American 17 year old desperate to study in the UK, please help me.

Hey guys,

Thanks for all the useful information, it's really helping me out right now.

One of you guys was wondering what my GPA is, It's 3.81 and I scored around 1900 on my SAT which is awesome imo.

I spoke to my dad like 30 minutes ago and asked him about it. He said that after Christmas once my application is submitted, we can visit the universities i've applied to! I'm not rich or anything but my dad is on a 2 year contract with Deutsche Bahn at the moment (he's a civil engineer). He flies out to Germany three times a month for meetings and has done so for the past year which has allowed him to accumulate enough frequent flyer miles with Lufthansa. (He has enough to fly to Hong Kong return first class!) and also Amex give him rewards so extra frequent flyer miles.

I'm just gonna modify and use my college essay for the personal statement part since there's literally no time left. It'll do, it's pretty strong too.

I've found the universities I wanna apply to and they are:
The University of Strathclyde
University of Bath
The University of Exeter
Leeds Metropolitan University
and finally,
University College London

I've been told that some of these are damn difficult to get into, is this true?

Just counting the days until I can leave and finally visit England

So, can you guys point me into the right direction? I'm just really needing some headway here. I've sat my SAT and I got a decent score. I just need to ask some basic questions like: Is it 21 to drink alcohol in the UK just like the U.S? or is it like 16 lol. What's the nightlife like as a college student in England? How much does tuition and dorms cost? What SAT score do I need? Anything, I'd be extremely grateful for your help!

You haven't told us your AP scores yet, but based on your SAT and GPA, Exeter, UCL, and Bath will be high reaches for you. If you have safeties back in the US, then that's no problem going for them. Either way, I'd advise you to choose some medium level universities as well.

Please tell us your AP scores though. They're the most important in UK admissions.

Sorry to say but most university courses in the UK require either a Bachelor's degree (from the US), or several AP courses at grades 4/5 + 1 year at a US college. The US high school education system is just not in depth enough (due to its breadth) to be at the same level as UK A levels, which is what UK university leads on from.

Oh well. I can't tell my dad this because he's taking me to tour the campus' in February. I could say that it'd be a good experience to see if I actually like the UK as well.

I'll come back after I've seen them and yeah, I'll keep you guys posted

Thanks for all your help.

Mike

Oh well. I can't tell my dad this because he's taking me to tour the campus' in February. I could say that it'd be a good experience to see if I actually like the UK as well.

I'll come back after I've seen them and yeah, I'll keep you guys posted

Thanks for all your help.

Mike

Honestly you should have thought about this a lot more and done your own research before letting your dad buy you plane tickets to see universities. All of this information is available online on university websites.

Have you applied to US colleges?

I should update you guys that I received an email from Princeton U around 20 minutes ago saying that I've been accepted! Yay!

That was the most prestigious school out of the ones I applied to. I'm so excited!

You must have had extraordinary ECs. Unfortunately, UK colleges don't care much about ECs. I suggest going to Princeton. It's pretty much on par with Oxbridge, and (to be direct) you have no chance at going to Oxbridge, unless you won some really great Econ competition or prizes.

I do TONS of ECs. I literally have no free time as I hold down 2 part time jobs and I've been working part time ever since I got my SSN. I help autistic kids at an arts and crafts group at my church after school every Monday plus I play football for my school and I coach a pee wee football team so yeah I've got a lot going on haha. I've won a few Economics awards at my school too, nothing major though.

Hi,
My name is Mike Lafferty and I'm 17 years old from Providence, RI. It's always been my dream to study in the UK, preferably England. Since I'm graduating from High School in June next year, I decided to start some research on English colleges. I don't know how to apply for any college major and I'm extremely confused.

I looked in to it and spoke to my mom and dad about it, they seem to like the idea and fully support me living there. But I have no idea what England is like (or Scotland) as I've never left the United States before in my life (I've never even been to Canada, lol ). I recently saved up all my work money in order to buy my first ever passport in preparation for going to England or Scotland but my guidance counselor told me that it's extremely difficult for American students to study in the UK due to the different syllabus and that my major would put me at a disadvantage once I returned to the U.S looking for work. I just really wanna travel and see stuff but my parents have always been saving up to send me to a good college we couldn't go on vacations outside of America, we just go to Disney World every year for 2 weeks.

I have my drivers license, my own car, I work two jobs (In Taco Bell and Krogers), I'm the quarterback of my High school football team, I help Autistic kids at a support group in my local church after class doing like arts and crafts, I get good grades - not straight A's but they're pretty good, I help out my mom and dad with housework and chores and I still do other things like mow my neighbor's lawn when he's not at home or he's out of town and he gives me around $20 for it. I just want to drop everything and live in the UK. I really wanna know if i'm doing enough because I'm so committed.

So, can you guys point me into the right direction? I'm just really needing some headway here. I've sat my SAT and I got a decent score. I just need to ask some basic questions like: Is it 21 to drink alcohol in the UK just like the U.S? or is it like 16 lol. What's the nightlife like as a college student in England? How much does tuition and dorms cost? What SAT score do I need? Anything, I'd be extremely grateful for your help!

Many kind returns,
Mike

Right, so again, congratulations on your acceptance to Princeton. Consider Study Abroad in UK during your time there. However, UK universities won't care about your helping autistic kids or coaching football. Anyway, none of the schools you mentioned have the global reputation of Princeton. Do you really prefer one of the schools you mentioned over Princeton? Oxbridge, maybe, but I would choose Princeton over Exeter.

Again, congratulations!

Are you serious?????

Yeah, it's always been my dream.

Why giveup the sunshine of Cali and women on rollerblades wearing bikinis for the boring dump England is? id switch places in a heartbeat.

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To be honest, have you actually come here on vacation before deciding to study here for like 3 years?

I think you're in for a big shock if you don't make sure what you're getting yourself into.

I'm coming on vacation in February 2015 for a week with my dad, it should be fun!

Dude, CA may have beaches but England has castles! That's awesome!