<p>Hey guys I'm an American student planning on applying to the Geography course in Oxford. Do any of you guys know how the course is at Oxford? Do you guys have any tips in the application process for this course?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Also, what do you think my chances are for gaining admission into this course, assuming that I do well on both my interview and essay (which are VERY BIG ifs)?</p>
<p>SAT I:
1st sitting: 650M 680CR 780W (2110)
2nd sitting (highest single sitting): 740M 790CR 700W (2230)</p>
<p>APs (from Junior year):
World History: 5
US History: 5
Spanish Language: 5
English Literature: 4</p>
<p>SAT IIs:
Chinese (native speaker): 800 (doesnt mean much...)
World History: 790
US History: 770</p>
<p>According to the Oxford website, it is ** highly recommended ** that you take A-Level Geography or IB Geography HL before applying to this course. If you cannot take any of those two in the US, I suggest you take AP Human Geography instead. </p>
<p>The Oxford BA in Geography is fine, but, like most UK bachelor’s degrees, it is highly specialized. In other words, Geography is the ** only subject ** you will study for 3 years (no general education requirements, core curriculum, or outside electives like in the U.S). If you are absolutely sure you want to be a geographer and/or are considering further graduate studies in the area, it might be a good choice for you. Otherwise, you should consider a different degree.</p>
<p>Note that Oxford itself has other undergraduate hono(u)r courses that are less specialized in content and allow you to combine two or even three different subjects, e.g. History and Politics, History and Economics, History and Modern Languages, History and English, etc. Those courses seem to be a better match for you SAT II/AP profile.</p>
<p>Thanks for the reply :)</p>
<p>Doesn’t the recommendation for the A-Level Geography or IB Geography HL only apply to domestic British applicants? All courses seem to have a similar A-Level and HL requirements.</p>
<p>The reason I do not have more geography-related subjects in my SAT II/AP profile is that my school does not offer AP Human Geography, and the closest SAT II exams to geography are the two history tests. Do you think my exam profile is good enough to gain acceptance?</p>
<p>According to the Oxford website, the geography course seems to entail “cross-fertilisation between geography and other disciplines, such as anthropology, sociology, history, political science, economics”</p>
<p>Regardless of my course, I am aiming for eventual admittance into Law School. However, I’ve always enjoyed world geography (especially human geography- physical geography is definitely my weaker point), and would love to study it for undergrad. My understanding is that the undergrad major you choose does not matter significantly for US Law schools?</p>
<p>I will, however, look into one of the history courses as well. One of the things that bothers me about these courses is that I would need to take a history entrance exam.</p>
<p>No, the recommendation for courses apply to all applicants. After all, it is an intensive degree and you will need to study it for three years, so it makes sense that they want you to know what you are getting yourself into. The personal statement (47 lines/4000 characters I think) is where you need to justify why you want to study the subject, so if you haven’t done Geography courses (either AP HG, CC courses or w/e) then you’d probably need to read Geography-related books and have very strong reasons why you know you want to spend the next three years studying something you have never studied formally before. ([The</a> Course Outline](<a href=“http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate_courses/courses/geography/geography_course.html]The”>http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate_courses/courses/geography/geography_course.html) - suggests that a large portion of your degree will be geography (all 4 papers in first year and 3/5 papers in the next two years), and physgeo is compulsory). Cambridge seems to let you escape physgeo earlier in the course in case you want to do that.</p>
<p>Your scores are good, don’t worry about them. Focus on the PS/reference.</p>
<p>AFAIK law schools don’t care what you study in UG as long as you do well + score well on the LSAT. Though I wouldn’t tell them this, or it’d need a very good reason for why Geography before Law rather than straight Law at undergrad (:</p>
<p>As Agneisse said, law schools in the US don’t care what subject you’ve majored in as an undergraduate. Nevertheless, ** IMHO ** the Oxford undergraduate course that would best prepare you for law school after college is PPE ([Philosophy, Politics, and Economics](<a href=“http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate_courses/courses/philosophy_politics_and_economics/philosophy_politics.html”>http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate_courses/courses/philosophy_politics_and_economics/philosophy_politics.html</a>)). Alternatively, [History and Politics](<a href=“http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate_courses/courses/history_and_politics/history_and_politics.html”>http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate_courses/courses/history_and_politics/history_and_politics.html</a>) would also provide you with a strong background for law school.</p>
<p>Of course, if geography is truly your passion, you should by all means pursue it. However, considering that your self-declared ultimate goal is to study law, I think you should do some careful thinking before committing to an undergraduate major as specialized as Oxford’s geography.</p>
<p>Thanks alot for the advice.</p>
<p>I am also looking at the History course (History is another great interest of mine). The Oxford website says that “It is highly recommended for candidates to have History to A-level, Advanced Higher, or Higher Level in the IB or another equivalent” for this course.</p>
<p>Do you think my AP/SAT II scores satisfy such requirements?</p>
<p>It also says “All candidates are required to send in an essay of A2 level, or equivalent, written in their own time as part of their normal school/college work.” Can someone clarify what an essay of “A2 level, or equivalent” would be in terms of American schoolwork?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Another question I had is about the personal statement. UCAS seems to only let me write one personal statement for all schools that I’m applying to. The problem is that I’m applying to both LSE and Oxford, and I’m applying for International Relations in LSE and probably History in Oxford. Is it true that I can only write one essay for both schools? If so, should I then find a way to convey my passion for both history and international relations in one essay?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Yes, I think your APs satisfy the reqs. You’d probably also need to/benefit from reading around areas of particular interest, e.g. if you really liked studying a certain topic in the AP then read around it, plus make sure you like British history/are not utterly clueless about it because both Ox + Cam courses make you take a few British history papers and it would be painful to work through something you don’t enjoy.</p>
<p>A2 level, or equivalent would be a classwork essay you wrote as part of your AP History (either one) course.</p>
<p>You can only write one personal statement for all five of your choices. Usually this means you should apply for the same/similar courses at the 5 unis. One way would be to consider whether you want to study IR or History and choose one of those. It may be possible to go on about how you particularly like political history or having an interest in diplomacy/diplomatic careers but it’s easier to not have to work in many different courses and coming off as uncommitted to both courses. (the ‘admissions people’ are generally subject tutors, i.e. those who have to teach you if they let you in and usually not career admissions people like in the US)</p>
<p>(You may also want to look at the ‘History and Politics’ course Oxford offers and see if it’s preferable to pure History)</p>
<p>I would definitely agree with what Agneisse has already said. Choosing a single narrow course to apply to can be one of the most difficult decisions for applicants to UK Universities to make. In my experience as an admissions assistant and also a professional online personal statement advisor, I can say that unless there are truly unique and valid reasons, most UK colleges will not accept personal statements which are written for multiple courses. They are not focussed and sound quite unprofessional. </p>
<p>If you need any help making this decision, please PM me.</p>