干貨：為留學美國做Plan B，你要知道這些

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暫停新的留學簽證預約，

宣布審查和撤銷“敏感”專業的中國留學生簽證，

有在美留學的中國學生已經收到學校“近期不要離開美國”的建議......

留學美國的形勢越來越“抽象”了。

談到這些，有著30多年大學招生和升學輔導經驗的Melissa Metzler Warehall老師說：

Melissa Metzler Warehall

啟明星學校大學升學顧問主管

• 西北大學學士學位，伊利諾伊理工學院芝加哥肯特法學院法律博士（J.D.）

• 曾就職于美國頂尖私立學校?芝加哥大學附屬實驗學校，該學校向全美8所頂尖大學輸送學生的數量位居全美排名第4名

• 前芝加哥大學招生副主任

明年英國和香港大學的申請會升溫，但是——

我從中國其他學校的大學升學指導老師那里聽說，他們有學生已經開始申請今年入學的英國或澳大利亞大學了，但在啟明星還沒有這種情況。

我們2025屆所有已經決定就讀美國大學的學生目前仍然堅持這樣的決定，不打算以英國或澳大利亞的大學作為備選，雖然這兩個國家的大學目前仍在接受申請*。

至于明年的申請，我們幾個月前就已經開始和現在的11年級學生召開升學規劃會議了，同時我們也和10年級的學生和家長進行了初步的溝通。整體來看，學生們對香港和英國大學的興趣比過去3年有所上升，但這樣的趨勢并不是目前美國的形勢造成的。

至于英國和香港大學競爭是否會更激烈，我們需要記住，這些大學的體量往往比許多美國大學（尤其是私立大學）要大，因此它們能錄取的學生人數也更多，即便是排名很高的學校也是如此。我預計隨著申請人數的增長，競爭會有所加劇，但不會嚴重到影響啟明星的優秀學生的競爭力。

*在英國，許多大學仍然有入學名額，并繼續接受申請直到今年7月。在澳大利亞，大學有兩個入學時間：7月至8月和次年的1月至2月。盡管澳大利亞的大學可能已經沒法接收今年7月至8月入學的學生，但它們仍能接受申請，學生可以選擇2025年12月之前申請2026年1月或2月入學，具體時間視大學學期安排而定。

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美國不歡迎國際學生學習“敏感”專業？我們的看法和做法是——

是當前美國掌握權力的一些人不歡迎國際學生學習所謂的“敏感”專業。他們的言論并不代表大多數美國人的觀點。

另外，我們還需要認識到，許多美國人獲取信息的方式存在嚴重偏差。他們習慣于生活在信息孤島中，也就是所謂的“信息繭房”——只聽到一種聲音，缺乏多元視角，于是被“洗腦”，認為“中國是威脅”、“中國學生來美國是為了間諜活動和竊取技術”——但我們都知道事實并非如此。

事實上，國際學生為美國經濟做出了很大貢獻。例如，大多數國際學生在美國大學是“全額支付”學費的，這實際上間接補貼了美國本地學生所獲得的獎學金，使他們能以更低的學費完成學業。再比如，在美國大學就讀的中國學生通過支付房租、在校園附近的商店購物、在大學社區的餐廳用餐，都推動了當地經濟增長和維持了經濟穩定。

來自國際學生的這些資金注入對美國的經濟發展并非可有可無，無論是在地方層面還是國家層面。這一現實和由此產生的經濟影響，很快會被當權者和其支持者重新認識到，到那時，簽證取消的威脅也會隨之結束。

不過話說回來，我們所處的時代充滿不確定性，簽證的確曾被取消——起初只針對違法者，后來卻似乎變得沒有差別。鑒于這些最新的變化，啟明星大學升學指導團隊已經開始建議計劃申請美國大學的2025屆非美國籍學生提前做好備選方案，現在就申請英國或澳大利亞的大學。（申請大多數加拿大大學現在已經來不及了。）我們正和每位學生進行一對一溝通，因為這是一個非常重要并需要審慎思考的決定。

