Best UK Universities

Applying to College
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<p>Hi Guys! (sorry if there's already a thread for this, by the way)</p>

<p>I'm a high school student in the US with decent grades (All A's and A+'s). I will be taking APs in Government, English, US History, Art History, Calculus, French, and possibly Italian over the next two years. My SAT and SAT II scores (Bio, World History, US History, Chem, French w/ listening) are all in the mid-to-high 700s. </p>

<p>I don't know a lot about the British system but I really want to study there and get my degree.Basically, what are the best Universities in the UK? And then, which ones would I have a chance at getting into, if my SAT scores improve by a lot and I get 5's on all my APs, which are my predicted grades?</p>

<p>Also, besides grades, what is life like at these schools? I know that lifestyle will be a big part of my choice when the time comes.</p>

<p>THANKS, and please comment!!</p>

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<p>Probably Cambridge and Oxford, I’d say, unless you’re looking for a specific program. Best ones in England, at least. I don’t recognize the UK as a legitimate political entity.</p>

<p>If you don’t know a lot about the system, RESEARCH. You might need a visa, plus applications will probably be much different.</p>

<p>Also, I’m not able to “chance” you, as I would have no experience or basis in doing so. Good luck, though.</p>

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<p>It depends what you want to study but Cambridge, Oxford, LSE, UCL and Imperial are usually seen as the best. St Andrews, Durham and Edinburgh are also internationally respected.</p>

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<p>Excuse me, you don’t recognise my country as a legitimate political entity? What a foolish thing to say.</p>

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<p>

Well, I may consider it around the time it stops claiming Northern Ireland as a part of it. However, whatever you reply to this, I won’t reply to, as to not derail the thread.</p>

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<p>thanks :slight_smile: but when i said i didnt know a lot about the system, i didnt mean it quite so…generally. obviously i would need a student visa etc etc but ive looked on a lot of college pages and their application policies seem very different both from american standards and from each other… and then it seems to get a little vague when looking at SATs vs. APs, as compared to the A levels and other british exams…and of course, it’s hard to go for an interview if you live in america… anyone have any idea how all of that generally works? i just seem to be getting a lot of different answers</p>

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<p>You don’t know your history. Northern Ireland is still part of Britain because the majority of its people wanted (and still do want) to be. Decline to reply if you so wish, but spare me the pretence that it is the derailment of a thread you wish to avoid.</p>

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<p>The main differences between US/English systems (I’m only going to talk about England because the Scottish system is a bit different and I’m not as familiar with it) are:</p>

<p>US
Bachelor’s degree takes four years. You do a wide variety of courses in your first year or two, then specialize in your “major” subject towards the end. You can change your major during the degree. Admissions is based on test scores, references, personal essay, possibly an interview with alumni, as well as other factors such as your ethnicity, legacy status, extracurriculars, whether you would contribute to a well-rounded class, etc.</p>

<p>England
Bachelor’s degree takes three years. You start studying your major straight away and there’s usually no requirement to take exams in anything outside the major subject. It is difficult, therefore, to change your major once you’ve started and that’s why the degree is shorter (because there are no general education requirements). Admission is heavily based on your dedication to your selected major, test scores in subjects relevant to the major, teacher references and personal statement/essay. Extracurriculars are a nice-to-have but not a major boost to your application. Ethnicity, legacy status, contribution to a well-rounded class, etc are not considered (although rumor has it that foreign students get a boost at some poorer universities if they’re going to be paying the higher international student fees).</p>

<p>If you know what subject you want to specialize in and you want to get as deep into that subject as possible, the English system is ideal. But if you’re a wide-eyed all-rounder who wants to dabble in a bit of everything then you will not find the English system to your liking.</p>

<p>The two most respected universities in the UK (although not necessarily the best at everything) are of course Oxford and Cambridge. To speak in very general terms:</p>

<p>Oxford is slightly more prestigious for humanities subjects and Cambridge is slightly more prestigious for science subjects, although both are excellent all round. Cambridge is somewhat more popular with East Asian students who normally come abroad to study technical, more “practical” subjects in the UK, whereas Oxford is somewhat more popular with US students who normally come to the UK to study Olde Worlde subjects like English Literature or History (of course you will also find Asian students at Oxford and Americans at Cambridge, but there is some truth to the generalizations).</p>

<p>It is normally difficult for American students to get into a UK university to study science or engineering right out of high school because they’re competing against UK students who’ve specialized sooner in high school and have more advanced technical knowledge. However, the broad liberal arts curriculum in US high schools is suitable preparation for humanities and social science degrees in the UK, so you could be quite competitive for those if you choose your degree subject carefully. I can’t emphasize enough that you have to be passionate about your chosen degree subject. If you don’t have a clear subject in mind then you might be better off doing a degree in the US and coming to the UK on a study abroad program for one term or two. I believe a few US universities offer something like this.</p>

