Where Do I Go From Here - Applying - Forum - USApplicants

hi,

i have just finished my gcse's and am carrying on at my school to take a levels in law, sociology, psychology, philosophy and ethics, and maths. after i get my a levels i would like to carry on studying either law, or psychology at university in america.

where do i go from here? when do i start applying? am i likely to be accepted? will have to take an SAT test, if so where and when?

thanks for your help

Joe

15/06/2010 17:56:14
Joe

Joe

Thanks for your post; you are asking all the right questions at just the right time.

You will need to submit most applications on or around the 1st January of your A2 year; 8 months before you plan to attend. In addition, you can submit one application early (around the 1st November) which either requires you to attend if admitted (called Early Decision) or is non-binding (called Early Action). therefore you have about 18 months to prepare for an application to the US.

In those 18 months, you are likely to have to do 3 things:

- Create a list of the colleges you will be applying to

- Sit the SAT Reasoning test (a.k.a. the SAT I)

- Sit 2 or more SAT Subject tests (a.k.a. the SAT II)

- write admissions essays for each university

- coordinate with your school for a transcript (official record of your time there, with results)

- choose approximately 3 referees, teachers who know you well and will support your application.

For the research part, start at http://collegesearch.collegeboard.com/search/index.jsp for general information and then look at individual university websites; we have a selection here: http://www.usapplicants.com/resources/links/topics/36-applyi...

For the SATs, check a separate part of the College board website here: http://sat.collegeboard.com/home

This area is great to get a sense of what the test entails. You can sit them at a variety of sites in the UK 6 times a year; The next tests are on the 9th Oct and 6th November. Register early as seats go quickly (i.e. now) especially in London.

I'd recommend trying to get your SAT requirements out of the way this (AS) year. This is especially because you will probably want to sit both Maths SATIIs (given your A Level subjects); do you speak any languages? You can sit the SATs as often as you like; some universities will want to see all results, some just your best scores.

For the application, you can look at individual college websites, or, depending on where you are thinking about applying to, you can use the Common Application (www.commonapp.org)

Do post any further questions; best of luck!

Harry

16/06/2010 12:13:09
HarryUS