Academic criteria

Like all universities the world over, different ones have different entry criteria. US kids are continually assessed thoughout their time in high school and come out with a Grade Point Average (GPA). This is a 4 point scale which using the UK lettering system is roughly equivalent to A=4, B=3, C=3, D=2, E=1 and the rest =0. So you add up all your scores and divide by the number of subjects and you have your GPA.

There is no universal educational standard testing across the USA so a GPA from one state may be quite different from that of another. So many colleges also want kids to do one of the two standard tests either SAT or ACT. This is an exam that tests English and maths as well as a number of optional individual subject tests which are required for some courses (or programs as they are known in the USA). Many colleges accept either but it's worth checking as some prefer one over the other. You can sit the test in the UK and it can be booked through the College Board website who also show details of all the colleges including the average scores for admitted students. Dan took his SAT at the Americal School in Hillingdon, north-west London. It gets booked up early so book early. As it tests Mahs and English, I would strongly recommend doing it soon after doing GCSEs while it's all fresh in your mind. Dan did his a year after and found it harder. It's mostly multiple choice and there are many differences in the language such as maths topics have different names and the use of English varies too so practice is essential. Books with test questions are widely available and fairly cheep and you can sign up for practice questions through the College Board website. There's also coaching available this is a similar price to any private tuition. The exam is 5 hours long with a few short comfort breaks. It costs about £70 which includes sending your results for free to 3 colleges. This has to be done promptly after the results come out otherwise it costs $10 per college. The colleges only accept results directly from the exam centre.

Dan sadly didn't do too well with his GCSEs achieving only 4 at grade A-C thankfully including English and Maths. He went on to study an OCR National Extended Diploma in Sport at Long Road Sixth form College and gained an overall merit, equivalent to 3 A-levels at grade C. So this gave Dan a GPA at high scool of 2.5 and this went up to 2.8 after sixth form. Not enough toget into many of the swanky colleges, but easilly good enough for a good selection. In reality, many colleges will accept a good set of GCSEs and A-levels are a bonus and may even count as credits for your degree meaning you don't have to complete as many credit hours for your course.

Most colleges aren't familiar with foreign exam results and have to convert them. Some do ths themselves, others want it done by one of the credential checking companies such as World Education Services (WES). This is not cheep at around £180 and thankfully we didn't need it.