<p>So I am considering applying to the UK but right now I am kind of confused. Since I study in an American school, I am more used to the US application system, but I have done my research on the UK system as well.</p>
<p>I want to apply to the UK for the following courses:</p>
<p>Oxford: History & Economics
LSE: Governemnt & Economics
Edinburgh: Economics & Arabic
St. Andrews: Economics & Arabic
Warwick: Economics, Politics, & International Studies</p>
<p>As you can see, my courses are slightly different for each school. I think I can justify them in my personal statement. But I've heard that it might hurt my chances. What should I do? I have the option of applying to St. Andrews using their application for North American students. </p>
<p>Also, I have heard that at Scottish universities you study 3 subjects in your first year, so for Edinburgh can I apply for Economics and Politics, and alter switch to Economics + Arabic in my second year?</p>
<p>Yes, your course choices are a bit too spread out for the personal statement, which is extremely important. If you haven’t really decided what you want to study in depth for three years, apply for one course at all schools and once you get in, switch to the course you want. This isn’t unheard of and is fairly easy to do as long as the course you really want isn’t TOO popular (sorry, but it won’t work with economics at LSE). I can’t say if you can switch from into any economics courses at LSE but a bit more research should give you answers.</p>
<p>Switching is very common at the Scottish university, so yes to your second question.</p>
<p>It WILL hurt you if you’re applying for history, economics, politics and Arabic because the admissions tutors - who both decide if they want to take you and teach you after you’re in - will consider you ‘uncommitted’ which is a serious no-no. The best way is to decide what course(s) you want to study and apply for those. Otherwise, you’ll be hurting your chances at all unis. </p>
<p>In general, switching courses after you get in is easier from a ‘difficult’ subject to an ‘easy’ subject; for example changing from Law to Classics is easier than vice versa (assuming one has the appropriate AP/IB/A Levels for both), and from joint honours (X and Y) to single honours (only X/only Y) is usually easier than vice versa especially at Oxford with the interview system. But this is (a) not guaranteed, (b) they may make you do the original subject for a year + get good marks before being able to switch or (c) they don’t let you do it, period.</p>
<p>I’ve also heard that at Scottish unis you study 3 subjects in the first year before narrowing down, but am not sure how choosing of the 3rd subject works. I’d advise reading into the Scottish system on individual unis’ pages. If Arabic can be the third subject, then apply for E and P/E and H there and take out the Arabic from your personal statement. Also, do you want to do H&E or P&E? Oxford does the former, but does PPE which also has philosophy in the first year, which is another course you could look into.</p>
<p>Thanks a lot for the responses guys. I think I will switch to Economics and Politics for Edinburgh and St. Andrews. I am fairly proficient in Arabic and I think moving from Econ+Politics to Econ+Arabic will be much easier.</p>
<p>I dont think I want to do PPE at Oxford since I a not interested in Philosophy and the program is extremely competitive as well.</p>
<p>Also, do you think if I keep Warwick, will the added International Studies hurt my chances, since Warwick doesnt offer Econ+Politics by itself. </p>
<p>Should I consider finding a different university?</p>
<p>The main issue is still that you will be applying for Economics with <em>history</em> at Ox but Economics with <em>politics</em> at other universities, so it is most advisable you choose one of the two combinations before writing the PS etc.</p>
<p>It depends on Warwick’s “International Studies” course (you can find specifications on the website) - are they more “politics of Country X” or more on literature/culture? You could probably wing it by mentioning like “I am particularly interested in the politics of (say) the Middle East, having read [book]”. I wouldn’t mention the phrase “E, P and IS” together but will try to show interest in elements of Warwick IS through discussion of E/P (I hope this makes sense).</p>
<p>^^^ Yes, if you’re willing to do at least a year of philosophy. After PPE prelims (first year exams) you can drop one out of P, P or E. But you have to do all of them in the first year. </p>
<p>I agree with Agneisse - you need to decide whether history or politics is what you want to do with Economics. You need a personal statement tailored to one or the other - space on the PS is very limited, and you really can’t fit in Econ AND history AND politics. </p>
<p>(Btw, regarding PPE, it’s fine for your personal statement to be just about two of them. Most people haven’t studied all three before, so they just write about the ones they have/are most interested in.)</p>
<p>I did more research yesterday and I have decided that I’ll apply for Economics & Economic History at all 5 of them. I think I’m more inclined towards Economic History than Politics. Thanks a lot for your input :)</p>
<p>I just have a couple of more questions.</p>
<p>Firstly, how much weight do english universities give to the SAT I, I know that AP scores and your passion for the subject are extremely important factors. But is the SAT I really that important?</p>
<p>I’ve taken AP US, AP WH, AP Macroeconomics, AP Microeconomcs, and AP English Language. I’ve gotten a 5 on all of them except English Langauge. However, my SAT I scores arent really impressive. Will that really hurt my chances?</p>
<p>Here on CC, I have heard that UK institutions consider the SAT I “a dumb American invention”. Is that true?</p>
<p>Just to check, you’re applying for Economics and Modern History at Oxford, right? It won’t be solely economic history. :)</p>
<p>I don’t know if UK universities consider the SAT a ‘dumb American invention’, but it certainly has less weight than your PS and APs, and your interview at Oxford. I believe Oxford wants a minimum of 2100 on the SAT I. If you have anything over that, you’re fine - it makes no difference to them if you have a 2100 or a 2400. </p>
