College in the UK?

Student Lounge International Students
1

I’ve been thinking about what kind of stuff might be important to UK universities if I decide to apply there. I just need to know what sorts of things that admissions people might look at, since I don’t think most of my qualifications will matter because they’re US-centric. Currently, this is some of the stuff I have going on.

Academic:
-2150 SAT, but expect 1460-1520.
-Taking AP US History this year, expect a 4 or 5.
-AP Micro, AP Macro, AP Spanish, AP Calculus next year.
-4.0 unweighted GPA
-first in my class, but won’t be valedictorian because I haven’t been at this school for the required amount of time (boo!)
-have taken all honors courses, save for CP Geometry that I took online to attend a summer program.

ECs:
-National Merit Scholar semifinalist
-360+ hours of community service, the bulk from volunteering as a nanny for a month in Italy last summer
-Tutor for math, english, and physics
-I have a job at the grocery store
-I have an internship lined up for the summer working for a congressman in Washington DC
-Head delegate in school Model UN team
-President of Debate Club
-Robotics team member
-Civil Rights team member
-Environmental Club member
-Founder of Diversity Alliance at my old school, which has grown since I moved away
-Kiwanis Club member
-Scored ‘Gold’ on the National Spanish Exam (1 of only 3 in my state)
-Student Council president, hopefully

I want to major in international relations or political science, and minor in a foreign language (probably not Spanish, despite that that is where my experience is for the most part).

2

Essentially all that matters are your AP and SAT scores. You need to do some serious research. ECs are worthless in UK admissions unless very closely related to the subject you are applying to study (and you have to choose that subject on application, not afterwards). In your case possibly the internship, debate and model UN will be useful for an application to study IR. I have no idea what civil rights team (presumably you live in the US so you have civil rights?) or Kiwanis club involve so can’t assess them. In any case there isn’t room on the application form for all this stuff. It should be all about how focused and academic you are.

Luckily for you, UK universities usually spell out their admissions criteria (and that means specific APs etc) in great detail on their websites. Start with Wikipedia to familiarise yourself with the UK system (or use the search function on this board) then go and have a look at the websites of some unis you are interested in. Select the international students section and all the information will be there.

If you want to study a language, you may not be able to start from scratch. Languages that are commonly taught in UK high school (French, German and Spanish definitely. Perhaps others) will likely have a minimum standard for entry . You can start from scratch something like Japanese which is not usually taught in UK high schools. Do you know any Italian from all your volunteering (if you are not an EU citizen this may well have been illegal unless you had a visa. So might be best not to mention it. Also, how is looking after some kids privately for a family in a rich western country serving any community? Sounds like a vacation with some babysitting involved. Perhaps you worded it strangely and meant something different? In any case, ‘I went to Italy once’ is not relevant to a UK uni application).

There is one application form at www.ucas.com This is all you need to apply to five unis (and only one of Oxford or Cambridge is allowed).

The other main issue is it’s expensive. There is rarely any meaningful financial aid for foreign undergraduates in the UK. Cost of living is high, but outside of south east England life is a bit cheaper.

So go and do some reading to see if this if for you. Don’t mean to put you off too much but it’s best to be realistic.

Good luck with your application.

3

In the UK it’s all about your standardized test scores and relevant ECs, your ‘why I am a good candidate for this course’ essay and your rec. You will need 3 strong APs (for IR, USHx, Euro and CompGov+USGov are good, but Spanish will do also) and/or SAT subject tests (depends on the uni)

However, your ability to pay international fees is also crucial- FAFSA is about all you can get for aid.

4

That was very helpful, thank you. Also, I would say that going to college in the UK would actually be a similar cost to going in the US for me. I won’t get financial aid no matter what (high income family), so my only option will be scholarships and the like, and frankly every school I’m interested in in the US has a higher total cost than in England. Sure, factor in the travel cost, but it’s not like I’ll be coming home every weekend.

Kiwanis club is a community service organization, and civil rights team is an organization to promote acceptance, discussion of race, gender, sexuality, religion, etc. We do lots of workshops, it’s cool.

When it comes to the community service thing, I wasn’t getting paid for anything and didn’t get free time. It wasn’t really a vacation for me at all. Also, yeah, I speak a little bit of Italian. More on languages, I was planning on taking Arabic or Chinese, so entry level is pretty likely.

When I looked at universities, they all said to have high AP scores, and that they will be essentially considered the same way GCSEs are.

My internship will be government related, so I feel like it does have some merit, and I’ve done MUN for years, so hopefully that’ll have some weight. Thanks for being straightforward and realistic.

Edit: Also, it was legal because I had a tourist visa, so I’m not so worried.

5

IR in England (but not Scotland) is 3 years, so total cost is less that way.

For your US apps, unless you were doing childcare in a refugee camp or something your ‘community service’ is really a summer activity. As cupcake indicated, it’s not about how much time off you got, or that you weren’t paid, it’s whether you contributed to the greater good of the community.

Are you taking any SAT subject tests? if you have any strong subjects it might be worth it for the UK- some unis will accept them in lieu of APs. Otherwise your best scenario is a conditional offer (that is, an offer that is ‘conditional’ on your achieving specific marks on specific exams, which will be spelt out in the offer letter).

6

I do plan on taking SAT subject tests, yeah. Spanish, US History, Spanish with listening, and English Lit are for sure. Not sure what else might be relevant, save world history (which is still a possibility).

I’ll remove the Italy part since it seems pretty irrelevant now.

7

For UK purposes, most of those are doubles with your APs, so won’t really help you. World History would be good (if you can do well, obviously). Do you have ideas as to where you would like to go?

