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How do American Colleges view resit/repeat students?

Hey everyone,
I wanted to know how do American colleges view repeat/resit students from the Uk, well those that did A-levels?
I wanted to apply this year but so much happened and I'm not going to get great grades but instead very appalling grades, I mean like DUUU. However I'd like to start afresh again, focusing on humanity based subjects rather than sciences and maths. While starting again I'd like to take the SAT exams and apply for New York university to do law or liberal arts or theatre studies. I just want to know if there's possibility of being accepted to know if there's any point in taking the exams, signing up fulbright to know what I need to know as it's a very long process. But overall does anyone know their intake on repeat students?

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Reply 1
Honestly speaking, I did fail the year with those results even with extenuating circumstances. I had missed two exams due a chest infection I had the night before, I couldn't even breathe so was rushed to the hospital. They ended up giving me sedatives, inhalers and an injection. I couldn't take antibiotics as it was viral but I felt that even if I was well I would have failed still due to how the year went. I left things last minute, went through a stressful period and had panic attacks. I could pay the yearly tuitions but I wanted to apply for a scholarship. Really? But I searched online I saw law at undergraduates level but understood once you had finished your course, you do not get the qualification straight away- you'd have to enter law school and graduate there with some training- then getting your degree.
Yea, I know Tisch is very selective. It has been a dream to get in, I researched about this department so much.
^That. Doing pre-law courses would be very useful if you're considering getting a postgrad in law, but actually majoring in it always seemed very risky to me, esp. considering it's not at all a prerequisite to get into law school (or pre-med for med school, though you do need your sciences)
Reply 3
Original post by vaudevillain
^That. Doing pre-law courses would be very useful if you're considering getting a postgrad in law, but actually majoring in it always seemed very risky to me, esp. considering it's not at all a prerequisite to get into law school (or pre-med for med school, though you do need your sciences)


If I did major in Law over in the United States, would the degree still be valid here in the UK? I was told that people do study abroad for their final years at university then graduate but if someone completely does a law degree in America, could they practice in England, or in a bigger spectrum Europe?
Reply 4
Wow, this sounds difficult. So if I do not go to law school I cannot become an official lawyer? And even if I did go to law school, to practice in the UK I'd have to additionally take a conversion test? Would I have to take another test for practising in countries such as Australia or places like Niger? I never knew it was this tight. It seems that study law in the UK is way easier.
Reply 5
Pheww, this is hard work. Thanks for explaining. I don't know if I should study engineering or preferably business abroad then once I'm back here, convert to law rather than taking the first route. It could maybe add an edge in terms of experience.
There is a joint JD–LLB offered by some UoL colleges, UCL and KCL, alongside Columbia Law School. 4 years. It's a ridiculously good course.
Reply 7
Sorry for going back and forth but do you mean after receiving the master's of arts admin degree and a master degree in law? If so, say if I did for example 3 years studying law undergraduate then went to law school. Is it after this to where I could receive the MBA or LLB? Then move onto business? The part where you said business wasn't really useful- is this is terms of studying law? I honestly just wanted to study business because it seemed interesting and useful outside of law too. But I'm guessing it's best to choose what would prefer you for law at law school. It seems quite confusing.
It's more competitive, but then again the people at UCL and KCL are not HLS-tier.
Well, necessarily, the people at HLS have already performed excellently at undergrad whereas the UoL likely have not performed at that stage at all. That would, in my eyes, make HLS of a higher tier simply for having achieved more. You could say that they are equally intellectual, but the PG have achieved more, and I think that is an acceptable statement.

I am curious, however. You mentioned AAB and 2200. Are those equivalents, would you say?
They've completed 2 years of UG study, at a high level. They actually use their first-year results to apply for the JD course, so they have actually got into Columbia with 1-year of UG. People who have started at HLS have studied likely 4 years of UG at NYU or similarly prestigious institutions, and completed a highly competitive LSAT. For me, that seems to make the people who have got into HLS via the normal route a little bit more accomplished. Either way, it is very difficult to proceed to the JD course via UoL.
(edited 8 years ago)
I did say likely; it wasn't unqualified. Although, on the topic, it would be interesting to see how many people at HLS (&C) possess an associate's. Did you come by any at NYU?
Original post by Cherry82
Hey everyone,
I wanted to know how do American colleges view repeat/resit students from the Uk, well those that did A-levels?
I wanted to apply this year but so much happened and I'm not going to get great grades but instead very appalling grades, I mean like DUUU. However I'd like to start afresh again, focusing on humanity based subjects rather than sciences and maths. While starting again I'd like to take the SAT exams and apply for New York university to do law or liberal arts or theatre studies. I just want to know if there's possibility of being accepted to know if there's any point in taking the exams, signing up fulbright to know what I need to know as it's a very long process. But overall does anyone know their intake on repeat students?

The thing that I have noticed about US universities is that they put a lot more focus on extracurricular activities than UK universities do. That's not to say grades don't matter at all, far from it, but many seem to focus a lot more with your outside activities. Plus, in order to get into many US universities, you need to take a SAT/ACT test, and if you nail that, it's going to boost you up significantly. I am in a similar situation as you in that I completely failed my English AS exam (I want to study literature at uni) because of a panic attack, and so am also going to have to resit that exam which won't look good on my application. At the end of the day, its not whether US universities all view resits in a certain way, but dependent upon their status. Unfortunately, NYU is a very good university, but when it comes down to it, if you want to apply, go for it. Just be aware that resitting the year will have an impact on your application whether anyone likes that fact or not. I would suggest talking with a school careers advisor or similar, who might know more about this, and also looking at other unis outside of NYU. It might also be worth emailing the universities admissions office to explain the situation to see how they would react to that in an application. I know there is also an event in London in September about applying to US universities where there will be representatives from different universities who will be willing to answer questions, along with talks about the whole application process (the organisation running it is called Fullbright - I would look at their website). I wish you the best of luck in your applications!
Reply 13
Original post by amybonnie98
The thing that I have noticed about US universities is that they put a lot more focus on extracurricular activities than UK universities do. That's not to say grades don't matter at all, far from it, but many seem to focus a lot more with your outside activities. Plus, in order to get into many US universities, you need to take a SAT/ACT test, and if you nail that, it's going to boost you up significantly. I am in a similar situation as you in that I completely failed my English AS exam (I want to study literature at uni) because of a panic attack, and so am also going to have to resit that exam which won't look good on my application. At the end of the day, its not whether US universities all view resits in a certain way, but dependent upon their status. Unfortunately, NYU is a very good university, but when it comes down to it, if you want to apply, go for it. Just be aware that resitting the year will have an impact on your application whether anyone likes that fact or not. I would suggest talking with a school careers advisor or similar, who might know more about this, and also looking at other unis outside of NYU. It might also be worth emailing the universities admissions office to explain the situation to see how they would react to that in an application. I know there is also an event in London in September about applying to US universities where there will be representatives from different universities who will be willing to answer questions, along with talks about the whole application process (the organisation running it is called Fullbright - I would look at their website). I wish you the best of luck in your applications!


Thank you! Yea, I emailed and received a response. Surprisingly they told me not to worry about repeating being an issue which shocked me. They just basically told me it's fine to repeat the year since I'm transitioning from sciences to humanities. They also started listening students with number of years etc that they study and that I would fit a certain category. I don't know if it's because of my age it's ok or if it's because of the transition but overall I was happy. Now I'm just praying it's true because I had viewed opinions that opposed their response from the email.

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