<p>How competitive are Oxford and Cambridge for undergrad admissions compared to the Ivy Leagues, especially HYP?</p>
<p>I'd say about as competitive... I heard most of their students come from public schools (e.g. Eton).</p>
<p>Assuming your'e not from the UK, Oxford had a 10.3% admission rate for internationals last year, so it's pretty close.</p>
<p>What about Financial Aid? I heard they do not offer as much financial aid as their endownments are not as large as the Ivy league's. As well, they offer only conditional acceptances?</p>
<p>yeah they're roughly the same hard to get into</p>
<p>From what I heard, Oxbridge are has-been universities with horrible finances and resources. I think I saw an article in Time magazine talking about how these universities are in deep trouble.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that it's an entirely different admissions game. When you apply to Oxbridge, you apply for a specific subject at a specific college (within the university). So you aren't competing against the entire applicant pool, but against a number of students vying for however many spots the college has for your subject.</p>
<p>Also keep in mind that the 10% acceptance at Oxford is from a MUCH different applicant pool. Many students of varying academic caliber apply to the Ivy Leagues, whereas only students that have the resources ($$$), academic preparation (lots of APs and well-versed in a single subject) and learned how to apply to UK schools, apply to Oxbridge. It is much harder to be 10% of the international applicant pool at Oxford than to be 10% of the applicant pool at an Ivy League.</p>
<p>Well it's a completely different system. Like comparing apples and oranges.</p>
<p>I'd say that Oxbridge is about as hard to get in as HYP. Definitely harder than the rest of Ivy League.</p>
<p>As someone said, Oxbridge application process is entirely different, and favors those with a very clear idea of what they want to do in college and why. If you're on the fence about your intended major, or just "kinda" like a particular subject, then it's not for you. The essay & interview are very (and i mean, very) subject-specific and challenging, which is in sync with the kind of education you're going to get there (imagine 3 politics student with 1 advisor in any particular college. That kind of personal attention). ECAs & everything else don't count for squat, unless it's subject-related and of a very high level. </p>
<p>That said, I prefer IL, because their admission process guarantees an incoming class that's both diverse and interesting to get to know. The thought of being around hyper academic-minded people is scary to me. While i'm almost 90% sure what i want to pursue in college, i still want the option of taking things outside my major, which Oxbridge doesn't provide.</p>
<p>Oxbridge is much harder to get into for a British student than a US student applyying to HYPS, but since international students pay and Ox is stretched for $$, you might be surprised. If you are a HYPS caliber applicant and you take the time to research the nuances of Oxbridge and English school's admissions, I'd say you would have as good of a shot as with the HYPS.</p>
<p>I think it's more difficult to get into. I think I have more of a chance of HYP than Oxbridge. For Oxbridge the only thing that matters is that you have super high grades. British students can get as much financial aid as they need from the student loans company but all of the people I know who were admitted to Oxford or Cambridge have pretty good incomes.</p>
<p>I don't suspose Oxbridge claim(s) "need blind" admissions. LOL</p>
<p>Well for British students your income doesn't matter where you get accepted because our schools aren't privately owned. Everyone is entitled to apply for financial aid and that's awarded through a combination of grants and loans. But I understand for international applicants it's different.. I don't know about Oxbridge specifically but I think generally US students aren't allowed to apply for FA from the UK FA company.. but you can apply through the FAFSA in the USA.. so I guess whatever you're entitled to their stands for here as well.</p>
<p>Something to note: Oxbridge does not care , even a tiny bit, about ECs. They care about your brain and your ability and interest in using it. Scholarships for non-Brits are , I believe, fairly rare. Also, their admissions timeline is very different, so if you have any interest, check out the admissions requirements by junior year.</p>
<p>Oxford has a cut-off minimum sat score of 2100!!! Nuff said!!!</p>
<p>^ Not many people admitted to HYP (except the URMs) have <2100 SAT.</p>
<p>I'm international to both, accepted to both Cambridge and Yale EA but i already turned down Cam.</p>
<p>People apply to Harvard with all types of credentials just for the heck of it... but only the very top students apply to oxbridge, hence its high acceptance rate. again, nuff said!</p>
<p>some stats for cambridge:
Application</a> statistics</p>