<p>Hi, I just started thinking about going to a British university instead of staying here in the United States(I'm a junior at the moment). I've looked at the rankings of UK schools, but I still don't really know what's good and what's comperable to what US schools.</p>
<p>I have a 2160 SAT(going to take a class and then retake in March) and 5's on AP World and AP Art History. Hopefully by the end of this year I'll have 5's on Bio, US, and Econ(Micro and Macro) and either 4's or 5's on Euro and Lang. I plan to take the SAT II's for Bio and US, but I have no idea how I'll do on those. Senior year I'll be taking AP Physics B, Psych, ES, Lit, Chem, and Stats, but I guess those won't be on my application.</p>
<p>With those grades, what schools would I have a chance of getting in? I'm not aiming for anything like Oxbridge, but I'd like to know which schools are respectable but realistic for me. I'm not sure what I want to major in, but my top choices are biology, archaeology/anthropology, or art history. My GPA isn't great(3.5); is it true they don't care about that? </p>
<p>If anyone could give me advice on applying internationally or suggestions or anything it woudl be very much appreciated :]</p>
<p>I don’t have time to write a long reply right now but I have written several replies to simialr questions in the last few days if you search for me.</p>
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<p>This is the big red flag in your post. In the UK you have to choose the subject or “course” you want to study when you apply.Usually it is necessary to drop out and reapply in order to change. There is a little more flexibility in Scotland (sold as being the same as the US but it so it NOT. They just have good marketing and really really want your money) but not much. If you are not settled on your major, the UK in generally not a good choice for you.</p>
<p>Anyhow, that besides, pm me with any specific questions you might have… - as cupcake says we don’t ‘major’ here. The only university with any possibility of that is Cambridge with the Tripos - but even then you would not be able to switch from Biology to Arch/Anth</p>
<p>To an extend they do have modular systems - but I doubt as wide-ranging as the OP would want. Also I think it would be a waste of the OP’s time to go to such a university. While in themselves they are probably fine, unless the OP wants to live and make a career in Britain, they should proabably aim to go to an internationally well known university so that they will be able to get a good job back in the USA. For example, I do not think a degree from say, Kent university, is going to impress an American employer. Employers, I think, tend not to want to have to look up their potential employee’s university. To put this into context consider it thus: the University of Kent is a mid-low-ranked university in the UK. If the OP went there and got a degree, and then went back to the US and competed for a job against a candidate who had been to a similarly ranked American university, I suspect I know which the potential employer would look more kindly upon.</p>
<p>you see that strikes me as being pointless for the OP - sure for British students wanting a liberal arts education then that is a good thing, but why would the Op want to come from the US to the UK to study liberal arts when they live in the best place to do liberal arts already?</p>
<p>Azarimanka, kent probably isn’t a great example. The OP’s qualifications put him/her at a top 10 UK uni. In which case a UK undergrad plus a US grad is marketable if OP wants to work in an international setting. Now if OP wants to work in US regional corporate, yeah pointless to go to the UK. </p>
<p>It does seem like OP has defined interests. It’s not like he/she is coming in here saying I want to study chemistry, english, economics, and medicine. Art history and archaeology have some overlap. If OP cut interest in biology, I’m sure there is a joint honours w/ art history and arch. Wouldn’t be a marketable degree in the US. The only marketable degree from the UK to the US imo would be math/science, law and economics. All from top 10.</p>
<p>Actually, I think 2100+ SATs puts you in range of Oxbridge. And I’m pretty sure they don’t care about GPA. In Britain school admission is based off of a series of standardized tests so I doubt they’ll place much emphasis on your GPA.</p>
<p>Totally wrong. They care. In Oxbridge for instance, the admissions based on interviews - and of course, you must be a superb student with superb scores and grades - although it is alone not enough to get admission to either Cambridge or Oxford. </p>
<p>And as a matter of fact, while the UK high school system differs from the US one, universities, especially Oxbridge are well aware about the US system as well. I do not know about undergrad admissions, but for grad study in Oxbridge, they normally ask for an undergrad degree with a GPA minimum 3.7. But, as I posted recently in an other topic, Cambridge University just asked a GPA 3.9 from a graduate from a good US university. </p>
<p>Regarding the topic: it makes no sense to go to an UK university if that’s not Oxbridge. Nobody in the US ever heard about UCL or Imperial, or Durham, ecc which are considered top notch schools in the UK, and in world rankings they are in peer with, say, Duke , Rice, Northwestern, and the same. Still, nobody knows nothing about them, and they do not have much alumni connections in the US. And it seems, that frinfingo targets solid, but not excellent UK schools, which are even worst in case of job prospects in the US. Sure, they bear an exotic image, being English, and that stuff, but it worth nothing. It is a completely bold choice.</p>
<p>^ You’re wrong about this. Americans are very familiar with the LSE and St Andrews, in particular. They carry almost as much weight and prestige as Oxbridge.</p>
<p>Well, I don’t think that the average Joe ever heard about St’Andrews or LSE (although St Andrews certainly have the edge over LSE because of Prince Bill :D), but of course when it comes to job prospects, who cares about the opinion of average Joe, who barely heard about any other universities than his in state schools, and HYPSM? And my experience is that even educated people knows nothing about UK schools with the exception of Oxbridge - which is surely not a problem, before I came to the UK, I knew Oxbridge quite well, but only heard about some University of London colleges, and that’s all.
I can just speak for my own experiences with US universities, where if you want a professorship, you must have an Oxbridge PhD, to complete against those with HYPSM degrees. In my field, while there is at least 1 professor from Cambridge in every good department in the US, (at Stanford, there is 4, in Chicago, there is 3) and in a lesser extent, from Oxford, with the exception of a few from U o London colleges, there are no others. Only Oxford and Cambridge are top 10 universities, no other UK schools. </p>
<p>Of course academics differ from other job prospects, still, its hard to believe that employers would choose an Imperial graduate over an Oxbridge, or HYP, but even a Duke graduate. Of course depends on each ones skills , capability and character, still, I think it’s wise to remain in the US, and go the a university with a decent reputation like Rice, Tufts, Washington U at St.Louis, ecc, or to a strong flagship like UW-M, that go to the UK.</p>