Halp. US student to UK schools.

Student Lounge International Students
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<p>I've been doing the vast majority of my research on my own, so I feel as if I may have missed something important. I have a few questions about my qualifications and which schools I should look at</p>

<p>At present, I am a junior in high school. My qualifications are as follows</p>

<p>GPA: 3.66
Sats: 2070
CR: 680
Math: 700
Writing: 690</p>

<p>SAT IIs: (I'm taking Literature, Latin, and Math II [again], but they are as follows thus far)
US History: 680
Math II: 640
Math I: 750</p>

<p>ACTs: Taking June 13th</p>

<p>I've taken AP Latin:Vergil, and though the scores aren't out yet, I am quite certain of a 4, if not a 5.</p>

<p>Next year I'll be taking AP Calculus and AP English, aiming for 4-5s on those.</p>

<p>The schools I'm looking at
University of Edinburgh
University of Glasgow
University of St. Andrews
Loughborough University
University of Surrey
Kings College, London
University of Southampton
Durham University
University of Manchester</p>

<p>Okay, I know that's quite a few. St. Andrews, University of Edinburgh, Durham, Southampton, and Kings would be for a modern language degree. Edinburgh, Glasgow, Lborough, Surrey, Southampton, and Manchester would be for Electrical and Electronic Engineering.</p>

<p>I meet the entry requirements for all these schools, but I'm pretty sure that doesn't guarantee a spot. Do I have a pretty decent chance of getting in? Should I focus on anything in particular? Any input on schools in specific?</p>

<p>I just need a bit of help here. >.<</p>

<p>Any information at all would be loved.. </p>

<p>Thank you!</p>

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<p>For EEE I’d be quite concerned, as an admissions officer, that you wouldn’t be adequately prepared. Since you haven’t taken any AP Physics classes o_O Maybe you can explain your choice of EEE?</p>

3

<p>You apply for UK schools using a system called ‘UCAS’, where you get to choose 5 unis to apply to using <em>one</em> -academic- personal statement which is seen by all 5 unis (Oxbridge have their fancy forms but you’re not applying there), so you can’t apply for both languages and EEE as they’re so different (technically you can, it’s just that you’d be quite unlikely to get in unless you apply for EEE with X Language courses if they’re available). I’d also be skeptical about your chances for ‘common’ languages (French/Spanish etc.) as you don’t seem to be taking any APs in those subjects unless you were talking about Latin, which you are taking, or a rare language like Arabic where it may be possible to start from scratch. Scottish unis have this foundation year thing where you can choose 3 subjects before carrying one on, but I’m not sure about the specifics of that.</p>

<p>You also definitely want to work on your Math marks in both the subject test and the Calculus BC; UK schools want to see ‘predicted grades’ (what your teacher think you’ll get) and give ‘conditional offers’ (mark you must get before they take you). Also St. Andy’s have their own form for US applicants so theoretically you can apply to 5 with UCAS and St. A’s. As a heads up there is virtually no financial aid for internationals.</p>

<p>I echo fiona’s concern about your lack of physics; check the uni websites and email admissions tutors to hear their views.</p>

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<p>School doesn’t offer any sort of AP Physics program. The best I could do is independent studying… </p>

<p>Nor do we offer any sort of AP Program for languages, apart from the AP Latin…</p>

<p>FYI:
The potential courses I could opt to take as a senior (concerning AP)
AP English
AP Calculus BC
AP Chemistry
AP Music Theory
AP World History
AP U.S. History</p>

<p>How are my SATs, SAT IIs, etc for my opted choices</p>

5

<p>PS: I’m retaking the SAT IIs in about a week. I’m hoping for a 700+ in my Math IIs.</p>

<p>As to Fiona’s remark, EEE is simply the type of engineering I’m interested in. : P</p>

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<p>I do know quite a bit of this, though thank you for taking the interest. I more meant concerning my specifics scores. </p>

<p>I’m a bit mortified to realise that I don’t seem up to par due to my sporadic APs. Is there anything I can do? My school simply doesn’t offer APs in many courses…</p>

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<p>I just looked at Loughborough’s EEE entrance requirements and they want “Maths and one other science” (IB) or “two sciences/maths” (A Levels). Check the entrance requirements of other universities; I’d expect them to be similar so you should really try to do a science exam in addition to Calc BC, but definitely email unis and check (they may be more lenient to internationals as British universities are underfunded and many are well-known for taking int’ls in more eassily because we pay full fare, but it will likely put you at a disadvantage even if you get in). If possible add a science SAT II into the mix and do well. Definitely try for 700+ in all subject tests, it can only help. I’m not sure how well “lousy school” will go down in the UK because it’s an international applicant and they probably have enough of their own from-a-bad-school students to remediate if at all (admissions are more academic there) so I guess try to self-study or take community college classes and then do the AP exam?</p>

<p>For modern languages, I checked Edinburgh and it says for languages:
“SATS (600) or AP (grade 4) language required for most degrees. French requires SATS / AP in French all other languages simply require a language other than English. Exceptions: Arabic, Chinese and Japanese where a language is not compulsory, although most students will at least have a language at High School level.”
So it looks like you will have no choice but to self-study unless you do Arabic/Chinese/Japanese, unless Latin counts (email and check if Latin counts)</p>

<p>(P.S. I picked two unis randomly off the list. Check/email around the others)</p>

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<p>So AP Chemistry at very least?</p>

<p>Thank you for all the help, Agneisse</p>

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<p>My question was more like: Why are you sure you want to do EEE, when your educational background doesn’t reflect any interest or prep in it? (not a loaded q. lol)</p>

<p>AP Chemistry would certainly add to your application. Echo Agneisse on bumping up your SAT scores. I would think that scoring well on the Physics SAT Subject would help as well.</p>

