<p>Hey guys,
Is it easier to get into these two than to get into Yale and Princeton,considering that you are citizen of ECC ?Another thing is that the tuition at Oxford costs about 5-6 000 $ ,and Yale costs more than 40k (+ campus expenses)
I havent been interested in applying in GB ,but now realized I have a great TOEFL result (114) and just want to know what else i need to apply to Oxford and Cambridge ?Also,Imperial college and Royal college of London look attractive to me.Plus,i will be closer to home if i study in UK .</p>
<p>American and UK colleges pick their students by different criteria. Oxford and Cambridge judge you purely by your academic merits: besides a great high school record and test scores, they expect you to be very excited about your prospective major. You will be interviewed and/or take a test to determine your aptitude and preparation for your major.</p>
<p>Harvard and Princeton, on the other hand, want students who are more than just academic robots. Granted, if you are good enough academically, say you won an international science olympiad, that would "guarantee" you admission to Harvard or Princeton even without any significant extra-curricular involvement. In general however American colleges are looking for applicants who would contribute to the college environment both inside and outside of the classroom. The ideal applicant has been committed to a few extra-curricular activities for an extended period of time and has been successful in those: playing an instrument is good, playing it on a national level is better; leading a club is good, organizing a regional fundraiser that raised $$ (a lot of money) $$ is better. You get the idea.</p>
<p>Yes i get it.
Well i have perfect academic performance.A gpa of 3.95 (i will try to make it 4.0 ),a TOEFL score of 114 out of 120 and expect a 2200+on my SAT in June.
Still,I am not the typical robot : I visit night clubs every Saturday,go to a lot of birthday parties,date pretty girls,but dont have any specific ECs like volunteer work or charity.I am in the school volleyball team ,and pretty much thats it.
Oxford and Cambridge sound more prestigious than the US universities simply because they are much older.Oxford was found in 1100 and something ,about 400 years before Colum discovered America.
But then why the difference of the money is so astronomical ?</p>
<p>
[quote]
But then why the difference of the money is so astronomical ?
[/quote]
Because Oxford and Cambridge are public universities while Harvard, Yale and Princeton are private. </p>
<p>On the other hand, American universities also have a lot more financial aid available than their UK counterparts. If you are poor enough, the top American will fund your entire education including meals, health insurance and the airfare to get there. British universities don't have that kind of money.</p>
<p>Since when did old equate with quality.</p>
<p>While Oxbridge are certainly fine schools, many think the ivy league schools are a better college experience. You study much more than just your major and have unparalled resources because of the wealth of these schools. Notice Tony Blair's son is at Yale and that many world leaders have studied at the ivy colleges and grad schools.</p>
<p>I know that all the rich kids of Western EUrope - kids from Spain ,Portugal,Sweden,Norway ,France ... etc go to the USA .
But the son of Tony Blair is a special case - he will just feel more comofortable with people who dont know his father or familiy,in general</p>
<p>@ hmom
Oxbridge is more prestigious than most of the Ivies. The only one that rank before them is Harvard. And FYI, Oxbridge is rich too, it is just that they are stingy with scholarships and financial aid(which is almost nonexisent if you are not British). </p>
<p>I think Oxbridge wants you to have at least 2200 on the SAT to even apply. Oxford's minimum to apply is 2100, and since we all know colleges always allow the minimum SAT score to be lower than expected, so supposedly they will only really take a good look at your application if you get a 2200+. I would recommend you to try to get at least a 2350, as those who applied to Oxbridge are really competitive in terms of their results.</p>
<p>HYP is easier to get into if you are not really that academic inclined and very active in your ECs and volunteer work. However, if you are pretty flat in your ECs and volunteer work section but have excellent results and knowledge in your intended major, Oxbridge would be then easier. </p>
<p>Oxbridge want you to have a very clear direction about your major and your future career. It is pretty tough to change major along the course. So, if you are not hundred percent or at least ninty percent sure of your intended major, don't apply. You would also need to have an excellent knowledge about the major and interviews would also have weird questions. One of the Medical interview question is "If you are a grapefruit, would you rather be seedless or with seed" while for history is "how do you organise a successful revolution". Not only do you need to market yourself, you would also be expected to produce a reply that shows advanced knowledge in the major.</p>
<p>Oxbridge also ignores ECs unless they are linked to the major. They do like International Competitions related to the major a lot.</p>
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<p>Oh please, Tony Blair's son is Tony Blair's son wherever he goes. We know who his daddy is. I believe his decision to go to the US has very little do to with the fact that he wants a more "comfortable" and "anonymous" life. </p>
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<p>LOL. OP's funny.</p>
<p>"Not an academic robot" is more about being extremely involved in ECs and social service work. What you do with your personal life (the partying, the dating etc.) is really not of interest to anyone. You don't intend to write about your hot gfs in your application do you? But it does help in interviews if you aren't a social retard altogether. That said, Oxbridge's interviews are VERY academic-heavy, so even if you're a little socially awkward it won't matter. HYP's interviews are a lot more personal and more about forming a connection with the interviewer. It does turn an interviewer off majorly if you seem like a hermit who spends his life studying.</p>
