UK Universities and AP tests

Student Lounge International Students
1

Hey guys, I am a sophomore in hs and I am taking the ap 2d design portfolio at the end of this semester. I am not very confident that I’ll get higher than a 3 on this. Looking at Oxford, they require you to report all AP scores taken, and they want 3 scores of a 5.

Would it make sense for me to refund the portfolio at this point? My parents think it will “look better as I am showing an attempt at an art AP” even though I am applying for biochemistry. Basically that a 2 would look better than no score at all. I still plan on taking AP’s in math and science courses my Junior and Senior years to fulfill those requirements. What do you guys think?

2

They won’t care about your art prowess or lack thereof.

They want all 5’s in relevant AP’s.

3

@PurpleTitan Does this mean I have the option to not report art scores?

4

no, you must report them all, the UCAS application includes your sworn statement that you have included all standardised tests. But you have nothing to worry about, because even a 1 in art won’t damage your application and a 5 won’t help. Most likely any offer would be conditional on your score so in the STEM APs you’re taking senior year.

5

How are you doing in the class? Also, don’t get tunnel vision for one university.

6

@Eeyore123 Doing fine with a 90 in the class. I’m also looking at US universities as well, I’m asking about UK universities as I don’t know about them.

7

@Conformist1688 It doesn’t seem like there is based on what you’re saying, but for US students is there any way to get an unconditional offer for Oxford?

8

@LikesToRun: Yes. Get 5’s in relevant APs before your application year (junior year if you are applying senior year or any year if you apply during a gap year).

9

A 2 does not look any better than no score at all. It may be irrelevant but having four 5s and four lower scores in APs is not as good as five 5s and nothing else. So concentrate your efforts on the relevant courses and tests that you can excel at (i.e. get 5s), though that is more relevant for next year than your current situation. You’ll need Calc BC, if you can’t do that before senior year then it’s likely you would get a conditional offer (if you get in).

10

@Twoin18 Would you say I should refund the art ap test then since getting a lower score will hurt my chances? Or is the difference not at all significant and I should just take it?

11

I don’t think it’s significant at this stage. My advice is focused on next year: don’t try and do five APs (for example) if you aren’t going to get all 5s. Better to do fewer and have more time to study so you can get 5s on the ones you do take.

12

@Twoin18 Ok, next year I already selected ap calc AB and ap chem as my only AP’s, but senior year I will be doing Calc BC and Physics 2, which are all relevant to what I want to study. If I had all 5s and a solid SAT/ACT score would you think I should be asked for an interview?

13

Have you looked at the course requirements? Math (i.e. Calc BC) is recommended and biology is “helpful”. So you should really be planning to take AP Bio and then AP English plus a foreign language and social science would demonstrate breadth.

Four APs is pretty skimpy (really only three since you can’t double count AB and BC), more typically a competitive candidate would have at least 6-10 across a range of subjects (FWIW my S18 had five 5s and one 3 after junior year and was taking four more APs senior year, predicted all 5s, he didn’t get an offer after interview). Remember that APs are much easier than A levels and a UK student takes 3-4 A levels (more often 4 nowadays). They will also have 8-12 GCSEs (almost all As or A*s) which are only marginally less advanced than APs. That’s who you are competing with.

Certainly you wouldn’t get an unconditional offer. But since there’s no admissions test for biochemistry (which is much more important for getting an interview for most subjects), you really need to impress with the application itself. Something like qualifying for the national chemistry Olympiad for example.

14

@Twoin18
I’ve already missed my chance for AP bio as that is a sophomore only course at my high school.

In regards to foreign languages, I will be taking the AP Spanish test this year as well as I am fluent in the language and AP Chinese my senior year. I can still switch my classes next year and take APush and AP English if I need to.

On Oxford’s site, it says they require at least 3 5’s in relevant courses. I thought that Oxford will not care if I have 5s in unrelated subjects to the course I’m applying to. For example, English and History wouldn’t be relevant to biochemistry. In my case shouldn’t I just take STEM AP’s?

15

You have to put together an impressive application to get an interview since there is no pre-interview test. You also need a teacher to write a reference saying you are one of if not the best student(s) in the last decade. It doesn’t seem like you want to challenge yourself. If you were not taking some unrelated AP courses because you were spending 20-30 hours per week on biochemistry research or competitions in high school then that might be forgivable. Just doing the bare minimum is not.

16

@Twoin18
I get it. I’m not challenging myself as much as I can, it’s exactly what my parents tell me from time to time. However, I qualified for the USA math olympiad this year but didn’t get any further. It’s remarkably ambitious, but my Junior year I’m aiming for Internationals in chemistry and Math olympiads. I should have stated this previously as my reasoning for taking the minimum in courses.

Let’s say I do qualify for both of these events.
I get a teacher’s reference on my performance academically
I have a sufficient SAT/ACT score
Five 5s in AP calc, Spanish, Chinese, Chemistry, Physics 2

Would this work or would you still suggest adding on unrelated AP’s?

17

Focus on the Olympiads. Getting to the international competition(s) is much more impressive than your AP courses and very highly regarded. Even getting to the AMO level would very probably be sufficient to at least get an interview for math, and likely an offer. But I would still do a bio course somewhere and try to take the BC exam in junior year, there’s no reason why not if you are at Olympiad level.

18

@Twoin18
Ok great. That’s what I thought anyway. Yeah the only reason I was thinking BC my senior year is because my school has prereqs and I have to take calc AB course before the BC course. What I’ll just do is take the BC test after learning calc AB. Maybe even both if it looks better. I may even take AP stats senior year if this is the case.

I’ll probably take an AP bio equivalent either this summer or next summer from my local community college then. I can still always take the AP bio test later on or even a bio subject test although I’m not in the course.

How exactly would universities know of my placing in olympiads? Is there a spot on the UCAS to say this or would I just write that in my personal statement?

19

OP, have you checked out the relevant subject page on Oxford’s website? You need chemistry and either maths or a science. Maths is “recommended” (meaning every one else applying will have it) and biology (beyond GCSE) is “helpful”. I read that as a biology GCSE being expected. I can’t think of any other way to show the equivalent of GCSE biology mastery than either an AP test or a SAT subject test.

So, you need a 5 in AP calc BC, and either a 5 or 700+ each, depending on exam taken, in chemistry, physics and biology, plus the minimum SAT or ACT score.

And, as PPs have told you, forget about scores in design or languages, Oxford will. Not. Care.

Additionally, UK students would have to submit at least an A* in either maths or a science. That’s what @Twoin18 is on about - you need to somehow prove that your competence in at least one of those subject is above and beyond the high school AP curriculum. A way to do that is competitions. I’m not familiar with the current UCAS forms but I assume talking about those in your statement works - it’s what the statement is for, talking about your competence, passion and depth in your subjects. Again, nothing else, unless it ties in with those somehow.

Your problem with wanting to apply to both top UK universities and US universities is that UK universities take’em lopsided but want to see depth and US universities need breadth. So, you need to be top in both.

One way of going about it would be to knock out the UK requirements before your senior year so you know whether there is even a point in applying, and if you do, have a chance at an unconditional acceptance. Then, take care of the breadth required for US universities in your senior year. No idea whether that works with your high school schedule at all, but remember UK universities don’t care about that, and they don’t care about whether you took the classes at your school, at a CC or didn’t take the class at all and self studied, you just need the scores.

Additionally, you may want to check out posts by @VickiSoCal , whose daughter I understand is very happy doing chemistry at St. Andrews, that might be another good option for you.

20

Is it possible to make a special appeal to your school to let you take AP biology on the grounds that it is essential for your college application plans?