Hey everyone, I wanted to apply to NYU Sterns, UCLA, London School of Economics and Political Science, and Oxford University. I have a 3.72 GPA right now but I’m pretty sure I can push it up to a 3.8 or 3.9 by December. I’m taking AP Stats, AP Macroeconomics, AP Biology, and AP Psychology this May and I’m working hard so I’m hoping to get 4s and 5s on them.
I’m also working to get my SAT up to a 2300 and think I can get there by October…I also have a load of extracurriculars and community service hours so I’m sure those are good supplements as well.
What do you guys think my chances are of getting in?
Oxford & LSE will need at least 3 “Group A” APs with a score of 5. See here for the list of Group A & B APs:
https://www.ucas.com/ucas/undergraduate/getting-started/entry-requirements/tariff/tariff-tables/966
Of the ones you are taking this year, only Bio is a Group A, but Micro + Stats would give the equivalent of one.
Most UK students apply with exams still to take in their final year, so their teachers ‘predict’ their likely score, and the student may then be given a ‘conditional’ offer based on achieving those scores, so your senior year APs can count.
that will relate to the course you are applying to study (guessing econ?) and SAT 2100. Depending on the course, Oxford may have it’s own aptitude test as well. For both LSE & Oxford the only ECs they will pay attention to are those that demonstrate your interest in, and aptitude for the subject you are applying to study. GPA is irrelevant.
Be sure that you read the course description pages online very carefully. UK courses are much more structured than US courses, and there is little room for change once you are in (so if you get there, discover you aren’t loving the subject, most of the time it means starting over in a new course, not just ‘changing majors’, unless there is one that significantly overlaps with the original one.)
I think Psychology is a group B too…so am I allowed to take something like an AP English exam the following May and submit the score to them?
I was also thinking about sending my October SAT score to Oxford after I apply…am I allowed to do that on the UCAS app?
And does anyone know the minimum SAT score for LSE?
Copy/pasted from the LSE website (I can’t stress enough how much info is available online for the UK unis- you may have to dig around, but it really is all there):
The American High School Diploma is not sufficient as an entry qualification to LSE on its own. Applicants should offer in addition at least five or four relevant two-semester subjects (one year) at Advanced Placement (AP) level with a minimum grade of 5 (depending on the varying standard offer for the course). At least three AP’s should be taken in the same exam season. For programmes requiring A*AA or AAA at A level (see the relevant entry in the Undergraduate Prospectus) grade 5 in five two-semester AP courses is expected. For programmes requiring AAB at A level grade 5 in at least four two-semester AP courses is expected. When Maths is a required subject Calculus BC is expected. Economics Micro and Economics Macro are counted together as a single two-semester subject.
Subjects classified as relevant are:
Art History and three Studio Art courses - only considered in exceptional cases, unlikely to be considered for most competitive programmes.
Biology
Calculus AB
Calculus BC - for programmes where Maths is a required subject, applicants should offer Calculus BC. If an applicant has both Calculus AB and BC, the grade for Calculus BC supersedes the AB result and will count as just one of the five required AP scores.
Chemistry
Chinese Language and Culture
English Language and Composition
English Literature and Composition
European History
French Language and Culture
German Language and Culture
Government and Politics: US and Comparative
Human Geography and Environmental Science
Italian Language and Culture
Japanese Language and Culture
Latin: Virgil
Macro and Microeconomics
Physics (B and C)
Spanish Language
Spanish Literature and culture
United States History
World History
Here is the link:
http://www.lse.ac.uk/study/informationForInternationalStudents/countryRegion/northAmerica/USA/entryRequirements.aspx
LSE is more interested in APs than SAT- if you clear a 2100 it should not be an issue, and if you can get the APs necessary you can get that sort of AP total!
Yes, you can add scores to UCAS, and yes you can apply with tests not taken.
I might get a C in my engineering class and my school specializes in engineering…will that affect my chances for UCLA if I maintain everything else as A’s and B’s and get good AP and SAT scores? I’m really worried because our school is really rigorous and we’re not given a lot of opportunities when it comes to taking easier classes…
I have another question: does LSE look at GPA or grade transcripts? And how does the UCAS calculate points with APs? I’m taking the four right now (bio, psych, macro, and stats) and I guess stats + macro add up to 1 Group A, and I have a Group A subject from bio…that makes two Group A subjects. I think psychology is Group B, so I’d have to take another test in the spring of 2016.
The only other issue I’m having is that I think we have to commit to a certain college in the US by May 1, but AP results are released a lot later…how do we deal with all these technicalities? I’m working really hard and LSE is my goal and I’d really love to be able to study there.
Admission to English unis tends to very cut and dried. They want something akin to A-Levels, and the AP tests are the closest substitute. They barely care about test scores and don’t care about GPA and grades (knowing that different schools grade differently). At LSE, meet the requirements and you’re in. At Oxbridge, meet the requirements and you get to interview with faculty, and admission is dependent on how well you impress the faculty. It’s a very different admission system from the US.
You have the link to the tariff tables (above), though Oxford & Cambridge don’t follow them too closely, and you have LSE’s requirements above.
