I really appreciate what everyone is saying, however, @SJ2727 is correct. My father and I have been talking about this topic, and he says that going through a family application would be a good idea IF we could get our green card soon. Right now, everything is just speculation, we have no idea when we will get one.
I used a calculator, and my weighted & capped gpa was around the same, 3.74 and my weighted was 4.11. Looking at Cal Poly SLO’s middle 50% for engineering, it says that the GPA is 4.12 - 4.25. I also meet all of the course requirements. I’m still thinking if I should apply, because the non holistic application process may hurt me here.
@Hippobirdy I have been involved in immigration assistance for a few years. Personally involved in a number of successful cases (my own included) with no lawyer required (no law being practiced, lawyer not needed). Seen many lawyers get paid for nothing more than filing in forms with information provided by applicants, which does nothing for the applicant but add cost to the process. For a work visa or employment based green card or a complex case a lawyer is required or at least highly recommended. For straightforward change of non immigrant status or a straightforward family based case lawyers are just not needed.
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You need to explain to your father that the “holistic” system means US colleges have “institutional priorities” applicants have no control over.
In India, students study hard and the higher they rank, the higher the odds they’ll get in.
Here, you need to meet an academic threshold and after that, whether you have 3.9 or 4.0 or 4.1 doesn’t matter, everything else comes into play: do they need an oboe player to replace the seniors leaving their travelling orchestra? Too bad you play the violin. Next year’s oboe player will be out of luck, though, and there’s nothing s/he can do about it.
You’re doing everything you can to have choices and your parents will support you at the highest-ranked college you get into, but there may not be a choice as to where that is.
(Your EC’s may not be all that compelling to MIT, for instance).
Apply to flagships and Tech flagships: Clemson, Virginia Tech, NCSU, UMD, Penn State. Apply in August, see if you get into one of those by November. Once you’re in at one or two of those, look at costs: is it affordable? If so, good, you have your safety and can focus on the rest of your list.
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Sorry, I’m still relatively new to the whole college application progress. You can apply in August? I was always told you start applying in January.
I definitely need to talk with my dad, about a myriad of things. Hopefully we won’t end up at a standstill.
Yes, most public universities have their applications up in July or August. In Florida, by October the top students all have their decisions. Deadlines for Honors colleges are Oct 15 to Dec 1 depending on the university and the State.
Nov1 is ED deadline (sometimes Nov 15). Jan 1 or 15 is for RD (less favorable) at selective private universities.
You’d likely be applying for Burnett Honors at UCF BTW (it’s a high-level honors college with a lot of NMFs). UF and FSU have honors colleges, too but UF’s in particular is lackluster (they attract the best in Florida without extra benefits.) Look at their deadlines and lan to apply to them all.
Note that UF is a match for you, not a safety.
ED = you have priority for acceptance but you promise to attend if admitted and offered enough financial aid. Only ONE of your applications can be ED. Run the NPC to see if the college is affordable (it’s silly to waste an ED application on an unaffordable college). You can apply to public universities, universities abroad, EA private colleges…
RD = the “regular” pool of applications
EA = you apply early to hear early but aren’t “priority” the way ED applicants are
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OP, how many APs will you have to show by the time you apply to Oxford (Oct. 15)?
I’m asking because for the moment, you’ve got four APs already taken that you need to submit (you can’t pick and choose what to submit, the way it works with the common app) and they’re all 3s and 4s. For physics, you need three 5’s in math and science related subjects. So what will be on your application? Can you have three 5s by then? Because the environmental science 4 might be a problem, and I’m not sure how much it will help to have outstanding scores they would have to base an conditional offer on.
Tagging @collegemom3717 @HazeGrey @Twoin18
So during the fall of my senior year, I should work on my applications for my safeties, then once those decisions come out I should prepare for my matches/reaches? Also just to be clear, it’s the same process to apply in October (common app)?
Thanks for telling me about applying in the fall. Now I think I have more time for my other applications, and more time in general to prepare.
I agree that all your APs being 3s and 4s is a problem, even though they aren’t directly relevant subjects. Are you going to get all 5s this year? Will your teacher writing your reference honestly be able to say you are one of their best students (in the specific subject you are applying for) in the last decade? That seems like the only way that Oxford would look seriously at your application.
Around 17 AP scores.
AP Environmental(4), AP Modern World History(3), AP Biology(4), AP Seminar(3), APUSH, AP Chemistry, AP Lang, AP Statistics, AP Calc AB, AP Computer Principles, AP Research
Next year I’m going to take AP gov, microecon, art history, calc bc, physics c, and computer science A.
I’ll probably cancel some lower scores, which is free and all you need to do is fill out a form.
I am sure I will get 5’s, I’m not trying to be cocky, but I’ve seriously been studying for the exams.
About the LoR, I can ask my Calc AB teacher, next year is my 3rd consecutive year with her and the students she writes LoR’s for ended up in Harvard. I’m sure I can count on her recommendation.
That’s not what I’d suggest. Don’t wait for acceptances to come in. Some of those safety decisions will come in after the application deadlines doe your other colleges. Do all of your applications as early as possible, then wait for all the decisions to come in.
