In the US, you just have to find colleges with very few/no gen ed requirements and then you can study the subjects you want to your heart’s content. Even the colleges that have gen ed requirements may not have a ton of them (you’d want to avoid schools with a required core curriculum and ones with many gen Ed requirements).
And plenty of American colleges have a large range of humanities courses. Where have you looked?
Collegemom,
That 5.5-7k limit is for federal student loans, correct? So, if that amount plus other funds doesn’t cover it I would have to take out private loans? I believe I qualify for some funds due to a specific program, but I’m not sure it’s technically a scholarship. However, I don’t know of any specific scholarships I qualify for, except for one that would give me almost a full ride for my home state. I guess I just assumed that the average student with decent grades gets some money in scholarships. I’m not really sure how difficult scholarships are nowadays to get.
Conformist,
20 hours a week would probably be more than enough, I wouldn’t want to work too much with school. What about a distance job, something like working for people in America and using your computer? How would that work over there, is that allowed/regulated? I may have a gig like that.
So, they want to see the 40k or whatever the tuition plus living expenses are, minus what has already been paid to the school, in your bank account? You don’t have to use all that money if you live frugally, right? And you would be able to supplement it with the money you make while enrolled. So, it’s not that impossible for the most part, the biggest hurdle might be getting that much money together.
Purpletitan,
I’m currently compiling a college list. When I say courses though, I mean majors. As in, the University of Edinburgh grants like 6 different undergraduate classics degrees. I’ve researched a lot of American schools, but you would be hard-pressed to find many that have in-depth classics programs like that. Of course every school has its strengths and weaknesses though. I found a school here, College of the Holy Cross, that has a good classics program from what I’ve heard. I’m just using classics as it can be a very niche subject. I do find the idea of general ed requirements a little concerning. I really don’t like doing math. Do you know of a lot of schools here without general ed requirements? I think I might be good on math at a lot of schools because I’ve done a lot of it in high school, although I’m not 100% sure.
I just wanted to add I am probably going to go to school in America if I find a good program I can afford and get into, which I probably will. I may find that the American unis are better suited to my interests. I have heard that going to school in the UK makes a lot of sense and wanted to know what my options are.
^That may just come down to how majors/departments are grouped. For instance, Penn has departments in Classical Studies, Ancient History, and Archeology. But it is indeed the case that most of the best well-rounded Classics departments in the US are either expensive or tough to get in to or both.
Holy Cross does have an excellent Classics department, but has a core curriculum (although not horribly stringent a la U Chicago). Other schools that have Open Curriculums are Wesleyan in CT as well as Brown; Vassar has a gen-ed requirement, but completely flexible how you satisfy the requirement.
In terms of funding (having just gone through this with my daughter who also does not want a gen-ed requirement and will be starting in Scotland this fall…or at least enrolled). Just the Student Loans and PLUS Loans are available from the Dept of Education. You cannot use Pell Grants outside the US. Fees and Funding for international students at the St Andews website (a large US student population at the school) does a good job of describing how it works.
Good luck
For the visa, you don’t need to show you have $40k+ in a bank somewhere.
You need to be able to show that you have access to the specified amount of money through loans, scholarships, parent contribution, etc.
However, as your a US applicant, the U.K. doesn’t require you to submit any actual proof of affordability. Having been through the process twice, I have never been asked for any documents to prove financial status.
Parent PLUS loans can be used at foreign institutions, so you wouldn’t necessarily need to rely on private student loans.
I have no idea how financial aid works for foundation years, but you can email the universities directly — the international office — and ask, they will know.
@CBWTHD101 One more point on the Tier 4 Student visa. @NYU2013 is correct that the Home Office doesn’t require financial documentation from students from the US because the US (and some other countries) are exempt from that requirement. However, your school might require a financial declaration before they will issue your CAS which is necessary for your visa application. Oxford required my son to submit a financial declaration with copies of bank/brokerage statements attached proving that he had full funding for the first year of his course.
Aberdeen and St Andrews don’t require SAT subject tests - the subject tests are one of the options for submitting a standardized test score. You could just submit an SAT score if you meet the minimum requirement. Aberdeen awards US students tuition scholarships based on SAT scores. Also, consider looking at Trinity College in Dublin - only need SAT score, no subject tests.
Glasgow evidently also awards scholarships. I think for A-Levels/AP scores.
Aberdeen has 3 scholarships (new this year), for specific scores: 1 each for 50%, 25% & 10% tuition discount, renewable if you meet specific grade targets. Afaik I know Glasgow doesn’t offer anything that big, but it’s been a while since I was looking at them.
The Aberdeen half-tuition scholarship seems pretty achievable.
