<p>Is it easier or harder to get into a school in England? Are they ACT/SAT GPA focused? How US colleges would compare in admissions difficulty to: Oxford, Cambridge, LSE, Bristol, York, and leeds?</p>
<p>From what I've heard from friends applying to Cambridge, Leeds, etc...they don't care all that much about SAT/GPA, etc. I'm in IB and I know for IB kids they give a conditional offer that's contingent upon you getting a certain number of points on your IB Diploma(you don't get the scores until July). So for example, Cambridge might want a 41 out of 43(really hard to get). While Liverpool might want a 34 or 36. IB students need 24 points to get the IB diploma. I don't know about non-IB applicants though...maybe AP's might determine it. They're not too keen on the traditional American education system it doesn't seem.</p>
<p>Also, these schools use the UCAS system which is an online system like the American "common app" website, it's slightly difficult to maneuver. St. Andrew's, specifically, has an application for American students if St. Andrew's is the only UK school that the student is applying to, otherwise they must use UCAS.</p>
<p>fwiw, the highest you can earn for the IB is 45 not 43.</p>
<p>It's easier to enter the prestigious UK universities in comparison with the top US universities. This is mainly due to the fact that there's a cut off criteria for admission to the UK universities and they generally dont place so much emphasis on "personal qualities which include ECs and recs". However, they place lots of importance on academics... you really need to be good in a particular subjects to be admitted into oxbridge... hope this helps...</p>
<p>It's easier to enter the prestigious UK universities in comparison with the top US universities. This is mainly due to the fact that there's a cut off criteria for admission to the UK universities and they generally dont place so much emphasis on "personal qualities which include ECs and recs". However, they place lots of importance on academics... you really need to be good in a particular subjects to be admitted into oxbridge... hope this helps...</p>
<p>Outwest mom...thanks for the correction...I didn't take all of those bonus points into account. Up to 42 points from exams and then the additional 3 possible bonus for EE and TOK. Frankly, they're pretty difficult to get. Yes, I agree with you "screwup", UK schools are much more numbers-based, unfortunate for those who aren't the best test takers.</p>
<p>I'm not sure how true that is. Living in Switzerland the vast majority of my friends are applying UK. If they get accepted it is in the form of a conditional offer and they have to get that number of points on the final exams in order to get accepted. So, while it's true that in this respect the UK system is more number based it is not as simple as that.</p>
<p>For top schools in the UK you will not be given an offer without an interview. This interview is NOTHING like what we US applicants think of when we think of an interview. They are asked questions pertaining to the subject that they are applying for by experts in the field. These questions are not questions they would normally have studdied and are extremely difficult. They are not really asked the questions to see whether they know the material but how their mind works and how they deal with unknowns. </p>
<p>Finally, during this interview there is a lot of things that applicants must do to gain an upper hand. The top UK unis (read oxford/cambridge) assume that you have near perfect numbers (40+ points on the IB). They then select from these applicants the ones who strike them as the best. They are in a situation very similar to many of the top US schools and so a huge amount rides on their interview. (hehe all my friends just went off for theirs... I scorn them :P.... erm i mean all in fun of course)</p>
<p>Interesting, I think the interviews are more with Oxford/Cambridge than anywhere else. I have a friend that's been conditionally accepted at Liverpool and needs a 38 on her IB diploma, the interview for her is only if she doesn't get that score.</p>
<p>True, but it also depends on what you're planning on studying. For example, any student wanting to study medicine must be interviewed for nearly all of the top schools. It really depends on the school and the course. Although, you are right the only places that multilaterally demand interviews are oxford, cambridge, and I think LSE.</p>
<p>Nope, LSE does not require interviews, and from what I know, it is pretty much easy for people to enter LSE because they only look at you stats, whether you can get 3 As for the A levels. For US applicants, note that you would need at least 4 APs (if I am not wrong) to qualify for admission into UK universities.</p>
<p>oops sorry, i meant UCL</p>
<p>So coming from a us uni and trying for a 1 year study in oxford in history would a 44 on the IB be enough or are they going to want an interview and see the frosh year grades too?</p>
<p>For oxford you DO NOT need aps... but they do encourage them... the "cutoff" levels for americans are 700+ on the sat Is and 700+ on 3 or more SAT IIs, or 4+ on at least 2 APs. that's the basic requirements, and then you have to have your interview (they interview in ny & vancouver, bc). and then you will probably get a conditional offer based on the APs you told them you would be taking, with certain scores you need to get. They say that 1 in 5 int'l applicants are successful... so this percentage is similar to american universities. I think that int'ls have a slight advantage because unlike british citizens, americans have to pay $30,000+ to go there.</p>
<p>Internationals definitely have an advantage! Anyone who pays full tuition has an advantage. In the past, our students were not able to get the EU tuition break and they had an easier time of gaining entrance into UK universities. Now, as they receive the tuition break, it is much more difficult for them.</p>
<p>outwestmom: it depends on what the US student is aiming to do.</p>
<p>The majority of Americans studying at Oxford are on a study year/semester abroad from their home universities or through interschool programmes like the Institute for Study Abroad. Although these students are in Oxford, are sometimes tutored by Oxford University faculty, and have associated rights at individual colleges or other facilities, they are not matriculated members of the University of Oxford and are not pursuing an Oxford degree. They are still members of their home universities and the work they do contributes to their credit requirements at home (Oxford doesn't award degrees by means of credit accumulation). The home universities usually require certain GPA scores to be considered for such programmes, but Oxford doesn't interview. They probably take the view that as they won't be Oxford University students it won't be their reputation that suffers if they turn out to be a dead loss!</p>
<p>On the other hand if someone wants to enroll as an Oxford University student then qualifications and interviews will be expected.</p>