升學美國

nickmum

Thanks Shootastar.  I suppose there is no book on Hong Kong experience sharing.  I mean sharing by a student in HK applying for US college.

Shootastar

回復 nickmum 的帖子

nickmum, I have not found any book in Hong Kong and in web about a Hong Kong student sharing his experience of making application to Ivy colleges. However, for the past few years, I read from the Sing Tao (Education Corner) some of the successful stories of Hong Kong students who were admitted by Yale, Princeton etc.I do not know whether they have US passports or green cards. However, they all appeared to me that they were the top of cohort,

acdad

Hi,

Does anyone know where I can get the  IB  and SAT scores information of those HK students accepted by  US colleges ?

Thanks.

Shootastar

The US colleges gave the admission offer in December (early admission/decision application) and in March (regular application) so the admission is not based on the result of IB (the result of which is released in early July). So there is no score information relating to IB can be found.

Regarding SAT, nearly most of the colleges would publish their 25 to 75 quartile of the SAT scores (for the admitted students and in some cases for the applicants) in their websites. So just surf the webpages of your target colleges and find out the information you need.

andykwan

Dear Shootastar,
Do you think University like UC berkeley or UCLA is less competitive in admission compared to the top U you mentioned above?

My daughter is studying in a local gal school for primary and she is expected to get US green card after few years (application in process). My planning is to send her to bay area for middle/ high school once get the green card and aim for one of university under UC system for her undergraduate.

Can u advise any preparation in her stage now?

Shootastar

回復 andykwan 的帖子

The admission rate of UCLA and UC-Berkeley was reported to be less than 20% this year. The admission rate of Ivy colleges or equivalent is between 6% to ten odd % this year. By comparing this 2 sets of figures, it appears that the admission to UC is still "easier" than that of Ivies.

If your daughter enters into the UC system several years (probably in High School) later, you should not worry about the way to improve her chance of being admitted to UCLA or Berkeley. I think the school would prepare her well.

To be competitive, her GPA on a rigorous curriculum should be 3.8 or about on a 4.0 scale, SAT I: 2100+, 3 SAT II: 750 or above, 250 voluntary work hours during the high school period, 2 to 3 leadership posts. There is fixed and hard rule on how to secure an admission. However, if you are a Californian and you have reach a certain index (the rough statistics I mentioned, you would have a place in one of the 10 UC colleges).

Julie_HongKong

So glad I found this post... We are a Chinese American family recently relocated to Hong Kong. My son's in kindergarten now and I'm debating whether to send him to an IB school or a school following the American system. There are many more options for the former, and I like the IB curriculum very much from what I know so far. My only question/concern is, whether going to an American system school would eventually give him better chance at getting in a top college in the US... Does anyone have any comments?

I know it's still early in the game, and I probably shouldn't worry about it until I've got some offers. But well, have to say that I've been overwhelmed by the competition in the HK school scene, from truly the very beginning. Would really appreciate if someone could share some insights.

Scotman

what made you think the consultant knows better than you in the application progress ? probably you know more about it than these experts by reading more books!

Shootastar

The more you read, the more you know about the game of admission. The consultants have the figures, but you can download the same from any college you are interested. Why paid US$10,000 to US$30,000 to the consultants which you can do it yourself by spending HK$500 to HK$1,000 on the books and reading them.

acdad

For those who plan to qualify for paying CA residency tuition rate, please read below. It contains info which may be useful to you.


http://ucop.edu/ogc/documents/student-information-sheet.pdf

http://www.ucop.edu/ogc/documents/ten-things.pdf

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, OFFICE OF THE GENERAL COUNSEL
10 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
ABOUT CALIFORNIA RESIDENCE FOR PURPOSES OF TUITION AND FEES

1. Upon admittance to the University of California, your resident or nonresident classification is determined for purposes of tuition and fees only after you have completed and submitted a Statement of Legal Residence to the campus Residence Deputy.

2. If you are an undergraduate under the age of 24 and your parent(s) are not California residents, it is unlikely that you will be able to qualify as a California resident for purposes of tuition and fees.

3. The term “California resident for purposes of tuition and fees” comes from the University’s residence regulations and differs from other definitions of California residence. For example, a person who is a California resident for tax or voting purposes will not necessarily be a resident for purposes of tuition and fees. Admissions and Financial Aid definitions of resident also differ. They do not confer residence for purposes of tuition and fees.

4. You do not become a resident for purposes of tuition and fees simply by living in California for 366 days or more. The length of time you attend the University of California or live in California is not the sole determining factor of residency.

5. In order to establish residence in California for purposes of tuition and fees, you must have the legal ability to establish a permanent domicile in the United States, meaning that you must be a citizen or permanent resident of the United States or hold a valid, qualifying nonimmigrant visa.

