<p>I'm starting to consider some British universities, specifically Durham and the London School of Economics, and I know that they're both selective and would probably be reaches, but I'm having trouble finding admissions stats to see if I even have a chance. Does anyone know more about how to find this?</p>
<p>I’ll just post a few of my stats if it would help to give more information- I realize that it’s impossible to predict admissions, I’m just wondering if I should even bother applying to these schools, because I can’t tell right now whether or not they’re completely out of my league. </p>
<p>GPA: 4.3 W, 3.8 UW
SAT: 2350, 800 Math 1, 800 US History
**Awards: **School Community Service Award (50-100 hours, I’m aiming to get more hours next year and I can send that to them next winter), French Honors Society, Poetry Out Loud Award, George Washington University Book Award
ECs: President of Gay-Straight Alliance, Urgent Actions Coordinator for Amnesty International, Chorus for 3 years (had to quite for senior year), A Capella Group Senior Year, Photography Club Starting junior year, Guitar since 8th grade (nothing official like competitions or anything, just thought I’d list it as a hobby)
APs: 2 so far, US History and US Government, expecting 4-5 on both of them, taking 3 APs next year A (English lit, Euro, AB Calc) and probably self-studying a few more (English lang, micro/macro econ, enviro) for credit or admission to some british schools</p>
<p>For British schools, gpa is not considered. Neither is the sat if you meet the minimum of around a 2000. All you need is 4 to 5 APs related to the field you want to study. Preferably, they want all 5s. Also, you must choose a course in British schools and you will only take classes in this course. There are no core requirements or electives. Because of this, it only takes 3 years to get a bachelors degree. They will make conditional offers bases off predicated scores on senior year APs. You must meet the scores they ask for to finalize your acceptance this way.</p>
<p>^ thecolororange has got it all right.</p>
<p>Your ECs do not matter, as well as your awards unless they are academic-related stuff.</p>
<p>Thanks for letting me know! So I guess what I’m still wondering is, how selective is it once you have the AP scores? Like, if you have the required scores are you basically in, or is it still competitive from there, and in that case, what else is considered?</p>
<p>Also, 082349, by academic-related awards, does that mean anything, like the french honors society one and possible george washington, or do you mean specific, nationwide awards?</p>
<p>basically only EC’s related to your major count. and after they see the AP scores and SAT or ACT, you’re called in for an interview. that’s the main part of admissions.</p>
<p>Thanks for your reply 
But what about schools that don’t interview? The few I’ve looked at say they rarely interview applicants, so I don’t know what else they take into account…</p>
<p>They will look at your personal statement. Please don’t write it in the style of a US college essay. Just direct and straight to the point. </p>
<p>They may do Skype interviews. Why don’t you email them and ask?</p>
<p>Ok thanks- if it’s different than US college essays where you try to write in a unique style, should I just write about why I want to do the program? I guess I’m just really lost in this whole UK system- is there any site/book that you would recommend for Americans looking at British schools, for the essay or just in general?</p>
<p>There’s a British equivalent of CC, just search TSR forum on google. You’ll get quite a bit of help there. </p>
<p>My counsellor recommended that we shouldn’t write stuff like “I went back to my hometown in rural Minnesota and saw how everyone needed medical advice so that’s why I want to be a doctor”. Stuff like that doesn’t work. I’m international and my school sends quite a lot of people to British schools so you know where I’m coming from. </p>
<p>There are some posters on CC who attend British schools. I can’t remember all their names off hand, but I remember cupcake as being one of them. He/she may be able to help. </p>
<p>What exactly are you planning to apply for?</p>
<p>Oh yes, I just remembered that on the UCAS website there’s a list of qualifications, including the AP exams. The AP exams have been grouped into important and not so important ones, so you souls definitely take a look at which ones matter.</p>
<p>Wow, thank you so much!! TSR looks like it’ll be really helpful, and I’ll look into contacting CCers if there’s something I can’t get on the site, so this is awesome!</p>
<p>I’m probably applying to International Relations or possibly Politics, Philosophy and Economics, but I’m still starting to look into these programs so I may be willing to switch to something similar (like IR -> International History or something like that) if the programs I want are impossible to get into (though I just don’t know how to get specific information like that…oh well, hopefully TSR will help me out). Thanks so much for your advice! :)</p>
<p>Why not PPE at Oxford? Also, definitely consider Warwick for PPE. </p>
<p>When you apply for a course, you need to be absolutely sure that it’s what you want to do since switching between courses are hard and rare.</p>
<p>If I haven’t taken my subject tests yet is it possible for me to apply to British universities this year? I would take them in October.</p>
<p>What schools are you looking at? The deadlines differ from school to school, but are mostly 15 January 2012.</p>
<p>^Oxford’s deadline is in October (the rest of the schools I’m applying to I’m not worried about)</p>
<p>
Thanks, I’ll look into Warwick, and I’m sure PPE at Oxford is incredible but I’m equally sure that I wouldn’t stand a chance at Oxford (I know that this might be the case for the other schools at my list, but I don’t know, hence my original question). And I’m planing on looking more into these majors this summer to make sure that I’m 100% certain- I know for sure the general field that I want to go into and I really don’t anticipate any change there, I just have to decide on my actual major for these schools, so I’ll work that out over the next few months.</p>
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<p>So I went to the Oxford website and found this:</p>
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<p>Which you already know.</p>
<p>Do you have AP tests that you can substitute for the Subject Tests?</p>
<p>I think I would write to them and ask when the latest date is. Also, if you are applying for PPE, History, etc. you need to take some written tests. The full list can be found here: [Summary</a> - University of Oxford](<a href=“http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate_courses/how_to_apply/written_work/]Summary”>http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate_courses/how_to_apply/written_work/) </p>
<p>Anyway, aren’t you from Exeter? I’m sure your counselor(s) is/are experienced in this area.</p>
<p>The UCAS tariff tables for AP exams are at [UCAS</a> - Advanced Placement Programme - US & Canada](<a href=“http://www.ucas.com/students/ucas_tariff/factsheet/app]UCAS”>http://www.ucas.com/students/ucas_tariff/factsheet/app)</p>
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<p>Your scores are in the range of what I posted above, so definitely consider PPE at Oxford. Don’t sell yourself short! However, you need to take one more Subject Test and the TSA. </p>
<p>Also, some schools require additional testing, such as the TSA, so you must check the requirements before applying.</p>
<p>What schools are you considering? Durham, LSE, and?</p>
<p>UCAS has only 5 options, so choose wisely! You may apply to more than one course in the school but since your personal statement is for all of them, you should choose something similar for all options.</p>
<p>Think carefully about whether LSE is really the kind of experience you want as an undergrad: There is no campus to speak of, the student body is about two years older than the average American freshman upon matriculation, most of the housing is in apartments (not dorms), many students don’t show up for classes and at least one person has complained that the wealthy, international student body seems to be more focused on social life than academics…It’s definitely a ‘non-traditional’ college experience as compared to some of the other possibilities in the UK.</p>
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Where did you get this information from?
This is the exact opposite of what I’m hearing. If you want to actually hear from a person at LSE, pm me and I’ll find someone.</p>
<p>" Also, you must choose a course in British schools and you will only take classes in this course. There are no core requirements or electives." </p>
<p>pay attention to this comment. That is why my son decided against applying. No electives.</p>