<p>Social life, well where to start? Legal age to buy alcohol in the UK is 18 and a lot of kids start much younger than that. A lot of social life does seem to revolve around getting drunk, although if you’re not comfortable with that scene then you can always find a group of teetotallers to enjoy the sober life together. Brits are normally a bit more reserved than Americans except when they’re drunk, and despite some occasional anti-American sentiment Brits are normally very curious about life in America because they see so much of it on TV (don’t be surprised if you’re asked whether you own a gun, etc). Oh yeah, and one final thing is that most exams are bunched together during the summer, rather than spread out across the year, so there’s a period during May/June when everyone disappears because they’re desperately cramming for exams, but for the first six months of an academic year a lot of people seem to be doing no work at all. It’s quite different from what happens in US colleges so do be aware of that.</p>

<p>Anyway, that’s more than enough information for one post. :)</p>

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<p>

LOL! yes, that’s so true! You will be asked this about 50 times in your first week!</p>

<p>Other than Oxbridge, most UK universities don’t interview undergraduate applicants (a few do for specific subjects, mainly medicine, but even these may not interview foreign students).</p>

<p>If you google UK league tables you will find loads of info on UK universities. As noted above, you apply for one specific subject and it’s very difficult to change. Therefore look for places highly ranked in your particular subject, even if they are not highly ranked overall.</p>

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<p>^You know, as an American in the UK, I’ve never once been asked if I own a gun, even during freshers week. Maybe the Scots are more sensible than the English. ;)</p>

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<p>Probably a stupid question, but how much is your GPA weighted for Oxbridge? I saw a lot about the interview, recommendations, and personal statement, and only found SAT requirements on the U.S. international applicant section. Did I miss something?</p>

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<p>As I recall, for Oxbridge, your GPA is not overly important, just because so many American schools calculate GPA in different ways, so they don’t all mean the same thing. They look at your marks in your relevant subjects, sure, but SAT and AP scores are more important.</p>

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<p>it depends what degree you’re looking at.
for law/ humanities, its lse, king’s ucl
for engineering stuff, imperial
for medicine, edinburgh and st andrews
and oxford / cambridge are strong overall.
uk schools care about ur smarts (grades), and how relevant your courses are.
for example: if u wanna take medicine, you “sorta” must take chemistry, math, that kind of stuff. Also, top unis would really want you to have work experience / did summer related to medical stuff like going to conventions, etc. helping out with red cross and those kinda stuff.
as far as i know, if ur applying to medicine, they dont really care if you created a super computer / technology. remember, the key here is relevance and grades.</p>

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<p>and for english, durham is unbeatable.</p>

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<p>[Rough</a> Guide Of The Best & Most Reputable Universities In The UK - Nairaland](<a href=“Rough Guide Of The Best & Most Reputable Universities In The UK - Education - Nigeria”>Rough Guide Of The Best & Most Reputable Universities In The UK - Education - Nigeria)</p>

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<p>Do you have any idea what you wish to study? Most degree programmes are specific to one thing - Philosophy or Physics say.</p>

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<p>Can I mention, this is completely incorrect. There are no best or worse medical schools in the UK - they teach to exactly the same standard as regulated by the general medical council. You also don’t need to have taken maths at all - chemistry yes, biology for most places - chemistry plus another science/maths everywhere (the admissions critera are on the university websites).</p>

<p>Sagerobinsons post contains words of wisdom!</p>

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<p>^^^^</p>

<p>Keep in mind, int’l students for medicine is capped. I want to say it’s 10 percent of class size. So if the class is 200, then its only 20 int’l students. So while Calc may not be required, you better darn well have a 5 in BC if you want to be competitive. And yeah, really doesn’t matter where you go for med school in the UK…all pretty much have close to 100 percent employment.</p>

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<p>Disagree strenuously about this-- medical schools that use ‘problem based learning’ are widely regarded by registrars as worse than those few that still use the traditional system.</p>

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<p>As far as I know, many U.S. student can’t get into most medicine programs in the UK because they don’t accept AP Chemistry as satisfying their chemistry requirement. You usually need to have IB HL Chemistry at a 6/7 or an A Level at A/A* to get in to the more competitive universities. So, unless your school offers HL Chem or you can work it out with your prospective UK university, you probably won’t even be considered for medicine in the UK. I wish my school offered Chem at HL, we are stuck at SL. :(</p>

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<p>If you’re looking at a general overview of the British educational system by a former study abroad student who lived there, I did find a website that has some information:</p>

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<p>The webmaster also goes into detail about London Metropolitan University, which is a business school I am personally looking at myself. Hope that helps!</p>

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<p>From what I’m finding researching on the net, the best one around the UK is [Nottingham</a> University](<a href=“http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/Engineering-in/index.aspx]Nottingham”>http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/Engineering-in/index.aspx). I’ve been told that their facilities are outstanding and the teachers are very helpful and supportive. I’m originally from India and I’ve decided to go such a long way to study based on the good reviews they have.</p>