Chances of Admission in Oxford (yes in England)

Applying to College
1

<p>General: Upper-middle class Asian male</p>

<p>School Background: Average Midwest suburban high school. Recently honored by College Board for having the only perfect ranking of any school in the 13-state Midwestern region (excellence in AP Program).</p>

<p>Regular
GPA: 3.7195
Rank: 71/614</p>

<p>Weighted
GPA: 4.3049
Rank: 36/614</p>

<p>ACT (Sophomore Year)
Composite 35
English 35
Math 34
Science 35
Combined English/Writing 31
Writing 08</p>

<p>SAT
Critical Reading 780
Math 700
Writing 720</p>

<p>Retake
Critical Reading 730
Math 700
Writing 750</p>

<p>SAT II
US History 770
Physics 760</p>

<p>AP Tests
US History 5
Physics B 4</p>

<p>Classes
ENGLISH 1 Frosh
Accelerated
B+</p>

<p>ENGLISH 1 Frosh
Accelerated
B+</p>

<p>ENGLISH 2 Soph
Accelerated
B+</p>

<p>ENGLISH 2 Soph
Accelerated
A-</p>

<p>ENGLISH 3 Junior
Accelerated
A-</p>

<p>ENGLISH 3 Junior
Accelerated
A-</p>

<p>SPANISH 2 Frosh
A </p>

<p>SPANISH 2 Frosh
A </p>

<p>SPANISH 3 Soph
A-</p>

<p>SPANISH 3 Soph
A-</p>

<p>SPANISH 4 Junior
A </p>

<p>SPANISH 4 Junior
A</p>

<p>CRITICAL THINKING GIFTED Frosh
Gifted
A </p>

<p>CRITICAL THINKING GIFTED Soph
Gifted
A </p>

<p>CRITICAL THINKING GIFTED Soph
Gifted
A </p>

<p>PL/SOLID GEOM Frosh
Accelerated
B+</p>

<p>PL/SOLID GEOM Frosh
Accelerated
B+</p>

<p>ALGEBRA 2 Soph
Accelerated
B+</p>

<p>ALGEBRA 2 Soph
Accelerated
B+</p>

<p>TRIGONOMETRY/AP CALCULUS A Junior
Advanced Placement
B+</p>

<p>TRIGONOMETRY/AP CALCULUS A Junior
Advanced Placement
A-</p>

<p>ORCHESTRA 1 Frosh
A-</p>

<p>ORCHESTRA 1 Frosh
A-</p>

<p>ORCHESTRA 2 Soph
A-</p>

<p>ORCHESTRA 2 Soph
A </p>

<p>ORCHESTRA 2 Junior
A-</p>

<p>ORCHESTRA 2 Junior</p>

<p>A</p>

<p>BIOLOGY Frosh
Accelerated
A </p>

<p>BIOLOGY Frosh
Accelerated
B+</p>

<p>CHEMISTRY Soph
Accelerated
A-</p>

<p>CHEMISTRY Soph
Accelerated
B+</p>

<p>AP PHYSICS Junior
Advanced Placement
B+</p>

<p>AP PHYSICS Junior
Advanced Placement
A-</p>

<p>WORLD HISTORY Frosh-Summer School
A+</p>

<p>WORLD HISTORY Frosh-Summer School
A+</p>

<p>AP US HISTORY Junior
Advanced Placement
A </p>

<p>AP US HISTORY Junior
Advanced Placement
A</p>

<p>Senior Classes (no grades yet)
AP Calculus BC
AP Biology
Orchestra 2 (only 2 tiers of orchestra at my school, 2 is the better one and unfortunately this year, it changed to taking up two periods instead of one)
AP Literature & Composition
AP Economics (one semester)
AP Government (one semester)
AP Spanish</p>

<p>Extracurriculars
10 years of private piano lessons-now volunteer playing at hospital and important events. (Played for opening ceremony and reception of the opening of a new hospital building)</p>

<p>6 years of private violin lessons-most polished quartet award (high school district award), second violin section leader (senior year), member of high school district honors orchestra (soph, junior year - auditions for this years have not started yet)</p>

