how does one prepare for St Andrews, Cambridge, etc…?
testing, applications, rec’s, interviews, gpa… what’s most important?
do US applicants primarily go for Oxford, Cambridge, London School of Econ & St Andrews, or are others popular too? Any unique requirements for different types of uni’s in the UK?
special considerations, like student visas, taxes, other issues in going to school outside the US?
<p>Generally, it is considered very difficult for normal US applicants to be accepted by top UK universities, such as Oxbridge, Imperial and LSE. This is simply due to the significant difference between the education systems in USA and UK. </p>
<p>UK university education for a bachelor's degree is usually 3 years, which means that the first year university education is already covered in high school. A-levels or IB are tests that are at the level of first year general education at most American universities. Hence, it UK high school students tend to have relatively stronger academic backgrounds than American high school students. To be accepted by top institutions in UK, one would be advised to take a full IB diploma course.</p>
<p>Oxbridge puts significant weight on interviews. They are in fact the main part of the admissions process. These interviews are nothing similar to college interviews in USA. They can be called oral exams monitored by professors. They are extremely tough. However, US applicants may not be required to go to UK and attend the interviews. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, the reality very harsh for American applicants. Only 2 American students last year got into Cambridge for undergraduate. When applying for UK universities, US applicants should also apply for American universities.</p>
<p>I applied to schools in the top 10 in UK (i didnt meet the Ox deadline), and at that time, I had only 2 years of highschool behind me (i skipped 10th) and I was taking APs for the 1st time (4 of them). Imperial college, Warwick, and some others gave me conditional offers to my AP grades. Its not that tough. If u have 3 or 4 5s in ur APs, and have a decent school record and can write a non-americanish essay, ur in.</p>
<p>The poster from France gives a good perspective. Basically, think of the really top ones such as Oxford & Cambridge, as Reaches Plus. The kinds of Americans accepted there would tend to be accepted to every single Ivy here, + Stanford or MIT. Ox-bridge is more numbers driven as well as quality-driven. They care almost exclusively about academics, not e.c.'s or "leadership." If only 2 American applicants were accepted to Cambridge last yr., that demonstrates the difficulty. (Of course, I don't how many applicants there were.) Good distinction was made about the substance & import of the U.S. interview vs. UK interview. Earlier cut-off for internat'l applicants, too.</p>
<p>Non-Oxbridge schools are not as tough for entrance, as others here indicate. If you're interested in particular ones, communicate with those schools by e-mail, etc.</p>
<p>so beside standard application materials, essays, etc., there's no special testing or other application peculiararities? What about SATs & SAT II's.....do the UK schools like to see those?</p>
<p>Yes, definitely they like to see the SAT's (I's and II's). I'll post a little later the substance of their e-mail to us as to what they like to see specifically, but as I remember they wanted a combo of APs with impressive results (exams & grades), & similarly for SAT's.</p>
<p>I think the problem with most American education is that it doesn't generally allow for the advanced depth+breadth of study that the European systems do, by the time one makes application (start of sr. yr). Ox-bridge would see that as important, seeing as one is essentially Concentrating even in freshman yr. of college. I'll look up the info.</p>
<p>"What we would be looking for would be... the SAT I [plus] the SATII in a good spread of three of four subjects, or the SAT and two, or more, Advanced Placement tests. In terms of grades we should probably be looking at a score in excess of 1400 in both SAT I and SAT II, and grades 4 or 5 in the Advanced Placement Tests."</p>
<p>{I think their lingo, P. Chicken, is "grades" = scores; "marks" = grades.}</p>
<p>In a later e-mail, they added:
"SAT II should be in three or four subjects if no APs are to be offered. However, we prefer either APs in two or more subjects or a mixture of SAT II and AP scores. You should complete as many APs and/or SAT II's as you feel able to do without overburdening yourself. I can tell you that successful candidates in the past have been made offers on the basis of 2 APs and 1 SAT II, or on the basis of 2 APs and 2 SAT IIs."</p>
<hr>
<p>I guess you know also that the procedure for app. is different, not just in the way described above (mandatory, serious, substantive interview, earlier deadline because International), but also that your "referee" or "tutor" needs to examine the entire app. & approve all the entries therein, & sign off on the info. That would include any e.c.'s, awards, leadership positions (even though they are not heavily considered or heavily weighted the way they sometimes are by U.S. colleges). That recommender has to be recent (jr. yr.)</p>
