Applying to Oxbridge...

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I just have a quick question. I saw somewhere on the Cambridge website that they want at least 5 APs with scores of 4 or 5 in each. Now, I obviously can only take AP exams in May. I'm currently a junior - does that mean I have to take 5 AP exams this May?? I will definitely have accumulated at least 5 APs by the end of senior year - but this year?? I don't know if I can pull that off. I currently have 2 APs (US history and US gov) - does that mean I have to start studying like crazy to take three or four more AP exams this May?? Or is it fine to take them May 2015...?</p>

<p>Anyway, let's say I have 6 AP exams with a 5 in each (or a 5 in four of them and a 4 in one of them...)</p>

<p>SAT: 2400
SAT II's: both 800
Grades: A mix of A's and A-'s </p>

<p>I know EC's don't matter but say I'm in several clubs at my school and have 300 hours of community service by the end of junior year summer.</p>

<p>What are my chances of getting into Cambridge or Oxford (preferably Cambridge)?
Also, because I have "weak" EC's, should I forget about HYPS? Should I forget about Ivy League in general and focus intensively on English universities?</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

2

<p>Anyone?</p>

3

<p>You havent given us much info about your EC’s, so I am assuming they are weak, but as far as your SAT’s go, Oxbridge doesn’t care as much about them.</p>

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<p>Wait, what does Oxbridge care about then? Only APs and the interview? </p>

<p>My main question is whether I will need to do five or six APs THIS YEAR though - or if I can do them next year.</p>

5

<p>Cambridge is a minimum of 5 scores of 5 on APs, which should be as relevant to the subject that you want to study as possible (so, if you are applying to study history, you would need to take USH, Eur, World, and perhaps an English and USGov/CompGov or Macro/Micro). If you don’t have enough when you apply you can get a conditional offer (which is what the vast majority of UK students get). Your offer will say something along the lines of "offer you a place conditional your achieving scores of 5 on [insert subject(s)]. If you get the required marks you get a confirmation of your place pretty quickly, but typically the welcome packet won’t come until August, when the UK students get their results. If you miss your offer it is highly unlikely that you will get to keep your place, but it happens just often enough that people hope. </p>

<p>Also, not sure if I read leavingNYC right, but Oxbridge care about your SATs, not your ECs (except as they relate to your subject)</p>

6

<p>Okay, thanks, that makes a lot more sense now. </p>

<p>Okay, so I’m currently signed up for 2 AP’s (Gov and US History). Let’s assume I get a 5 in both, and here are my grades for the past two years as well as the grades I’m hoping to get this year:</p>

<p>9th Grade (all honors except geometry)
Biology: A-
Business: A-
Com Art: A
English: A-
Phys Ed: A
Spanish: A-
World History (not AP): A-
Plane Geometry: A</p>

<p>10th Grade (no honors because this school didn’t offer any)</p>

<p>Algebra 2: A
US History: A-
Spanish: A-
Art: A
English: A
Physical Science: A</p>

<p>11th Grade (projected grades - all classes honors unless AP)</p>

<p>English: A
Spanish: A-
AP Gov: A-
AP History: A-
Precalc: A-
Physics: A-
Health: A-
Phys Ed: A
Perhaps I could crank out a few more A’s… would it make a difference?</p>

<p>Now assuming I get 2400 SAT, 800 (both SAT II), and 5’s on both AP exams - do I have a good chance for Oxbridge? Do I have a much smaller chance in Ivy League because of lack of meaningful EC’s? (I do have EC’s, and may try to do president of FBLA or officer in some club but nothing with passion or entrepreneurship or that stupid stuff that they usually look for…)</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

7

<p>So, do I have a chance with credentials like that?</p>

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<p>So, I’m still pretty confused about whether I have a chance to get into Oxbridge. If they really don’t care about EC’s, what more can I possibly do?? 5’s on a bunch of AP tests, 2400 SAT’s, and all A’s (well, most of this is projected, but yeah). Is it really that easy to get into these universities? Because I wouldn’t come close to getting into Harvard without EC’s… and Oxbridge is, well, more prestigious than Harvard and (I would think) equally hard or harder to get into. </p>

<p>There’s nothing else I actually CAN do, right? I know, EC’s in my subject area - but apart from that, nothing?
I also know that a lot depends on my interview, but say I do well on that…</p>

