promote study in the USA.

IB in the US or UK? I'm not sure how UK recruiting works for UK students studying in the US, and US IB recruiting is competitive enough without requiring a $100k H1B sponsorship.

Applying for a top aid-giving US university is incredibly competitive as you're competing against the brightest students from all over the world.

Why the US?
Canadian universities would also offer a broader curriculum than UK degrees

Try an Arts degree in Ireland.

Your DD will need to study test taking in order to maximize her chances at the SAT. There are companies who run courses in test taking (reading questions properly, hacks for eliminating the wrong answers, all against the clock). ExcelEdge and others run reputable courses. These may be available online. They cost a fair bit.

Research the financial aid available for international students at the schools she's interested in. There is no sense in applying to schools that do not do need blind admissions plus offering to meet the full demonstrated need of international students.

You will need to present your financial information in the CSS Profile form for private universities/ liberal arts colleges. Some universities will also ask you to fill out their own private financial information form. I believe you can find worksheets online to determine a ballpark figure of how much parents might be asked to fork over.

Financial aid can be very generous indeed. Some students get a completely full ride, with tuition and room and board plus incidentals covered 100%. Financial aid operates on a sliding scale - in many universities no two students will be paying the same. It is well worth getting in touch personally with the Financial Aid office of the universities your daughter is interested in, to get an outline of the process and to determine the timeliness you are looking at.

The best bet for your daughter to bulk out her resume is to organise some kind of charity / event such as regular litter pickups or a drive to gather toiletries / new toys for a local women's shelter. This sort of involvement shows social awareness and leadership qualities - leadership is a highly valued trait in college admissions. She could round up friends to create a campaign.

She will need to create a CollegeBoard account to keep track of applications, submit documents, etc. You can verify this with admissions offices. I really encourage you to phone both admissions offices and finaid offices personally to make sure you have all your ducks in order.

The universities that offer both need blind admission and to meet the full demonstrated financial need of international students are incredibly difficult to get into. Look at liberal arts closer to home too

Need to add - all of the contact with admissions and finaid offices should be done asap.

Does she really want to be studying in a country run by a man cutting uni funding/visas if he feels faculties are too woke?

I have students who go off to do masters in Harvard etc. Just be aware that the references US universities require are VERY different to what we would need. In the UK references are a bit "he attended and was a very good communicator in seminars.". US references need to be "he is the stand out star of his generation" so make anyone writing the reference knows how to adjust the style.

extra curriculars are super super important

but realistically, if she wants to go into investment banking (very specific) wouldn’t that guide her choice of course to some extent? Eg choose something like finance, or engineering to show a mathematical brain

I was in IB in the 90s and even then 85% of the grads had economics, politics or finance degrees

Sutton Trust Fulbright US Programme https://share.google/UsOVfPApSWAtVLuQ1

Too late for this year though. Deadline was January.

SAT is an aptitude test, A* in A level applicants should automatically get the excellent SAT. 1550 should be equally good as the full marks for the top US university.

If your DD wants to go into investment banking and she doesn't have US working rights she would be far better off studying in the UK at a feeder university.

There are universities in the UK that do broader spectrum, combined arts, natural sciences etc. The Scottish system is also 4 years with a broad start.

You are quite right though tbh I have heard a lot of parents of clever English-educated students moan about the very slow academic pace in the first two years of Scottish universities and regret their children choosing a Scottish four year undergraduate degree over an English three year degree and a well thought out and properly financed gap year.

I think it's designed that way because Scottish students start uni at 17 not 18

She doesn’t know what subject 😊. Her choice of PPE is just because she doesn’t know what, and it is still fairly specific. The challenge of liberal arts is that she is fixated on a Feeder university for IB. I don’t think any of them do it.

I did wonder about that but I don’t want her to do a start a degree she may hate. Online searching tells me that if she was lucky enough to get into one of the top US colleges the IBs in the UK would still be interested. Honestly though, I am hoping a broader degree will enable her to discover her interests, and perhaps she will find something she is more into than IB. Or it will convince her that economics and finance/maths is her passion and she can do something like that as a major.

She is at private school and so doesn’t qualify for Sutton trust support. We will be able to get some advice from her school though. We are just late in asking! It wasn’t a consideration until DD told us she doesn’t want to do pure economics (or any other single honours subject).

She thinks it doesn’t matter what degree you do as long as it is from a target university. But the problem is even with that freedom’, she doesn’t know. My concern is that if she doesn’t want to do maths or economics, investment banking wouldn’t be a good career choice. I’m hoping a broader degree will help her refine where her academic interests lie. She has always been extremely good at physics and maths, but she gave up physics basically at the beginning of y11 (she did the gcse but stopped doing any real work for it), because it was boring. And she is doing v well in maths & fm, but she doesn’t want to do that. I wish she would lean to computer science but she says too much maths. But ultimately, I don’t care what she does as long as she enjoys it, and she can then choose a career she thinks she will find enjoyable.