<p>A friend of mine, his son is an average student outside UK but he went to UK for high school and got admitted easiliy into University of Cambridge this year. I thought U. of Cambridge is ranked higher than Harvard. Is there any trick or the college system is different at U of Cambridge? Just curious.</p>
<p>Not really, no. UK applications is very straightforward. All you need is good/great grades, and a personal statement that really shows how much you are/have been passionate about your major. That’s it. Plus, no fin aid to talk about.</p>
<p>US applications take into consideration a lot of other things…many of which make the decisions seem strange, but end up being alright in the long run apparently.</p>
<p>Much more transparent process than applying to US colleges.</p>
<p>Thanks for the reply. So, do you mean that if meeting the standards and you can pretty much guaranteed into U. of Cambridge? I know in the US for Ivy League colleges, many applicants meeting the standards got rejected.</p>
<p>Are you curious about UK system or US system? Your screenname is FromUK so I’m not sure what are you asking?</p>
<p>What standards? Only thing fixed is grades…</p>
<p>Here, demonstrated passion is extremely important. And I don’t mean how much one loves maths or science or how he wants to change the world with economic models. It’s how you have already shown your expertise outside the classroom/inside during projects in your major.</p>
<p>If you have both, you’re probably in.</p>
<p>“So, do you mean that if meeting the standards and you can pretty much guaranteed into U. of Cambridge”</p>
<p>No. Theunforgiven is right in one point, and one point only: you need perfect grades. That’s a minimum, really. But that alone is pretty much worthless. Indeed, you need the perfect grades to get into an interview(s) and tests. But then everything depends on the interview(s) and test(s). Demonstrated passion…well, everyone is extremely passionate if they get into a Cambridge interview, that’s fairly obvious. If you are among the luck few who get an offer, then you have to fulfil the (academic) conditions, which can be tricky sometimes. Students would surely love if getting into Cambridge (or Oxford) would be all about having perfect grades and demonstrating passion, but in reality, getting into Cambridge (or Oxford) is everything but easy. There’s not much difference between Oxbridge and the Ivy League in this respect: many applicants meeting the standards got rejected.</p>
<p>Financial aid is not a question, indeed, especially as one cannot apply to Cambridge and Oxford in the same year, the tuition fees are the same, nevertheless, assumptions to the contrary notwithstanding, Oxbridge often offer considerable scholarships and grants to undergrads. </p>
<p>BTW, this isn’t really clear: " his son is an average student outside UK but he went to UK for high school" - you mean his son was an average student before he went to UK for high school, or he was an average student in the UK? If he was an average student before, then he perhaps excelled in high school in the UK, otherwise he would not have gotten into an interview at Cambridge. Universities usually don’t care with performance before high school. I have never ever heard anyone who was an average student and got into Oxbridge…</p>