Make sure you read the college websites for DEADLINES and don’t miss those deadlines.
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No, you apply in July-August to most public universities, September-October your ED choice and honors colleges, by December 1st you need to be mostly done… So you have very little time.
For top UK universities, the 3s and 4s will be abig problem - almost certainly automatically disqualifying.
Having lots of unrelated AP’s won’t matter to Oxford. They want focused AP’s and 5’s in all of them. Most UK universities will want 3 5’s in subjects related to what you want to study - for you, that’d be Calc BC, Physics C, and one more (AP Chem for instance).
I don’t think Oxford is the right choice based on your profile - Oxford is very specialized. Successful applicants would have taken Calc BC junior year, either taking dual enrollment classes or maxing out offerings at their HS. It’s a different ballgame (you could have C’s in US History for all they care, but they want you to be prodigiously advanced in the one subject you’ll “read” there).
Perhaps St Andrews? + UEdinburgh, UGlasgow or Aberdeen or Strathclyde or Herriot Watt? Scottish universities are a bit more general.
The Canadian universities will also work in a fairly straightforward manner. UBC, Waterloo, McGill, UToronto.
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Here’s the first step - have you researched which Oxford course you will apply to? If it is Engineering Science as I think was indicated upthread, Math & Physics A levels are listed as “essential” on the Engineering Science course overview. The only real AP score that you will have in hand on that front at the time of application in October will be your Calc AB. That means two things for you - 1) if you are lucky enough to receive an Oxford offer, it is fairly certain that it will be conditional on you receiving a 5 on the Calc BC and Physics C APs and 2) your performance on the PAT becomes critical in order to differentiate yourself for interview shortlisting as you really don’t have any other “reliable” performance markers in the areas that Oxford views as essential for Engineering Science.
Make sure you get a 5 this year on Calc AB (5s in AP Chem & Stats will help as well) and as @collegemom3717 suggested, start reviewing past PAT papers to find where your weaknesses/gaps in knowledge might be.
Finally, an Oxford LoR is different from what a US teacher might send to Harvard. Do some research there to help your recommender write the kind of letter that Oxford wants to see.
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Doesn’t work for the UK: you have to report all your scores, whether you like them or not.
And @Tigerle is right: your APs this spring need to have a bunch of 5s, and definitely all of Calc, Chem, Stats, and Comp principles.
TBH, so far I don’t fancy your chances for engineering at Oxford. Take a whack at a past PAT paper and see how it goes, but from what I can glean based on coursework you are well behind the level that it requires. Did you watch the video from Queens college? those students were where you are now (spring of Junior year). If I am wrong, or you are the kind of whiz kid who can cover that material on your own over the summer -great.
Unfortunately, I am already maxed out for my high school courses. My school doesn’t offer anything above Calc BC, and my local community college doesn’t offer higher math to duel enrolling high school students.
I’ll work hard this summer on my college applications, and I’ll be sure to send them in before the deadline. I’ve also been looking at Canadian universities like you suggested, most don’t have any extra requirements.
Thank you for being honest. I figured Oxford would be hard to get into.
I watched the video and read some sample papers, the PAT is no joke. I’m going to study over the summer for the PAT, and I’ll probably end up hiring a tutor/getting some serious help because I don’t think I’ll be successful just by self-studying.
If my only 3s & 4’s are in relatively unrelated AP subjects, and I have 5’s in the subjects most related to engineering (AB, BC, Stats, Computer prin.) do you think Oxford & other UK colleges would be inclined to give me a conditional offer?
Also tagging @HazeGrey, I don’t want to make two replies that say the same thing. I’ll also let my teacher know about the difference between the LoR’s.
I’d think you’d only have a chance at Oxford if you were able to bang 5s in calc BC, physics, CS (not principles) and chemistry on the figurative counter by October. You won’t have those.
If you were absolutely determined on trying, Id cancel all non STEM AP tests right now, this year (and next year, too, but you’re not there yet), and only focus on getting 5s in the ones @collegemom3717 listed.
The practical thing for American applicants is that you’ll know whether you made it by summer of junior year. I wouldnt bother with a tutor for the PAT unless every junior year AP test is a 5. And I second @MYOS1634’s recommendation to look at St Andrew’s instead, considered excellent for physics and doesn’t expect the same kind of focus from their US applicants.
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This is what worked for my son. He had his 5s for Calc BC, CS-A and Physics C in hand from junior year when he submitted his UCAS in fall of his senior year to read Maths & CS. He also had three years worth of scores from national math exams like the AMC/AIME as benchmarks as well. I’m sure that all worked in his favor in getting shortlisted for interview.
On other indicator for you - in this latest admissions cycle, the average PAT math score for successful Engineering Science applicants was 30 and the average PAT Physics score was 22. See how you do versus those on last year’s PAT.
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I just want to point out that if you spend your summer studying for the PAT, the sole benefit of this is to get you into Oxford, which I think is a long-shot anyway. Obviously do whatever you think is best for yourself, but I think there is merit in doing something other than studying over the summer. Work experience (might have to be volunteer), or doing something meaningful to try to improve yourself or your community will help you as a person. It might also help the holistic part of your US application.
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