What are my chances of getting into
King’s College London
University of Edinburgh
University of Sheffield
University of York
University of Birmingham
My SAT is a 1990
My subject test scores are: English Lit- 730, US History- 700
My gpa (unweighted) is 3.8
My gpa (weighted) is 4.05
My AP scores as of now:
AP Euro Hist.- 4
AP US Hist- 5
AP Lang+ Comp- 5
The great thing about UK universities is that you can chance yourself.
In the UK you apply to a specific course and pretty much that is all that you study. Go to the uni website and look up the course you are interested in. It will tell you exactly what the requirements are- check for any subject requirements or recommendations. Then go to the ‘international’ page and look up the requirements for US qualifications*. It is important to look in both places, as many courses have specific pre-requisites (eg, math if you are applying for Econ). If you meet the stated requirements, have a decent essay (which is about why you are a good student to be in that course) and decent LoR you are likely to get an offer.
*note that you cannot double count subjects, so you can use your US HIst SAT OR AP score
Your GPA is usually completely irrelevant, though a few unis now give a baseline b/c so many US students ask about it.
Depends on your subject and the competition in that subject. I’d say you have pretty decent chances everywhere (with a slight exception of King’s maybe)
Thanks so much, I am applying to international relations. Is that generally pretty competitive?
Just to elaborate on my SAT
1990
700 critical reading
620 maths
670 writing
New SAT: 1370
770 English and writing
600 maths
Should I submit both scores? Do you think that my score in maths will hurt my application if I am applying to non maths majors?
Also, are there any russel group unis that could be a “safety” for me or at least easier to get into?
You could try and google admission rates by subject, some UK schools post that statistics.
Admissions rates by subject aren’t that useful, as there is so much pre-selection of students. Go look at the standard offer for IR at each place- if you meet the requirements you are likely to get an offer. The system is much more transparent than the US- the more competitive the course the higher standard offer.
IR is very competitive and you will want to have more than the minimum for the stronger programs (esp Edinburgh & KCL).
The courses are much more structured than in the US, so be sure to look at the course details. THIS MATTERS b/c the courses are much more narrow, and you have very few options (esp in first year). For example, if you do straight IR at York, in first year you take:
Understanding Politics
Introduction to International Relations Theory
Introduction to Political Economy
Research Skills and literacy: Philosophy and Method in Social Sciences
End of Empire: Problems of International History
Introduction to Problems of World History in the Twentieth Century
plus your choice of one of the following: Classical Political Thought / Twentieth Century Russian Politics / Introduction to the European Union / Social Divisions / Sociology of Self and Everyday Life
On the other hand, if you do straight IR at Birmingham in your first year you take:
What is Politics?
Introduction to Democratic Politics
Introduction to International Politics
Introduction to Political Theory
You can get the breakout for every year of the course, and descriptions of each module on the websites.
It is not too hard to change between 2 very close subjects (ie, IR and Politics and IR) in the first year, but if you want to switch to, say Business, you have to start over from the beginning.
I think you will receive offers from all those schools, as long as the PS is sound and your teacher recommendation is good. The only caveat is whether they are conditional by asking you to get one more 5 at AP, I am pretty sure a couple at least will be unconditional. Good luck and let us know how you get on.
Admit rates also likely aren’t very germane for American applicants. Most of the applicants would be Brit/EU, but you’re in a different circumstance.