Hi! I’m an international student looking to study Computer Science in the US/UK. I’m quite unfamiliar with the UK system; is there a pamphlet/informative source I can look at to see which college at Cambridge is the best fit in terms of 1) difficulty of getting accepted as an international and 2) proficiency at CS? Is it better that I just leave my application as open?
Thank you!
The gift of the UK universities is that there they put a huge amount of information online: admissions stats, application requirements, and course descriptions- right down to what you study each year.
The challenge is that all of them expect you to figure things out for yourself (even as an international applicant) both during application and while you are a student.
So, if you want to go to university in the UK you need to become more resourceful, and get to be better friends with your favorite search engine.
Paging @Twoin18, a Cambridge alum who is a great resource for UK unis in general and Cambridge in particular.
Finally, if you are a senior now, you will need to get your skates on: application deadline is Oct 15.
You have a lot to do to get an application in before Oct 15. In particular your reference needs to write and submit a UK format recommendation including predicted AP grades before you can submit your own application. Do you have 5 APs with 5s already?
I wouldn’t do an open application. Look at the college admissions stats, you can see the number of applications and the success rates by subject and college (https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/apply/statistics). Some colleges are notoriously hard to get into (Trinity, Kings and Queens come to mind). Churchill is notoriously filled with boring (mostly male) scientists (sorry for the stereotype) but they have more Americans due to the Churchill graduate scholarships. Some are a touch easier to get into (Robinson, Downing). I’d pick somewhere with a critical mass in your subject (8-10 per year is enough) and a more favorable offer rate. And best to pick somewhere that isn’t too far from the department and lecture halls for those 9am lectures.