<p>By the way, if I had these kinds of marks could I get into some lower Ivy’s like Penn, Brown, or Cornell? I do have a few EC’s - FBLA and other school clubs, and I might become an officer or president in one of them, and I’ll have about 300 hours of community service at a senior center.</p>

<p>So, chance for HYPS, Penn, Cornell, Brown, Columbia and mainly Oxbridge? Thanks…</p>

9

<p>You can only apply to Oxford OR Cambridge.
The due date is October 15.
With A-'s you’re already not looking too good for either one since they expect A/A* meaning straight A’s.
Yes the only thing that matters will be those 5’s. And if you don’t get them, you don’t get your offer so you have to take a gap year and apply again/elsewhere.
You can take the APs this year, then apply, then go through the jan 15 UCAS applications; you could apply to Durham or any in the Russell Group plus NCH since you’d have 4 slots left.
You’ll get conditional offers based on what your adviser says (ie, your adviser should state whether you’ll get 3 more 5s). If you get the 3 5’s and that was your condition, then you’d be in for most universities EXCEPT either Oxford or Cambridge. </p>

<p>They typically have written exams followed by an oral examination. These are based on a reading list, probably 12-15 books (college-level) in your chosen subject. They only take the students who did best on both, showing mastery of content, ease with the concepts, and ability to not be destabilized when a Don asks a mean/off-the-wall question.</p>

<p>

I’m not sure how well-thought out your plan is when I read this type of sentences.</p>

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<p>Back up a bit. </p>

<p>First, Oxford and Cambridge do not care about your classroom grades. They care about standardized testing <strong>in your subject area</strong> (including their own aptitude tests for Oxford, and sometimes examples of graded work or extra essays at both unis), your interview (if you get that far), your Personal Statement on why you want to study the course you are applying to and your rec. Your ECs will be interesting only in so far as they relate to your subject and add to your case for why you are a good candidate for that course.</p>

<p>Which, by the way, you haven’t mentioned: what course do you want to study? </p>

<p>You ask “5’s on a bunch of AP tests, 2400 SAT’s, and all A’s … Is it really that easy to get into these universities?” </p>

<p>For a start, don’t be so quick to say that getting those things is easy- note you only have one of these- the A’s, which are irrelevant (also, fyi, you don’t need a 2400- a 2200 will do nicely, and there are people with 2100s). And, you are not even on track to have 5 "5"s- you haven’t told us what you plan to take as a senior, but at the end of your junior year you will only have 1 1/2 (US Gov is only 1/2, as are Comp Gov, Micro/Macro, and few others). Also, if your SAT IIs are duplicates of your APs they don’t count either.</p>

<p>The test scores are simply a bar that you have to jump over to show that you are reasonably clever, reasonably diligent and have a knowledge base sufficient to handle the level of material that you will encounter in uni. They don’t ‘get you in’- they get you over the first hurdle. Then they add aptitude tests or other written evaluations, make the cut for interviews. And then it comes down to the interview.</p>

<p>The interviews are not with an admissions person- they are with tutors who are likely to have to actually teach you if you are offered a place, and thus are experts in your field of interest (and have a clear stake in having students that they are interested in teaching, as they have to spend at least an hour a week one-on-one or one-on-two with you!). </p>

<p>As MYOS points out, the interviews are like an oral exam. For example, if you are applying for history you might be given an obscure reading (deliberately from or about a time and place that you are unlikely to be familiar with) 30 minutes before the interview. The interview is then a discussion about the reading- asking you to analyze it, extrapolate from it, applying it to other times / places / cultures, being asked for opinions,being challenged on those opinions, and so on.</p>

<p>Anyway, your first question was ‘with a 2400 SAT, 5 scores of 5 on APs and 2 scores of 800 on SATIIs can I get into Oxbridge’, and the answer is yes, you can. With the caveats that 1) those tests are clustered around the subject that you are applying to study; 2) you make the cut for the interview; and 3) you do well in the interview.</p>

<p>You seem to be in a panic about ‘what can I do’. In real life, the people who are happiest at Oxford are people who really do enjoy the subject that they are studying (you do realize that you study just one subject, right?). If you have a subject that you love (and not just a love of prestigious names, which is coming across here), what you can do is immerse yourself in your subject, show some initiative in how you learn more about it, excel in it.</p>