Q&A

Your education questions answered by Brian Mooney

I am currently in Transition Year and am exploring college options. I am interested in going to the United States, to an Ivy League university. I was wondering if it is possible to obtain scholarships to these universities, their websites only show scholarships for existing students. Also, would it be possible to obtain a list of guidance counsellors (in Dublin) with whom I could talk about the subject of applying for scholarships and perhaps to suggest a few careers for me? Finally, I understand you have to sit the SATs to go to university in the US. Is it possible to sit them in Ireland and where can I get more info about this?

The option for Irish students to study in America is a very real one. I have helped students to secure scholarships in the US for many years. For an Irish student, the main source of information is the Internet. Every US university has a web site where it gives information on the institution, its courses, scholarship programmes etc.

For an Irish student considering studying in the US, the first thing to remember is the diversity of the colleges available and the different levels of inducement on offer to students to attend a particular college.

My niece, who was born in Co Clare, became one of the top 10 softball players in California, and I had numerous conversations with representatives of US universities, who phoned her home seeking to attract her with offers of sport scholarships. She accepted a sports scholarship from one of the top universities. This entailed her playing softball for them for three of her four years in college. For those three years, every moment of her day was planned down to the finest detail - including what she ate. Every second weekend of the year was spent in some other part of the US playing softball. The message for Irish students is that sports scholarships are available, but only to the very best.

The composition of the student body is very important to American colleges. Colleges like to attract a diversity of students and therefore offer scholarships to foreign students. The only problem is that the more prestigious the college, the less the need to offer scholarships.Ivy League colleges have no need to offer inducements. For those lucky enough to be offered a place in one, fees in excess of $40,000 a year would not be excessive. There are thousands of other colleges, however, that may offer Irish students a more financially manageable package.

The first thing for Irish students to realise is that American third-level degrees are very different to Irish ones. Entry is not based on points in the Leaving Cert. Students must sit a set of aptitude tests, which are hosted in the American Embassy a number of times each year. There are two different possible tests - SATs or ACTs. Both are offered here. Students need to prepare for these tests just as they need to prepare for their Leaving Cert. There are numerous Internet sites on how to do this.

The Institute of Guidance Counsellors has a list of private practitioners who offer a service to students with such a specialist interest. Telephone: (01) 676 1975.