I am a high school senior in the United States. I will be entering a top five US public college, but am interested in applying to Oxford (I know I can’t transfer).
My stats:
New SAT: 1520 (790 CR, 730 M)
SAT Subject Tests: 750 Lit, 690 WH (I could get this over 700 if needed, I didn’t take AP World and I opened the book two days before the test:/)
AP Tests:
Language and Composition - 5
European History - 5
Environmental - 5
Statistics - 4
Government - 4
Calculus AB - 3
GPA: 4.9615/6.000 (weighted, unweighted is like a 3.98/4.00)
Rank: 1/30 or so
What subject are you interested in? Why Oxford in particular? You’re a bit low on APs for a really competitive application imo, with only three scores of 5 and not all in the same overall area, and the history SAT is low.
So you meet the stats. Why do you want to? I.e. is there something in particular that Oxford can offer that your “top five” can’t? Have you developed a specialty or pursued personal research beyond your curriculum that is closely related? Your answers to those questions will probably determine whether or not you get in.
What 'course ’ would you apply for?
You’d need several more AP 5’s.
If you’re undecided on what you want to concentrate solely on, matriculating at Oxbridge (and other UK unis) really isn’t for you.
Look at your school’s study-abroad programs.
@Conformist1688 According to the website, you only need 3 5’s or 700+ subject tests.
I am really interested in the Classic Archeology and Ancient History program. If I got 700+ on World History and US History would that help? Does anybody know when I would need these scores by??
That’s a bare minimum. Yes, 700 on one of those histories would definitely help, if only in wiping out the 690 which looks like a weakness. You are required to submit all testing history in your application, so you can’t just pretend you never took it., although already having a history SAP means it won’t really add to it all that much. Realistically, I think you need another 5 or 700 in another subject, as Environmental Science is generally regarded as a weaker/lower quality AP.
In some ways your chosen course makes it a bit easier because they don’t ask for any specific subjects.
You don’t actually have to have scores in hand when you apply, just a predictition from your acdemic reference. If you get an offer it would probably be conditional on geting the scores by next summer. HOWEVER, I think it would be wise to finish any standardised tests while you’re still in HS as you’re planning on taking actual college courses next year at a good US university, and they may look at these as acceptable substitutes.
The big unknown in your case is that you are, I think, planning on being in college next year, so your grades there may be helpful, and probably your academic reference should be one of your teachers there rather than an old one from high school.
I see you don’t have any foreign language APs. It might be helpful to start Latin and/or ancient Greek in college, if these are offered, partly to show your commitment to the subject, partly to show your aptitude.
@Conformist1688 Thank you so much!! I took a few years of Latin and scores well on independent exams in that area. I’m pretty sure I could get a 700+ on that subject if I studied.
Do you know how Oxford views retests for the subject tests?? I took SAT US History in 10th grade and only got a 680 (thought I could take it cold lol). I could easily get a 700+ on that now (I took a practice exam this year with Barron’s and got a 780).
Also, I only had like a 2080 or so on the old SAT from when I was in 10th grade.
So these tests could be completed after October?
A year of college and doing well there in subjects relevant to the course would help.
@PurpleTitan I’m taking an ancient history course this summer in addition to a few classical literature type things. Would it help to have that on my transcript in October?
For English unis, they want something that shows that you can handle their curriculum, which for the top unis, is really 2 years in a major + 1 year at the grad school level in your major (English kids, in their 2 years prepping for A-levels, essentially cover the intro classes that American freshmen would).
So they want the equivalent of a good freshman year. Hence several high AP scores or a good freshman year GPA.
Take Subject tests in Latin, a foreign language, US History ASAP. Getting 5’s AP English Language, AP English Literature, AP European History and/or APUSH and/or AP World History would also help. A combination of Subject Tests and AP tests will help (you don’t have to have APUSH and USH Subject Test, for instance, unless you want to cover all your bases.) Other subjects won’t matter.
Those results will matter a lot to decide if you make it to the next round, with a written and oral exam. (Called “interview” but not like a US college interview where you talk about yourself, more like a “prelim exam” or “comps” in the US, where you’re drilled and interrogated and pushed till they know what your limits in the field/reasoning/critical thinking are.)
My daughter read archaeology at Cambridge.
She had the grades, that is the most basic hurdle. She had nurtured an interest in archaeology from the age of 6, which we encouraged as we lived in Italy and I was a classics major. Early on, she concluded that Roman archaeology “had been done” and began searching for other periods.
On her own, at 16, she developed an interest in the historical Jesus (secular, not religious), which led to an inquiry into the Bible as an archaeological source. She probably read a dozen scholarly books out of personal interest. She also did 2 summer internships in Israel, one of them on a professional excavation that was a cooperative project between Israeli and German academics, funded by the latter - they clashed on what approaches to take.
She wrote about all of this in her admissions essays, was asked to write an additional one prior to being offered an interview, then was grilled on it all face to face. It was a fantastic growth experience, convincing us that Cambridge was the right place for her. I think that the profs saw her as a student with whom they would like to work.
Cam met her expectations, but it was a grueling experience in terms of work load. She also chaffed somewhat on how set the course is, how she could not get a more balanced undergrad experience (i.e. liberal arts). Nonetheless, she found the program appropriate because she had really decided to be an archaeologist by age 18. Her specialties are now medieval and bone archaeology.
Please feel free to message me if you think I might help. I wish you the best of luck.