Applying to Oxford.

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hello all! This seems like a wonderful site for an ignorant high school junior such as myself to ask the following question:</p>

<p>How should I go about applying to Oxford and is this a reasonably attainable endeavor (Mainly in a financial sense. I live in a fairly low income household)?</p>

<p>My circumstances are that I am an American citizen. I do not know if I can apply to Oxford or not as it is a European college.</p>

<p>It is to my understanding that Oxford is a top-notch school like that of Harvard. I would very much like to live in England after college and I would like to obtain a PHD in Physics. This is the reason I want to go to Oxford.</p>

<p>My GPA is a 4.0 with four scores of 5 on AP Exams and more to come!
Enrolled in the Honors/AP program.
I am currently a part of XC team, swim team, track and field as well as various other clubs
I have 200+ Volunteer hours completed (and counting! Still got the rest of this year and the next!)
My SAT score is a 2050 and my graduation writing test score was exceeding with a 295.</p>

<p>I have yet to take my Graduation exam.</p>

<p>Any and all help would be much appreciated as this is what I really would like to do with my life</p>

2

<p>Your message isn’t clear, do you want to go to undergrad at Oxford and earn a PhD after or earn a PhD at Oxford?</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate_courses/how_to_apply/index.html[/url]”>http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate_courses/how_to_apply/index.html&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate_courses/international_students/index.html[/url]”>http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate_courses/international_students/index.html&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate_courses/international_students/international_qualifications/index.html[/url]”>http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate_courses/international_students/international_qualifications/index.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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3

<p>FWIW, Cambridge probably has a better reputation than Oxford for physics. But you probably would have difficulty financing either of them as they do not have the financial aid resources (especially for international applicants) that we associate with universities in the US. In fact, there were riots in the UK a week ago or so over a proposal to significantly raise tuition for British students. A bachelors degree would only take 3 years in the UK, but the price (with room and board) for an international applicant in physics next year is about $45-50,000 per year and that can fluctuate significantly with changes in exchange rates.</p>

4

<p>Your SAT score is low for Oxford.</p>

<p>It is very expensive for non-UK students to attend British universities. They are all expected to pay full freight, and tuition is similar to an elite private US university’s. The typical foreign student at Oxford comes from a wealthy family in a former British colony (Hong Kong, India, Pakistan, etc.) or has won a prestigious postgraduate scholarship like the Rhodes or the Marshall.</p>

<p>You would be better off going to an affordable US school and looking into international options for graduate school.</p>

5

<p>So it would seem. I figured my main hurdle would be the money involved. I come from a low income family you see. Also, as you said, my SAT score is too low.</p>

<p>Regardless, thanks for the replies! They have been very helpful and have kept me from wasting a good bit of time and probably saved me from extreme disappointment!</p>