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Americans applying to university in the UK

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Reply 4060
Original post by justanotherperson
Hey everyone!

Haha this has probably been addressed already on here but I was wondering about meeting requirements before you apply? I don't have many AP's as of now (current junior) , but I know that next year (senior year) I will be taking a lot more. So if I apply to the schools I want to, whilst under the requirements, do I still have a chance of getting in?

Thanks!


You would probably want to have a few under your belt, but Oxbridge, LSE, etc. will want to give you conditions, and in my (limited!) experience it seems to be 3 APs. They aren't expecting you to be done, but need some to see that you are on the right path.
AP Lang
AP Lit
AP Econ
AP Psychology
AP Stat
AP Euro

Those are the APs I plan to take over the next two(Junior and Senior) years...(Psychology is self study)

Right now, I am taking English 10, Algebra II, and Modern World History(pertaining to the APs I wanna take)

Engilsh and History are pretty good grades(B+ range) and Math is a bit...bad(C range)

So what I was planning to do is this:

Junior Year;

AP Lang
AP Euro
AP Stat


Senior Year:

AP Lit
AP Psychology(Self Study)
AP Econ

I think that is suitable, except the fact that for Junior Year, they offer Data Analysis as well, which is like an intro to Statistics for half a year...

I know you guys wouldn't know about my school as much, but are these APs good enough to apply to (good/great) universities in the UK? Not counting SATs and my general GPA?

Thankss :smile:
Original post by mpc1
Have you finalised UCL accommodation? If so, which hall is recommended? catered? Also what is the difference between student house and hall of residence in UCL? http://www.ucl.ac.uk/prospective-students/accommodation/residences/halls Has your accommodation been confirmed?


Are you thinking of the intercollegiate halls? I want to pick my dorm soon, but I can't really tell which one's better online!!
Original post by teamnoether
If it's any consolation (in the misery-loves-company kind of way), fees for medicine as an international are mind boggling. I'm looking at something just shy of £50,000 pa.


Whoa, which school is that??? I thought most medicine courses are between 20 to 30 thousand pounds? My vet course in London's a little more than 20,000, and that's considered not cheap!
Original post by mpc1
Imperial costs around 22k per year for Internationals. UCL, oxford and cambridge all cost around 14k per year.

any idea why Imperial costs are so high.. higher than UCL for example?

Thoughts?

thanks.


Science based degrees tend to cost more than arts/humanities (labs, equipment etc). For example Cambridge natural sciences, engineering etc is ~£20k + £4/5k college fee so. Medicine is ~£31K + college fee.
Imperial only does science based subjects so it'll naturally cost more.
Original post by Gurmeet.Kapoor
AP Lang
AP Lit
AP Econ
AP Psychology
AP Stat
AP Euro

Those are the APs I plan to take over the next two(Junior and Senior) years...(Psychology is self study)

Right now, I am taking English 10, Algebra II, and Modern World History(pertaining to the APs I wanna take)

Engilsh and History are pretty good grades(B+ range) and Math is a bit...bad(C range)

So what I was planning to do is this:

Junior Year;

AP Lang
AP Euro
AP Stat


Senior Year:

AP Lit
AP Psychology(Self Study)
AP Econ

I think that is suitable, except the fact that for Junior Year, they offer Data Analysis as well, which is like an intro to Statistics for half a year...

I know you guys wouldn't know about my school as much, but are these APs good enough to apply to (good/great) universities in the UK? Not counting SATs and my general GPA?

Thankss :smile:


Those are good APs to take (I have actually taken or will take AP Lang, AP Lit, AP Bio, AP Stats, and AP Psych) but it really depends on what degree you plan to apply for.

They need to be relevant to your degree choice. For instance, I applied for Psychology, so most of mine make sense. :smile:
Reply 4066
Original post by Mike93L
Science based degrees tend to cost more than arts/humanities (labs, equipment etc). For example Cambridge natural sciences, engineering etc is ~£20k + £4/5k college fee so. Medicine is ~£31K + college fee.
Imperial only does science based subjects so it'll naturally cost more.


Imperial Maths is 22k but UCL maths is 14 k for internationals. So the comparison is with the same subject here.

any idea why this is so high as compared to UCL?
Original post by mpc1
Imperial Maths is 22k but UCL maths is 14 k for internationals. So the comparison is with the same subject here.

any idea why this is so high as compared to UCL?


Yeah Imperial maths is the course that sticks out. I don't know. Maybe it's just Imperial charges around that much for all non-med courses as it doesn't do any humanities/arts (that normally cost less)? It could be that Imperial classes maths within Natural Sciences while at UCL they put maths in with humanities.

Perhaps it has more international prestige so it can charge more. Cambridge charges around £19/20K for maths though so maybe UCL is just cheaper for maths...
Original post by mpc1
Imperial Maths is 22k but UCL maths is 14 k for internationals. So the comparison is with the same subject here.

any idea why this is so high as compared to UCL?

Hard to tell. Both unis are great for maths. Imperial is better but if money was a constraint I'd go for UCL and save £8k a year.

Maths @ Imperial - 4th best in the UK
Maths @ UCL - 8th best in the UK.
Anecdotally, I think that UCL is more internationally renowned than Imperial. Also, typically Imperial's maths offers have been quite high. Just something to consider.

Do you have offers from both, or are you thinking of applying? If you're only thinking of applying... why not apply to both, and see what your offers are like first?
Original post by cricket123
Those are good APs to take (I have actually taken or will take AP Lang, AP Lit, AP Bio, AP Stats, and AP Psych) but it really depends on what degree you plan to apply for.

