Relieve a bit of my stress? (Hopefully?) [US Student to UK Schools]

International Students
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<p>Alright, so that time has come. The application has been sent off and processed. I'm now in that beloved time of waiting (IE: Waking up in a half daze a few times a night and checking my "Track Application" on UCAS for updates!)</p>

<p>I'm a U.S. Student applying to UK Schools. I've already applied to..</p>

<p>University of Bath x2
University of Loughborough
University of Nottingham
University of Portsmouth.</p>

<p>I'm delighted with my chosen universities. I took a few weeks of touring in the UK this summer and fell in love with these schools. </p>

<p>Nottingham -> Electronic Eng. BEng + Foundation Year
Portsmouth -> Electronic Eng. BEng
Lborough -> Electronic Eng. MEng
Bath -> Electr. Eng BEng
Bath -> Electr. Eng MEng</p>

<p>As you can see, I did a tiered application to ensure a spot. I'm quite certain the UK is the place for me!</p>

<p>My qualifications go as follows
GPA: 3.6
SATS: 2070
ACTs: 33
SAT IIs:
Math II: 750
Literature: 700
Math I: 750</p>

<p>APs!
AP Latin: Vergil: 4
AP Calculus
AP Physics
AP English </p>

<p>These last three I'm currently enrolled in, and I was predicted 5,5,5.</p>

<p>No. I didn't apply for Oxford/Cambridge/LSE/On and on and on. I love my choices!</p>

<p>What do you guys think? Do I have a chance? I think I've got a pretty good one. My personal statement was really, really strong (If I do daresay myself). </p>

<p>Anyone with an opinion, I'd love to hear from.. But if anyone's been directly through the process (Especially people who aren't attending Oxford/Cambridge. No offense, but you're attempts to get into very very prestigious universities mean you're likely to have the 5,5,5,5,5,5 or GTFO mindset, and I totally understand. I wasn't interested in that, but rather going to a university that I'd enjoy where I could get a fantastic education too!)
Edit: Not saying you can't find that at Oxford/Cambridge/LSE, etc.. You totally can! However, and this is the most important point I was trying to make - I wouldn't enjoy it.</p>

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<p>I am from the UK but also applying to Nottingham because I love it there. Also have been to Bath and Loughborough universities and they are both wonderful. I think you’d definitely be accepted if you were applying with the equivalent UK stats, but I can’t really comment because I have no idea how they judge US applicants.</p>

<p>Did you write your personal statement about Engineering though? And really sell yourself for that course? If you did then I reckon you have good chances :)</p>

<p>Oh and checking UCAS is ADDICTIVE. I did apply once before, and because there’s no set decisions day, they can make their decision any time. You should probably set yourself aside one time every day to check it briefly, otherwise you’ll be sitting there refreshing the page like a crazy person.</p>

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<p>Yep! I have no idea how long I have to wait. ._.</p>

<p>I’m really proud of my personal statement. There was a stupid issue with the plain style text box from UCAS, but I got it all sorted. I spent a good few months working on that pretty studiously, and then really sat down and hashed it out in the last few weeks with a friend who devoted an ungodly amount of time to it. It’s probably the best piece of writing I’ve ever produced, and I’m very proud of it.</p>

<p>And I know! F4 f4 f4 f4 f4!</p>

<p>They’re all gorgeous locations. I’d be honoured to go to any of 'em. :3</p>

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<p>Good luck to you! Is Bath your top choice?</p>

<p>Are you also applying to US schools?</p>

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<p>It certainly is. It’s the most unbelievably -gorgeous- location. Just thinking about it makes me swoon. And only an hour and a half our of london! Eeeeeee ^^</p>

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<p>Isn’t it! And it’s super close to where I’m from!!</p>

<p>Not that I’ll actually be here as all my colleges are far away. But never mind that. Yay Bath!</p>

<p>Did you view Manchester at all?</p>

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<p>Yay! </p>

<p>I did look at Manchester too! Decided against it because it’s too far from the beautiful London. </p>

<p>Where else ya lookin’ at for Uni? ^_^</p>

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<p>Not to hack your thread but I’m also applying to Bath for International Business with German (: I’m also applying to Edinburgh, Exeter, Durham and Oxford (I’m not expecting to get in, but I figured I might as well put it as a choice since I had trouble picking a fourth and fifth choice anyways.) I’m applying for German though at all the rest of my choices, and I’m hoping there won’t be too much competition considering it’s German lol. I wish you the best of luck, and please keep us posted on your offers (:</p>

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<p>I really hope we both get in, Sarah. I’ll definitely keep you posted, but you do the same! ^_^</p>

<p>I really hope you’re right!! Durham is -beautiful-, as is Edinburgh. I swear, that city has the strangest vibes. It feels like you’re on top of the world (Because of how far north it is!)</p>

