You can’t underestimate how much information Oxford provides! Here is a link to advice for the teacher who will be writing your reference: http://www.oxford-admissions-webapp.org/pages/view/14
MYOS1634 is right about the uploading process: your rec has to be uploaded before you can finalize you application, so watch your timing.
*oops- overestimate how much there is! (or, don’t underestimate…)
Sorry, it’s @alcibiade with a D who went through the UK process.
@alcibiade’s D is @ Cambridge, and came through the French secondary school system (but he is really helpful- surprised he hasn’t popped up yet!)
Thanks for the link! The Oxford website is kind of confusing haha, it takes a while to get used to figuring out where everything is! So I can’t put anything up application-wise until my LOR is up?
You can’t do anything until UCAS opens for 2016 applications, which should be June.
Then you can do everything except put in your credit card number to pay the application fee and hit send. Once the rec goes in you can do those two last pieces.
They open in June? I thought it was September. It’d be even better if it was June though, I’d have plenty of time over the summer to go through the process and write (and rewrite and rewrite) my personal statement 
Hello, everyone, I am happy to help on Cam. Here is my description of the process from an earlier post. I am happy to answer questions.
Most important, you must know what you want to study, i.e. your major - the 3-year course combines curriculum from undergraduate and graduate levels. That means you should demonstrate, through focused experience and effort, that you have been pursuing your interests. Some disciplines are easier to get into than others, e.g. Classics v. medicine. After that, there are many hurdles and requirements.
First, to apply, you have to meet strict grade requirements. If you are a foreign applicant, from a different system, this adds a bit of flexibility, but not much.
Second, if they are interested in you, they may ask for additional personal essays that require research and an expression of the applicant’s own thoughts. Parents are instructed to let it be a pure product of the applicant, with no writing help. I was very impressed with this, as it was a growth experience for my daughter.
Third, they can invite you for an interview on campus. Beyond probing what you know until they stump you, this is to check if you have the “right attitude”, that you “shine” yet know your limits. It was an exercise in humility for my D.
Fourth, they can ask you to take tests in your topic, though this was not required of my daughter.
Fifth, if they make you an offer, it is conditional. They set precise overall grade requirements (or class ranking) - my daughter had to get very high grades on her BAC exams (in her French high school), in some cases for specific disciplines; my daughter had to get A+ in honors math.
For this final hurdle, we formulated a strategy. We looked at her strengths and got a tutor to prepare for her BAC exams (they demand a specific style of answer, which was what we prepared for - not content, but style), in a sense knowing what she could ace and how it was weighted to affect the overall score. We avoided emphasis on subjectively graded subjects, such as philosophy, and concentrated on those over which we had more “control”.
Directly comparing statistics between US and UK admissions processes is misleading. First, with the common UK application, you can only apply to 5 schools. Second, you cannot apply to both Cambridge and Oxford. Third, the grade requirements are rigid, eliminating many qualified applicants from the statistical pool. Fourth, there is no “legacy” advantage, though if you go to the right public (read “private”) school in Britain, you are conditioned for the culture. Finally, my D applied as a European, though she could have done as an American. Americans may have additional requirements, such as submission of SATs.
I should note that applicants have to choose a college within Oxbridge to apply to directly. If that one lacks places in the chosen discipline but thinks the applicant is qualified, they are put into a “pool” with other colleges, which can choose to repeat certain steps in the application process. My D was “pooled” from St. Catherine and offered a place elsewhere. Also, extra-curricular activities are not very important; that being said, my D is an accomplished singer, which we believe helped as she was asked to audition in person for the chorus while still on conditional acceptance.
As one can imagine, it was a long and stressful process right up to July, when her BAC results were posted at school. We were focused on the process for the last 2 years, though from age 12, my D had expressed interest in going to Oxford and had read a book about how to get into Oxbridge. (As it turned out, she visited Oxford at 17 and didn’t like as much as Cambridge.) While my D was motivated to pursue her field on her own, we also nurtured her interests and offered her opportunities for work experiences in it, which she loved.
Thank you so much! I think I’ll be okay with exams and I’ve found a few places that help with how to construct a personal statement…would I be applying to the Said School of Business (for a BA in Economics and Management)? How are their interview questions usually structured? Do they try to get to know you a little before getting into the nitty-gritty or do they jump right into why you want to study the subject you chose and why you think you’re a good choice for the school?
