Does cambridge (and UK schools) take AP/ACT over SATII/SAT?

Student Lounge International Students
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<p>See below line break to jump right into the question.</p>

<p>(I guess this might belong in the Cambridge threads, but I want more exposure and the specific college threads get no traffic)</p>

<p>So, I received the following scores. Can you tell me how they relate to Cambridge/UK Schools? I have a few reach colleges with some pretty specific guidelines and I'd love your input on what I should send/not send. I know that a lot of people say "send everything," but I am not too sure on this occasion. Applying for 2015, incoming senior in high school.</p>

<p>AP US History 4
SATII US History 690
AP Spanish 4
SATII Spanish 570...</p>

<p>plus 3 other AP scores (one 5, two 3s, self study for two of them), and two more SATII scores (world history 690 and math 2 700).</p>

<p>I am taking 6 more APs this year.</p>

<p>ACT 32 (so translated to a 2100-2200 SAT)</p>

<p>SAT 1980</p>

<p>I don't understand why I scored so low on my subject tests. I was thoroughly engaged in class and studied quite a bit for these tests, and took them the weekend before my AP tests.</p>

<p>My ACT is stronger than my SAT but cambridge doesn't take the ACT to my knowledge, yet they accept the scores on their application...</p>

<hr>

<p>Here is what I need help with:</p>

<p>Cambridge University (UK) (Sidney Sussex or Magdalene, not decided yet) entrance requirements:
- Request 5 ap tests with a 5 on each.. I do not meet this.
- They recommend 700+ on SAT subjects and reasoning. I just did not 'click' with the SAT, it felt so foreign. I was further from meeting this than the AP scores.
- Never mention an ACT on their site yet accept it on the UCAS application.</p>

<p>Thus, I feel like adding my SAT subjects and reasoning will just make my application far weaker. But, does anyone know if they will look at my ACT score? Will they just ask for a SAT later on, or will they throw my application out if they do not receive one?</p>

<p>Maybe I should contact one of their representatives?</p>

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<p>Yes, do that. But I;m going to be brutally honest here: you don’t look to have the kind of academic profile they want, unless you can do much better in your remaining APs and they are related to the subject you want to study. Working hard is a good thing, but it’s not always sufficient. Do you have other options to look at?</p>

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<p>Yeah haha I totally know</p>

<p>And truthfully you’re the nicest person on college confidential. Normally someone would just tear into someone like me for being too dumb to apply haha</p>

<p>I’m applying to a bunch of match schools but I stayed at cambridge with a friend of mine who is a student there for a week and fell in love with the school. I am sortof applying for the heck of it. I do have an incredible resume with experience that correlates with my intended major (computer science and a large part of two startups that have become very successful, application readers will know the companies), so I think that will help. And Sidney Sussex and magdalene are known to accept people with potential not proven testing success. </p>

<p>I know I’m not highly qualified but I’m trying anyway haha. </p>

<p>You said “yeah do that,” which part were you replying to? Contacting a representative?</p>

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<p>Yes. They will <em>know</em> what they want where the rest of us are just guessing (though sometimes based on experience).</p>

<p>The good news is that the APs you haven’t done so well on are in unrelated subjects. If they’re buried among better swcores this year, they have a good shot at being overlooked. Definitely work on getting 5s in Calculus and Physics, and three other subjects, pref science related ones. And if your experience involves actual high level computer science/development, obviously that will help significantly. But it’s not really my field, so I can’t help much more than that.</p>

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<p>Thank you, you’ve been very helpful!</p>

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<p>If anyone is wondering, I got invited for an interview. They’ll likely make me a conditional to get a 5 on Calc, CompSci, and Physics. Doable.</p>

<p>I got an offer last week for edinburgh, conditional calc 4 only. So, at least I know my personal statement is working and my stats are close (because edinburgh isn’t far behind cam).</p>

7

<p>CONGRATS! Go over to the student room, a UK CC and look at the Cambrdige, CompSci threads, and Interview threads. You’ll find fellow travelers. </p>

<p>Also, don’t panic about the interview, but be prepared to be pushed to think during it. It is more like a cross between an oral exam and a tutorial than an American style interview. Remember that they want to see how you think and how you learn: both your aptitude for your subject and your suitability for the supervision approach to learning. It is very typical to be given problems that are outside what you have learned- they aren’t necessarily expecting you to know how to solve it- they want to see how you approach the problem. </p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

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<p>Congratulations and good luck.</p>

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<p>An interviw edoesn’t mean you are likely to get an offer. You have around a 1 in 5 chance to get in on average, but this varies greatly year on year between colleges and subjects. It’s not an informal chat like US college interviews. It’s more like an oral exam, so be prepared.</p>

<p>Good luck</p>

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<p>Yeah, I only said likely because of previous offers for students in similar situations and offers from similar schools. Preparing in every way possible hahaga</p>

<p>Meant if I get an offer, it’ll likely be…</p>

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<p>Hey…</p>

<p>How did you get an interview on October 14?? The UCAS deadline is the 15th, and I don’t think they notify of decisions until mid November?</p>

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<p>I have a bunch of special circumstances. My app was due sept 20 and I’m not interviewing in cambridge. I’m not american</p>

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<p>And I ended up applying to pembroke if anyone was wondering. </p>