<p>can anyone explain to me some general differences between these schools? also, how are the acceptance rates for students from US high schools?</p>
<p>last but not least, im looking to major in economics and IR and hopefully work in finance or become an international lawyer. which school would prepare me better?</p>
<p>thanks a lot!</p>
<p>Keep in mind that both are a not really universites how we think of them in the United States, but groups of colleges.</p>
<p>So trying to compare oxford vs cambridge is not really easy to do. </p>
<p>I know a little about the system but I'm sure there are some on this board with more knowledge than I have.</p>
<p>"how are the acceptance rates for students from US high schools?"
^VERY low. they dont reccomend applying right out of high school b/c american education is so different than european education. you can only apply to one of the two and you have to apply through ucas. in europe, especially the uk, they really focus in on scores, and dont pay attention to things like ec's. the oxbridge schools are really the only two that judge on things outside of scores (for us the scores would be ib or ap) b/c they require interviews. you need to apply by some insanely early date (oct? idk?) at both you can chose to apply open, as in you will take any college they place you in, or you can apply for a specific college. the reason they dont like american high school grads is that they specialize for their last two years of secondary school in england for their a-levels, only studying like 3 or 4 classes really in-depth. keep in mind that in england you ONLY study the classes for your major (course), so its very different than us education. however, there are plenty of us students that do it, and even a few at the oxbride schools...
im really just quoting things ive read on either UCAS: <a href="http://www.ucas.co.uk/%5B/url%5D">http://www.ucas.co.uk/</a>
or this really useful british website called the student room
(google "the student room" b/c for some reason the url is censored??!!)
so im not all of this is exactly correct and you can learn a lot more (esp. about your major) from going to those sites!</p>
<p>ps... check into the university of london schools, the accept a few more americans than oxbride and are all very awesome universities :-)</p>
<p>Good post.</p>
<p>Anyway, maybe you should ask yourself why you are interested in these schools. Seems to me like it's easier to get a comparable education here in the states.</p>
<p>Just to reiterate, numbers seem way more important than EC's compared with US admissions.</p>
<p>from the Oxford web-site
[QUOTE]
Extra-curricular activities will not form part of the selection process.
[/QUOTE]
</p>
<p>Colleges are like dorms. They are where you live. Lectures are in central university departments and everyone doing the same subject, whatever their college they're at, goes to the same ones. Tutorials (Oxford)/supervisions (Cambridge) are small group classes, 1-3 students with a professor/lecturer/grad student. In the first year most of them are given by fellows of your college. After that you can be tutored with people from other colleges and if there is one particular tutor you want to see, just ask.</p>
<p>College choice makes little difference to education. It affects your living environment only. International students are recommended to make an open application where the college is chosen for you.</p>
<p>As theatreworm says, you have to apply for a particular "course" of study, a year before you will matriculate. It's extremely rare for students to be able to chance their minds. In most cases to do this they would have to drop out and re-apply to start again. There are no minors and no extra classes outside your subject. For example, I learnt Russian for fun but it doesn't count towards my degree in anyway.</p>
<p>The deadline for international applications to Oxbridge is 20th September 2006, for those who wish to start October 2007.</p>
<p>Applying to UK schools is extemely easy. Just fill in the online form at <a href="http://www.ucas.com%5B/url%5D">www.ucas.com</a>. You can't apply to both Oxford and Cambridge in the same year, as already mentioned. You can apply to 5 extra UK schools at no extra charge though.</p>
<p>There is no financial aid for overseas undergraduates. This is how UK universities are funded. Overseas students subsidise the home students. All are effectively like US state schools and mainly funded by the government through taxes.</p>
<p>dittogal88 - law is an undergraduate course in the UK. After a 3 year law degree students then go on to do law exams while working for a company. I am not sure how this works but the law system is quite different in the UK. there is a big division between solicitors (family lawyers who deal with things like divorce) and barristers (who work in the courts). You would have to take more tests to be able to practice law in the USA.</p>
<p>You can't do economics on it's own at Oxford. It has to be PPE (philosophy, politics) or with management. IR is only availabe as a graduate course as far as I know.</p>
<p>Because of these interests, you might like to consider London school of Economics (LSE) <a href="http://www.lse.ac.uk%5B/url%5D">www.lse.ac.uk</a></p>