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<p>Namely? Because I’ve had no idea *** to do with myself until this point. xD</p>

<p>Note that even if I had realized earlier on, I would be no better “prepped” as you said. I’d still be unable to take any other courses.</p>

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<p>I agree with Agneisse, if you apply for a combination of languages and EEE you wont get in anywhere, so dont.</p>

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<p>your grades scores are below the standards for St Andrews and Kings – they want 700 and above on SAT’s and gpa higher than 3.75. You may be able to squeek by for Edinburgh though. Dont know about others, but assume they are more lenient since they are lower ranked. Dont forget that in the UK you study whatever you applied for, so be sure you want to study it all through. Also, they dont care if your school was subpar or anything like that. They just care about grades and scores.</p>

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<p>Thank you.</p>

<p>It’s all something ot consider, and I may simply apply for EEE and not modern languages (due to a variety of reasons.) I could always pursue language on my own.</p>

<p>Another thing… Mayhaps it’d be worth it to look into taking Physics at a nearby community college?</p>

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<p>Zouth-the UK is really NOT a good choice for those who are not absolutely sure about the subject they wish to study.</p>

<p>Yes, it’s true in Scotland you take a more general first year course load and then specialise, but this is nothing like a US college. What it means is for example, if you take Englsih, History and Chemistry in the first year, you can then specialise in English, History or Chemistry (or at the outside, some related study like Liguistics maybe? If you’re really lucky). It doesn’t mean you can choose any subject. Usually if you want to change, you have to drop out and re-apply.</p>

<p>There may be some places that offer EEE with a modern language (courses with a langauge component are quite common in the UK) but bear in mind that if it’s a European langauge, you will struggle to be admitted because you will be competiting with UK students have have been studying it since they were 11.</p>

<p>Agneisse’s posts explain this in more detail.</p>

<p>What UK schools want to see is a very focused application elating to why you want to study a particular subject. Even if you are admitted, doing EEE without physics would probably be a nightmare, as all the other students will have A-level physics and you will be behind. Google A-level physics and look at some papers to see what it’s like.</p>

<p>If you really want to go to the UK, consider enrolling at a US college and then doing study abroad. </p>

<p>I am happy here. I did a BA and then stayed to do a PhD. But if you are an undecided student I think the UK education system could be a very miserable experience.</p>

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<p>St Andrews’ location is appalling. You should strongly consider Edinburgh and Durham. They’re fantastic unis in a great location. </p>

<p>Warwick should also be there in your list. You have to look into this uni more carefully. It’s one of the best in the UK.
<a href=“http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/[/url]”>http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Have you thought about just EEE and taking up a language outside of your degree? Most good unis have a decent language school for non-language students.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Is it? :s </p>

<p>I dont think its THAT good, certainly nothing compared to Oxbridge, London, Scottish ancients and a few other red bricks.</p>

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<p>YEAH! i totally get what you mean. I’m a junior in the US, and their application system is SOO confusing. I asked my college and career counselor about it, and she had no idea, since my school is full of Asians, so no one has really expressed interest in going to the UK for college. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with your qualifications, is your gpa weighted? Well they don’t really seem to care about gpa anyway, like it’s not in the qualifications. And I heard that as long as you’re an International student you are pretty much favored, because you pay more than everyone else haha. </p>

<p>About taking classes at Community colleges, I’ve been trying to figure that out. How do you put that into your qualifications? It doesn’t count as a High school course, and it doesn’t count as a International Baccalaureate class, or SAT, SAT II, AP, or ACT. The only thing it could possibly be is Associate’s Degree, but it’s not exactly an Associate’s Degree, because it’s just like a few classes. So i’m totally confused. </p>

<p>Also, I don’t really get the point of “predicting your grade” for the references. What if my referee is my Literature teacher? She won’t know what my SAT II Math score is going to be. It just doesn’t make sense. </p>

<p>You sound really smart so i doubt you really have much to worry about :slight_smile:
Good luck though :D</p>

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<p>The referee is supposed to be a teacher in the subject you are applying for (or a relevant subject); e.g. if you’re applying for a Physics course don’t get your English teacher because they are supposed to discuss your suitability for a degree in that subject (e.g. Maths teacher saying you are good at calculations and models for an Architecture applicant). Also the prediction is more for AP/IB exam scores (where the subject teacher predicts the score, or the student goes to each subject teacher and asks them to communicate the prediction to the referee) rather than SAT scores, which by January 15 of senior year you should already possess.</p>

<p>As for CC courses, email a few uni admissions tutors and ask. It may well take some explanation of what exactly a CC is, and they may want a corresponding AP exam (I’m purely speculating here) because it’s kind of difficult to explain.</p>

<p>Internationals are favoured except at Oxbridge and maybe others, but not by that much more anyway. And yes I doubt they ccare/understand GPA.</p>

<p>And to whoever was wondering, St. Andy’s has a ridiculous reputation in the US. I don’t understand why, and I’m not sure a certain Royal has that much influence, but public opinion seems to think it’s a <em>really</em> good school. Oh well.</p>

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<p>For Electrical Engineering, most top UK schools will probably require 4 or 5 in both AP Calculus BC and AP Physics C (Mechanics and E & M).</p>

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<p>I’ve found a way to take AP Physics next year. Though it does mean I’ll lose all my sundays, it seems pretty damn important. So I’ll have AP Calculus, AP Physics B, and AP English. Expecting 4-5s on all of them.</p>

<p>SAT IIs again this weekend, and then ACTs next. </p>

<p>Just a sidenote: I know I’m not good enough for the very best unis, but I think I have a fair shot at Loughborough, Surrey, Manchester, and maybe Edinburgh.</p>