uni in america (2 Viewers)

[Tulipa]

That's weird..

In Hong Kong, there are 13 grades (just like the English system), people go to USA when they are in 12 grade and they haven't taken the AL exam (= HSC)but with SAT results.

I know many of these students who went to the state last year. Some of them went to Ivy League colleges (Yale, Cornell, Brown, UPenn), some of them went to UCs (UCLA, UC Berkeley, UC Davis)and some went to USC, NYU, UChicago etc etc. and some went to cc(community colleges). All of them didn't finish their high schools (13 grade) and left at 12grade but their SATs.

Weird.

However, that's from Hong Kong. There might be a different system in place. When I explained that I was from an Australian school they said I had to have my high school diploma.

Also, do you mean they didn't do their "grade 13" and instead just took the SATs? Your phrasing wasn't exactly clear on that.

 

[jasonyflau]

Weird.

However, that's from Hong Kong. There might be a different system in place. When I explained that I was from an Australian school they said I had to have my high school diploma.

Also, do you mean they didn't do their "grade 13" and instead just took the SATs? Your phrasing wasn't exactly clear on that.

Sorry for the bad phrasing.. ESL haha

yeah. they did SATs in grade 11/12, with the SAT results, they applied for uni-s from the states just like everyone does, got accepted. so they just skipped the last year of high school and went to uni in the states.

 

[Ezzdawg]

UC Berkeley is not in IVY League.:jaw:

and for high skls in the states, you still need to do SAT.

neither is Stanford

 

[xeuyrawp]

If your parents are pushing you to go do undergrad engineering in the US, kick them in their faces. If you want to do engineering when you 'get bored easily', kick yourself in the face.

Seriously, try out uni here. If you don't like it, or you simply want to experience, then get into a uni there. Going straight from a high school here to college there would be a killer, unless you've got some American family background. The educational culture surrounding the colleges (especially the Ivy League, Chicago, UC, etc) is completely different.

 

[Ezzdawg]

yeah i wanted to get into an ivy league n do engineering. e.g. stanford, berkeley
parents pushing it.. n i kinda wana get outa aus. too boring for me now hahahaha (i get bored easily)

i think if you finished high school in US u dont need SAT in some places but for international students u need SAT and/or international baccleurate (IB) however u spell it.

if you do SAT n get into the uni from early admissions u can just skip HSC if you want n start in sept.

thats all i know really.. i was hoping for more detailed responses haha

I have done hours and hours of research on this topic because I was planning on going to america next yr for uni..but could no longer afford it due to the stupid financial crisis..i can prolly help you with ur q's tho

anyway you do need to finish high school, and get your HSC, because for most good unis there they require to you be 'eligible for admission at unis in your home country" ..

Also Berkeley and Stanford are not Ivy league schools, theyre in California. The Ivy League refers to the group of elites in the Northeastern states..ie. Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Jersey etc. and there are 8 Unis in the Ivy League (similar to our Go8...but they shit on us big time) and they are Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Penn, Dartmouth, Cornell, Columbia and Brown.

There are also other very very good schools outside the Ivy league, such as MIT, Standford, UC Berkely, UCLA, Notre Dame, UChicago, Duke etc

the application process is long and alot more complicated than in Aus, unlike here we have the UAC, QTAC etc, they generally do not have a centralised system, altough you do have the Common Application and the other one which I forgot (google it)
To apply to college there, you need to send an application to each school separately, along with stuff like 'certified transcripts', teachers recommendations, counsellor recommendation(get someone like your careers advisor or principal to do it), and usually an essay telling them about yourself(do not quote ex US presidents in them please!!!) and most importantly= proof that you can afford to study there for the duration of your 4 year degree and there is usually a fee of around $40-$90US for each application.

The average american kid applies to around 15-20 schools on average, this could set you back a couple of grand already..

As far as the costs of your american education are concerned, they ususally cost around US$35-$55K a year including tuition, accom. and books etc.
(This is the average international students fee..could be more tho..)
Financial aid for international students are VERY limited and EXTREMELY competitive...(imagine some genius kid from China competing with you for it)

SATs, you need to take them, although it is not like the HSC that there's a certain mark to have to get to get in..you need to do well nevertheless if you want to get into one of those schools I mentioned.
There is also an alternate test called the ACT..which I heard was easier and they test you on slightly different things..

ALSOOOO...extra-curricular activities!!! veryyy veryyyyyyy important!!! since your still in yr 11 I suggest you do as much extra curricular activities as possible..sports, music, bands, student government, community service and anything that demonstrates your leadership..Duke of Ed is a very good one...
These activities are considered..sometimes...equally important as your grades..unlike here its all about the UAI...in america they dont just want good grades..they want the whole package! They dont just want a good student..they want a good PERSON!


