So I attended 9th grade in Cali, got mostly A’s, nothing lower than a B. My GPA was like 3.6 or 3.7 or something. Was in honors classes for almost everything and had every intention of doing every AP course I could handle in order to qualify for an Ivy League. However EC was never my forte. My parents are super protective as I’m an only child and so I normally wasn’t allowed to stick to one thing. In elementary school did choir and trumpet, 6th grade track and choir, 7th grade gymnastics, 8th grade was mostly academics, 9th grade tried out for track again but didn’t make it, same with drill team but ended up really obsessed with drama. Intended to continue it but… see the next paragraph. So I basically don’t have a resume except a bunch of church stuff which my church isn’t so big for it to be a big deal.
And then to add to disadvantage, my parents sent me back to Nigeria (we are immigrants, although citizens and we’ve been residing in California for over ten years) to complete my secondary school education. Now I’ve written my WAEC and waiting for results. Still writing NECO next month as a back up, so I have to apply for Spring because the results will be coming out in July. Both of them are O level exams, for those who aren’t cumbersome in international curriculum. My application will be looking so confused with nothing for me to put as EC and a half-American half-Nigerian transcript.
Does anyone have some advice because I could really use it? As well as which schools I should keep in mind? I’d rather go to Public because I applied and got admission to Private schools using my GCE results (wrote it during my 11th year but it isn’t my best work) but my parents can’t afford it. I want to study Psychology with Pre-Med and become a child/adolescent psychiatrist, but my parents want Nursing with Pre-Med instead.
Stats
GPA- This is just a mess
SAT- 1380, 730 Reading and Writing, 650 Math. I plan on rewriting.
What can you afford?
Are you a US citizen or permanent resident? Do you have any other (non-US) citizenships? Do your parents or other close relatives still live in the US, and if so is there a community college near where they live?
Do you have any options in Nigeria? How do your high school grades compare with others in your high school in Nigeria?
Your lack of ECs to me does not look like anything to be concerned about. The tip-top schools in the US (Stanford or Harvard level) care about ECs at least partly because they have too many applicants who are otherwise perfect. For most other schools grades and test scores can get you a long way.
My concern with schools in the US is partly to figure out which ones fit your GPA, and even more important whether there is anything that you can afford. To me the best bet might be to start at community college. You could aim for a moderate level state school if you are in-state anywhere, which seems unlikely. For that level of school your SAT is very good.
You can’t do nursing or premed. It has to be one or the other. Premed should be attached to a ‘traditional’ major such as English, Philosophy, Physics, Biostatistics, etc. You could major in African studies and be premed.
What’s your budget? (What can your parents afford without loans)?
Do they live in California right now?
O’levels are not sufficient for many US universities, you often need A levels.
You can apply without your actual results as long as teachers can say they expect you to get x or z results.
There’ll be a list of colleges that miscalculated yield in about two weeks, with a few pages left. The best colleges will be snapped up immediately so have your common app ready.
You can PM me if need be.
You should contact @gigichuck too.
My parents are thinking around 10-15k after financial aid…
We are US Citizens, also Nigerian Citizen so dual citizenship. Both of my parents are still in the US and yeah there are a few community colleges.
Can’t go to University here because I already missed the JAMB (which is like their version of SAT) and it’s only once a year. My grades are top of my class. I’m ranked somewhere between 1st-3rd (the three of us generally have very similar scores so I can’t actually say).
I don’t really have a GPA, I have to get my O level results evaluated which is what I will use for admission. I’m in-state California.
Go to FAFSA forecaster and check what your actual EFC is.
So, your GPA 9-10 is 3.6 or so, and your GPA 11-12 is 4.0 (top results).
If there are three of you with similar results many US schools would rank you all #1 and indicate the rank is shared by 2 others.
UC’s want 5 OLevels/IGCSE/GCSE + 3 ALevels.
When do you get your WAEC results?
Not all universities require an external review so you could apply in May and send your final results then.
If your family makes 75k or less private universities that meet need are your best bet - public universities outside of California only provide merit aid for high SAT scores and you will need to improve your scores to 1400 (easy)-1450 for your best shot. Public universities in California will only take applications next year, except perhaps Merced and some CSU’S if they didn’t fill all their seats. However they’ll require more than O’Levels.
WAEC is done feel some relief! Lol.
So what’s your exact plan? Are you still thinking about Fall 2018 applications (some are still open), Spring 2019, or Fall 2019?
For Fall I’ve gotten 3 admissions to private schools but the financial aid is nowhere near enough for 2/3. The third one has given me conditional admission that will be finalized based on my WAEC results so nothing can actually be processed until I get back. Our FAFSA EFC is 0.
Waec results are coming up some time around July.
These A-Levels, is that like Cambrige? A whole other set of exams. Chai.
Do Cal States require A-Levels? I cannot write exams again, I’m tired.
As for Fall 2019, that’s a last case scenario. I’d rather just go to community college for two years then transfer.
Just to clarify, your parents still live in California, right? Because likely you will be eligible for in-state tuition at pubic universities in the state they live in, wherever that is. But you have to get admitted, of course.
I know this feels complicated, but if you do future applications (either this spring or after a gap year), you may be able to leverage this by writing your common app essay about the transition from the US back to Nigeria (allows you to reveal a bit of the timeline, although of course the essay needs to be about you to help admissions understand more about your personality/approach to life). But it is something to think about. If I were an ad-com, I might find a story about that adjustment and personal challenges/growth to be interesting. I’m not sure it is as much of a disadvantage as you think it is to have gone back to Nigeria. It makes you unusual in the admissions pool, and colleges like that.
