I’m planning to apply to Newcastle University and it says on their admissions requirements for USA that they want a combination of SAT IIs (min. 650 I think?) and APs (min. 4)
I’m planning to take 2 - 3 SAT II’s this October: Biology, Math I, and either Math II or Chemistry. I’ve taken 2 AP classes so far, AP Euro (4) and AP Bio (2 - it’s bad, I know, I didn’t finish the essays and some MC). Should that be enough SAT II’s to balance out my lack of APs?
I’m also planning to apply to University of Manchester, and they have a type of offer where they’ll wait until I can send in my senior AP scores (or something along those lines). I have an interest in medicine so I’ll be applying for some pre-med program/degree that leads into med school.
Think carefully about whether this path is going to work for you. It’s notoriously hard to get the US pre-med requirements satisfied with non-US university courses.
What subject are you applying for? If it’s something like Chem or Bio, that 2 in Bio AP is really going to hurt you. Could you retake the exam?
BTW, all UK universities will take into account exams you haven’t yet taken, not just Manchester; it just means that an offer would be likely conditional on you getting certain scores.
@Conformist1688 If I get accepted to either of the UK universities (there are a few other abroad schools I’m applying to) I plan to stay and get my residency and practice in the UK. It’s either that or I complete my undergrad outside US and come back for grad-school. And yeah, I plan to retake the exam this May.
You’re planning on applying for one of the graduate entry medicine courses in the UK? They are very competitive to get into, and although it CAN be a way of doing medicine when you don’t have good enough exam scores to do medicine as an undergraduate, there’s no guarantee.
Do you have British citizenship? There are very limited places for overseas candidates to do medicine at any level, and many of the graduate entry schemes won’t accept internationals at all.
@Conformist1688 Not exactly, but if I can’t get into an undergrad med program then I might apply for grad entry. And no, I don’t have British citizenship. If it is as you say - if my international student status will affect my chances of acceptance in grad med - then do you have any colleges you could recommend where I’ll have more of a chance? I’ve been thinking a bit about St George’s Uni mainly because it’s med school is recognized by FAFSA.
The problem is that all medicine courses in the UK are tied in with the government funded National Health Service, and as a result the numbers of places for internationals are severely capped: http://www.medschools.ac.uk/Students/howtoapply/international/Pages/Limitedplaces.aspx
I assume you’re also looking at medicine at Newcastle? You may have been misled by the way they link only to general international equivalents of grade requirements; those 650s and 4s relate to the average requirements across all course, where the UK applicants would be asked to get ABB at A level. However, for medicine the UK equivalent is AAA, which would translate to 5s in three APs, including at least one of Chemistry or Biology. (This is actually pretty standard for UK medicine courses.)
Further, there is this note on their website which may be a concern for you:
"AAA including Chemistry and/or Biology at A or AS level and excluding General Studies and Critical Thinking. For Biology, Chemistry and Physics A levels, we require a pass in the practical element. If only one of Biology and/or Chemistry is offered at A or AS level, the other should be offered at GCSE grade A (or Dual Award Science grade A).
Once the academic criteria have been met, academic achievement is not considered further in subsequent parts of the application process eg additional A levels or A* results or additional GCSE results are not considered.
We would normally expect all applicants to have achieved their A Levels on their first attempt. Those who wish resits to be considered must provide information on the extenuating circumstances they wish to be considered. Supporting evidence must be provided from your school or GP."
http://www.ncl.ac.uk/undergraduate/degrees/a100/#entryrequirements
Don’t take Math1 and Math2. Pick one. If you have pre-calc, go for Math2.