Here to help with US university applications

Hello all! I'm an American high school student about to start 12th grade. I came here to TSR to look for advice on applying to UK universities, but I just realized that I could probably be a big help to some of you. So, I'm here now to help with applications to US universities. Let me know if you need anything!

Reply 1

92yoohoo

Hi there, I'm a UK student wanting to apply to US uni. What would you recommend taking between the ACT and SAT 1 inc. essay section as I am stuck between the two. For a practice, I took the ACT and got 34 but perhaps the SAT could be more impressive... What did you take?

Reply 2

Student403

Original post by 92yoohoo

Neither is "more impressive".

Take a practice SAT and see which score is higher (obviously use a concordance table). Then take that one

Reply 3

dancingmunchkin

Original post by 92yoohoo

I've taken the SAT with Essay twice now, once in May and once in October when my school district paid for us to take it during the school day. I've also taken three SAT Subject Tests in Literature, U.S. History, and Math Level 1. I've found all the tests I've taken to be pretty easy. Personally, I would recommend taking the SAT because some universities superscore tests if you take more than one, meaning that they'll take the best math score from one test and the best writing and reading score from another one and combine it to give you the best possible score. If you do plan to take the SAT, do it soon, because if you're applying for Fall 2017 entry, application deadlines are coming up in January. khanacademy.org offers free SAT prep, and you can link it with your College Board account and get personalized practice after taking a practice test online or taking the actual exam. Good luck on your applications if you do choose to study in the US! I've just submitted some for the Early Action deadline and I'm very excited. Let me know if there's anything else you need.

Reply 4

Parsw001

Hey Dancing munchkin,
I am interested in applying to the US but was a bit worried about my extra curriculars and was wondering if what i do is enough ( looking at top universitys like stanford, harvard etc) . My extra curriculars are: Played for soccer team for 10 years and when that folded I started my own competitive 6 a side team, Younger year math mentoring, volunteering at a food bank, teaching my self to code html, school newspaper, fitness club, working 10 hours a week as a cleaner and I hope to be Head boy next year.
Also is it worth mentioning getting to competition finals or taking extra gcse's ?
Thanks

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 5

dancingmunchkin

Original post by Parsw001

It seems like you've got a lot going on there, and if you have good A-Level scores, then I'm sure that you can get into Ivy League schools. List all of your activities and all of your qualifications, because US unis look at the applicant as a whole person. I would also suggest looking at the smaller, high-ranked, liberal arts colleges such as Carleton and Bowdoin (they're called the Little Ivies) because they offer just as good of an education as the Ivy League schools but they're smaller so it's a bit more intimate. If you have good A-Levels, I'd sat that you can go anywhere in the US with your extracurriculars. Good luck with your applications, and let me know if there's anything in particular I can help you with!

Note: When you apply, use the Common Application. It's a lot like UCAS (not all US schools use the Common App though) and it's super easy to submit your applications through there.

Reply 6

fontaine97

Hi,
I am an international student wishing to seek entry to an Ivy League university for Chemical Engineering. Do you think my chances are good with these academic stats?
New SAT: 1460/1600
SAT essay: 21/24
SAT Physics: 800/800
SAT Math Lv. 2 : 780/800
Honors: ICAS Gold Medalist and Valedictorian for Junior High School

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 7

dancingmunchkin

Original post by fontaine97

You look pretty good there! If you have a few extracurricular activities that you've been active in over an extended period of time, that will only help. Your SAT score is great, though I would suggest retaking it to see if you get a better score (you'd have to hurry on that though and take it as soon as you can; applications for the 2017-2018 school year are due in January). You'll probably do very well. Good luck on your applications and let me know if there's anything I can help you with!

Reply 8

zombiejon

Original post by fontaine97

Might be out of my lane considering this is dancingmunchkin's thread, but if you are looking at Ivy STEM, there will be a strong preference for 800 in SAT II Math.

Reply 9

malubae

Hi
Are the subjects English , math, bio, environmental management, and economics at AS and English , math, bio, and EVM at A2 good for getting into an environmental science or business college in the US?is chemistry
At A levels also required?

Reply 10

Ayman!

Original post by malubae

Hi

Are the subjects English , math, bio, environmental management, and economics at AS and English , math, bio, and EVM at A2 good for getting into an environmental science or business college in the US?is chemistry
At A levels also required?

Doesn't really matter too much, but those subjects seem alright. US universities do not have stringent A level requirements.

Reply 11

dancingmunchkin

Original post by malubae

It doesn't matter at all what subjects you study at A-Level for US unis. What they really look at is your SAT score, your marks on your classes, and your extracurricular activities. When you get to a US university, you have the option of choosing a major and a minor, specializing in those two subjects, but not nearly as much as in the UK. You apply to the university as a whole, not to a specific course, so you could study Chemistry, Biology, and Physics at A-Level with an intention of studying Medicine or something, but then you get to uni and decide that you want to study English instead (though I doubt any UK student would do something like that, you all seem to know what you want to do very early). US unis are very flexible, something that I've had trouble with UK unis, because I don't really know what I want to study and I don't know what course I want to apply for.