最近，一些在其他國家設有校區的美國大學，以及歐洲和東亞的一些大學，正向原本計劃赴美留學、但遇到簽證困難的學生積極宣傳自己。學生和家長要考慮到這些——

1.學生是否真的做好準備，在一個歐洲或東亞國家學習和生活？雖然大學的授課語言是英文，但周圍社區的語言可能是陌生的，比如捷克語、西班牙語或日語。

2. 學生入讀美國大學的國際校區，獲得的學位依然是該美國大學授予的，但通常會注明校區所在地，比如“紐約大學阿布扎比校區”。

3.一些國際校區提供的專業不如美國本部全面，所以學生要仔細查閱，確認該海外校區能否提供自己希望學習的專業。

4.多校區大學通常允許學生在不同校區之間短期學習交流——例如，紐約大學允許學生在其他紐大校區學習一年——但學生不能直接轉學去其他校區。舉個例子，如果一名在阿布扎比校區就讀的學生想正式轉到紐約校區，需要重新申請入學。

5. 多數在中東或歐洲設有校區的美國大學（比如紐約大學阿布扎比校區、維也納韋伯斯特大學）已經過了申請截止日期，但一些采用滾動錄取的院校（如羅馬美國大學）仍在接受申請。

對那些已經在美國學習的中國學生，我們的建議是——

正在美國就讀的中國學生和自己所在高校的國際學生辦公室保持密切聯系。這個辦公室不僅是他們獲取信息的最佳渠道，也是他們最有力的支持者。

除此之外，我們還建議密切關注來自可靠媒體的新聞報道，并且明白局勢每天、甚至每分鐘都在變化。

如果本來主要申請美國的學生考慮申請更多其他國家、地區的學校，他們要做和之前不同的準備是——

這些學生如今需要比以往更加關注自己的IB大考成績，因為大多數美國大學在錄取過程中并不參考IB成績；而英國和澳大利亞的大學則需要看到學生的IB預估分，并要求IB大考成績達到他們的錄取標準。

比如，想要進入英國排名前30的大學學習生物學，IB成績可能需達到42分中的40分，且高級課程的數學和科學的IB大考要分別取得6或7的成績。而在美國，大學只會參考學生在中學就讀期間的課程成績。

加拿大的大學也要求提供IB預估分，但通常可接受的IB大考成績范圍比英國和澳大利亞更寬。例如，想要申請多倫多大學的生物學專業，校方會建議申請者的IB成績達到中上30分的水平，但并不明確要求在理科高級課程的考試中取得特定分數。

The US government is trying to revoke Harvard’s eligibility to enroll international students.

New student visa appointments have been suspended, and the U.S. has announced reviews and cancellations of visas for Chinese students in certain fields.

Some Chinese students studying in the U.S. have already received advice from their universities: “Do not leave the country for now”...

Recently, the ability for foreign students to study in the United States has become increasingly “complicated.”

These changes have raised concerns among many families. Mrs. Melissa Meltzer Warehall — who has over 30 years of experience in college admissions and academic counseling — has to say:

Melissa Metzler Warehall

Head of College Counselling,

Daystar Academy

• Bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University, Juris Doctor from Chicago-Kent College of Law, Illinois Institute of Technology

• Former College Counselor at the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, a top private K-12 school that was ranked 4th in United States for its record of sending graduates to 8 US top universities and colleges

• Former Assistant Director of Admissions, University of Chicago

Applications to universities in the UK and Hong Kong are expected to surge next year, however…

Mrs. Warehall:I heard from colleagues at other schools in China that they have students who are now applying to UK or Australian universities for this year, but that is not the case here at Daystar. All of the members of the Daystar Class of 2025 who committed to attending a US college or university remain committed and do not plan to apply to another country as a back-up, even though UK and Australian universities still are accepting applications at this time*.

As for next year, we began meeting with the current G11 students several months ago, as well as had preliminary meetings about college planning with G10 students and parents, and overall, there seems to be more of an interest in HK and UK than in the last three years, even without the current situation in the US in mind.

As for UK and HK universities being more competitive, we have to remember that they are much larger than many US universities, especially US private colleges, and, therefore, they have the ability to admit more students than most US colleges and universities, even the highly ranked ones.I expect it to become somewhat more competitive as the application numbers rise, but not to the point that strong Daystar students will no longer be competitive.

*In the UK, many universities have space available and will accept applications through July. In Australia, there are two start dates: July/August and January/February. While Australian universities may no longer be able to admit students for the July/August 2025 start, they accept applications to enter university in January or February (start date depends on university’s semester calendar) through December of 2025.

