<p>I'm a British homeschooled student who plans to apply to Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Stanford, and Yale this autumn. However, I've never done an AP exam in my life, although I have three As in my A-levels (Maths, Further Maths, and Physics). I don't have any qualifications (GCSEs, A levels, or otherwise) in subjects like English, Chemistry, a foreign language, or History, and I'm worried that this might adversely affect my application. </p>
<p>It's too late to apply for the APs this year (the closing date to get the details of local AP coordinators was the first of March), but I intend to do them next year. If I mention on the Common App that I intend to take APs in Chemistry and so forth, will it be worth much less than if I had already completed the exams?</p>
<p>If I do SAT papers in all those "general knowledge" subjects, can they substitute for the APs? Also, is there any way that I can get the details of local AP coordinators without contacting the College Board directly? If I got those, I could do the APs this year, so long as I contacted the coordinators before the 15th of March.</p>
<p>If it isn’t possible for you to take AP’s, that won’t be a major problem. Colleges want to know what you have accomplished given the opportunities presented to you. US universities are familiar with the UK system.</p>
<p>Echoing what lockn said, I think you should take the SAT II’s in as many subjects as you can (Math Level I, Math Level II, Physics, Chemistry and Biology). Also, I have experience with both the A-level and AP system. A-Levels are WAY harder than AP’s, so A-Levels will be consider equal, if not better, than AP’s. SAT II’s are a piece of cake in comparison to A-Levels. Just make sure you achieve the required SAT I, and three SAT IIs and you’ll be okay. Again, A-Levels are much harder than AP’s so you nothing to worry about.</p>
<p>I’m definitely taking the SAT Reasoning Test and the SAT Subject Test in Math Level II. I might take Literature as well, as I’m quite familiar with the subject matter. Should I spend time loading up on SAT IIs like Chemistry or History, and not go with Physics (as I already have an A-level in the latter?)? I have an Open University qualification (which is kind of like a college module, I think) in genetics and I got a good grade in that, so I think I’m OK with regards to Biology.</p>
<p>The problem is that I <em>could</em> have entered for the APs this year, even in Britain, but didn’t. And it’s far better to say that I got such-and-such a grade in an AP exam than that I’m going to enter next year. I was just wondering how much priority colleges place on APs, especially if a student’s home-schooled; you hear about all these people who got into Harvard with 10 APs or something.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the advice so far. I was worried I’d messed up my chances for good. College apps are one stressful business.</p>
<p>Those colleges know how to evaluate A-level exams from Britain. You do have to take either the SAT Reasoning Test or ACT with writing, along with up to three SAT Subject Tests at some of those colleges, but they are very familiar with British credentials and will know what to do with your application.</p>
<p>Thing is, though, I don’t have any A-levels, GCSEs, or qualifications apart from the Maths, Further Maths, Physics, and two Open University modules in cosmology and genetics. Since I’m home-schooled and don’t even have an official school transcript, would the colleges recognise good SAT scores in Literature, World History, Chemistry, and possibly Biology as proof of my general knowledge? </p>
<p>I’m pretty good at Computer Science and creative writing, though - I’m actually working on a college-level project in CS. I’m one of those “well lopsided” students the Harvard site talks about; can being very good in a select few areas (namely, CS, Maths, and Physics) make up for lack of APs, or is there a “minimum level” of all subjects that I have to show I’ve reached?</p>
<p>Yes, the more SATIIs in the subjects you don’t have A levels in, the better. Telling colleges you will take any test in the future is worthless.</p>
<p>And while the top schools do indeed want well lopsided students, that’s typically shown in extreme accomplishments–awards, honors, championships. Students typically have high scores across the board at the schools you’re talking about.</p>
<p>hmom: A-levels are very different from APs, many of the most elite universities in the UK (Cambridge, Oxford, Imperial), only expect three from each applicant. Doing more A-levels is extremely difficult, because they need to do the O-Levels, then the AS-Level, THEN the A-level, versus the AP were you can take it whenever without any prerequisites. </p>
<p>@python: Again, I think that colleges look equally at the AP’s and the AL’s, if they don’t look at A-Levels better. They do not expect you to do every qualification that is available in your country(as a matter of fact, AP’s aren’t even required (as an admissions officer at MIT once said in his blog years ago, there are many many people at MIT without a dozen AP, some without any.) To me, you have taken advantage of what you have access to by doing the extremely challenging A-Level. I just think you should do some (maybe 5) SAT II’s in English, Math, History, Phyics, Chemistry.</p>
<p>Again, colleges don’t expect you to do AP’s, A-levels, and IB, etc. just because they’re there. Just do one. </p>