And I was wondering how well respected universities like Warwick and Manchester were in the US…I’ve heard they’re pretty good universities in the UK and well ranked in Europe but if I decide to come back to the US, would they hinder my chances of getting a job here?
ho ho ho polarbear143. The interview is not about why you want to study the subject and why you are a great guy. It’s a cross between an oral exam and a tutorial. Take a look at an mock econ interview (6 minutes long; the real thing is 30 minutes and you do at least two of them for E&M):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzwxQ164FE0
You can assume that at some point during the interview they will present you with material that you are unfamiliar with and ask you to work through it. The point is to see how you think, how you learn and how you do with the tutorial process.
Here is Keble College’s feedback on their 2013 E&M selection process:
http://www.keble.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/subjects/past-feedback/2013EM.pdf
Btw,you apply to E&M through the regular Oxford process, not through Said.
So you basically have to show them that you can apply your thinking in a way that’ll allow you to approach an unfamiliar subject, right? Do you know how nerve-wracking it is? If I do get an interview, I’ll definitely have some points prepared for it but it IS Oxford and it is an intense university, so I’m hoping whatever I’m able to show them will prove that I’m a good candidate for the school.
I feel like this is a question with an obvious answer, but I am still learning about these schools, so hopefully I won’t sound crazy. Does Oxford have a better reputation with economics or does LSE?
I was also wondering how the UCAS works, since you submit one application (Oxford) early, but schools like LSE only have deadlines in January. I might want to submit LSE in either November or December, depending on when my SAT score comes out and if I take any more SAT subject tests (since Oxford takes them). And how do you add your scores on the UCAS? Do you just go onto your app and put them whenever you get them back?
Once you get onto UCAS it is pretty straightforward- don’t stress about that part yet
Remember that you only submit one PS and one rec- all the unis that you apply to see the same info. You can add unis after you submit your first ones, but it is simply a matter of adding the course code to your form. Hence the art form of the PS: you have to write it so that each uni you apply to thinks it fits their course perfectly!
Understood!
I’m looking at the LSE requirements and they seem stricter than Oxford when it comes to APs…do they really only consider those with 5s on all their exams?
My mistake, Oxford says the same thing but for 3 subjects…again, are they really that strict or are they okay with 4s?
They really mean 5s.
(essential for your key subjects- I do know people at Oxford who have some 4s, but they are in ‘extra’ or non-relevant subjects).
It’s not worth anything (b/c it’s anecdotal), but the people that I know who applied to both Oxford and LSE typically got harder conditions from LSE. LSE is quite open about it’s view of the quality of the US secondary school system, hence they are looking for evidence that you have achieved at a level closer to what they see as the UK standard. Oxford takes it more as they want to know that you have the necessary background (in material or skills) to do the work of the course.
So if I get a 4 on any of the four exams I take this year, should I submit the score and put down on UCAS that I’m planning a retake? (and is that advisable?)
I decided a little late on what exams I was taking, since I just recently decided economics was what I wanted to pursue.
And are there any other UK universities you’d recommend I apply to? I’ve heard good things about UCL but I’m not sure how great it is in comparison to LSE.
You need to apply with enough tests / strong marks that your predictions for senior year are credible.
IMO (and I am not a tutor, and have seen enough wild card exceptions to know that you can find an exception to almost everything) applying for E&M with 4s in relevant APs is simply not going to cut it- it is one of the most competitive courses at Oxford, and you can be sure that the UK applicants will be applying with As and A*s in the relevant subjects from their state GCSE’s (taken in the equivalent of 9th grade), and be predicted for the same at A level.
With Oxford and LSE you are gunning for the top of the top- Harvard, not NYU or UCLA- in a system that pushes kids to figure out what they want to do by early high school and work towards that goal single mindedly. There are a lot of great UK choices, and your choices go up exponentially once you get past Oxbridge and LSE. Same as in the US they go up exponentially once you get past the hyper-competitive universities.
I feel a little pressure now haha. I think I’m comfortable with Statistics and Macro right now, so if I got 5s on those and a 700+ on SAT Chem (taking it in June), would that be enough for them to measure how well I would do on senior year APs? (I’ll also be taking the SAT again in October)
I know SAT Chem is almost completely irrelevant to my chosen subject, but I’m hoping it’ll allow them to predict where I’d stand next May.
Does anyone know how UCL stands in terms of E&M?