Glasgow has 100 £5K/year scholarships for internationals:
https://www.gla.ac.uk/scholarships/undergraduateexcellencescholarship/
Would require a ABB for humanities/social science/geography degrees (probably equivalent to scores of 544 on AP tests, but look on their website)
There are several UK universities that have scholarships like Glasgows- Aberdeen is a rare one in that it is a significant amount- but note that there is only one available at each level. Still, not that many US students apply to Aberdeen, which helps the odds!
@HazeGrey Didn’t know that, thanks!
It must be a University policy that differs from University to University regarding whether or not you have to submit any proof to the international office. I don’t remember having to do, but I could simply not remember.
Again, to OP, you would simply email the international office and ask about their specific requirements. Here on CC we won’t know the specifics of each Uni’s policies.
@collegemom3717, pretty certain that by “3 scholarships”, they meant 3 types of scholarships, but after reading more closely, they seem to be guaranteed for only the first year with annual scholarships after the first year dependent on the grades you achieve the year before (I don’t understand the Aberdeen grading system so no idea how achieveable they are):
https://www.abdn.ac.uk/study/funding/502
And yes, the standards to meet to get in to Aberdeen aren’t as high as at other ancient Scottish unis (or English equivalents) and they definitely want North Americans who are willing to pay more as they are full of Europeans (and probably Scots who couldn’t get in to one of the other ancient Scottish unis) who pay almost no tuition. Probably because, while they are one of the oldest unis in the UK, they are located on the coast of the UK equivalent of Labrador/Newfoundland. But close to highlands and the ocean, if you like the (cold gray) outdoors.
NYU and Hazegrey,
So that whole proof of funds part of the tier 4 visa doesn’t matter if you’re an American, unless the specific school wants to see funding? That is good to know.
Sophia,
Trinity College Dublin is on my list and really got my interest with their dual degree program with Oxford and Cambridge, although I have to research how that works. They do want a high school diploma so I would have to see what they think of my homeschooling situation.
Purple Titan and CollegeMom,
Those Glasgow and Aberdeen scholarships really catch my attention. It seems to appear that the Aberdeen ones are guaranteed if you have the SAT score. That would really make it easier, hopefully I could get a 1320 to get that 50% one. I would have to see about the Glasgow one. Either way, if I could get a scholarship like that, it would make my goals much more realistic.
Can I apply to schools through UCAS and also apply to a different school’s Foundation Year program? Say I apply to Aberdeen and maybe some other schools through UCAS because I think I qualify, if I check with some other schools I am interested in and they say that I am not eligible, could I apply to their foundation years in the same admissions cycle? Or if I am applying UCAS at one school does that force me to do it at all the other schools? That wouldn’t seem right, judging by all the different requirements, but I think I’d have to check with the unis on that.
Is there a decent range of difficulty in the degrees between a school like Aberdeen and a school like St. Andrews or Durham? The whole 13 years of schooling has me a little concerned, I really don’t want to end up over my head in a program, which is also why I find the foundation year program enticing. If I don’t need the foundation year then that would work great. I guess if I could take the SAT Subject Tests that would help tell me how ready I am, along with consulting with an adviser. If I am going to do a language or a classics program I would definitely have to make certain I am not going into a program where all the students have already done like four years of Latin or something.
I do enjoy the outdoors a lot! Cold and gray would be different from what I’m used to, but I would welcome a change. I would want to visit the campuses of any unis before I make a decision.
I have another somewhat related question; if I get an undergraduate degree from a Scottish/British or Irish uni, and decide to come back to America for a graduate degree, where does that put me compared to other applicants? I would assume that I still have to take the GRE, but does getting a degree abroad like that set you apart, and do American schools look at that kind of thing favorably? The only thing would be that Aberdeen or another school might not be as recognizable as a school like St. Andrews or King’s, but Aberdeen is ranked like 200th in the world or better from what I’ve seen. Also, when would you all recommend that I first reach out to some admissions people at the unis about my questions? Early or mid summer maybe?
Thanks a lot for all the input by the way, those scholarships especially really are making me think.
“Is there a decent range of difficulty in the degrees between a school like Aberdeen and a school like St. Andrews or Durham”
By the end (the last 3 years of the program), no. Scottish unis are 4 years. They’re essentially like English uni degrees except with 1st year classes spread out over the first 2 years (more towards the second) and the rest filled with electives (so in between the English and American unis, like the Canadians). Oh, and you get a Scottish MA for 4 years of undergrad if you study humanities/social science.
BTW, note that the Aberdeen scholarship is guaranteed for only the first year and for years after, it depends on your marks.
Regarding your other question, national American unis (and probably even many directionals) are use to applicants from all over the world and would be far more familiar with UK unis than the average American. BTW, those international rankings tend to measure (faculty) research prowess (mostly in STEM with a bit in social science and virtually nothing in humanities). In other words, I don’t see how they matter all that much for you.