<p>I am currently an American junior in high school, and I am very interested in universities in the UK. However, many of the universities there only accept AP credits. My school, while prestigious, has a very tight schedule, only allowing students to take 5 classes a year. Because of this, the vast majority of AP classes are not available until senior year. While I have taken the APUSH exam, and believe I will get a 5, that is the only AP I have taken as of now. I am signed up for AP chem, Physics C, AP Stats, and AP Euro for next year, along with a high honors debating class. I am taking calculus this year, though not AP.
Would it be possible, or even allowed, to submit my other scores instead of my AP scores. I have a 34 on the ACT, but I am retaking it just to see if I can get higher, as that was my first time. For subject tests I have a 770 on Math 2, a 705 (eek) on Chem, and have signed up for 3 more in June. Is it even worth applying if I don't have the AP's? This goes for all universities that say they only accept AP's. </p>
<p>I don’t know much about universities in the UK, but you should definitely check and see whether they take all AP exams. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to take an AP test that you’ve never took a formal class for, but know the material enough to pass.</p>
<p>So in the UK, you pick a major and get admitted to the school with that major. Changing is difficult.
In England, most bachelor’s degrees are 3 years because students spend an extra pre-college year, and they want to see the equivalent of a year of college through AP exams relevant to your major. In Scotland, most bachelor’s degrees are 4 years, and they expect a lot less. </p>
<p>So consider St. Andrews or Edinburgh if you want the UK. </p>
<p>If you really want UC London, you need to make sure you meet their requirements. </p>
<p>Lately we’ve been looking at Queen’s University Belfast. Its admissions and programs seem to be a bit different from other UK public universities. Don’t know if it’s harder to get in QUB than UC London for internationals, but I understand there is a significant community of foreign students at QUB.</p>
<p>If the university has AP requirements, then you are expected to meet them. If they accept SAT 2’s or any other exams in place of AP’s, it will say so on their website.
UK universities only care about exam grades, so your GPA or the grades you get in your classes won’t matter. They’ll look at AP scores and other scores as well (e.g. SAT, ACT, etc.- check to see what UCL’s requirements for international American students are). </p>
<p>I would post on questions related to UK universities in the UK forum. There’s a lot of knowledgeable posters there who can help you.</p>
<p>As classicrockerdad says, you apply to study a specific course, and that is all you study. So if you apply to study history, pretty much every class you take for your entire time at university will be a history class. Every university has an online description of every course, down to most of the classes that you take (and what electives there are). It is worth spending some time reading these descriptions, because changing subject is indeed very difficult.</p>
<p>Next question: why UCL? is it b/c the idea of going to university in London is exciting? UCL has particularly firm ideas on APs, requiring 5 (<a href=“United States of America | International Students - UCL – University College London”>http://www.ucl.ac.uk/prospective-students/international/countries/north-america/united-states</a>) (although only 1 “5” is required). Cambridge is the only other one that I can think of that requires 5 APs - most unis will accept 3 (though tbh, most applicants have more than that). And, most of the unis will take SATIIs in addition to APs (sometimes you have to go into the fine print to find it, but I know that most of the big name unis do). Anecdotally, I know at least 1 person who got into Oxford based on the SAT + 3 SATII subject tests, though he knocked it out of the park on the MAT (math aptitude test that Oxford gives). </p>
<p>However, you can’t duplicate (ie, USH AP <em>or</em> SATII). Remember that it is the norm in the UK to apply based on the grade you are predicted to receive on the year end exam (AP, in your case), and to get an offer conditional on achieving those grades. That means you don’t know for certain that you have your place until July, when the AP marks come out, but I know many US students who have done that. Some put a deposit down on a US university, while others who have an ‘unconditional’ offer from a (usually lower-ranked) UK university ‘firm’ that. </p>
<p>However, the more competitive the course, the more important it is to have APs that are <em>relevant</em> to the course that you are applying for, and it is not clear what subject you would apply to based on your APs. Right now you have history, math and chem and you are planning to add physics, euro and stats. What are you thinking of applying to study, and to what level of uni?</p>
<p>btw, a higher mark on the ACT won’t make any difference- your 34 is good enough for any of the unis. However, the UK unis are less familiar with the ACT and you may want to check to see if they accept it (this may mean emailing them).</p>
<p>If you are in the first flush of ‘wouldn’t it be cool to go to college in London!’, spend some time thinking about what you want to study and why. You will have to write a Personal Statement (essay) that demonstrates why you are suited to the subject you are applying to study- and the more competitive the university you are applying to, the more maturity of thought you will be expected to show. </p>
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<p>This isn’t entirely correct, but almost. You still study other subjects, though the vast majority of them are related and relevant to your program. For example, if you major in BSc Management, you still study mathematics. But as you can see, math subjects are essential in solving higher finance and econometric subjects. Maths aren’t management subjects per se. But they support to your learning process as you take higher management modules. </p>
<p>To simplify the difference between American and British curriculum: The GE (General Education) subjects often a part of American undergrad programs were removed thus the length of the British undergrad programs is shortened. </p>
<p>They weren’t ‘removed’, they were never included.</p>
<p>Anyway, to answer OP, it’s fine to apply before taking the APs - if you get an offer it’s likely to be conditional on your subsequently getting certain scores in the AP exam. They will need to have some relevance to your proposed course - what is that?</p>