Would studying at an international university hurt a candidate?

Dad_2024

Dad_2024

DS - USAFA c/o 2025
Joined
Jan 13, 2020
Messages
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My DS is still one of the bubble-sitters and working on his plans B and C. For plan B, he is considering two different international schools to study engineering abroad. Both are fairly well known in their home countries. Two questions, first is whether transcripts and grades from those universities would compare favorably against US based schools. Second is whether there would be any negative impact upon obtaining a security clearance down the road. Both international schools have later application deadlines, his plan C is already covered.
 
I think you have identified the potential negative trade-offs, but a few positives would be a more worldly perspective and maturity that would feed personal statements. If you assume they give 0 points for the classes, would it translate into a higher standardized test score?
 
shiner said:
I think you have identified the potential negative trade-offs, but a few positives would be a more worldly perspective and maturity that would feed personal statements. If you assume they give 0 points for the classes, would it translate into a higher standardized test score?
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Thanks @shiner!

At the one school, he's fluent in the native language, but there would be an option for first year to take classes in English. At the other school, 1st year students can take classes in English while they learn the native language, so there's an extra challenge there. Let's assume he can hold his own on grades, whether they add points to his WCS, who knows, but I'm thinking it would be a positive demonstration of handling academic rigors.

His SAT is 85th percentile and ACT is 90th percentile, so he will be working to improve those, assuming those are taken into account versus his post high-school studies. His CFA results were on the light side, but good enough to qualify the past 2 years. Surely a few points of improvement there will help. He's not out of the running yet for this year, who knows maybe prep or a Falcon may be offered, but might be best to be focusing on next year.

At the end of the day, does it boil down to how the life experience get folded into personal statements via essays and ALO interview?
For the potentially negative trade-offs, any idea how big the down-side may be for both of those? I'm more concerned on potential issues with SF-86, would it just come down to him being very careful who he associates with internationally?
 
The SAs regularly appoint candidates who are Americans living abroad, e.g. military brats, business expats. So I don't know why this would be much different in terms of security risk -- other than minors perhaps being less capable of fraternizing with the wrong crowd. Seems like the onus is on him to keep his nose clean.

Don't do things just because you believe they'll add points to WCS. Living and studying abroad has tremendous benefits beyond looking good on a resume. But as a college student who's reapplying, your kid's main task is to show he's capable of succeeding in a high-level academic setting, i.e. plebe-like schedule including calculus, chemistry and English. That should take precedence.
 
When you talked about the ACT /SAT percentiles, do you mean of the general public or of AFA enrollees?

If general:
ACT 90%tile is 28 (overall)...which is not the 90tile of engineering students.
SAT of 85% is 1290 or so?

That is lower than average for AFA:

So I would suggest he go to a college where he can get the best grades to show how he is ready for AFA.
 
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