<p>Reporter for school newspaper on politics, economics, international affairs (junior year)
Now Editor of Open Forum (same topics as listed above) (senior year)</p>

<p>Modern Masters of Music (soph, junior, senior year) Likely to be either President, VP, Secretary, or Treasurer this senior year-elections have yet to be held</p>

<p>Men's swimming (fresh, soph, junior) Junior year spent on JV team.</p>

<p>Kendo and Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu Iiado (Japanese swordsmanship) (junior senior) class leader at dojo (school)</p>

<p>First school authorized AP US History tutor.</p>

<p>**
I'm pretty worried about my grades and test scores.I applied to the honors program Economics and Management. I've only gotten one A- in my math classes though (late blooming student). And even though my test scores are above average, there's a huge discrepancy between my ACT and my SAT's (I'm thinking of striking my SAT scores off my transcript). I'm planning on taking the SAT II Math C test this October as well as the SAT II Spanish and possibly SAT Literature. I speak Mandarin as well but have trouble reading and writing (traditional) Chinese. I'm an American so financial aid may be a problem with Oxford but I'll tackle that later. I really shouldn't have played around my freshman and sophomore years but I guess I'm paying the price for it now. So what do you think my chances are? Oh and does anyone know if Oxford degrees are accepted in Ivy League graduate schools (just wondering because my father's friend from England said I should check. His sister is a principal of a British high school so I took his advice really seriously) Hopefully British schools look more at test scores than grades! xD</p>

2

<p>I'm actually wandering how do you apply for a school in England (?). I am planning to go for London school of E and P, and I heard that their admissions process is REAL simple (no ECs, one short essay, 1 rec, school scores, that's it). How do you do it any way, you know, applying for British schools?</p>

3

<p>That's unfortunately not true. From what I understand, most schools in Britain use a common application known as the UCAS. Since we're far from the UK, it's far more convenient to apply online. Google UCAS and create an account. You'll need a personal statement (euphemism for essay) of a max of 4000 characters and a recommendation. However there is no prompt for the personal statement. Unlike American application essays, most British schools suggest you focus on academics and why you chose your course etc in your personal statement. There's also a chance that you'll need a supplement application. Check your school's website for details and look under prospective students>undergraduate>international students or how to apply.</p>

4

<p><a href="http://www.ucas.com%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.ucas.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>I doubt the application form for 2007 is going to turn up until 1st September. Fill in your name and address. Choose 6 schools you want to apply for and the subjects (no minors except in Scotland. No switching once you've applied. That's the way it is). Fill in your personal statement, which is all about how much you love your study subject. Get a reference from a teacher. Click send. It's that easy. You cannot apply for Oxford and Cambridge in the same year. The Oxbridge deadline for overseas students is 20th September. If you are in the US you will have to go for an interview in New York or Vancouver. There is no financial aid for overseas undergrads. (In some countries you can apply to your own government for it though).</p>

<p>ECS are disregarded and it even says this on Oxford uni's web-site somewhere in the overseas application section (which you might like to consider reading <a href="http://www.admissions.ox.ac.uk/int/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.admissions.ox.ac.uk/int/&lt;/a>
and also
<a href="http://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/io/guide/index.shtml)%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/io/guide/index.shtml)&lt;/a>. Only education from age 16+ is considered for UK/EU applicants so I highly doubt they will have any interest in high school before that age. In fact they will probably discount everything other than AP, SAT and ACT scores.</p>

<p>You need some demonstratable interest in E&M. Looking at the original post, an interviewer would ask why did you apply to E&M when you main interests appear to have been Spanish, English and Music?</p>

<p>Of course you can get into Ivy League grad schools from Oxbridge. Who do you think started the Ivy league? Things that are not acceptable are law and medicine. In other words, if you have a foreign degree in medicine you have to take equivalency tests to practice in the US. It's the same for any foreign university. Same thing with law, you would have to prove you understood US law.</p>

<p>If you are worried about maths, google some A-level maths papers. If you can do them, then you should be fine.</p>

5

<p>Oxford has its own application, which is due Sept. 20 for US residents. You'll also need to file a UCAS form by (I think) Oct. 15.</p>

