Also still wondering: if I get 4s on any exams, should I mark down on the UCAS that I’m retaking them to get a 5? (Which I would do, if the topic was a relevant topic to econ)
And if I only get one or two fives out of the four exams I’ve taken, would that be okay to submit? I’m not sure how bad it would look. I know Oxford seems a little more flexible than LSE because they take into account the TSA and also base acceptance heavily on the interview, but any thoughts on that?
And say I chose PPE at Oxford…would they possibly offer me a place in another related course (like E&M) if they didn’t select me for PPE? Or do they just do that for the colleges?
I know these questions are really specific, but it’d be really great if anyone could answer them. Ready to work as hard as I need to in order to get in, or at least have a chance! 
From post #26 in this thread:
To add to that, NO, there is NO chance that a PPE applicant will be offered a place on E+M (or vice-versa). You apply to one, specific course and the tutors for that course choose the students for that course.
You are spinning yourself around with hypotheticals- ‘if I do this’ or ‘if I do that’. Really, truly, MIT’s advice is as good as it gets: http://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/applying_sideways
One more thing about exams and Oxford / UK unis: if you are not getting very many 5s you probably need to think about how suited you are for Oxford / LSE. And if APs seem like a daunting way of being assessed, UK unis might not be for you, because the UK system is almost entirely exam based. For PPE or E+M at Oxford your ENTIRE degree will be based on the 8 final exams (or 7 exams + 1 thesis) that you sit at the end of year 3. That’s it. You take mock exams (called collections) on the previous terms work at the beginning of every term, and you take ‘mods’ at the end of first year, but those are to make sure that you are mastering the material and are not part of your final transcript. You can get in trouble for not doing well on them, and your marks on your mods are used to ‘predict’ your final marks (for jobs / post-grad, etc), but when you graduate the only transcript you will have is your marks from your finals.
Keep in mind that A Levels are MUCH harder than APs, so if you can’t get 5s your odds of getting into the most selective universities are very low.
Understood, thank you both! I know I’m throwing a lot of if’s out there, but I’m also keeping in mind how short of a time period I had to study for my APs this year (approximately a month and a half for four subjects, but there are other college requirements for US universities I was also trying to meet). I had to cram in a lot because I did a lot of research on the different places I’d like to apply to and had to check the College Board site to see what exams would be most relevant to my chosen subject.
My main question was mainly about whether it’d be okay for me to send in the best scores I have (even if it’s only a couple of them, seeing as I’d cancel anything less than a 4), along with my SAT score and SAT Subject tests (chemistry in June and most likely Math II in November) to allow them some predictions when they look at my exams in the future? I have a lot more time over the summer to prepare for the ones I’m taking next year and I won’t be cramming several subjects in within a short amount of time. I’m not sure how many they usually want from you by the deadline, which is why I was a little worried.
I feel like I’d adjust to the workload at uni because my high school runs a very college-style curriculum (really rigorous and we study college level engineering from freshman year and up); my main worry was about how the universities would take it if I was to send in only a few exam results and let them know that I was taking more.
I feel like I made that sound really confusing, so please let me know if you need clarification on what I mean
Bringing this back for a bit! I was wondering how Oxford/LSE looked in the eyes of employers on Wall Street in the US…I’ve heard that they don’t value them as much here because the US looks for 4 years of undergrad education. I know that’s not set in stone because individuals could have different experiences and whatnot, but I was wondering how these schools looked in the eyes of Wall Street corporations.
If there are any limits as to how they are looked on, it’s not 3 v 4 years that is the basis. It’s less familiarity/fewer direct network connections. The top tier Wall Street outfits won’t look down on your Oxford degree, esp as you are v v likely to have been able to get work experience with some of the biggest City names during your vacs (winter / spring / summer) that will help you stand out. If your goal is to get into the biggest money job you can find when you graduate consider Christ Church if you apply to Oxford. You will find lots of fellow travellers there…
For LSE this will not be enough. Most degrees at LSE require 5 ap courses and 5’s on all the tests. There are a few degrees that require only 4 ap courses and 5’s on all the tests, but not many. If you do not meet these requirements, DO NOT EVEN BOTHER APPLYING. To read more about LSE’s USA entry requirements view this link http://www.lse.ac.uk/study/informationForInternationalStudents/countryRegion/northAmerica/USA/entryRequirements.aspx
Thank you for the insight! Most likely, I will resit any exams I didn’t get a 5 on this year (I have enough time this summer to prepare for everything) and then also take AP Calc BC, AP English Lang and Comp, and maybe AP Micro. My SAT should reach 2300+ by the end of the summer…so with that, I will hopefully have at least 5 APs with 5s and a high SAT score. That would fit the conditions, yes?
Does anyone know the answer to this: if I apply ED to NYU Sterns and get accepted, is Oxford/LSE still an option for me because it’s not in the US? Or do the ED acceptance conditions apply to every school you apply/have applied to?
The official rules on ED typically relate to US colleges only (though check the fine print on the Sterns website to be sure). You will know if you are through to interview at Oxford before you hear from Sterns.