Click poster to view college admission result of Daystar Academy class 2025

Does the United States discourage international students from studying certain "sensitive" majors? How will the college counselling team at Daystar adjust its approach?

Mrs. Warehall:I would re-state that to say: There are certain people in positions of power in the current US administration that are not fond of overseas students studying “sensitive” majors. It is important to clarify that the statements from current government leaders does not necessarily represent the views of the majority of Americans.

We have to also consider how many Americans get their news, which is from silos of information, often referred to as “echo chambers” where they hear only one view and they are easily manipulated because of their lack of information.

Another way to look at it is that many Americans are brainwashed into thinking that “China is evil” and “Chinese students come to America to spy on us and steal technology” which we know is far from the truth.

The reality is that foreign students contribute tremendously to America’s economy in a multitude of ways.For example, most foreign students are “full pay” at American colleges and universities, which means they, in part, subsidize the scholarships that colleges award to domestic students allowing domestic students to get discounts on tuition, thanks to the income received from foreign students. It won’t be long before that fact, as well as other economic impacts, are realized by those in power and their supporters and the threats of visa cancellations will end. For example, Chinese students studying at US colleges and universities help drive the economic growth and maintain local economic stability by paying rents to local landlords, by purchasing goods at businesses near their campus and by eating at local restaurants in that college community. This infusion of money from foreign students is vital to the US economy, both locally and nationally.

That said, we live in uncertain times and visas have been cancelled, first just for law-breakers but then, it seems, indiscriminately. Therefore, Daystar’s College Counselling Office is encouraging our Class of 2025 non-US citizens who plan to enroll at a US college to have a back-up plan and apply to UK or Australian universities now. (It is too late to apply to most Canadian universities.)We are talking individually to each student as this is a private and personal decision that requires sensitivity to discuss.

In recent days, some American universities with international campuses, as well as universities in Europe and East Asia, have been actively promoting themselves as alternative enrollment options for students who plan to attend college in the US but who encounter difficulties securing a visa. How should students and parents, as well as students of other grades approach and evaluate this information?

Mrs. Warehall:Families should consider:

1.Whether the student truly is prepared to study and live in a European or East Asian country,where the language of instruction at their university is English but the language of the community around them is unfamiliar, for example Czech, Spanish or Japanese.

2. Enrolling at an American university’s international campus still leads to an degree granted by that American university,but it typically specifies the campus location— for example, “New York University Abu Dhabi.”

3.Some international campuses offer a more limited range of majors than the university’s main campus in the U.S., so students should research carefully to make sure the overseas campus offers the major they want to pursue.

4.Universities with multiple campuses often allow students to study across different campuses— for example, NYU permits students to study at other NYU campuses for a year—but students may not transfer to another campus.In other words, if a student at the Abu Dhabi campus wants to formally enroll at the New York City campus, they must reapply for admission.

5. The application deadline has passed for most American universities with campuses in the Middle East or Europe (e.g., NYU Abu Dhabi, Webster University Vienna) however some colleges with Rolling admission are still accepting applications (e.g., American University of Rome).

For students already studying in US now, do you have any suggestions?

Mrs. Warehall:Our suggestion for Chinese students currently studying in the US is to keep in close touch with the International Student Office at their college or university. That resource is their best source of information, as well as their best advocate.

Other than that, we recommend keeping a close eye on news reports from trustworthy outlets, and realizing that the situation is changing day to day, even minute to minute.

In the future, if students who originally planned to apply mainly to U.S. schools now want to consider universities in other countries or regions, what different preparations will they need to make compared to before?

Mrs. Warehall:Such students need to be more focused than before on their IB scores because most US universities do not consider IB scores in their admissions decisions, however universities in the UK and Australia need to see Predicted Scores in the range that they will accept.

For example, to study Biology at a top 30 university in the UK, the IB score requirements may be 40 points out of 42, with scores of 6 or 7 for HL math and/or 6 or 7 for HL biology, chemistry or physics, whereas in the US, all that is considered are the grades the students already earned in their classes at Daystar.

Canadian universities also required Predicted Scores however, generally, the range of acceptable IB scores is wider than in the UK or Australia. For example, to study Biology at the University of Toronto, they indicate scores of mid-to-upper 30s are required without specifying the need for certain scores in HL STEM exams.