<p>Any advice on where I could get an offer?</p>
<p>SAT: 2200 Math: 790, Writing: 710, Critical Reading: 700
GPA: 3.8/3.9 UW</p>
<p>APs: Calculus AB 5
Calculus BC 5
European History 4
US History 5
AP Statistics 5
Literature 5</p>
<p>Looking into Business, International Relations</p>
<p>What schools should I look at?
Any advice?</p>
<p>Except for Oxbridge, and perhaps LSE, you can figure out the likelihood of getting an offer from any UK university programme. </p>
<p>First, pick the subject you want to do. In the UK you apply directly to your ‘major’. You apply through UCAS, which is similar to Common App, except that 1) there is only one essay (aka Personal Statement, or PS) that all the places you apply to will see and 2) you can only apply to 5 courses. So, you could apply for “Business Management” and “International Business” at the University of Edinburgh, and that would be 2 of your 5. Note that your PS is about why you want to study that subject, with evidence that you know something about it and why you are suited to it, so if you apply to courses that are too far apart it is hard to make a compelling argument. </p>
<p>Every UK uni has a ‘course finder’ with extensive details about each course offered- down to what classes you will take each year of the course. You should read around those carefully to figure out which courses are the most interesting to you.</p>
<p>The course descriptions also have the typical offer (offer, because UK students typically get an offer conditional on their predicted grades for the A levels they take at the end of the last year of high school; if they meet their conditions- which they find out in early August- they get the place; this won’t apply to you as you already have your APs and SATs). For all intents and purposes, you can figure that an “A” at A level is a 5 on an AP, and an AP 4 for a “B” at A level. Depending on the course there may be specific subjects listed as prerequisites (less likely for business and IR, but keep an eye out)</p>
<p>You also need to check out any international requirements- every uni will have a section for international students that will list any baseline requirements (typically SAT). This is unlikely to be an issue for you, as I think your stats already put you over those lines. As more US students start applying some unis are starting to ask for a GPA, but except for St Andrews (which is so Americanized that you can apply through the Common App) they mostly don’t care. Also, the UK unis are less interested in ECs, except as they relate to the subject you are applying to study.</p>
<p>Based on your stats, and assuming a decent PS and rec, you can be pretty confident of a place at most UK unis in the subject areas you are interested in. The challenging ones would be Oxford, Cambridge and LSE. </p>
<p>Cambridge (no undergrad business course; for IR you apply for Human, Social and Political Science and specialize in IR) has a minimum of 5 "5"s on APs, and you have 4 1/2 (Stats only counts as a “B” level AP: <a href=“http://www.ucas.com/how-it-all-works/explore-your-options/entry-requirements/tariff-tables/app”>http://www.ucas.com/how-it-all-works/explore-your-options/entry-requirements/tariff-tables/app</a> ). Depending on the college you apply to within Cambridge you also need to submit graded school essays, write an essay, and/or take an admissions test. </p>
<p>Oxford (also no business undergrad, but there is Economics and Management; for IR the choices would be Philosophy, Politics and Economics- PPE- or History & Politics) has a minimum of 3 "5"s, so you would meet that. For E&M and PPE you have to take the Thinking Skills Assesment (TSA) exam; for HisPol you take the History Aptitude Test (HAT).</p>
<p>For both Cambridge and Oxford you also have at least one interview, usually more for these courses. The interview is somewhere between an oral exam and a tutorial session. It is designed to see how you work in that setting, and how your mind works, not what you know. </p>
<p>As for which unis…you can look up the ranking tables, but remember to apply the same factors you would in the US. Large or small? Rural, small town or urban? St Andrews is in the back of beyond while University of Edinburgh is smack in town- one may suit you better than the other. Durham is a collegiate college (like Cambridge and Oxford). The London unis often share housing- that is the dorms are open to students from any uni- that may or may not suit you. London is significantly more expensive than anywhere else in the UK. Scottish programs will be 4 years, English 3- the 4 years gives you more room for a broader program, 3 years is obviously easier on the budget. </p>
<p>Finally, the UK version of CC is called the student room. There is a lot of information there- you will find threads for pretty much every uni and most subjects, as well as ones on American students applying to college in the UK and so on. </p>
<p>Thank you so much! This gives me a lot to think about. </p>