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Topic: Higher Education - some questions and thoughts  (Read 396 times)

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Higher Education - some questions and thoughts
« on: January 06, 2018, 12:46:11 PM »
We're an American family; my spouse has dual citizenship (US and Irish) and we've been in Colchester, Essex, England for about 4 months.  Our youngest daughter is in her 1st year of the IB Diploma, which she is doing at the local sixth form college.  Everything is going splendidly well; she's made friends and is excelling in her academics  (yay!)

She is beginning to look at her life beyond this level of education -- i.e., university.  She has very high goals for herself and would love to get into an Oxbridge uni.  At the same time she is looking at what it takes to go to some of the Ivy League colleges in the USA.  This is where things get both interesting and confusing.

If she stays here to complete the two year IB Diploma, she'll have just that -- an IB diploma from the local sixth form college.  She won't have the standard GCSEs.  Last year, in the USA, she took the college board entrance exams required for most US colleges (SATs and ACTs) and she wants to retake the SATs this May.  If she applies to US colleges, they want to see GPAs, which currently she doesn't have (only up through the 10th grade) as the IB Diploma program doesn't give interim grades (only predicted grades).  As well, if she wants to apply for US scholarships, she doesn't have a current GPA.

So, all of this is making her head spin (mine too) and making her think -- or re-think whether she should stay here to complete the IB Diploma program - or return to the states and resume the AP Capstone diploma program (and get the US high school diploma).  If she stays here and applies to UK universities she would be an international student for her first year and then presumably be a home student for her last two (or three) years.  From the US, she'd apply and remain as an international student all the way through.

There are pros and cons of both staying here or returning.  I'd love to get any advice or input from anyone who has some pearls of wisdom to share on this.


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