<p>That said, Oxford doesn't really care about extracurriculars, and they don't even want you to send your high school transcript until they review your test scores. Those, a teacher rec, and your personal statement, are all they see before they decide whether they want to interview you. Then, I think, you can show your transcript/EC resume etc.</p>

6

<p>From what I understand, it's all about test scores at first, but after you meet that qualification, the interview is the key. Please, correct me if I'm wrong.</p>

7

<p>Uhh, Oxford will not even see your grades unless you want them too. </p>

<p>They grant you an interview based on your test scores. If your an American applicant, they will look at SAT's, SATII's, AP's, and IB's; emphasis on the AP's and IB's, if your school has that.</p>

8

<p>Yup, just was granted an interview! I'm very excited for it.</p>

9

<p>don't they "grant" an interview to anyone who asks for one on time?</p>

10

<p>No. (10 char.) Not if you're from the states at least.</p>

11

<p>wow, don't I feel special. :) How do they choose?</p>

12

<p>If you have been invited for an interview it means you are past the first phase, although that doesn't mean much (90% are invited to take an interview) and you must make sure that you know whether you will be taking a test on your interview (most of the subjects have a test as part of the application process, that is held during the interview in your residential college in Oxford).</p>

<p>Info:
<a href="http://www.admissions.ox.ac.uk/interviews/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.admissions.ox.ac.uk/interviews/&lt;/a> - interview info
<a href="http://www.admissions.ox.ac.uk/courses/subreq.shtml%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.admissions.ox.ac.uk/courses/subreq.shtml&lt;/a> - if you will be having test (just keep researching to find past papers)</p>

13

<p>I am applying for Biochem, so I don't have to do anything. Except being unbelievably prepared, which is impossible, since I attend a high school in the US that has never sent anyone to Oxford. So, has anyone had an interview experience yet? If so, could you possibly share some tips/resources?</p>

14

<p>Make sure that you're up-to-date with news regarding Biochem, nelle. An admissions officer for Oxford told me that nothing will annoy an interviewer more than them asking an easy, warmup question about a related article in the news and the interviewee knowing nothing about it. The example he gave was a potential Economics student not knowing anything about the latest Budget, which had been all over the news the previous day.</p>

<p>They want passion for the subject, and often having 'a particular area of interest' will help. For example, my friend is focussing on genetics and doing extra research on that area for her interview.</p>

<p>The most important thing (or so I was told) is showing an ability to work in a tutorial. They'll probably give you some work that you're not supposed to just be able to glance at and solve. They want to see you thinking, applying skills and working through problems, and also see that you have the ability to try something that's challenging and to admit if you're not sure how to approach something. Don't just sit there and gape at the work, but ask for help if you need it.</p>

<p>Hope some of this is useful for you. :)</p>

15

<p>From today's London Metro (free newspaper they distribute on the tube)</p>

<p>Answer what to get to Oxbridge?
What percentage of the world's water is contained in a cow? Of all 19th century politicians, who was most like Tony Blair? And how does a perm work? If you feel lyou can answer any of these you might want to apply to study at Oxford or Cambridge. They were some of the more bizarre questions thrown at some of the 1,200 students who went through the gruelling Oxbridge interview process last year. The survey, by Oxbridge Applications, an organization that advises applicants, was published as this year's dealine for hopefuls looms. Spokeswoman Jessica Elsom said the interview process at Oxford and Cambidge is 'notoriously eccentric' 'They are one way of finding out who really cuts the mustard,' she added. Oh, by the way, the answer to the cow question is 300 divided by 1,260,000,000,000,000,000,000 times 100. Don't ask!</p>

<p>Sorry if there were spelling errors, I just typed it out quickly.</p>

16

<p>Ahh, why do I even read this?? It makes me more and more nervous! Although, I guess you just have to accept the fact that you can never really be prepared. At all.</p>

17

<p>nelle, when is your interview? I'm having mine in New York on the 30th.</p>

18

<p>Morning of the 27th - just bought the plane tickets today!</p>

19

<p>Oh, well good luck to you! I'm so nervous.</p>

20

<p>Good luck to you too! I am terrified. Have you done anything to prepare?</p>