6. The UC residence regulations require that you and your parent(s), if they claim California residency, prove: 1) At least 366 days of physical presence in California with 2) concurrent intent to permanently remain in the state. If you are an undergraduate under the age of 24 and are not dependent upon California-resident parent(s), 3) you must be able to confirm financial independence for two full years immediately preceding the term you wish to enroll.

7. To prove financial independence, you must be able to document that you have not been claimed as an income tax dependent by any individual for two tax years immediately preceding the term, and that you have been totally self-sufficient for two full years prior to the residence determination date, supporting yourself, for example, through jobs, financial aid, commercial/institutional loans in your name only, and savings from your earnings. You must be able to document that you have paid rent and all other expenses from your own earnings.

8. You normally cannot establish California residence for purposes of tuition and fees while maintaining legal ties to another state or country (e.g. state tax liability, driver’s license, voter’s or vehicle registration). Further, if you have moved to California primarily to attend the University of California, you are here for educational purposes and so are not eligible for a resident classification for purposes of tuition and fees.

9. It is your burden to prove, by clear and convincing evidence, that you have satisfied all applicable UC residence requirements. Financial hardship cannot be considered in evaluating whether you are able to qualify for California residence for purposes of tuition and fees.

10. This is only a summary of the four main UC regulations for California residence for purposes of tuition and fees. Please access the UC Residence Policy for details

andykwan

回復 acdad 的帖子

Thanks acdad. your info is useful. I think UC is more affordable to common family.

acdad

回復 andykwan 的帖子

andykwan,

Here is an alternative path entering UC via the community college transfer. I have friends using that path sending their kids to the UC system recently, especially if you are not aiming for the Ivy Leagues, Berkerly and UCLA. Take a look and it may provide inputs altering your plan.

[url=wlmailhtml:{41E9F8D1-893B-446C-842A-89C8283CC6F6}mid://00000395/!x-usc:http://www.universityofcaliforni ... uarantee/index.html]http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/transfer/guarantee/index.html[/url]

JadaYuen

Having relatives that have been admitted to Cal and UCLA in recent years, I think if anyone is interested in applying to the UCs these few days, just do it! The admission rate has gotten considerably higher because the UCs lack funding and are accepting more international applicants (because tuition fees are more expensive for them).
However, due to the fact that they need money, there has been an increase in tuition fees so i am not sure if UCs are cheaper.
Summing up the points you guys discussed above, I do think consultants help but at the end of the day, you or rather your kids have to do the hard work to ensure they end up in a decent college because it is getting increasingly competitive with more and more people applying. Here are some useful websites regarding US applications:
1. http://www.petersons.com/college ... n-universities.aspx
2. http://hkedu.wordpress.com/2012/ ... hong-kong-students/
3. http://www.internationalstudent. ... pplication-process/
Hope that helps!
Jada

Shootastar

Consultants are helpful (at the costs of USD10,000 to 30,000) but you can find out the information from various websites (without costs) or from books (which cost you USD100 or a little bit more).

UCLA or Berkeley is not easy to be admitted although UC colleges need money. Each of them admits less than 200 international students each year. If you have statistics of GPA 3.7, SAT I (2,100+), 3 SAT II subjects (760+) and a brilliant list of leadership and service experience, just do it. If not, it is a matter of wasting time and money on UCLA or Berkeley, although it is easier to be admitted by the other 8 campuses.

andykwan

回復 Shootastar 的帖子

The "Smart Parents" of singtao daily stated the "quality boarding schools" in current issue. The school fee of those prestige high schools is really high... and i don't think common HK family can afford it...

Is it a big difference, in term of teaching quality and admission rate to "good university", between public school and private school system in US?

In San Francisco, public high school like Lowell do very good as well... is it difficult to get admitted?

Shootastar

回復 andykwan 的帖子

"Is it a big difference, in term of teaching quality and admission rate to "good university", between public school and private school system in US?"

I have no kids who studied in US high schools so I have no direct experience to share. However, from the information I got from my friends, there are very good public and private high school in the US. For the big names of private school such as Exeter, Andover, Lawrenceville, Deerfield......, I think HK parents should be familiar with.
If you click the US News website on best high school, you can also find top 1 to 100 public high schools in different states. I believe that the odds of being admitted to "good university" are the same so long as your high school is a good one, no matter it is a public or private high school. My friend's kid studies at TJ High, the top in the US News ranking. Each year, about 50 - 60 graduates are admitted to Harvard, Princeton, Yale, not to mention other big names such as MIT, Stanford, Columbia...... Again you click into the webpage of Andover or Exeter, you will find that about 30 to 40 graduates are admitted to Harvard, Yale and Princeton.

In San Francisco, public high school like Lowell do very good as well... is it difficult to get admitted?

Again I have no idea about the difficulty in getting into a famous public high. My feeling is unless you are an American, there is no way for foreign to be admitted to a public high. If you are interested in "Lowell" perhaps you can click its website and find out the statistics of admission,