<p>I’m going to do the SATs in all the subjects I can; definitely Math II, Chemistry, and Literature (they don’t have an English test). Should I take both World History and US History, or whichever I’m better with? Also, what’s the best way to prepare for the Subject Tests? (I learn quickly, but I’m not too familiar with a lot of the material).</p>
<p>Should I do the tests in Physics and Biology if I’ve already got the Physics A-level and a Open University qualification in a genetics course (which requires some knowledge of biology)?</p>
<p>Is it even worth planning to do some APs next year, and mentioning that on my Common App, if the colleges won’t care about that? The only reason I wanted to do them was because I thought they might improve my chances. I don’t want to say that I’m going do them, and then have to take them, if you see what I mean.</p>
<p>And I’m also applying to Cambridge, Warwick, Imperial and LSE; I’m not too worried about the British universities, though, as I know I can fulfill their requirements much more easily (although I’d much, much prefer to go to a US university, for a variety of reasons). I’ve got Cornell, Pennsylvania, Caltech, Duke, Carnegie Mellon, and New York on my list, too, but I guess if my qualifications are good enough for HYPSM, they’ll be good enough for those, too.</p>
<p>Thanks for the good luck; same to you :). Where are you applying?</p>
<p>@ lolcats4: Wow, Columbia? That’s the same university a certain President Obama went to Which SAT IIs did you do, and did you have to do any extra projects or something special to get in? How did you show the admissions officers that you had the kind of general knowledge colleges expect? (Sorry for all the questions, lol… I just feel like the sky will fall on my head if I don’t get to at least one of my dream colleges.)</p>
<p>The reason to take APs next year is because you might get credits towards your degree or may be excused from taking required classes depending on the college.</p>
<p>Are you seeking financial aid? We can suggest some colleges to add but knowing how much aid you do or don’t need would be an important factor.</p>
<p>Good point; MIT definitely awards credit for some APs, I know that much. And, after I apply, I (or most students, for that matter) have very little to do. I’ll look up the exact list of APs on offer and see what I can take, plus find out what other colleges I’m applying to award credit for them.</p>
<p>I’ll be applying for a fairly large amount of financial aid, to put it mildly; probably around the region of asking for the university to pay for everything (around $50k a year), I’m sorry to say. I also want to do an MBA later, which is extremely expensive, and my parents aren’t earning anything like that amount so it would be unfair to ask them to finance everything. If you could give me the names of some good colleges who will aid international students, that would be great, thanks ^^</p>
<p>I applied to most of the schools you’re going to apply to next year. I also applied to Cambridge, Imperial, UCL. I got an offer at Imperial, but didn’t get one for Cam. Still waiting on UCL. Well, good luck. IMO, I think you should take the English(I meant literature, lol), Math II, Chem, Bio, and maybe Physics and one of the Histories(the more the better). Good luck. BTW, the best way to prepare for the SAT and SAT II is by doing practice test. Try and aim for a 2250+ on the SAT I, and a 800 or so in each section of the SAT II. I think you should forget about the AP’s.</p>
<p>With regard to the possibility of APs next year, I only need to start thinking about them when filling out the Common Application (which won’t be for a while), so I suppose you’re right - best forget about them for now. What’s done is done. </p>
<p>I’d better apply for the SAT Subject Tests ASAP - do you know of any good books or online sources which contain practise papers/questions? I have the Official Study Guide and the free papers from the College Board site, but that’s only two practise papers per subject. It’s much harder getting good practise materials for the Subject Tests than it is for the SAT I.</p>
<p>Off topic: Which American universities did you apply to? I don’t know anyone who’s applied to one, so I’m not very familiar with the application process.</p>
<p>Many colleges will give 8 credits for A Levels (though probably not for both Math and F Math), and some will cap advance credit at 32, so really, there’s not much benefit. Three A Levels is plenty, especially when coupled with solid SAT scores.</p>
<p>It’s not so much the credit I get that worries me as is the application itself. I was worried that the majority of accepted students at any of the top colleges have a plethora of APs.</p>
<p>Proof: Me. My school is in a podunk town in the middle of nowhere and does not offer APs. I am not a URM, recruited athlete, or millionaire. I got into MIT EA and Cornell ED.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, if you CAN take APs, you should. It’s much cheaper to pay $86 for a test now than $500 or more for a course later.</p>
Which SAT IIs did you do, and did you have to do any extra projects or something special to get in? How did you show the admissions officers that you had the kind of general knowledge colleges expect? (Sorry for all the questions, lol… I just feel like the sky will fall on my head if I don’t get to at least one of my dream colleges.)</p>