<p>Hey guys,</p>
<p>I'm an American trying to figure out where to apply in the UK, but I'm not sure how to find options that are realistic for my stats. For US schools I can compare GPAs and SAT averages, but there is far less info for US students on UK schools. Also, some of the estimates that do exist seem a little low. I know people talk about Imperial College London as a competitive school, but they only ask for an 1800 on the SAT which is pretty average. As for my scores, I have a 2170 one-sitting SAT score (hoping to improve Nov 3rd) and a 4.0 GPA. I've taken 3 AP exams and gotten two 5s and a 4. How should I know what UK schools I should realistically apply to? If anyone could give me a reference or maybe make some recommendations of their own that would be great. I'd like to study Biology (med school down the line). Somewhere in London is preferable as I like the city and have a lot of family there, but I'll look at other places as well.</p>
<p>My other big issue is that my high school, like many American schools, makes students cover a broad spectrum of classes with only some specialization offered in later years. Thus while I have taken 3 APs they are all in history and english, and I want to study Biology. I'm taking 4 more APs this year including bio, chem, and math, but will UK schools dismiss me because I didn't take the courses earlier or can I get some kind of conditional offer based on my scores in the coming may?</p>
<p>Sorry for the rather long questions, but I'm finding the whole thing a little confusing. Thanks for any help!</p>
<p>To get a broad idea of the universities that you should be applying to, then the following AP scores are equivalent to the following A Level grades
5 = A
4 = B
3 = C </p>
<p>However, when applying from the US, they will generally look mostly at the relevant APs that you are doing. </p>
<p>It is possible to get a conditional offer based on predicted grades. In fact, it’s the norm for UK students. Your referee will need to submit predicted grades alongside your reference. </p>
<p>Don’t forget that there is life outside London, London is horribly expensive, and as a fairly small island you can get to London quite easily by train from all corners of it - for instance, from Manchester in the North West to London in the South East, it’s only 2 hours by train. </p>
<p>Finally, The Student Room is generally quite a good place to look for info on applying to UK universities.</p>
<p>I agree with boomting.</p>
<p>Your AP scores are going to be the most important things that UK colleges will be looking at. And you are going to need one or more AP’s relevant to the subject you are planning to study. So if you are hoping to read (what we Yanks call “major in”) Biology, you will need an AP score in Biology. You can read the materials for British students that explain what “A-levels” they are looking for, then take the equivalent AP tests. But as boomting says, you can apply before having taken the AP’s, with “predicted scores” getting you a “conditional offer”. (But then you better get those predicted scores!!!)</p>
<p>The most selective British unis are Oxford and Cambridge. You are going to need at least three AP’s with scores of 5 to get into those two. But then British universities and colleges scale down from those two. Since you already have two 5s and a 4, you can pretty much apply to any college or university in Britain except Oxford and Cambridge. If you can get your referee to predict that you will be earning another “5” on an AP test, then you can also apply to Oxford and Cambridge.</p>
<p>Would your family in London let you live with them? That would save you a lot on expenses.</p>
<p>The British also put a lot of emphasis on your personal statement and your interview. They will be looking for someone who is devoted to the subject they are planning to read, in your case Biology. They are NOT looking for someone “well-rounded” the way American schools do. So they do NOT want to hear about all your extracurriculars and other activities that are not related to Biology, they are looking for someone who has the commitment to focus on Biology for the three years it takes to earn a Bachelor’s degree.</p>
<p>KEVP</p>
<p>KEVP, thanks a lot for the great information. I expect 5s on my upcoming exams and I think my chosen referee would agree, so hopefully I can get a conditional. I understand that with my scores I can apply to any British uni, but which ones should I be looking at that would be realistic for an offer? For example, even though I’m expected to have >3 fives, I would assume my chances at Cambridge/Oxford are slim given the insane competition for those schools.</p>
<p>Thanks also for the tip on the personal statement; I think I can come up with a good one. I certainly have a passion for the subject and the traits to succeed. Unfortunately, I don’t have hundreds of research hours with a biotech company to back it up, but from the sounds of it there is a little less emphasis on that in Britain anyway. I’m also very interested in medicine and would be looking to pursue that after my Biology degree (I know you can do it out of high school in the UK, but I’m passed the deadline for that anyway). Would it be worth mentioning application in medicine as my long term plans or is it wiser to just focus on my immediate interest for Biology?</p>
<p>boomting, thanks as well for the info. I’ll check out the student room and I won’t forget to look at places outside London.</p>
<p>Be VERY careful. If you considering US medical school, you need to contact such schools now and ask them if they UK courses you are considering applying to will cover their pre-med requirements. If not, this could be a very expensive mistake, and UK schools won’t be able to tell you anything about US medical school requirements.</p>
<p>In reality most (the very few) fully enrolled US undergraduates at Oxford and Cambridge tend to have 6 or more relevant APs, all 5s. Or very often have already completed a year at a US college. You currently only have 1 relevant AP (Biology) so at the present time it would be hard for you to be admitted into any UK school for Biology. Yes, you can be admitted with conditional scores. I would recommend doing as many science and math related APs as you can. </p>
<p>The one EC that might be relevant is work experience. If you applied for medicine in the UK they would expect you to have hundreds of hours of medical-related work experience. However, it’s not so crucial for Biology (however, I did work experience at an multinational pharmaceutical firm, which don’t think harmed my Cambridge application, given I got in). They key with the personal statement is that everything should be focused and relevant to Biology. I would mention you would like to continue to go on to graduate study, but don’t mention that is for medicine., They would just wonder why you were not applying for undergraduate medicine.</p>
<p>cupcake, I’ll have chemistry and calculus this year as well so that’s a couple of more relevant APs but I agree most Cambridge/Oxford applicants will have much more than I do. Not sure if that’s the case or not for other universities as well. Thanks for the heads up on US medical school requirements, I hadn’t thought about that. I’ll add that to my list of items to research. I definitely want to cover all bases to make sure I don’t make any big mistakes, as the crossing over between US/UK systems seems somewhat complicated. It may turn out that it won’t work for me but it’s an option I want to seriously consider.</p>
<p>People must be playing with time machines, because this conversation is really hard to follow…</p>
<p>I know. Lots of out of order posts. Weird stuff.</p>