<p>Is it really hard to get into universities in the UK for American students because i want to attend a university there but i have know idea how the British system works. Anyone have an idea?</p>
<p>Depends on your grades I guess. But the way I see it, sometimes in the UK it is a lot easier for Intl students to get into universities than even UK students. For example, Oxbridge has to have a required no of British students in, but the rest is usually Intl. But then again Oxbridge is a special case. Hope that helped</p>
<p>I've heard that Cambridge is the hardest university to get in, in the entire world, even beating Harvard, which is the hardest in U.S. I have been trying to find the source, it was a NY Times article, it has to be in the archive somewhere.</p>
<p>I don't agree from the UK students point of view Cambridge is hard, but if you look at OxBridge tgth, intl still its easier since they LIKE interns. The Times complains about it like every year</p>
<p>From spending a lot of time at The Student Room, I've gotten the impression that Oxbridge and LSE and studies like Law and English Literature are the hardest to get into. Besides that, it's pretty easy to get in if you have the grades. They don't focuse as much on extracurricular activities. I don't know how American GPA corresponds to British A-levels though, but if you go to The Student Room.co.uk, you might find Americans who are currently studying in the UK and who might be able to help answer your questions.</p>
<p>It's ten times easier to apply in the UK than in the US because you can apply to all schools through [url=<a href="http://www.ucas.com%5DUCAS%5B/url">http://www.ucas.com]UCAS[/url</a>] (you can only choose 5 schools). You only need one personal statement/essay (so it has to fit all the courses you're applying to), one reference letter and normally there's no additional forms you have to fill out.</p>
<p>Some courses at Oxbridge, LSE, UCL etc have single figure acceptance rates. These are courses like Law, Medicine, Pure Economics and Philosophy Politics and Economics (PPE) just to name a few.</p>
<p>bittersweetie, if you dont mind, could you share with us why you're applying to uk unis? I ask because i am making a similar choice between us and uk.</p>
<p>"I've heard that Cambridge is the hardest university to get in, in the entire world, even beating Harvard, which is the hardest in U.S. I have been trying to find the source, it was a NY Times article, it has to be in the archive somewhere."</p>
<p>Wrong. Everyone Tom and Dick can get into geography, even at Oxbridge. </p>
<p>To the OP. It'll depend on what unis u're looking at and also which course. med, law, econ will be pretty tough but things like geo will be a lot easier.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Wrong. Everyone Tom and Dick can get into geography, even at Oxbridge.
[/quote]
Lol? (10 chars)</p>
<p>That was obviously just an exaggeration to make my point. But yes, there's a huge difference between med and geo.</p>
<p>if you apply (with the other 10 wierdos) for celtic studies - you can have your pick of unis. </p>
<p>It all varies by university and subject - econ at the lse/cam, ppe at oxford, science at imperial/cam, business at lbs(grad) are some of the most difficult. </p>
<p>I do know, to back up pearfire, some pretty average (or even thick or incredibly lazy) people that have got into oxbridge/lse/imperial by picking the unpopular subjects...</p>
<p>The UK application system is much much easier than in the USA which is the major advantage for a US applicant. However, there is much less emphasis on extracurricular and most UK admission officers are ignorant of the complexity of international or US qualifications.</p>
<p>I still find it hilarious that 42 points at IB is set equivilant to 3 A's at A-Level for some programs in the UK...</p>
<p>...at least UCAS has picked up on this mistake - their new system (comes into force in 2008) makes 42 points equivilant to about 6 A's at A-Level.</p>
<p>"if you apply (with the other 10 wierdos) for celtic studies"</p>
<p>That's a good alternative to geography, ^^</p>
<p>"at least UCAS has picked up on this mistake - their new system (comes into force in 2008) makes 42 points equivilant to about 6 A's at A-Level."</p>
<p>Really, do you have a link to this brochure? I find A-Levels a joke, and think that the IB, le Bac or the Abitur are WAAY harder.</p>
<p>are there any average universities i could get into there because my gpa is low. its a 2.9uw right now. and are there any standardized tests they look at. would they consider the SATs?</p>
<p>Even I'm struggling with the unfair comparision of the IB program and the A-Levels. One requires you to forget the concept of sleep for two years and the other for one month before the exams. 24:1!!!!</p>
<p>However, the unfair conditional offers do not reflect an ignorance or stupidity of the unis. its a conscious decision in the UK to revive and uphold the dying A-Levels. They know its much easier and they know that A-Levels dont stand a chance against IB. My school just switched from A-Levels to the IB so I'm familiar with both. A good indicator would be the crowd levels in the cantein last year = crowd levels in the library. There were actually days (before submissions etc.) when the library was FULL!!!!!! But, we're a small school so yea...</p>
<p>Guess we'l hav to wait till 2008..</p>
<p>hi all - here's the link to the new UCAS tarrif system - has a value for individual A-levels at different grades, and values for total IB scores. 42 Points is about 700 points I think, and an A grade A-Level is 120 points (making 6 A-grade a-levels worth 720 points). </p>
<p>Santino - interesting point. Could well be the issue - or simply because they can't really demand more than 3 a-grade a-levels easily because so few schools support more...</p>
<p>The IB is indeed a nightmare by comparison - I should have applied to the US straight away where you get serious credit for the IB, rather than in the UK where they don't care. </p>
<p>My school shot to the top of the times secondary school rankings on the basis of the new UCAS scheme so it might signal a change. However, so few uni's are interested in the UCAS scheme that it might be limited...</p>
<p>bittersweetie, what do you want to study? Go to UCAS.com and search for your subject. Look at the entry requirements of the schools showing up, write down the name of the schools that require around BBB and look them up on league tables, The Student Room or ask here about their reputation.</p>
<p>the british system is very diffrent and way harder
so you probably have to be a top top top top student</p>
<p>what u want to study?</p>
<p>the problem is that im an average student so i might have trouble getting in.</p>
<p>I want to study psychology then go to med school and become a psychiatrist.</p>
<p>so the British system is way harder than the U.S.?</p>
<p>Honestly, as an italian student, I found it harder to apply to Oxford than to US universities. Even though I got into Oxford, the application process was really exhausting. US colleges look at a lot of things to determine whether you should be admitted or not, including SAT and ACT scores, while Oxbridge, mainly look at grades.
If you apply to Oxford, you will receive your decision in late December or January. However, that decision is not final as it is in the US. You will receive a conditional offer from a particular college and then a final one in August, once you have finished your final examinations and have achieved certain grades (if you have already completed your examinations, your offer will be unconditional).
In addition to the interview, you have to submit lots of written works and sometimes take a test during the interview.
You need to have very high grades to be sure to receive a final offer in August. The british system is way more complicated than the american one.
For those of you wondering whether Oxford or Cambridge is the hardest to get into, I can tell you that they're both on the same level. I know a lot of people who study there and they told me that the application process is nearly the same.
Of course, keep in mind that I'm only talking about Oxbridge. I have no idea how other universities work.</p>
<p>personally i think the british application process and the studies too are wayyyyyyyyy easier than the us. i am dyingg here at an american university, it was all so easy back home and i feel like my friends who are at uni in the uk do have it easier - they have like one paper due a term, i have one due every two days (not counting psets and midterms and blah blahh)</p>