So I'm a junior in high school and just looking into colleges. My grandparents are British and they sort of turned me on to going to university over there. : ) I want to go to Oxford (I know, aim for the stars, right?) in Modern Language (Portuguese) and Linguistics at the moment, although I change my mind a lot so that might be different by the time I actually apply, but I've always wanted to learn Portuguese, and I want to become a translator or teach Brazilian kids English (and I don't particularly want to spend inordinate amounts of time reading Portuguese literature, as much as I love reading) so I figure it's the way to go. : ) I'm definitely going to apply come next year, whether I meet the qualifications for Oxford or not, and I'll probably apply to some other schools in England because while I want Oxford, somewhere in my head I could be happy with just a British education, super-prestige or just-prestige or not.
I'm getting on with my grade well, the only B I've gotten in high school so far was in Algebra 2 in ninth grade and it really was the teacher's fault, I'm not making excuses. : P If we're being honest, I'm probably going to get a B in AP Calc this year unless I double my effort, math is my worst subject. I'm taking Latin 3 next semester and then AP Latin my senior year, I'm fairly good at it and I picked it up really quick, I'm going to take Italian 1 my senior year to get a feel for an "actual" language. Taking AP classes, getting the SAT Word of the Day emailed to me, all that jazz. I also do stuff as well, whether the admissions think ECs are important or not, I like to think I'm not a bum. I think if I work really hard the next two years and get the 3 5s on my AP tests (haha) and a 2100 (hehe, or close at least) on my SAT and take some subject tests I should meet the standard academic requirements. Hopefully. I'm putting this in the American one because you guys know what I mean. : ) When I was talking to my British friend the other day about all of this I had to explain the American education system to him and I wasn't sure if that would be the case here.
ANYway, for my "course" I'd be starting at complete beginner (unless I can find a beginner's Portuguese class at my community college to take during my senior year or something, which would be fun whether I got into Oxford or not). Of course, I'm still supposed to have a basic knowledge of Portuguese grammar. The "pre-interview" tests are what I'm worried about--would I have to pass them? Or is it just to give the tutors a starting point? Because the Portuguese one is NOT for a completely new person, and the Linguistics one from 2010 looks fudging ridiculous, considering I've never taken a Linguistics class in my life, but I could probably figure it out if I had time. Just, if I can't, how much stock do they put in those?
And also, this has probably been addressed in the thread, but is it obnoxious to not go to England for the interview? "Pssh, it's not worth my time and money to go all the way over there if I'm not guaranteed a spot," or do they have interview places set up in the US? Because I totally would go to England if my family was up for it, my dad wants to visit his old boarding school and the relatives, but if I'm not able to, am I screwed?
Also, speaking of the interview, is there any place where I can get information on what it will be like? We don't have interview classes over here.
Or first-hand experiences from an American's point of view? And I know in general, but personal statements...what should you include? What did you include?
I'm on a college researching kick right now, if you couldn't tell. : ) If you read all that, thanks.