Making choices....

The next part of my University series is going to be.. about choosing the right university!

This is one of the most important parts of the whole process for obvious reasons... it is where you will spend 4 years of your life being educated!
To start with you need to write a list of dealbreakers:

-2 year or 4year... just trust me.. for an international student 4 year is easier!!!

-Large, medium or small??
So large, over 15,000 people- this is for those of you (like me) that want to still be able to meet someone new in your year on your last day of senior year! And for those of you who don't like everyone to know who you're dating or to know you!
Medium (between 6,000-15,000), this is smaller than large... obviously... but I guess this is for those of you who like meeting new people but would like to recognise a familiar face at least twice a day!
Small (below 6,000)
The smallest university I know has 600 people... so if you want a school smaller than your highschool where everyone knows one another and you know everyone too. This is the one for you!
Of course in each section there are extremes ranging from those with 600 people to those with 70,000 people!

-Public or private?
Normally the main difference is price however for an international student fees are what we call 'out of state' and are expensive for either one... shouldn't determine your choice!

-What campus setting? Urban, suburban or town???
This below website explains the differences...
https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/find-colleges/how-to-find-your-college-fit/campus-setting-rural-suburban-urban
which fits your bill?????

-Single sex or co-ed??
I'm a flirt so this was easy for me... co-ed! If you were at a single-sex high school maybe branch out and try something new....!!!

-Residential campus or commuters??
This basically means would you rather have all your friends stay at your uni to sleep and the weekend or to go home... bearing in mind unless you are living off campus... campus may be quite empty over the weekend!!

-Does the school offer one or some of the majors you may want to take?
YOU ARE GOING TO UNIVERSITY NOT JUST FOR THE EXPERIENCE BUT ALSO FOR THE EDUCATION: DO NOT i repeat DO NOT go somewhere where in your last 2 years you can't major in the subject you need for the carrer you want... I think thats called career suicide!!- WAIT.. you can't lose something you never had!

-SAT scores?
How do you measure up... could you actually get in??

-Price?
Is money an issue then you  need to find a university that will I repeat again.. WILL offer financial aid to you... specifically to YOU, the INTERNATIONAL student!!!

AND THE MOST IMPORTANT...
DO THEY ACTUALLY TAKE INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS????

So now you have a list of your dealbreaks.. so you won't look at any of those universites that don't fit that:

You can now add some other secondary dealbreakers such as:
-Greek system (more to come)
-Student publication (newspaper or TV or radio station)
-Certain sports- WILL BE A DEAL BREAKER IF WANTING TO GO FOR TEAM OR SPORTS SCHOLARSHIP!
-Other extra-cirricular activities..

But fear not instead of searching through the entire almost 4,000 universites.. there is a quick and easy method developed by the amazing collegeboard: a search for universities depending on the choices you put in...

SO WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR:
https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/college-search
-type your options but start with only your absolute dealbreaks... then keep getting more specific until you feel you are left with a nice amount (between 15-30) that you can go through and by process of elimination pick the ones you want to apply for!! (but thats not till later...!!!)

Good luck
Please leave any questions below as comments.. happy to help
Much love
S xxx

SAT.. ready to revise!!!

You hear an american saying I got 1200 or 2100 or any score ranging from 600-2400.. this is their total SAT score.
The SAT is a standardized exam given to all juniors/seniors in the US and is the way colleges can weigh them up against eachother and choose who to take in!

The SAT exam is split into 3 main sections:
Critical reading
Maths
Writing
For each section you are given a score between 200-800, the mean for US students is around 500.

Now heres how the exam goes:
There are 10 sections and the exam lasts 3 hrs and 45 minutes (But some are longer due to breaks inbetween each section)
As part of the main critical reading section there is:

• Two 25 minute sections
• one 20 minute section

As part of the Maths section there is:

• Two 25 minute sections
• one 20 minute section (like the one above)

As part of the Writing section there is:

• One 25 minute section
• One 10 minute section
• One 25 minute essay

You may be counting and realise that only adds up to 9 sections... fear not i HAVE NOT got it wrong... there is one experimental section which could be either of the 3 sections but it does not count towards your score.. you will not know which out of the 10 is the experimental so you will have to try your best on all sections!

The SAT is a multiple choice paper:

You may be thinking... oh that makes it so easier..  but it doesn't:
It normally goes there are 2 out of the 5 options the answer is definitly not but then sometimes 2 look like they could both be right???? So what do you do.... Time for some tips!!!
1. Know how to guess and when... for this it requires a bit of practise... if you can get your 5 options down to 2 guess!
2. Keep track of your time
3. Remember each question no matter how easy or hard is only worth one point so answer the easy ones and make sure they are correct before looking at the harder ones
4. Like a UK test the questions get harder as you move on in on 20/25 minute section
5. A wrong answer get minus 1/4 mark so don't guess on too many or some you have no idea about!

Read more tips my buying this book:
Barron's SAT
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sat-25th-Ed-Barrons-SAT/dp/0764144367

Question types:
You can find examples of the question types on collegeboards website, so check it out....
Critical Reading: Sentence completitons (pretty self-explanatory) and reading comprehensions

Maths: 44 multiple choice and 10 Grid ins ( your own answers not multiple choice)

Writing: Identifying sentence errors, improving sentences, improving paragraphs.

You can also find more about SAT sections on the Kaplan website
http://www.kaptest.com/College/SAT/About-the-SAT/sat-at-a-glance.html

To apply for an SAT do exactly the same as a subject test and get online now on collegeboard:
Normally take the SAT in year 12 towards the end (spring) and then if you would like to retake do it during the sept/oct/nov of year 13, you can do it earlier if you want!
The SAT is offered almost every month of the year so don't worry about when you can take them!!
I hope this was helpful please leave any questions down below and remember to check out all the websites mentioned!

Hope you're all having a lovely week
Much love
S xxxx