Keep in mind..unlike here we apply to the COURSE we want to do...like law, engineering..in America, they apply to the UNIVERSITIES they want to go to..because in america, all the undergraduate courses are basically the same and they fall under B Arts and B Sciences umbrella..thats another story..

If you need any more info feel free to msg me

 

[Numero Uno]

I have done hours and hours of research on this topic because I was planning on going to america next yr for uni..but could no longer afford it due to the stupid financial crisis..i can prolly help you with ur q's tho

anyway you do need to finish high school, and get your HSC, because for most good unis there they require to you be 'eligible for admission at unis in your home country" ..

Also Berkeley and Stanford are not Ivy league schools, theyre in California. The Ivy League refers to the group of elites in the Northeastern states..ie. Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Jersey etc. and there are 8 Unis in the Ivy League (similar to our Go8...but they shit on us big time) and they are Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Penn, Dartmouth, Cornell, Columbia and Brown.

There are also other very very good schools outside the Ivy league, such as MIT, Standford, UC Berkely, UCLA, Notre Dame, UChicago, Duke etc

the application process is long and alot more complicated than in Aus, unlike here we have the UAC, QTAC etc, they generally do not have a centralised system, altough you do have the Common Application and the other one which I forgot (google it)
To apply to college there, you need to send an application to each school separately, along with stuff like 'certified transcripts', teachers recommendations, counsellor recommendation(get someone like your careers advisor or principal to do it), and usually an essay telling them about yourself(do not quote ex US presidents in them please!!!) and most importantly= proof that you can afford to study there for the duration of your 4 year degree and there is usually a fee of around $40-$90US for each application.

The average american kid applies to around 15-20 schools on average, this could set you back a couple of grand already..

As far as the costs of your american education are concerned, they ususally cost around US$35-$55K a year including tuition, accom. and books etc.
(This is the average international students fee..could be more tho..)
Financial aid for international students are VERY limited and EXTREMELY competitive...(imagine some genius kid from China competing with you for it)

SATs, you need to take them, although it is not like the HSC that there's a certain mark to have to get to get in..you need to do well nevertheless if you want to get into one of those schools I mentioned.
There is also an alternate test called the ACT..which I heard was easier and they test you on slightly different things..

ALSOOOO...extra-curricular activities!!! veryyy veryyyyyyy important!!! since your still in yr 11 I suggest you do as much extra curricular activities as possible..sports, music, bands, student government, community service and anything that demonstrates your leadership..Duke of Ed is a very good one...
These activities are considered..sometimes...equally important as your grades..unlike here its all about the UAI...in america they dont just want good grades..they want the whole package! They dont just want a good student..they want a good PERSON!


Keep in mind..unlike here we apply to the COURSE we want to do...like law, engineering..in America, they apply to the UNIVERSITIES they want to go to..because in america, all the undergraduate courses are basically the same and they fall under B Arts and B Sciences umbrella..thats another story..

If you need any more info feel free to msg me

Good post

 

[hugglesforyou]

I have done hours and hours of research on this topic because I was planning on going to america next yr for uni..but could no longer afford it due to the stupid financial crisis..i can prolly help you with ur q's tho

anyway you do need to finish high school, and get your HSC, because for most good unis there they require to you be 'eligible for admission at unis in your home country" ..

Also Berkeley and Stanford are not Ivy league schools, theyre in California. The Ivy League refers to the group of elites in the Northeastern states..ie. Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Jersey etc. and there are 8 Unis in the Ivy League (similar to our Go8...but they shit on us big time) and they are Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Penn, Dartmouth, Cornell, Columbia and Brown.

There are also other very very good schools outside the Ivy league, such as MIT, Standford, UC Berkely, UCLA, Notre Dame, UChicago, Duke etc

the application process is long and alot more complicated than in Aus, unlike here we have the UAC, QTAC etc, they generally do not have a centralised system, altough you do have the Common Application and the other one which I forgot (google it)
To apply to college there, you need to send an application to each school separately, along with stuff like 'certified transcripts', teachers recommendations, counsellor recommendation(get someone like your careers advisor or principal to do it), and usually an essay telling them about yourself(do not quote ex US presidents in them please!!!) and most importantly= proof that you can afford to study there for the duration of your 4 year degree and there is usually a fee of around $40-$90US for each application.

The average american kid applies to around 15-20 schools on average, this could set you back a couple of grand already..

