This is not a bad score for many universities. I mentioned the university of Georgia above; you have a good shot getting in with that SAT score if you submit it (you will be required to as they require the SAT) and can afford the full cost of attendance. If you’re proactive about taking the most challenging courses you can handle, doing directed readings / independent studies, taking graduate classes, you can get a very strong academic experience outside the top N universities. (The US university system is a lot less ___ than that of many other countries - it’s not like your opportunities are extremely limited for grad admissions if you don’t go to a top tier university the way it is in some other countries)
That being said, the role for academia is incredibly challenging even if you are an undergrad at a top school. The vast majority of extremely talented US citizen undergrads hoping to go into research will not end up in a well-paying academic job. From looking at current events in the US, this path is harder for international students and will likely become even harder in the future as academic funding dries up.
This is not true; US universities are more flexible with homeschool admissions than Indian universities. OP’s homeschool is legally compliant in India and would also be legally compliant in most US states.
Of course while the IOI medal is a big part of what got her in, the fact is that her homeschooling background - which wouldn’t have made her eligible for admission to most Indian universities - wasn’t considered inadequate by MIT.
At almost every US university, students are required to take courses across a wide variety of fields outside their major. One exception to this is Ohio University Honors Tutorial College, where the only required course outside of your major is one semester of English writing. At non-elite state universities, there are generally some very courses which can meet these requirements, but a top school like UChicago will be unlikely to have any easy general education courses you can pass without doing any studying. Therefore, I don’t think a place like UChicago would be a good fit for you.
If your parents would only pay for a sufficiently well regarded university, please make sure they aren’t going into debt / selling generational assets with the expectation that you will get a high paying job and pay it back, as that might not be possible, particularly in the US.
Canadian and UK universities do not have general education requirements so they may be a better fit. Getting into a “well-regarded” UK university for maths will require an excellent score on a maths exam that is much harder than the math section of the SAT, and possibly also an interview in which you will have to work through a hard math problem live (potentially with some hints here and there from the interviewer).
Are you applying for ISI/CMI? If not, why not? Personally, I don’t think one or two required vedic math courses will ruin the value of a degree from such an institution, and as far as I can tell the current proposals are for making it an optional course.
I’ve also been thinking the US style of undergrad education does not seem like a great fit for the OP. They of course could look at the US again for a graduate degree, and many US grad programs are interested in applicants coming out of Canada, the UK, and so on. But trying to transition to the US system at this stage is not looking like the best path.
UGA has stringent curriculum requirements set by the state education board which is the same for homeschooled applicants. It’s not clear OP meets these:
Required High School Curriculum (RHSC)
According to University System of Georgia Policy, all first-year applicants must complete the Required High School Curriculum (RHSC), which consists of 17 academic units in English (4), Mathematics (4), Science (4), Social Studies (3), and Foreign Language (2). Their “Staying on Course” document details the specific courses that satisfy this requirement. The course titles and numbers listed in this document reflect those utilized by the Georgia Department of Education; however, we at UGA give consideration to similar courses taken by those attending a private school or a public high school located outside of the state. Additionally, students who take physical science in the 8th grade can have that course satisfy the science requirement if it appears on their high school transcript or can be verified by the high school.
It also doesn’t sound like OP fulfills the second bullet point here:
If a student is home-educated or attends a non-accredited high school, he or she must demonstrate their academic ability through standardized test scores and/or accredited course work. The student must also be able to validate completion of all CPC subject areas through submission of the following:
Official scores from the SAT or ACT (for math and English only), International Baccalaureate (IB) and/or Advanced Placement (AP) exams
Coursework for credit that appears on an official college or an accredited high school transcript
OP can contact various colleges and find out the requirements for international homeschool applicants. But if OP doesn’t have lab science courses, foreign language, SS, etc…many US four year colleges will be off the table. I agree with @MMRose that the CC route might be the best route here. @myos1634 do you have any ideas for OP?
It doesn’t sound like OP is homeschooling in the traditional sense (that is, studying a broad range of subjects equivalent to or exceeding what other high schoolers study). He’s taking MOOC classes exclusively in math and CS, so I’m not sure I understand the “legally compliant” part.
The article doesn’t provide details about this student’s homeschooling, but since she was admitted to MIT, it’s reasonable to assume she had academic preparation equivalent to that of other applicants (MIT expects students to have studied sciences as well as humanities and social studies).