<p>Requirements for both Oxford & Cambridge are so similar, & their standards so similar, that one cannot apply to both. It is assumed that acceptance or rejection by one would have an identical outcome in the other. And you must apply to a particular college within the U., & take your chances -- even if you later find out that a diff. college had fewer applicants & better enrollment prospects.</p>
<p>that should be fine, callthecops. I got into LSE with a 3, a 4, and three 5's. </p>
<p>One word to American applicants to UK colleges: You are most likely going to be committing yourself to a specific program. I applied to study IR at LSE and their program is outstanding and all but gives the students pretty much no flexibility. If you are certain that a certain field is what you want to study, then go ahead...UK schools are great. But if you feel like you are still trying to decide what to study, go for liberal arts in the US. That's what I'm heading off to at Duke next year...who knows, maybe I'll go to LSE for a Masters or something. Bottom line: Make sure you know what you're getting yourself into.</p>
<p>ctc,
I think KAZtro's reply says it best: the first paragraph of that reply & the first sentence of the 2nd paragraph.<br>
The biggest hurdle Americans face is diff. requirements between the 2 educational systems. Overseas, one has to demonstrate that you have mastered a significant amount of information via the A-level tests, etc. And Ox-bridge admissions officers would obviously also know the quality of the various UK secondary schools being represented in the applicant pool, just as our own US adcoms know that about ours. A particular US high school may or may not even be on the radar screen over there: it might be, and/or the U.S. app. might have an astute recommender who knows that the UK is looking for a "European quality" education in the applicant. There are of course American students educated here who have demonstrated that, by taking extra courses (not just APs) over a period of several years, & possibly in a particular subject area or focus, & who have papers, etc. to prove the level of their knowledge, their intellectual capacity, their ability to write, synthesize, etc. The trick is proving that to the overseas reviewers.</p>
<p>One of D's friends applied to Oxford, rejected, and Sr Andrews, accepted. Top 5%, 34 ACT, lots of APs with I believe 4's and 5's on all. Interview for Oxford was an oral, specific, detailed questions on books that he had fortunately read. I also believe that Oxford is extremely expensive for Americans, around 70K is the number I remember but that may no be true. St Andrews, on the other hand, was quite economical.</p>
<p>SRMom, from what i remember, its 40K. And just a q. how is St Andrews so popular in the US? its not one of the super prestigious places in the UK from what iv heard, but its good nonetheless.</p>
<p>Also, has anybody heard of Warwick in the US? Its in the top 5 in the UK, but i want to know cuz i want to go to an Ivy grad school after the 3 year BSc in Industrial and Corporate Economics.</p>
<p>Don't forget: the application is made for a specific course and therefore requirements differ by subject. For example, candidates to read medicine at Oxford need to take the BMAT (Biomedical Admissions Test); candidates for certain of the Classics options will need to sit an A-level standard test in Latin or in Greek; candidates for History will take the History Aptitude Test, etc. Candidates in other subjects are asked to submit marked essays in their chosen course subject. Acceptance rates differ by course: History, medicine, law and English are the most difficult, while other courses such as the various Classics options or Archeaelogy and Anthropology may be undersubscribed.</p>
<p>
[quote]
your "referee" or "tutor" needs to examine the entire app. & approve all the entries therein, & sign off on the info.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>No... they don't. Not if you're an international student.</p>
<p>Only if you apply with the paper application, then they'll see your whole application, and they can read it if they choose. If you apply online, they just have to give you their reference, and you can type it in yourself.</p>
<p>Generally, the whole process requires only the UCAS application, which is an online general university application for all UK universities. However, Oxbridge requires separate paper applications that can be either directly obtained from those two institutions or printed from their websites. Either way, those paper applications require signature by your college counsellor. But this is exclusive in Oxbridge applications.</p>
<p>Thank you, KAZtro. I was referrring to the Oxford & Cambridge paper apps.</p>
<p>SRMom. I remember that cost was a factor, too, when we looked into this. Internat'l Aid can be difficult for some U's, & I remember that the biggest factor was the living expenses. </p>
<p>Oh, & at Oxford, you have to pack up your entire room at every trimester break, I was told.</p>
<p>I think one appeal of St. Andrews is its smaller size.</p>