Applying for Overseas Universities

Hi, I'm in my first year of sixth form (2 years in total) and am starting to think about universities I want to go to. I am 100% definitely interested in technology, on the maths and physics side. I will hopefully be applying for Imperial and UCL if I can get good enough grades (my GCSE for maths was A*, additional science A* and core science A). I am currently taking (at AS), with the targets next to them:

Maths (A)
Physics (B)
Further Maths (B)
Chemistry (not taking at A2 >.<) (b)

I don't know why my targets are that low, but I'm just going to have to prove that I'm better than that.

My first question is, will those targets affect my application? They were generated by some random alis test which sucked, to be honest.

Second, and main question is. How would I go about applying to a university, such as M.I.T? In the future I'd like to reside in the US, and I definitely don't see anything wrong with going there for university either. Only problems are, I'm pretty sure it's not on the UCAS thing, and all the legality stuff with passports, visas whatever it is that would allow me to stay there (I have relatives living there, but in NY).

Reply 1

AntiMonarchist

It'd very expensive in the US for foreigners.
I think like 30000$ a year in tuition fees.

Reply 2

osiris6607

Everyones target grades for the first year are low.
If you want to apply in America there are also tests you need to take.

Stay in the UK.

Reply 3

MathsHamster

Your target grades at the beginning of Year 12 have no impact on your uni app - mine were all A/B for all my subjects based on my GCSE results and the ALIS test. It is your predicted grades that the unis see, and they are up to your teacher's discretion based on how well you did at AS, so there is basically no reason why your predicted grades should not be all As provided you get good grades in Year 12. :smile:

Reply 4

ViralRiver

Why would you need to pay tuition fees? I see what you mean though =\ . I just want back ups to be honest because I can't see myself getting into Imperial at the moment, especially with my low english language GCSE (C) which is something they look at apparently...

Reply 5

xxaleka

ViralRiver

You think MIT is a backup school?! Look, I'm from California (although I go to UCL), and it's actually harder to get into American universities than it is to get into UK schools. The applications are longer and much more thorough than UCAS, and you have to do an individual application for every school. They look at everything -your grades, essay, and test scores, yes, but also awards you've won, extracurricular activities, volunteer work, leadership positions, work experience, and anything else you can think of.
If you think you are competitive in all or most of those areas, then you should send in an application. I don't know what other schools you're considering, but all of them will look at everything mentioned above. You'll need to take the SAT I and get a very good score (for MIT, you'll want a perfect score if you want to be seen as competitive), and you have to take several SAT Subject Tests in areas relating to your intended major. Also, make sure that your personal statement is unique, tells the reader what you're like as a person, and interesting.