8

From what I understand, LSE is really the most relevant school for politics, I just don’t know that I could get in-- major reach. If I get all 5s on my exams, sure, probably. But I’m not sure. LSE also does not accept SAT IIs, so I’m not sure that it would matter. I forgot to include that I’ll take the Italian one. There really aren’t many options aside from science and other languages that I have absolutely no background in. I could probably do well on the science ones, I just don’t think they’re relevant because I’m doing politics/econ stuff.

However, KCL does accept them, and that was really where I had my sights set before.

9

LSE is a very long shot for you at this stage, as they want 5’s on either 5 ‘preferred’ APs or 4 preferrred + 2 ‘not-preferred’ APs, and they are specific about which ones are ‘preferred’ (micro/macro are not preferred). So, you would need a 5 on USH this year, plus 5s on Spanish, Italian, Calc, Micro, and Micro plus one more (Lit?) next year. I can tell you that collegekid’s offer from LSE was higher (ie, they wanted more) than her offer from Oxford.

KCL should be realistic for you- but a super expensive place to live: be sure to check out the accommodation costs (which are separate from the tuition). Consider Warwick, Exeter, Bath or Durham, all of which are well regarded… Durham is collegiate (like Oxford and Cambridge, you belong to a college within the University, giving you a natural ‘home’). IR there is AAA, so 3 5’s OR 700+ on SAT subject tests (and you can mix & match).

10

I would apply to both American and UK unis.

The tough thing is that while all the Ivies/equivalents are reaches for anyone, so are Oxbridge and LSE (LSE may be a little easier with highest marks in everything).

However, St. Andrews may not be that difficult to get in to with a high enough SAT score and I believe that they are well-respected for IR. I believe Edinburgh is as well. There’s a bigger issue, though, in that the academic environment is pretty different from what you’d find at American colleges. Faculty are more hands-off and grading is tough (it’s more sink-or-swim than at American privates). Students are expected to be more independent and most of your marks will come down to year-end tests.

The good UK unis require 5’s in all/almost all AP’s for a reason: their instruction presumes that you already know that material cold before going in.

3 years of undergrad at a top English uni is equivalent to 2 years studying a major in the States + a year at the Masters level in that subject (and almost nothing outside your course).

Scottish unis have that and an extra year allowing you to take some electives and change your course/major a little bit the first year.

11

Why do you want to study in the UK?

12

Primarily because I think it offers a better world view than the one I have right now. Obviously it’s still a western nation with a culture very close to that of America, but I think my understanding of the world is really, really america-centric and doesn’t really offer me the diversity of opinion and opportunity that I’ll get in the US. Plus, because I want to go into International Relations or Poli Sci, I want to have a broader exposure to global policy and opinion. I want to be taught without an American bias.

13

Also, PurpleTitan, I’m definitely applying to both UK and US universities. I’m not confident enough that I’d get into even lower-tier UK universities with offers that would fit my needs, so it’ll all be contingent on what kind of offers I get. If it turns out that going to school in the US at one of my top choice schools is cheaper, then I absolutely will go here. But as it is, it looks like the UK offers cheaper costs without scholarships than the US does. At least based on my income bracket, etc (it’s high, basically).

I did read about the AP thing, and yeah, it’s tight stuff. If my AP exams all go well, we’ll see about whether or not they qualify for the long shot schools. If not, I’ll either settle in the UK or shoot higher in the US. Like I said, it’ll just be contingent on my offers.

Thanks so much for your help.

14

Note that you may also study abroad for a year at pretty much any American college. It’s an option.

15

Admission to lower ranked (or even just outside the top 10 or so) UK unis is pretty predictable, in that if you meet the grade requirements you are probably in (especially as a full fee paying foreign student). However, I also think you will probably have some good US college admissions so I agree there is no need to settle for a predictable easy admission.

16

For an American in the top 1-2%, in fact, admission to anywhere in the UK besides Oxbridge & LSE (and probably Imperial; maybe UCL) may not be too difficult if you meet their cutoffs. St. Andrews and Durham just don’t look that tough to get in to, for instance. That may be true for Edinburgh as well. And aren’t St. Andrews and Edinburgh famous for IR?

However, you do have to be prepared. I believe St. Andrews takes you in if you have a decent SAT score, but if you search on here, you do find threads of American kids at St. Andrews (who may have had a 3 in the AP subject) floundering in the more sink-or-swim environment in Britain.

17

I agree @PurpleTitan - and not even in the top 1-2%, just ones with some good test scores. Both St Andrews & Edinburgh have great IR programs and are fairly straightforward for US students (St Andrews is even on the Common App, and actively courts US students). IR is a little bit harder, just b/c they are so oversubscribed, and I doubt that 3’s in relevant APs (unless there are 4s & 5s as well) will do for either.

Understanding how independent you are expected to be in the UK is really important.

18

Hey! Hey! Hey! I’m applying to UK unis too! I’m from the U.S, Connecticut so you’re definitely not the only one thinking about it! Applying for sort of the same reasons as you! I’m applying for Chemical Engineering so that’ll take about four years for a Masters. In my opinion the Unis in UK are generally cheaper than US, and you also can get your Masters in about four years compared to 6 years here, so defiantly cheaper long term.

Is KCL the only college you’re applying too? I think you can apply up to five Universities through UCAS (UK version of common app). I’m recommending/applying to
-KCL
-University of Manchester
-University of Bristol
-University of Oxford
-University of Birmingham

All of them are in the top 100 best schools in the world. Your apps looks good, however I do recommend that you take some SAT Subject Tests as well as the SAT with the Essay (If you took the new one) as many schools do require them. SAT subject tests are good because you are taking most of your APs senior year and many schools may only give you a conditional offer unless you pass with a 4 or a 5. The subject tests are accepted in the top schools so if you do bad of the AP test you can fall back on the subject tests! Good luck!!