I don’t see how your current plan will get you the 4 2-semester APs that LSE requires for courses with an AAB entry requirement or 5 2-semester APs for an AAA or A*AA subject.
What subject are you applying to, btw?
As for how to make sure you have a place there are two routes: add extra universities to LSE & Oxford (such as Edinburgh or Durham)- ones that you already have the marks for, and will be sure of a place. Once all of your unis have responded with their decisions, if any of them give you conditional offers you are allowed to ‘firm’ one and ‘insure’ another (one from whom you have an unconditional offer, or an offer with safe conditions). And/or, you plunk down your $100 to hold a place at US uni and then let it if you meet your conditions
Although I don’t like doing it, I am going to gently disagree with Purple Titan: simply meeting the requirements for LSE is not always enough, esp for the more competitive courses.
Or take a gap year.
True, admissions to LSE may not be cut-and-dried for American applicants. My understanding is that it is for British applicants.
I’m planning on majoring in econ or finance. I think the stats and macro APs make one Group A right? And I have AP Biology too. Next year I’m taking one of the English APs and Calc AB.
Does LSE take SAT Subject Tests into account too? Because if those count, I can take the biology subject test in June.
Our school only offers 2 AP courses, but that’s calculus and British literature. Most of us just take AP exams.
sorry… you can’t double up on SATII & APs 
and LSE does not accept SATIIs. UK universities don’t care if you have taken the course- they are only interested in your AP score.
And, I am guessing that you haven’t actually read the course descriptions for Oxford or LSE. Really, truly you need to do that before you apply. You don’t major in economics at LSE- you take Economics. Here are the courses you will take in your first two years:
Year 1
LSE100: The LSE Course: Understanding the causes of things
EC102: Economics B
MA100: Mathematical Methods
ST102: Elementary Statistical Theory
An approved paper taught outside the Department
Year 2
EC201: Microeconomic Principles I or EC202 Microeconomic Principles II
EC210: Macroeconomic Principles
Either EC220 Introduction to Econometrics or EC221Principles of Econometrics
An approved paper taught outside the Department
If you do Economics and Management at Oxford you will do 4 each of required courses in Econ & Management plus 3 electives (from a list).
That’s it- no fillers, no easy grade boosting courses, no gen Ed. Make sure that is what you want!
That makes more sense, thank you! I’ve been trying to figure out my way around the LSE website and it’s a little tricky to do so but I’m slowly figuring out what’s listed where (you just made this ten times easier thank you so much!).
I think I’m okay with how specific the subject will be in the first year itself. It looks good to have good grades coming out of year 1, with filler courses and general subjects, but I’m completely okay with having a course strictly tailored to the subject I am interested in.
I’m shooting for good scores on all the APs I’m taking in a few weeks, but I was wondering if, with my plan (also provided that I score well), it was possible to be accepted to either of the UK schools. I know it’s a bit of a tricky process going into it, because AP exams are after the time we need to commit to a college here, but I might commit to the one I want here and wait on LSE; if I get in, then I can drop the commitment from the other college in the US hopefully. Does that work?
But thank you so much, it’s such a different system and I’ve only begun to understand how it all works now so all of your advice has been very helpful!
Putting a deposit on a US school while you wait for your exam results is perfectly fair. Another approach is to apply to more than just the tippy top UK schools- add say Durham or Edinburgh, where you are almost certain to get an offer, possibly unconditional which you can use as insurance.
It is hard to be doing APs that count when your pals are all done and set for college, but it can be done!
I think I might apply to Edinburgh and Manchester then…I’ve heard good things about Manchester actually, and it used to be my top choice until I found LSE. Not sure how great of a reputation it has here, if I wind up with a job back in the US.
I think I just have to drive myself to get it done, but I think I’ll be okay!
What do you mean insurance?
And another question: If AP results come out in July, how does that work with the submission process to a UK university? Wouldn’t it be really late?
No - UK students won’t get their results until August, so you’re ahead of the curve there.
Oh that’s good…is it possible to have the College Board send my scores earlier (maybe by the end of May)?
And does anyone know how the admissions tests work? Someone from my school (several years ago) got accepted to Oxford but he only attended an interview apparently, but I’ve read around CC that there’s also an aptitude test along with the interview.
re: insurance & test scores: on UCAS you can apply to up to 5 courses. Once you have heard from all 5 you have 30 days to “firm” one and “insure” another. If your offer is unconditional, you just “firm” the one, and that is your commitment to go there. But if your offer is “conditional” on your AP results, you can also “insure” against failing to meet your conditions by putting down a 2nd college where you either have an unconditional offer, or where the conditions are more likely to be met. You can fill in Oxford on your AP forms and have your scores sent automatically in July (but you won’t hear anything from your college until August, when the UK student results come out)
re: aptitude tests: many subjects at Oxford have an aptitude test - for econ it is the Thinking Skills Assessment (TSA). You have to register for it by 15 October and sit it on November 4. It can be a pain to organize, so start early.
Oxford uses standardized test marks (complete and projected), PS, recs, and TSA score, to make the short list for interviews. After interview, if they are struggling for a decision between candidates, the TSA score can tip it.