<p>Who knows, maybe we’ll both end up at bath? ^^</p>

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<p>I think we both have excellent chances (: PM me when you get your offers, I’m always interested in hearing about other Americans applying to the UK. I think more Americans are applying, or at least I’ve heard of more doing so (or maybe just bc I’ve been doing a lot of research on UK unis, I’m more aware of them hehe) I’ve never actually been to the UK, but I spent a semester abroad in Germany and was able to take a cheap Ryanair flight to Dublin. I loved Dublin, so I think I’ll like the UK as well (I know they’re different, but the vibe of being in another English speaking country with all that history was so cool, I almost applied TCD too lol) Let me know what happens, it would be cool if we both ended up at Bath!</p>

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<p>Yeah, it would!
As for England, it’s absolutely gorgeous. The people were wonderfully friendly (And flirty, lol). I had the best time there, I just got this great sense that I’d -love- being there. Good food, good culture, gorgeous accents, beautiful cities (And people), beautiful countryside… Festivals… History… Gah. The UK is lovely.</p>

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<p>Sounds like my kind of place hehe, I’ve absolutely loved all the British people I’ve met. Gah…I can’t wait! I think it will be a great experience too, and would certainly provide a new outlook on life. I know my time in Germany was life changing, so hopefully this will be too!</p>

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<p>Good luck to all of you applying. :)</p>

<p>I’m currently in my first (well, technically second) year at the University of Edinburgh and I love it here. I’d recommend it to anyone. Although, I can only really vouch for the physics and maths departments. :P</p>

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<p>(:</p>

<p>Heh. ^_^</p>

<p>Can anyone chance me though, lol?</p>

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<p>Spriteling, how did you get to be in your second year? Also, if I applied to study German would it be hard to switch over to German with Business in the Scottish system? I don’t really have the stats to sell myself for the business portion and it would clash with my PS.</p>

<p>Zouth, I know I already commented but your ACT and SAT scores, as well as your SAT II scores are amazing and I’m sure they exceed all the requirements of the universities you’re applying to. (:</p>

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<p>Given the credit crunch, and how basically most UK unis fund themselves by charging overseas students higher fees, I’d be amazed if you didn’t get in to most or all of your choices. Especially as Engineering is not a competitive or popular subject most years. </p>

<p>The one caveat I will give is that this year there has been an admissions carnage in the UK. About 50,000 more students applied than there were places, and the government refused to fund extra places (in effect all UK unis are government funded public schools). It’s been all over the news. I don’t know if the situation will be better for 2010 admissions. There has been a bulge in the number of 18 year olds, and because of the economy those who might have gone straight inot the work place could not get jobs so decided on uni instead.</p>

<p>If you want to be in London, apply to a school in London. Don’t think you will be spending your entire life on the train from Bath. You’ll have a lonely and miserable existance if you don’t want to live in small town UK. Even if you have the money to spend all you free time in London, your friends won’t, and will probably be a lot less interested in it in any case (in UK terms it’s a large distance from London to Bath and not a weekly trip for most people. Plus it is expensive and most students have very little money). Also, you will actually have to spend some time studying, rather than on the train to London. </p>

<p>London has a population of more than 7 million, The next largest place in the UK, Birmingham, has only 1 million. London has a different culture compared to the rest of the UK. If this is what you want, you will HATE anywhere else. </p>

<p>You are aware that all the places you are applying are modern campuses, right? They are not old (though the cities are). </p>

<p>Loughborough is quite famous for engineering and also for sports science. Olympic team members train there and apparently it has amazing sports facilities which are open to all students. </p>

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<p>You understand that they will ignore irrelevant subjects, which in this case are Latin and English since you are applying for engineering. If you are looking to strengthen your application, do more Math, Chemistry or Computer science APs. US students tend to be very behind students in other countries when it comes to math. In most countries calculus, algrbra etc are NOT taught as separate classes. At (high) school all students study all of them in one math class. You could Google A-level maths to have a look at some past exam papers. This will give you an idea of the standard expected in the UK.</p>

<p>Hopefully your personal statement said “I would like to study Engineering because…” It’s not supposed to be a creative writing exercise. The kind of “personal journey” essasys which US students write would at best be considered bizarre in the UK.</p>

<p>Good luck with your application.</p>

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<p>Thank you Cupcake. I actually say your posts in a few other threads and really hoped you’d comment on this one.If I like it enough, I’ll go into London for my postgrad.</p>

<p>Thanks for the positive input!</p>

<p>As to my personal statement, I went on about why I wanted to be an Electronic Engineer, and what skills I had. I may it very obvious that I’m passionate about the subject. I’m proud of what I passed in. ;)</p>

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<p>I was predicted 5,5,5. Do you think I’ll get ANY unconditionals? I’m hoping for one from Nottingham, as I did BEng + Foundation Year.</p>

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<p>Unconditional offers are for people who have their grades already.</p>

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<p>sarah: I went straight into second year because of my score in the IB. It is only in Scottish universities that you can do this, because of the Scottish education system, and it is only in science subjects.</p>

<p>It would not be difficult at all to go to German and business management. You’ll get to choose two outside modules to study in both your first and second year; you can just choose business management as one of them. Usually if you do well enough, the uni will let you carry two on to a joint honours degree.</p>