US School System??

[angeldeborah 5]

Hi, we're planning to move as soon as my eldest daughter finishes her GCSEs (in 2023) meaning she'll be moving for 11th grade/junior year. However, we're a bit concerned as I've been looking online and we're not sure if this will prevent her from graduating on time as some parents have had trouble converting their child's GCSE results into their 'GPA' (sorry if I'm wrong). So she's been looking into doing free AP classes + SAT prep from the UK so that she may be able to do the exams in 11th grade with the others. We're not able to move this year due to still waiting for interviews etc so what do you guys think? Will my daughter still be able to get into a good university and graduate with the others?

 

Oh another thing is we know the IB exists too but I'm not sure how many public NYC schools will let her do it as I'm just seeing a bunch of private/international schools offering it and not public.

Edited April 15, 2022 by angeldeborah

[Mike E 11,742]

SAT or AP are what matter the most.  
 

“Good” school does not matter as far as career prospects, but regardless USA universities are used to foreign students and foreign high school transcripts 
 

If she goes to state community college  for 2 years then in most states entrance to a public state university is guaranteed.  
 

If she is a top student in a UK public school then she will score well on SAT or AP.  

Edited April 15, 2022 by Mike E

[angeldeborah 5]

3 minutes ago, Mike E said:

SAT or AP are what matter the most.  
 

“Good” school does not matter as far as career prospects, but regardless USA universities are used to foreign students and foreign high school transcripts 
 

If she goes to state community college  for 2 years then in most states entrance to a public state university is guaranteed.  
 

If she is a top student in a UK public school then she will score well on SAT or AP.  

Hi yes, she currently goes to a grammar school and is predicted A's (8s and 9s). Also is state community college looking like her best option here? She has some colleges in mind already and it would crush her not to go to one of them. 

[Mike E 11,742]

Just now, angeldeborah said:

Hi yes, she currently goes to a grammar school and is predicted A's (8s and 9s).

Then she will crush SAT or AP.  American public high schools are generally not that good. That was my impression coming to the USA after graduating from high school in a foreign country, and raising two kids here didn’t change that impression.  

Just now, angeldeborah said:

 

Also is state community college looking like her best option here?

Financially it is usually  the best option. An exception would be if the major of study has courses with 4 or more levels of prerequisite  classes thus making it impractical graduate in 4 years.
 

Just now, angeldeborah said:

She has some colleges in mind already and it would crush her not to go to one of them. 

If she and her parents want that then go for it.  The specific preparation for specific colleges depends  on the specific colleges.  What fully accredited university she attends will have no material impact on her career in the USA.   

[angeldeborah 5]

15 minutes ago, Mike E said:

Then she will crush SAT or AP.  American public high schools are generally not that good. That was my impression coming to the USA after graduating from high school in a foreign country, and raising two kids here didn’t change that impression.  

Financially it is usually  the best option. An exception would be if the major of study has courses with 4 or more levels of prerequisite  classes thus making it impractical graduate in 4 years.
 

If she and her parents want that then go for it.  The specific preparation for specific colleges depends  on the specific colleges.  What fully accredited university she attends will have no material impact on her career in the USA.   

Thank you! Do you also know anything about converting her GCSE results into her GPA? 

[millefleur 5,047]

52 minutes ago, angeldeborah said:

Also is state community college looking like her best option here? She has some colleges in mind already and it would crush her not to go to one of them. 

Community college is a great idea to get the lower level "filler" classes out of the way that a lot of US degrees require. It's significantly cheaper and if she's planning to attend a state school in a different state, sometimes you can enroll in the community college there and work towards residency for cheaper in-state tuition.

 

I don't know what college she has in mind but you should research it before she goes there. A lot of "designer degrees" in the US are debt traps and the vast majority of employers do not care about where you went to school.

 

 

[Mike E 11,742]

59 minutes ago, angeldeborah said:

Thank you! Do you also know anything about converting her GCSE results into her GPA? 

No idea. Assuming her 8s were on a 10 point scale (in Canada As were 80  on a 100 point scale) then my concern is her 8s will be converted  to Bs and thus 3s on a 4 point scale. SAT / AP score matters most.  If she scores 1600 on the SAT I really doubt her US high school GPA will matter.
 

 My university in the USA just looked at my SAT score.  

Edited April 15, 2022 by Mike E

[yoda one for me 322]

17 hours ago, Mike E said:

No idea. Assuming her 8s were on a 10 point scale (in Canada As were 80  on a 100 point scale)

The UK system operates 9 - 1. Grades 9 to 7 are basically different tiers of an A grade, with B coming at 6. This BBC article has a good explanation table. https://www.bbc.com/news/education-48993830 It's different to when I finished school and doesn't look like the most intuitive way to understand a grade if you're outside the system.

 

@angeldeborah, you'll probably want to try look into companies that will convert results as a service. They seem to be called 'credential evaluation services' if you want to google around or search VJ. You might also want to ask the school she'll be attending if they've dealt with this before and recommend or trust a particular service (they may not know anything about this, tho). I think some universities might point you to use a specific service when it comes to their applications. 

[millefleur 5,047]

4 hours ago, yoda one for me said:

I think some universities might point you to use a specific service when it comes to their applications. 

Some schools even offer their own evaluation services. Best to ask the school directly.

[Ontarkie 14,544]

When I moved with my kids here, they were in PS for a whole 2 days before pulling them out. I ended up homeschooling them. I made their transcript to submit to the college and they had their ACT scores. No issues at all. My kids transcript where based on their Canadian high school system. So they where a bit different but it was never an issue. Schools in the US are so different from state to state that is why they came up with the SAT and other entrance tests. They pretty much just go by those tests and the HS transcripts are just for a little more information of what subjects they took. SOme colleges do like to see certain HS classes as a pre requisite for college classes but it is no big deal if they need to pick up an extra class. 

 

As for starting in community college, that is great advice, it would cut the cut of school in half. My three oldest boys all did that and one graduating with the college owing him money. The other two had about 2-3k they had to borrow. If they went straight to University they would be owing 25-50k in student loans.

[angeldeborah 5]

On 4/15/2022 at 7:22 PM, millefleur said:

I don't know what college she has in mind but you should research it before she goes there. A lot of "designer degrees" in the US are debt traps and the vast majority of employers do not care about where you went to school.

 

The ones she wants to go to are quite pricey so we'll have a look at attending in state universities or community college first. Thanks!

 

6 hours ago, yoda one for me said:

They seem to be called 'credential evaluation services'

Thank you! I couldn't find these services before as I didn't know what they were called but now I do so thanks a lot. 

 

28 minutes ago, Ontarkie said:

They pretty much just go by those tests and the HS transcripts are just for a little more information of what subjects they took. SOme colleges do like to see certain HS classes as a pre requisite for college classes but it is no big deal if they need to pick up an extra class. 

 

As for starting in community college, that is great advice, it would cut the cut of school in half. My three oldest boys all did that and one graduating with the college owing him money. The other two had about 2-3k they had to borrow. If they went straight to University they would be owing 25-50k in student loans

Ah, I see. Thanks for letting me know about your experience + advice. It has all been very useful.