<p>The reason the SAT I isn’t very important in the UK is that we don’t have any kind of equivalent to it. We do have an equivalent to APs - AS and A-levels or the IB. It’s easier to compare like with like; someone might have 2400 on their SAT I but that doesn’t tell you anything about how well prepared they are to enter the UK system, since we can’t equate it to anything a UK student might achieve.</p>
<p>Umm, the course is called History & Economics and on their website it says that it will focus on Economics, Economic History, and History. </p>
<p>I really hope they disregard the SAT I since its the weakest part of my application.</p>
<p>Also, can you please tell me about some good Oxford colleges. What colleges are specifically strong in social sciences? I know that Balliol, Brasenose, Harris Manchester, Hertford, Jesus College, Merton, New College, Oriel, Pembroke, Queen’s, Somerville, St Anne’s, St Catherine’s, St Edmund Hall, St John’s, St Peter’s, Wadham, and Worcester
all offer History & Economics. I want to apply as an open applicant but people on CC say that it can be a disadvantage :S</p>
<p>Ah yes, sorry, I see it isn’t called Modern History. Sorry! Usually, if someone at Oxford says they’re studying ‘history’, they mean Modern History… which means anything after the fall of the Roman Empire. </p>
<p>There aren’t any colleges that specialise in anything. Apply to whichever one you like best. Harris Manchester is for mature (over 21) students. I don’t think an open application is a disadvantage - you get assigned to a college that has had fewer applicants for your subject, so it may in fact be an advantage. The reason they suggest this for international applicants is because you probably won’t have a chance to visit before applying, so your impressions will be somewhat vague anyway. </p>
<p>I went to Pembroke. It’s very pretty, but bear in mind that they don’t offer accomodation for all years of your course, so it tends to be a little less cohesive than colleges that house everyone on the same site for 3/4 years. It has a huge number of History students for its size. My husband went to Corpus Christi - I believe they offer H&E too. Lovely college - very small, everyone knows everyone else, not too cliquey. I preferred it to Pembroke!</p>
<p>Out of the ones you’ve listed, Teddy Hall and St Catz are my favourites. They’re very different - Teddy Hall is old, with a very traditional ‘Oxford college’ look (think honey coloured stone buildings covered with wisteria in summer). It also has a graveyard! It’s very centrally located, right in the middle of the town centre. </p>
<p>St Catz is modern; it was designed to reflect a Japanese Zen garden - lots of swept gravel walks, very light and airy. It’s also right next to the Social Scienes Library, a bit out of the centre but still an easy walk.</p>
<p>Colleges don’t specialise in any subject and nowhere is particularly ‘bad’ (I mean, it is Oxford). If you’re curious, the Norrington Table ranks each college for their performance in final exams. It’s not a perfect table, but it’s an interesting read. </p>
<p>I think for choosing colleges, there are a few factors to consider (not all of these may apply to you):
Accommodation for all years of the course
Prices of accommodation (these can vary quite a bit among colleges) and their quality/reputation
Distance from college to faculty/ies
What “type” of college you want (central/far away, “Oxford” versus “modern” architecture, etc.)
Possibility of vacation residence - Oxford is split into 3 terms, so if you don’t want to fly back and forth three times a year you may want to see if colleges will let you stay for the small vacations.
<p>Wow, Saint Catherine’s College is stunning. A suburn location, squash courts, great academics, lol. Thanks a lot Laylah, I think I’ve made my decision.</p>
<p>Thanks a lot Agneisse and Laylah, I think Saint Catherine’s College is perfectly suitable for me. The social sciences faculty is strong, the departments are closeby, suburban location. Thanks for telling me about the room and boarding, I didnt know they had seperate charges for different colleges. I will look into that.</p>
<p>So Agneisse, what kind of questions do they ask in the interview. I know they ask you about the things you have mentioned in your personal statement. What else is there?</p>
<p>Also, they have a iIstory Aptitude Test that you have to take at your school and an Economics test that you take during your interview period. Do we need any preperation for them? Also, if they arrange a telephonic interview, how do they administer the Economics Test?</p>
<p>I didn’t apply for H&E, but [oxbridge</a> admissions](<a href=“http://www.oxbridge-admissions.info%5Doxbridge”>http://www.oxbridge-admissions.info) has some ‘profiles’ of past applicants and some of the profiles talk about the types of questions they were asked. The ‘History’ profiles or ‘Economics and something’ profiles may both be worth scanning for an idea of the types of things they may ask. But knowing everything on your PS is a start (:</p>
<p>“Some colleges may require you to read a short passage of historical writing while you are up for interview, which they will ask you to discuss as part of the interview process.” If St. Catz has a page on H&E, then they may elaborate more on their interview procedure there (:</p>
<p>From your list of APs, and the fact that your SAT1 isn’t very impressive there may be a question mark over your maths abilities (I don’t know know the approach of the two economics APs). That can be a disadvantage with the economics; it’s certainly important for economics at Oxford (maths is down as a recommended A-level for UK applicants for H&E and helpful for PPE). You may want to think about what you could do to remedy that; you should certainly think about what might help to convince them that you would be able to cope with the maths-related features of the course.</p>
<p>Oh lol :P, I’m actually a person who is good at Math but interested in social sciences/humanities. I am taking AP Calculus, AP Statistics, AP Chemistry, and AP English Literature next year, Besides that I will be taking the Math IIC SAT II and I’m almost 100% sure tha I can score at least 770+ out of 800. Math wont be a problem. its just that although Math is my strength, I happen to be more interested in the social sciences :P</p>