Thai Kids going to the US for College/Uni

[josephinebloggs]

Anyone have any experience with it ?

Last April I was in BKK and saw promo's for a convention regarding US Colleges but as a non US citizen myself, I'm unfamiliar with the process of how kids do actually get the chance to get to the US and attend colleges and Uni's there, the costing involved etc ?

Any help or pointers in the right direction would be much appreciated.

My little one is still a way off ( 7 ) but I wanted to work out the process for future reference as her " High school " here in Thailand isn't a million miles away and I wonder if the choice of that will affect the US College/Uni process even ?

[Mario2008]

That is way off and rules will change during that time.

An important factor for an educational visa for the US is that you have the money to support yourself during the study (and have already found a college) and secondly that you have enough ties with your home country so that they feel comfortable that you will return. They want to be sure that you will leave after you finish your study.

Other than that, it shouldn't be too difficult.

[josephinebloggs]

Thanks Mario, appreciate the reply.

So does anyone have any experience with this or have any info on exhibitions ( for want of a better word ) that seem to happen in Bangkok regarding this ?

I'm struggling with google searches to be honest.

[Ryan Lee]

The first thing you need to prepare is to establish your kids' academic capability and the best way to do that is to do well in standardized exams such as SAT or ACT. They will need to take English proficient test as well. As previous poster has commented, you will need to demonstrate ability to financially support your kids while they are in the US. However, contrary to what the poster said earlier, it is not required or important to establish ties to your home country.

So, the general procedure is:

1) Take SAT/ACT test

2) Figure out which university will likely to take you based on your scores

3) Apply to the schools, and if accepted, they will provide with some paperworks

4) Take approval from your school and other required documents (eg financial docs) , apply for student visa at US embassy.

The cost involved vary from school to school, but such info is easily available at the school website. Cheap schools probably go for $25,000 a year (tuition + living expenses) and expensive schools go for $80,000+.

[maccaroni man]

Many of the kids go to the east coast and major universities others start by going to boarding school between the ages of 14 to 18 which is a good way to get them prepared for the next level. The running cost to go to the catholic boarding school I know of is 35k US dollars per year plus plus

[EyesWideOpen]

I may be a bit negative, but from I have seen of the educational system here, from either a private or public school, I think it would be very hard for a child from the school system here to step from high school into a high powered college in America. To that end, I will be taking my half Thai daughter to America to attend at least two to four years of high school prior to entering and American college. I think this will help her tremendously for success in college. Also my personal feeling is that the SAT test is somewhat culturally biased towards America.

Not sure a foreign student who had never set foot in America would do very well on the test...

Edited September 16, 2013 by EyesWideOpen

[josephinebloggs]

Thanks for the replies all.

I may be a bit negative, but from I have seen of the educational system here, from either a private or public school, I think it would be very hard for a child from the school system here to step from high school into a high powered college in America. To that end, I will be taking my half Thai daughter to America to attend at least two to four years of high school prior to entering and American college. I think this will help her tremendously for success in college. Also my personal feeling is that the SAT test is somewhat culturally biased towards America.

Not sure a foreign student who had never set foot in America would do very well on the test...

The little one is in a British school here anyway and is half British with near perfect English, with an American Grandfather and I think I'm leaning towards what you say about high school anyway, just to bed her in.

Nobody seen the conference type things they have in BKK with the US Uni's ?