<p>I want to apply to: Caltech, MIT, Cambridge, Oxford then columbia or stanford. (yes I have fall backs: In state, won't apply until I have to senior year.</p>
<p>A couple questions: When I was looking through some of the applications, it said that you shouldn't apply until you're atleast a senior...? So should I wait, or what?</p>
<p>Also, anyone know how hard it is to get financial aid in the UK, if from the US?</p>
<p>Here’s the website from Cambridge University discussing financial costs for international students: [Undergraduate</a> Admissions: Financial costs and support for international students](<a href=“Study at Cambridge | University of Cambridge”>Study at Cambridge | University of Cambridge)</p>
<p>It says: “The financial support available for overseas students is limited. Few full scholarships are available at undergraduate level; most support is a partial contribution to your overall costs and is means-tested.”</p>
<p>I’m not sure about applying early as a junior, but if the application says you shouldn’t apply until you’re atleast a senior, then you might be out of luck.</p>
<p>You can’t apply to Cambridge and Oxford. It’s not allowed. You can only apply to one or the other. If you already have a college degree, you can apply to both, but that’s the only way.
I mostly know about Cambridge since I’m applying there and have been obsessed with it for like 5 years, but Oxford is quite similar. Financial support is rare, but English schools are cheaper than the priciest American schools. My sister goes to Northwestern and at our income level, we can’t get much aid, so if I went to Cambridge, it would be cheaper than her tuition. It’s called bursary in the UK, so look up that word on the Oxbridge websites.
Cambridge’s fee for most non-technical degrees is $13,595.12 in USD today, which is quite cheap in comparison to most US schools.</p>
<p>The UCAS (basically, British Common App) is out now, if you are in the US HS class of 10. You should get started on it if you are. They don’t mean once you start your senior year, they mean once you’re a rising senior. If you apply to Cambridge, you also have to fill out the COAF (Cambridge Overseas Application Form) which is available on the site. If you apply to any other UK school, all you have to do is fill out the UCAS, which has a letter of reference and a personal statement, not a million essays per college. Because of this though, you can only apply to 5 colleges. Even though my heart is set on Cambridge, I’ll probably put some other unis (Edinburgh, definitely) on there because it’s pretty easy to do. Cambridge recommends that international applicants be in the top 1 to 2% of their class, and Oxford probably feels the same. I’m slightly outside of that, being in the top 4 or maybe 3%, since my GPA’s gone up a bit, but I hope my top 1% SAT scores will offset this.
UCAS (and COAF) for Cambridge or Oxford is due Oct 15th, so most people are better off starting before their senior year actually begins. Cambridge’s website has a [timeline[/url</a>] for how international applications go. So, you start doing things while you’re still a junior.</p>
<p>Another thing is that you aren’t really applying <em>to</em> Oxbridge. You apply to one of their colleges, and yes, you have to choose one. You should look at the colleges’ official websites, their student websites, league tables of their rankings, etc. All of these will influence which college you choose. If you can’t decide, you can apply with an Open Application, which will then be sent to a college that doesn’t have enough applicants. Oh, and you have to apply for a course. It’s not like in America where you can be undecided for a while. I was thinking about my course for a while, and then when they year I want to apply comes around, Cambridge adds my dream course.</p>
<p>Helpful CC threads:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/study-abroad/727269-2009-uk-applications.html[/url]”>2009 UK Applications - Applying to College - College Confidential Forums](<a href=“http://www.cam.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/international/apply.html]timeline[/url”>http://www.cam.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/international/apply.html)</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/study-abroad/722266-oxford-class-2014-a.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/study-abroad/722266-oxford-class-2014-a.html</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/study-abroad/743134-uk-undergrad-chances.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/study-abroad/743134-uk-undergrad-chances.html</a></p>
<p>This is really interesting… Do they accept ACT scores? I also travelled there with my school England/Ireland, went to Japan and stayed with family there as part of international study program. What was cost for boarding there?</p>