<p>I'm a sophomore in high school and want to apply to Oxford in a couple years. I know it's extremely competitive for an American to get in so I have a few questions. Good to know early, I think.</p>
<p>1.) I'd be studying psychology and philosophy or politics and philosophy.
I've heard how impossible it is to get into Oxford/Cambridge for science because they don't feel AP sciences are up to UK curriculum standards. Is this the same for programs like psychology/politics? Would it be just as difficult/impossible?</p>
<p>2.) My school doesn't offer AP psychology so I'm self studying right now and I anticipate a 5. My last SAT score was a 2100 but I have 2 years to improve that. How else do I show dedication to my intended major (if I decide psychology) besides taking the AP test and doing extensive reading? Psychology has been an intellectual interest of mine for 3 years.</p>
<p>3.) I know Oxford is more for the humanities but I haven't heard anything specifically on their politics program, can anyone tell me the merits (or not) of it? </p>
<p>4.) I've heard SAT/AP scores are most important above all else. Just how competitive are international slots at Oxford? I've applied to an IB school for junior year (my school doesn't offer it). Would that be beneficial or detrimental to me? Or would it not make a difference?</p>
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<li><p>It’s not impossible for Americans to get into Oxbridge for the sciences. It’s no harder getting in to study the sciences as it is the humanities. As far as I know APs are perfectly acceptable to both Oxford and Cambridge.</p></li>
<li><p>For psychology at Oxford the core sciences are more important; psychology is certainly a useful AP to have but only in conjunction with biology and/or chemistry. If you were British I would suggest taking a study module in psychology (or any other subject that interests you) through the Open University to show the admissions officer at Oxford your keenness and aptitude for the subject. I don’t think Americans can use the Open University though, is there a US equivalent?</p></li>
<li><p>Oxford is just as good in the sciences as it is in the humanities. Politics at Oxford is world leading.</p></li>
<li><p>Yes, your academics are the most important thing and crucially they must be relevant to your intended course. Having the IB certainly wouldn’t be detrimental but like I said earlier, APs are quite acceptable too.</p></li>
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<p>Make sure you pay particular attention to any additional required tests for Oxford and Cambridge. They seem to drop your application if you don’t take the test by the time you apply. There is a very short window open between the deadline and last date to take the test (2-3 weeks).</p>
<p>I generally agree with Dionysus58 except that I think IB is more highly regarded than APs, so that might help you get an offer (though only if you are a good student). However, as you may know it is normal in the UK to get a “conditional offer” of acceptance which means you will only be acepted if you achieve specified grades at a future date. Conditional offers for IB tend to be very high (38 or higher I believe but I didn’t do IB myself so please correct me if I’m wrong) so don’t go for IB if you won’t make top grades.</p>
<p>As for APs, just look at the acceptable A-level subjects for UK students applying for that course, and do APs in similar subjects. For PPE any combination of subjects appears to be ok, but it does say 90% of applicants have higher level maths skills. I would therefore recommend several APs in mathematics (I know in the US algebra, calculus etc are all taught as separate subjects. In the UK they are not and all come under the umbrella of “Maths”, so you might need all of them). US schools are generally not considered to provide a high level of maths teaching (maybe that’s not the case at your school, but the admissions tutor is unlikely to spend time researching this), therefore I do think that demonstarting some skills in this area will be a great help to your application.</p>
<p>Psychology A-level (I don’t know about AP) is not that well respected so I agree that apptitude in Biology and Chemistry might be more of an advantage than psychology grades. Oxford likes traditional subjects I’m afraid.</p>
<p>Looking at the Oxford website it appears you will need to take the TSA test for both PPE and psychology and philosophy. You have to register for this in advance, as noted by texaspg above. </p>
<p>Ypu probably know the application deadline is usually 15th October for admission the following year eg 15th Oct 2012 for admission 1st Oct 2013.</p>
<p>Thank you so much for the responses! I’m starting AP Calculus next year, and your recommendations are leading me to think taking AP Chemistry or AP Biology would be better than Physics Honors.</p>