As far as the costs of your american education are concerned, they ususally cost around US$35-$55K a year including tuition, accom. and books etc.
(This is the average international students fee..could be more tho..)
Financial aid for international students are VERY limited and EXTREMELY competitive...(imagine some genius kid from China competing with you for it)

SATs, you need to take them, although it is not like the HSC that there's a certain mark to have to get to get in..you need to do well nevertheless if you want to get into one of those schools I mentioned.
There is also an alternate test called the ACT..which I heard was easier and they test you on slightly different things..

ALSOOOO...extra-curricular activities!!! veryyy veryyyyyyy important!!! since your still in yr 11 I suggest you do as much extra curricular activities as possible..sports, music, bands, student government, community service and anything that demonstrates your leadership..Duke of Ed is a very good one...
These activities are considered..sometimes...equally important as your grades..unlike here its all about the UAI...in america they dont just want good grades..they want the whole package! They dont just want a good student..they want a good PERSON!


Keep in mind..unlike here we apply to the COURSE we want to do...like law, engineering..in America, they apply to the UNIVERSITIES they want to go to..because in america, all the undergraduate courses are basically the same and they fall under B Arts and B Sciences umbrella..thats another story..

If you need any more info feel free to msg me

An extensive post!

I'm interested, which universities were you planning to apply to?

I was thinking of going as well...did quite a lot of research like you did. Did the SATs as well. It seems like i'm also financially incompetent

just clarifying...were you talking about going next fall '10 or this fall 09?

 

[melissaLOL]

the party culture in american colleges is MUCH better than what we have were I was told

anyone watched american pie? it's ACTUALLY LIKE THAT!

 

[Templar]

Seriously, if all you're concerned about is the party culture then you shouldn't bother about uni. And Australian colleges aren't bad either for that.

I'm not sure there is much point in doing undergraduate overseas. Much better to stay and do undergraduate in Australia and then apply as a graduate overseas.

 

[hermand]

i'd really like to go to anu, but have been looking at american unis aswell, would there be much point? i want to do psychology, would it be better if i could get into one of the ivy league or the others that ezzdawg mentioned? thanks =]].

 

[settle*precious]

I considered doing a year at University of Michigan but they expected me to pay up front and it was like over 20,000 for the year O_O.

AND the exchange program was like "we recommend you have at least $1300 per month spending money"

so yeah, I don't have first borns to give away yet so I gave up on that one.

 

[hermand]

lol yeah.

minor issue =||.

 

[xeuyrawp]

I considered doing a year at University of Michigan but they expected me to pay up front and it was like over 20,000 for the year O_O.

AND the exchange program was like "we recommend you have at least $1300 per month spending money"

so yeah, I don't have first borns to give away yet so I gave up on that one.

Why don't you go on exchange? Unless your uni's shit, you just pay your Australian uni fees. Worst comes to worst, enrol in a concurrent degree / transfer for a semester at another uni so you can go to a better exchange partner.

 

[x33.datchick.xx]

oh wow i started this thread and completely forgot about it.. LOL! sorry ppl n thanks for the help. i talked to the careers advisor last year and they told me to go to the US education consultant. i got my mum to go and meet with someone there and get information.

i still want to go to america but am kinda thinking that its a bit useless since theres not that much difference in the quality of education, but a massive difference in costs. its just that if i do go to america and go to a good uni there, i'd have a much better chance of getting a better job that pays more all thanks to the uni i go to. e.g. go to MIT and u'd have higher chance of working in microsoft than anyone else.

....then theres the doubt that i'm going to get in. high SAT is a must and also extra curricular activities, in which in my entire high school life I've only done netball in year 7. so that leaves me year 11 and 12 to do everything i could.

maybe i'm just dreaming...
never know tho.. dreams can come true...

 

[Ezzdawg]

An extensive post!

I'm interested, which universities were you planning to apply to?

I was thinking of going as well...did quite a lot of research like you did. Did the SATs as well. It seems like i'm also financially incompetent

just clarifying...were you talking about going next fall '10 or this fall 09?

I had an application ready for Notre Dame, Columbia, USC, U Michigan-Ann Abor, Penn State, Georgetown, UNC-Chapel Hill and even tried to apply to a few of the better UC's ie. Berkeley, LA..

Thennnn my parents decided that I have to pay for the application fees myself!! yeah at around US$40-$90 a piece..I wasn't gonna get too many out..

anyway yeah I meant this fall '09..aint happening now tho

 

[Ezzdawg]

I considered doing a year at University of Michigan but they expected me to pay up front and it was like over 20,000 for the year O_O.