They need to be relevant to your degree choice. For instance, I applied for Psychology, so most of mine make sense. :smile:


Thanks :smile:

If I were to take PPE, wud that be valid? :P

And how are AP lit,lang,stats and psych? Did you find them easyyy?
Original post by Gurmeet.Kapoor
Thanks :smile:

If I were to take PPE, wud that be valid? :P

And how are AP lit,lang,stats and psych? Did you find them easyyy?


I didn't study for AP Lang at all so I got a 3 :/
I am taking AP Lit, Stats, and Psych this year.
Statistics isn't bad. I don't like Lit because a lot of it right now is analysing poems which isn't really my thing haha but I think I will be okay. A lot of it has to do with interpreting novels of high literary merit as well as poems. I am self-studying for Psych and I've only just started but it's not bad at all. I have a bit of a background in psychology anyway which is helpful and, from what I have heard, you should be fine if you learn all the vocab. :smile:

I think your combination of APs would work. Maybe take a history SAT II as well to demonstrate some knowledge of politics.

I would also consider self-studying for AP Macroeconomics or Microeconomics; I heard they are fairly easy to understand and, if you do well, will show that you are good in economics as well.
Thanks cricket123

I've decided to take AP Euro, AP Econ and AP Lang next year..my English teacher told me that Lang is good preparation for the SATs

So in total I should be taking 6 by the time I graduate...

Also...do UK unis look heavily at your GPA..cuz I really have a 'bad' GPA and id still want to go to a good Uni there...
Original post by ofssinfoxes
Whoa, which school is that??? I thought most medicine courses are between 20 to 30 thousand pounds? My vet course in London's a little more than 20,000, and that's considered not cheap!


Cambridge. (Think you're £150,000 special, don't you Cambridge? :hat:) To be fair, that does include my college fees.

All the same, my plan is currently to pass on my debt to my great-grandchildren.
Original post by Gurmeet.Kapoor
Thanks cricket123

I've decided to take AP Euro, AP Econ and AP Lang next year..my English teacher told me that Lang is good preparation for the SATs

So in total I should be taking 6 by the time I graduate...

Also...do UK unis look heavily at your GPA..cuz I really have a 'bad' GPA and id still want to go to a good Uni there...


I completely agree with your English teacher that AP Lang is good preparation for the SAT. My teacher really helped me improve my ability to identify errors in sentences and other skills tested in the writing section.

I ended up getting all the MC correct (but an 8 on the essay) and a 770 for the section! :smile:

Actually, the only UK uni I applied to and that I know of that even wants to see your transcript is the University of St. Andrews.

What unis are you looking at?

What is your GPA?
It's regular decision week for American colleges/universities. Best of luck, guys. I'm personally crippled by anxiety so I hope you all make out better than me.
Original post by cricket123
I completely agree with your English teacher that AP Lang is good preparation for the SAT. My teacher really helped me improve my ability to identify errors in sentences and other skills tested in the writing section.

I ended up getting all the MC correct (but an 8 on the essay) and a 770 for the section! :smile:

Actually, the only UK uni I applied to and that I know of that even wants to see your transcript is the University of St. Andrews.

What unis are you looking at?

What is your GPA?



I'm looking at Durham or Warwick..Durham only wants 3 APs and like a 650 on the SATs and 700 on the SAT Subjects

My GPA is rather low.. :P 'near' the 3.0 range

and...wat Unis did u apply to? =D
(edited 12 years ago)
Original post by Gurmeet.Kapoor
Thanks cricket123

I've decided to take AP Euro, AP Econ and AP Lang next year..my English teacher told me that Lang is good preparation for the SATs

So in total I should be taking 6 by the time I graduate...

Also...do UK unis look heavily at your GPA..cuz I really have a 'bad' GPA and id still want to go to a good Uni there...


Most UK unis (excluding Cambridge, St. Andrews, and maybe a few others?) don't ask for a transcript, so they won't care about your GPA. However, I don't mean to sound harsh, but .if you have a poor GPA, do you expect to get the high AP scores needed for 'good' unis? Are there extenuating circumstances for your GPA/do you plan on raising it? Because in my experience, at least, AP exams are quite a bit more difficult than in-class work...

I hope this doesn't come off as mean, I'm just trying to give some realistic advice. :smile:
Reply 4078
Original post by mahassociates
Most UK unis (excluding Cambridge, St. Andrews, and maybe a few others?) don't ask for a transcript, so they won't care about your GPA. However, I don't mean to sound harsh, but .if you have a poor GPA, do you expect to get the high AP scores needed for 'good' unis? Are there extenuating circumstances for your GPA/do you plan on raising it? Because in my experience, at least, AP exams are quite a bit more difficult than in-class work...

I hope this doesn't come off as mean, I'm just trying to give some realistic advice. :smile:


I don't know about Gurmeet, but a high GPA doesn't always directly correspond with high AP test scores.
I had a mediocre GPA, but my AP test scores were quite good. If someone is slightly lazy/ has teachers who grade quite harshly, their GPA isn't going to stay very high even if they are smart
Original post by Dnibara
I don't know about Gurmeet, but a high GPA doesn't always directly correspond with high AP test scores.
I had a mediocre GPA, but my AP test scores were quite good. If someone is slightly lazy/ has teachers who grade quite harshly, their GPA isn't going to stay very high even if they are smart


'Apparently' I am smart :P but its just that I don't practice Math enough, and my sister was like I should... :P

No but I THINK I am capable of performing well in the APs though... :biggrin: -Plus I am taking the ones that interest me..I could have taken AP Cal but well I am not doing that great in Alg 2 this year so I decided for Data Analysis...I could have taken AP Stat but Data Analysis is like an introduction to Stat for half a year....

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