I did my GCSE’s at the end of sophomore (General Classification of Secondary Education ( the British version of what the SAT is BASED on)). Started A Levels (advanced levels) junior, and now I’m finishing junior.
We take four a-levels, and then drop one for our last year.
I know I need to take the SAT’s, that can be done. But do I need to take the SAT subject tests. Because we don’t have that curriculum taught here.
Where I’m going to apply in preference (also influenced by if I think I’ll get in that uni or not)
UCLA
Pennsylvania
Yale
Columbia
GWU
Georgetown
Stanford
For GCSE’s I got mostly B’s, (including math, english, science), and C’s.
For my whole A-level two year course, I think I’m going to get anywhere from
AAB (A is 90% above) to ABB. With an extra C for the first year course I’m going to drop.
BTW You need an AAA to a A*AA to get into Oxford.
It doesn’t say anywhere on UCLA’s website that internationals need subject tests.
The whole site is devoted to college admissions so start reading. Some of the knowledgeable people here do not know how to answer questions from international student though, we just don’t have experience.
But yes you have to take SAT II if it is required for admissions. UCLA doesn’t require it but I think the others do. Check the admissions website. Those are for general subjects like math, foreign language, chemistry, bio…
Okay, first, it’s General CERTIFICATE of Secondary Education, not Classification.
Second, the SAT is NOT based on the GCSE. They’re completely different things with no relation to each other.
Third, SAT Subject Tests are not a curriculum, they’re just standard tests, and all the topics are taught in the A level syllabus.
Your GCSE grades aren’t that great to be honest, so it largely depends on how well your AS results are and how high your predicted grades are.
You should check out the Fullbright website, they’ve got quite a few helpful guidelines for A level students.
@DarkEclipse What I meant was. When I looked over the SAT. I was very familiar with it, because I covered the content in GCSE math, and english. I thought I made that pretty clear.
SAT world history, US history, and english literature, are very different to the history (Italian and British AS + Russian and US A2), I take at A-Level. So I don’t think that anywhere near to ‘all’ topics are taught in A-level. Although, I did quite well in the SAT II try I did, because of own knowledge.
Update: Yale does not require the SAT II ( this is only stated in the international section as far as I know)
And I know I will this year get anywhere from a AABB to a BBBC. A couple of my teachers have known my for a long time, and taking in account of other things, particularly the contribution I make, I won’t be surprised if I get A*AB predicted grade. It is mostly about A-levels after all which is as my American and British teachers say much more advanced and intense than US high school curricula.
Taking all of that into account, if there’s any advice or additional information anybody can give me, please post. I will always update anything as well.
No, you didn’t make it clear, since this is what you originally posted:
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SAT US History, Chemistry, Biology E/M, Physics, Mathematics Level I and II and French are very similar to the A level content. In fact, French is very similar to GCSE French as well. I take A level as well (6 of them in fact), and I also took 8 IGCSE subjects, so I know what I’m talking about.
Your GCSE grades are a factor as well.
Your A-Level predicted grades should be all A’s (A or A*) to have even a shot, as an international, at the schools you listed. You also can’t discard the AS “C” grade. Everything counts: the total of GCSE’s are weighted for half the total, and the A-Levels are the second half (with the AS considered also predictive). Having an “A” average means you make the first cut, when they examine the rest of your application.
There’s no two ways about it, unless you somehow forgot to mention you’re on the Olympic Youth Soccer Team for England or ranked at the international math olympics, you have no shot at the universities you’re aiming at. Even UCLA, where you might have had a shot in the past (around 5% odds, probably) is now unreachable since there’s now a cap on internationals + OOS students that can be admitted.
So, now, you need to think:
Do you want to attend college in the US - in which case you also need to indicate what your parents’ budget is, and we can find you various schools where you’d have a shot.
Or you only wanted “prestige” schools, from which you’re currently shut out due to the GCSEs and predicted A-Level results, and so you’d need to refocus on European schools (UK, Sciences Po Reims, Dauphine in London, most Dutch universities.)