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<p>I have to disagree. It's not a vice versa thing. If you have insane academic credentials and virtually no EC stuff, you CAN get into Oxbridge. But if you have good ECs and subpar academic performance, there's a 99% chance you WILL NOT get into HYP. At the end of the day, HYP are institutions for higher education and they want people who are passionate about learning. Even more than that they want people who will make their freshman class exciting, enlighten their peers and give back to the society. In that sense it might be harder to get into HYP because not only do you have to stand out academically, you have to excel in ECs and social work as well. Even the athletic recruits of HYP have mad SAT scores. Show me one person accepted by HYP who's "not really academic inclined".</p>
<p>According to this ranking: QS</a> Top Universities: Top 100 universities in the THE - QS World University Rankings 2007 Harvard and Yale are above of Oxbridge. </p>
<p>I've heard many times that the social life at Oxbridge & LSE is nonexistent, so OP sounds like he's going to enjoy the Ivies more (H, not so much). If you're looking for financial aid, HYPD is the way to go. They're very generous. What country are you from though?</p>
<p>Agree with confused on most points. To say Oxbridge is more prestigious or that HYPS are is simply a matter of opinion, not fact. You can find a ranking entity to support whatever you want to. What is measurably different is the college experience, and that's what makes the wealthy from around the globe choose one over the other.</p>
<p>Harvard was made by Cambridge! :D</p>
<p>Yup, Cambridge gave the funds to establish Harvard in the first place, but now, Harvard is way ahead it. Its endorsements, alumni, facilities, faculty ... and the experience! Its all out of Cambridge's league.</p>
<p>P.S. 2 guys got into Oxbridge from my high school. One in each of the universities. But, no one got into Yale, Stanford or Princeton through ED.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Orginally posted by Confused_vnese
Even the athletic recruits of HYP have mad SAT scores. Show me one person accepted by HYP who's "not really academic inclined".
[/quote]
I think you misunderstood me. I do not, in any intention, mean to say that HYP accept students with sub-par results.What I meant by academically inclined is by Oxbridge standards, the schools expect you to have at least 2200 for SAT. Whereas for YP, you can get away with a ~2050 SAT if you are an athletic recruit or an URM(which Oxbridge gives squat about), though still it must be recognised that that SAT score is good as well. </p>
<p>And rankings varies. So chill. But you get the gist of it. Oxbridge is more prestigious than most of the Ivies.</p>
<p>Does Oxbridge even require SAT ?I am not sure about that.I mean,yes,huge score will help a lot ,but is it completely necessary ?I know that i only need TOEFL for GB universities.
And please answer another question - Is it true that the deadline to apply to Oxbridge is Oct ?</p>
<p>They don't require SAT. But they like 2300+.
It is true that it is October. That is true for all dentist/medicine majors as well.</p>
<p>Oxford and Cambridge do have an October deadline - and also give you the news earlier than US schools. They have very specific requirements, spelled out on their websites. You can only apply to one. Americans should have SATs, and should have APs and/or SAT subject tests as well. The interview process may be changing - they are considering some sort of internet process. It was the case that Americans had to get to a short list of interview locations. (NYC was one.)</p>
<p>I was talking about HYP. How prestigious the rest of the Ivy camp is is still up for debate. But Penn's Wharton is good for business, and Cornell's engineering is top-notch so you (OP) really have to do your research.</p>
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<p>2100 SAT is acceptable for Oxbridge. >2300 will help (it always does), but most of the people i know got in with ~2100, 2200 SAT.</p>
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<p>Tuition is about 7500 in dollars, living expenses around 11,000 for a total around 20,000. British schools are subsidized by the government. They are less expensive than private American colleges, but there is also less scholarship funding available. Americans will generally end up paying less at American schools.</p>
<p>
To pill up the research, Yale is amazing for Law, Cornell for architecture and Princeton for Economics. And Harvard..? Well, it's great for everything, except maybe Engineering!</p>
<p>Well,I dont know if you guys are familiar with this but TOEFL ls like 100x times easier than the SAT.The vocabulary for TOEFL consist of words like ''white board'' , `cat' , 'dog' ,The reading is elemntary.You are given text with easy words and you are asked things like ''how many brothers and sisters does Tom have'' .You are not supposed to know what the author is trying to imply ,as in the SAT you have to analyze.Thats why I think 2100-2150 is pretty good SAT result for school that doesnt even require SAT.
I hope i will get a 2200 in June because clearly the Oct testing is too late</p>
<p>'</p>
<p>Guys,if you are familiar with the UK colleges,what can you tell me about Imperial College.I ve heard it is also very prestigious</p>
<p>^ are you over-simplifying TOEFL? I remember it was easy, much easier than the SAT, but not THAT laughably elementary. </p>
<p>If you get 30 for Reading and Writing on the TOEFL, i believe you can pull off >700 on the SAT CR & WR pretty easily. A ~2100 should be in your hands if you don't screw up majorly (like miss a page of questions or st). Don't be too confident though, because a 2200 SAT is not easy to achieve, even if it seems like half of the people applying to HYPMS on this board get above that. I should know, i got perfect score for toefl but 2180 on my first SAT attempt.</p>
<p>Oct testing is fine. You can always update Oxbridge after you get your results. I did, and things worked out fine for me.</p>