AND the exchange program was like "we recommend you have at least $1300 per month spending money"

so yeah, I don't have first borns to give away yet so I gave up on that one.

I couldnt agree more.

 

[x33.datchick.xx]

oh yeah.. also to get in berkeley, MIT, stanford they require you to do all 3 sciences. plus few years of foreign language for some unis. for stanford its 4 years. berkeley - 3 years.

 

[Ezzdawg]

i'd really like to go to anu, but have been looking at american unis aswell, would there be much point? i want to do psychology, would it be better if i could get into one of the ivy league or the others that ezzdawg mentioned? thanks =]].

ANU is ranked very high internationally...as high as 16th according to one of the ranking systems. This although is lower than any of the Ivy League it is still amazingly good.

If you can get into ANU..by all means go for it!
You'd save alot of money...and if you still want to go to america in the future consider doing your graduate degree there..because THAT..will be a good investment.

Undergraduate degrees from America isnt that useful in Australia(in america all undergrad degrees are either Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science..ie. BArt Majoring in psychology)...In Australia..Arts degrees are considered by many people as 'USELESS'..although the brand name and prestige of the school you got it from might help..

 

[jenecis]

ANU is ranked very high internationally...as high as 16th according to one of the ranking systems. This although is lower than any of the Ivy League it is still amazingly good.

If you can get into ANU..by all means go for it!
You'd save alot of money...and if you still want to go to america in the future consider doing your graduate degree there..because THAT..will be a good investment.

Undergraduate degrees from America isnt that useful in Australia(in america all undergrad degrees are either Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science..ie. BArt Majoring in psychology)...In Australia..Arts degrees are considered by many people as 'USELESS'..although the brand name and prestige of the school you got it from might help..

What are you talking about? The international rankings are only relevant in terms of postgrad degrees or phd. They don't really have an effect on the quality of an undergrad degree here in Australia.

Like, ANU. Sure, it's supposedly the "best" Aussie uni but it's only ranked so because of its excellent research facilities. It's not renowned for its undergrad degrees. Its UAI cutoffs, for courses like law etc, are substantially lower than UNSW or Usyd, so it's not that hard to "get into" ANU.

Problem with Australian unis is that we don't have the whole prestige thing going on as profoundly as American unis. E.g. in Australia, anyone with a UAI > 80 can get into ANU - it just depends on which course you want to do. For law, it's probably around 95, whilst for arts, it's probably around 80.

HOWEVER, in America, regardless of which undergrad courses you do (not that there's much choice - only BA or Bsc etc.), you must be of a certain calibre to get into that certain uni. Hence, you get colleges like Harvard which hog all the creme de la creme students. In ANU, you will find an amalgamation of students, ranging from poor to talented, which makes it hard to cultivate the same prestige and brand name experienced by the Ivies in America.

 

[Ezzdawg]

What are you talking about? The international rankings are only relevant in terms of postgrad degrees or phd. They don't really have an effect on the quality of an undergrad degree here in Australia.

Like, ANU. Sure, it's supposedly the "best" Aussie uni but it's only ranked so because of its excellent research facilities. It's not renowned for its undergrad degrees. Its UAI cutoffs, for courses like law etc, are substantially lower than UNSW or Usyd, so it's not that hard to "get into" ANU.

Problem with Australian unis is that we don't have the whole prestige thing going on as profoundly as American unis. E.g. in Australia, anyone with a UAI > 80 can get into ANU - it just depends on which course you want to do. For law, it's probably around 95, whilst for arts, it's probably around 80.

HOWEVER, in America, regardless of which undergrad courses you do (not that there's much choice - only BA or Bsc etc.), you must be of a certain calibre to get into that certain uni. Hence, you get colleges like Harvard which hog all the creme de la creme students. In ANU, you will find an amalgamation of students, ranging from poor to talented, which makes it hard to cultivate the same prestige and brand name experienced by the Ivies in America.

I am well aware of that thank you..its like USyd where anyone with a 70 something uai up to 100 could go there..it just depends on the courses you take...but we DO have a very different system here.

ANU IS the best ranked aussie uni, what I'm saying is..if that girl wants to do a postgrad degree in America..she'll have more chance of getting into a prestigious school by having a degree from a well known aussie uni..because the admission officers will have heard of it more or less.

On the other if she goes to somewhere like La Trobe (no offence to anyone that goes there..)..the admission officer would be like.."where the f*ck is that?" if the admin officer can't even put ur uni on the map then what do you think your chances are of getting into..lets say Harvard or Yale?