I don’t want to debate, so I’ll leave it at that. I wish the OP the very best, but I also want to be realistic about his chances.
@Everything_Math your SAT scores and AP scores are quite good and would be fine for most American colleges and universities, although likely not the most prestigious ones. The main problem is that you do not appear to have taken enough non-STEM courses to qualify for admission to most four-year colleges in the US. But there are ways around that.
One possibility, as was mentioned above, is to look at the UK colleges . Another is to come to the US and go to a community college (sometimes called a city college or a junior college) for two years and then transfer to a four year university. Lots and lots of people do this. And your final degree will be the name of the university, not the community college. Some people (although likely not many) can even transfer into the highly prestigious US universities. And then you are also eligible to apply to graduate programs if you want.
I think this might be a good path for you, since you say you do not meet the requirements for higher education in India. You are clearly very smart and have a passion for math. I am sure there is a path forward for you—it just may not be the one you originally planned on.
I don’t think Stanford ULO classes are MOOC. I think they are more rigorous and more akin to advanced math courses offered online to highly capable students.
Question about the suggestion of CC. Don’t most CCs also require proof of high school completion? One where there may be a workaround for this (I’m not clear exactly on it and they would likely have to contact the college) is DVC (OP- this is in the east Bay Area of San Francisco), which also has the cost benefit of being able to start in India (or anywhere). The 1+1+2 program is 1 year online, one at DVC and then transfer to a 4-year. DVC is one of the “feeder” colleges to Berkeley. Although that would not be guaranteed, as with any California CC the student can follow a “TAG” program that would guarantee admission to certain UCs, while still being able to apply to those such as Cal and UCLA that do not have TAG programs.
Another advantage of this is that the student does not have to wait until fall 2026 to start, if they are ready earlier. There are upcoming enrollment periods in January, March and June.
A disadvantage for OP as with other US colleges, is that they will have to follow breadth requirements.
I am wondering if OP should not register for A levels and go the classic UK university route to do a math degree. I am pretty sure you can do A levels online/homeschool? That may be a better route than CC or GED. As the UK degrees are 3 years rather than 4, this is not necessarily going to ultimately take longer than finding a US workaround.
The CCC to UC transfer is a good option but I would worry about the student VISA issue since current International policies are not favorable and starting at a community college may be a hinderance vs a 4 year university. Overall a great idea if it can be done.
As an example to some other posters here as well as OP, this is the maths degree curriculum from Manchester (good but not tippytop by UK standards), I think it’s fairly representative of what you can expect in the UK. It is like chalk and cheese compared to what a typical US college would require in terms of breadth of its math degrees. If OP really wants to focus on math and not do subjects that do not interest them, this seems the way to go to me.
This poster has not returned, so I am assuming that the presented info here, was a little too much, or he didn’t want to hear that there isn’t a “clear path” to his acceptances?
I agree that a U.K. maths degree would be more suitable. However OP’s IGSE results aren’t particularly encouraging in terms of getting a conditional offer. Another option would be a UK foundation course designed for those without strong A level preparation. But unlike in the US you can’t just skip mandatory courses based on APs or DE, even if you’ve done some of them in the past.
So I worry that OP might not be interested enough to do well in a course that requires repetition (just as they did with the SAT math). I also don’t really understand the lack of a decent SAT - as you said previously it doesn’t require any prep for strong math student to get a good score.
I think there was a lot of initial negativity without showing possible alternatives. Given that he said he has autism and adhd, I wouldn’t be surprised if the information was a lot to process all at once.
I do wish as a group we could be a little more attuned to how information that seems obvious to older adults may come across to younger people with less life experience.
It’s also really only been one day and there is a time difference. Maybe he’s just doing other stuff and will get back here when it occurs to him? (But I do take your point.)
Yes, we are at our best when we are not just identifying problems–although of course that can be important–but also proposing possible solutions. Sometimes it may take some kids or parents a while to really process all that, but at least they will be better informed about options.
Currently I have an usyd conditional offer for Feb semester based on my sat score, but I do need a high school diploma, so I am asking them abt will a ged work. If so I will give that else i will have to defer my offer for a few months.
I also did get a reed offer in april but my parents were worried abt the large dropout rate and the quality of the institute, so I didn’t take up the offer.