College in the U.S?

Question

Im 15 and live in Ireland and really want to go to college in America my first choice would be U.C Berkeley I know its really early to be thinking about these kind of things but the state exam I am doing this year might determine wether I can go or not I have talked about it with my parents and they seem to support me as many of my family members on both sides of my family have gone to America to live. I have researched how expensive it would be and to be honest with the price of schools in Dublin where I live its affordable. Is it hard to get into a college in america and how hard would it be to get a visa?

Answer 1

The GCSEs which you are about to take will not necessarily determine weather or not you will be admitted to college in the U.S.

Since you first choice is U.C.Berkeley, I would advise you take a look at the link below. This link provides you with all of the information you need to be able to apply for admission to the school.

As you can see, your GCSE are only the first part and no specific GCSE grades are required because in addition to proving you have completed high-school you will need to take the ACT plus the new ACT Writing Test or the new version of the SAT Reasoning Test with critical reading, math and writing scores from the same sitting.

In addition to all of this you will have to take the two SAT II: Subject Tests in two different areas of study (English Lit, History/Social Studies, Math Level 2, Science or Languages).

It is the scores from the ACT or SAT and the SAT II tests that the school will use to determine if you are a suitible applicant for addmission into U.C. Berkeley.

You will also be required to write a personal statement and fill out an application form and a self-report and Academic Record application - these forms can also be downloaded from the same website below.

Now regarding the visa. If you are accepted for admission into U.C. Berkeley or any learning institution in the U.S. for that matter the school will issue you with what is know as Form I-20 and with this you then must pay the $100 SEVIS (payable online - see 2nd link) and then schedule an interview at the American Embassy, either in Dublin or London.

For your interview you will need to take the following items:

- GCSE results

- I-20

- Receipt of SEVIS payment

- Passport

- Proof of financial support (bank statements which show you have enough funds to cover your tuition and cost of living)

- Proof of ties to Ireland.

You will also need to complete the following forms and take them with you, together with the items mentioned above. Form DS-156 and Form DS-158.

How hard is it? It is fairly straight forward if you have all of the required documentation, however you may be under more scrutiney because of your age, 15/16. This is incredibly young to study at a U.S. college and of course to live on your own in a big city. The Consular Officer might count your age against you.

Answer 2

no! now is the perfect time to think about college...

im 13 and ive been thinking about college since 11!

lol.

but its good that you do your reseach...

it shouldnt be too hard to get your visa. because you are coming here for study. there are foreign people from other countries studying here so it shouldnt be a problem for you

Answer 3

I agree that you should be able to get a visa for study, but getting accepted to a college in the US is tough. Nothing against the 13 year old, but I'm 17 and have been through lots of college tours, interviews, info sessions, etc. UC Berkeley is an especially tough one to get into even if you live in California [which I do...] Living in Ireland might actually work to your advantage in terms or colleges like having international students, but there is a lot of competition. And it's really very expensive without some sort of financial aid.  Since your situation is different, it's good that you're thinking about it now. You have time to look into all of this stuff which I reccommend doing. You can e-mail some colleges you like to see their statistics of international students, financial aid programs and other things like that would be useful. Good luck