Mediocre A-levels, want to study in America
Hi all,
I am not intending to live and work in the UK so I want to apply for international universities, preferably in the US.
However, I have been told my grades will not be good enough (ABB at GCE) for any American universities so I was just wondering if there is anyone on here with similar grades that is currently attending (or have attended) a US university? what kind of a-level grades do they usually look for?
And if I really ace my SATs...is there a chance of me getting a place in an american university?
thanks everyone!
I am not intending to live and work in the UK so I want to apply for international universities, preferably in the US.
However, I have been told my grades will not be good enough (ABB at GCE) for any American universities so I was just wondering if there is anyone on here with similar grades that is currently attending (or have attended) a US university? what kind of a-level grades do they usually look for?
And if I really ace my SATs...is there a chance of me getting a place in an american university?
thanks everyone!
You would probably do better asking the people at collegeconfidential, there are very few people on TSR who attend American universities. My gut feeling is that you don't have much chance of getting into a top tier American college unless you have truly outstanding ECs. That said, it is still worth applying - you never know what will happen, especially if you get a good SAT score. Where were you thinking of applying?
(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by stardust4321
Hi all,
I am not intending to live and work in the UK so I want to apply for international universities, preferably in the US.
However, I have been told my grades will not be good enough (ABB at GCE) for any American universities so I was just wondering if there is anyone on here with similar grades that is currently attending (or have attended) a US university? what kind of a-level grades do they usually look for?
And if I really ace my SATs...is there a chance of me getting a place in an american university?
thanks everyone!
I am not intending to live and work in the UK so I want to apply for international universities, preferably in the US.
However, I have been told my grades will not be good enough (ABB at GCE) for any American universities so I was just wondering if there is anyone on here with similar grades that is currently attending (or have attended) a US university? what kind of a-level grades do they usually look for?
And if I really ace my SATs...is there a chance of me getting a place in an american university?
thanks everyone!
Absolutely ace your SATs and keep in mind they look at everything so GCSEs will matter too. On top of that your extra-curriculars and your college essays will be vital too! ABB shouldn't be too bad. You may not get into the creme de la creme of unis but you could get a good uni if you ace SATs and write a good college essay (Y)
Original post by stardust4321
Hi all,
I am not intending to live and work in the UK so I want to apply for international universities, preferably in the US.
However, I have been told my grades will not be good enough (ABB at GCE) for any American universities so I was just wondering if there is anyone on here with similar grades that is currently attending (or have attended) a US university? what kind of a-level grades do they usually look for?
And if I really ace my SATs...is there a chance of me getting a place in an american university?
thanks everyone!
I am not intending to live and work in the UK so I want to apply for international universities, preferably in the US.
However, I have been told my grades will not be good enough (ABB at GCE) for any American universities so I was just wondering if there is anyone on here with similar grades that is currently attending (or have attended) a US university? what kind of a-level grades do they usually look for?
And if I really ace my SATs...is there a chance of me getting a place in an american university?
thanks everyone!
Tbh, it's not worth the extra tuition as you most likely won't get in to the universities with good financial aid packages/universities with honors scholarships. You can give it a bash but it's severely unlikely that you'll get into any of the top 20, or so, unis with those grades.
US universities, in the absence of funding, charge upwards of $30k+ for just tuition fees. You'd be wasting that money if you ended up at a mediocre uni there versus staying in the UK and going to a reasonably better uni.
I'd suggest going to a better uni in the UK and pursuing graduate school in the US.
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USA student here, planning on studying in the UK.
With those grades you could get into a good uni, but as others have said, unless you have outstanding extra curriculars, you're not going to get into Harvard or an Ivy League. US unis could care less about your grades. If you have done some outstanding charity work or are very good at a sport, you will get in. Doing well on your SAT won't hurt though.
Don't forget about the ACT. I found it was eaiser, and while it depends on the individual uni, it's just as important. Some US students don't even take the SAT.
If you're looking to study at a US uni just because you want to, grades wouldn't be a problem. The US has soooooooo many unis, you can definitely find one that suits you.
Like the posters before me have said, US schools are VERY expensive. You can get scholarships if you are on a uni's sports team or you have good grades though. Ivy's can cost upper of $50,000. And thats just for tuition. I'd say go to a UK uni, take a year abroad, and see if its somthing you like. US schools are very different to the UK.
With those grades you could get into a good uni, but as others have said, unless you have outstanding extra curriculars, you're not going to get into Harvard or an Ivy League. US unis could care less about your grades. If you have done some outstanding charity work or are very good at a sport, you will get in. Doing well on your SAT won't hurt though.
Don't forget about the ACT. I found it was eaiser, and while it depends on the individual uni, it's just as important. Some US students don't even take the SAT.If you're looking to study at a US uni just because you want to, grades wouldn't be a problem. The US has soooooooo many unis, you can definitely find one that suits you.
Like the posters before me have said, US schools are VERY expensive. You can get scholarships if you are on a uni's sports team or you have good grades though. Ivy's can cost upper of $50,000. And thats just for tuition. I'd say go to a UK uni, take a year abroad, and see if its somthing you like. US schools are very different to the UK.
I am at a big U out west and work with quite a lot of foreign students including some from UK.
I've seen that very high SAT/ACT/GREs trump all. Most big Us have someone among the departments/admissions folks who knows about GCE etc and there's an equivalency table. But even in a place where they don't have depth of knowledge, they don't care about GCEs/A/O/SCE H etc. if the standardized scores are strong.
My Dad had a 2.1 from a British university and he wasn't the kind of British university lecturer's pet who is flavor of the year and who has a smooth carpet to the US rolled out by tame advisors with contacts lol! But he received big fellowship offers from all the schools he applied to including JHU and Berkeley. So it must have been because of his 99th percentile scores on all components of his standardized test.
It's all or nothing. Those with big balls can do it! Isn't that why it's exciting and empowering, like success in any foreign system? They don't base their decisions on the same data and look as the UK universities so you can't rely on the same approach and personality. That's got to be good for some of you lol!
I've seen that very high SAT/ACT/GREs trump all. Most big Us have someone among the departments/admissions folks who knows about GCE etc and there's an equivalency table. But even in a place where they don't have depth of knowledge, they don't care about GCEs/A/O/SCE H etc. if the standardized scores are strong.
My Dad had a 2.1 from a British university and he wasn't the kind of British university lecturer's pet who is flavor of the year and who has a smooth carpet to the US rolled out by tame advisors with contacts lol! But he received big fellowship offers from all the schools he applied to including JHU and Berkeley. So it must have been because of his 99th percentile scores on all components of his standardized test.
It's all or nothing. Those with big balls can do it! Isn't that why it's exciting and empowering, like success in any foreign system? They don't base their decisions on the same data and look as the UK universities so you can't rely on the same approach and personality. That's got to be good for some of you lol!
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