If you put in more applications, you need to run the net price calculators on the websites of the colleges you apply to. That should give you an idea of what you would pay, so you don’t end up with more unaffordable schools. However – sometimes the schools that still have slots this late in the year aren’t giving very good financial aid to students who apply late.
Yeah they’re still in California. I already actually did that for my personal essay. I figured it would give me some kind of advantage. Thanks for the advice!
@MYOS1634 - Would there be any sense in this student returning to high school in the US for a senior year here given that O levels usually aren’t enough? Maybe as a home-schooled student or at a private school that can be more flexible about graudation requirements?
Yes, it’d make sense. She’d be able to complete UC entrance requirements in a year instead of ALevels over two years. In addition, she’d have time to apply to UCs, CSUs, Questbridge, meet-need LACs… And, for colleges that require a recommendation, teachers would actually know what to write (something that is not as common outside the US.)
O’Levels aren’t sufficient for admission at most universities, and apparently all UCs, that may explain disappointing admissions results.
With EFC zero, CA community colleges can be a cheap alternative as long as there’s a commutable cc with reputable transfer programs. There’s a great difference between College of the Siskiyous and Santa Monica CC.
But they may admit with oLevels only.
The Nacac list often has financial aid but not necessarily for EFC O. Still, it’s worth trying.
And there’s the issue of not having completed the minimum diploma for college admissions which brings us back to senior year in a California high school.
Op: most colleges don’t meet need. Some do, there are about 80 in the country/3700, lol up the list; by targeting them you’d have a shot at a full ride.
Then there are full tuition scholarships for stats.
Then, a combination of need and merit.
Where did you apply this year?
Where did you get in?
That whole going back to High School thing is not good by my parents. They sent me to America for me to graduate early because I was on a fast path in Nigeria and America sent me back due to age. So it would just be counter-productive, I guess. But I can ask them.
I applied to La Sierra University, got admitted and they said they’d wait for my WAEC and for me to get back to the states so I can focus on getting my financial package and everything together. If I can’t go to public school, this is likely where I’ll end up.
Applied to Fresno Pacific University, admitted but financial aid wasn’t enough.
Applied to Pacific Union College, admitted, but distance from my parents puts them off, but price isn’t too bad.
Applied to three other schools but I didn’t really follow up and send transcripts or anything, so they don’t really count.
None of those three universities meet need and they have very low endowment. They will not provide enough scholarships and they’re 4th tier schools not worth the academic results you have (top3 rank).
You can see that yourself by looking at their average test scores on their CDS.
If you don’t want community college the NACAC list will have better universities.
If your exam results match your school results, what sort of score are you expecting on your exams?
The main issue is that if your Nigerian certificate is considered equivalent to OLevels it’s not equivalent to 12th grade in the US, but 11th grade. You’d have to attend a California 12tg grade in order to apply to a UC - based on your estimated GPA and scores you’d have a shot at a many UCs. Perhaps your parents will accept your spending a year in a California high school if it allows you to apply to UCs.
@gigichuck : is that certificate what you have?
If I match my school results it will be A1s and B2-B3s.
I spoke to them and they said I should wait until I get back (July) before we take further action so I can be live and around, as well as with sure results.
But I want to ask, what about CalStates? They haven’t really been mentioned. Are they also rather choosy?
In order to receive the federal aid you qualify for as a citizen who can file the FAFSA, you need to have the equivalent of a high school diploma. You will need documentation that whatever you leave your Nigerian high school with is the equivalent of a diploma, or you will lose your right to federal aid, and you will have to pay back anything that has been disbursed. That has happened to more than one person I know.
So send your Nigerian paperwork to www.WES.org for evaluation. If your results aren’t the equivalent of a US diploma, and you don’t want to spend a year in high achool here, you can take the CHSPE or GED exam series. That will still probably take you a few months, but you will then be able to receive federal aid.
I don’t recommend taking the GED since not all colleges recognize it.
Some CSU’S may be on the list that’ll be published in two weeks or so. They don’t have any specification regarding OLevels v. ALevels so you may have a shot there. However you cannot wait till July - you’d have to send everything by May 20th or so.
(In the US, you send your final results to the college that admitted you AFTER they sent you their letter of acceptance).
An issue with CSU’S is that they don’t cover room& board.
The big issue is whether the diploma you will earn in July is considered equivalent to a high school diploma or to a lower secondary school diploma. If it’s considered 11th grade level it won’t help to be here or not.
A1s+ B2/B3 => likely a 3.7 GPA.
WAEC is a high school degree equivalent, most definitely. So I’ll definitely go ahead and start on my CSU applications while waiting and hoping that they are part of that list. Thanks so much to everyone.
^ then don’t call it O’Levels. 
Only a few CSU’S might be on the list - are you ready to go anywhere in the state?
Is your common app ready?
@MYOS1634 It is what I will have, yes. The WAEC is standard for West African Countries. It’s not A-levels, but it is standard at foreign schools.
@Idray2501 I see A levels as a requirement for the British-patterned schools, so perhaps you should email and ask if WAEC will be sufficient.
Okay WAEC = West African Certificate of secondary education =/= OLevels - that’s why using the real name of your diploma matters.
Make sure you list WAEC and NOT OLevels on your application. It’ll be evaluated within its own context and NOT as “British patterned” certificate, which is essential if you want to avoid one more year of high school.
Thanks @gigichuck.