Oxford Applicants for 2012 Entry

What about Imperial, and UCL?

As lonelysoul193 (Paige?) said, it's not A-levels, it's Scottish Highers.

Glasgow's a horrible, horrible place that deserves to be struck off the map but

For teh lulz.

Despite the fact that I've made five choices for UCAS, I'm starting to think that unless I get into Oxford (or at least LSE) I'm going to give the States a try, since I'm getting the feeling that the Ivy League > (UK - Oxbridge) as far as an overall uni experience is concerned.

Anyone else feel the same/similar?

nah, I couldn't be arsed with being forced to take subjects I have no interest in.

So judging by your sig you mean anything but classics

True, but to be honest in my case I'd probably get credit for maths (that is to say, they'd let me avoid it) and I can't think of anything else that I would flat out dislike having to study further...

anything like business, economics, science etc, while I could probably succeed if I applied myself would bore me immensely. I like maths, but the reason I'm looking forward to university is that it'll give me a chance to specialise

(I like modern languages too but I prefer to study them on my own and then talk to people on skype etc, conventional teaching doesn't do anything for me)

For teh lulz.

Despite the fact that I've made five choices for UCAS, I'm starting to think that unless I get into Oxford (or at least LSE) I'm going to give the States a try, since I'm getting the feeling that the Ivy League > (UK - Oxbridge) as far as an overall uni experience is concerned.

Anyone else feel the same/similar?

For teh lulz.

Despite the fact that I've made five choices for UCAS, I'm starting to think that unless I get into Oxford (or at least LSE) I'm going to give the States a try, since I'm getting the feeling that the Ivy League > (UK - Oxbridge) as far as an overall uni experience is concerned.

Anyone else feel the same/similar?

YES u shud! plus they only give out acceptances, rejects or waitlists :P so its unconditional no matter what If you have solid SATs, extracurriculars, awards and stuff like that Cornell shouldn't be a problem for you XP

The Ivy Leagues (or rather, american 'colleges' in general) take a... what I consider 'awkward' stance to education. For one the universities - sorry, colleges - are geared to churning out money-makers rather than providing them with a solid background for success post-university/college/whatever. For another, entrance requirements for American colleges are almost completely flipped around to what UK unis expect - for example, the very obvious EC difference.

For American (I'm just going to say unis from now on) they expect you to be a jack-of-all-trades who can play an instrument, participate in a variety of clubs, etc. Even more so with the Ivy Leagues, which expect you to do something truly spectacular (e.g. create a charity for the homeless or something else nonsensical). I'm all for extra curricular, and I'm in a lot of clubs myself - but I don't see how being in the Dance Club at school will aid someone's goal to be a doctor... There's no sense in being able to 'do it all' if the sole purpose of most students' lives is to achieve a particular career.

Blah that was a lot of rambling. I have more to say but I can't be bothered at the moment. Really I'm just sort of against the whole system on principle. Despite the fact that I have numerous relatives in America and I enjoy some aspects of the country, I really don't want to subscribe to the whole factory-line college mindset there. Hope that made a little bit of sense, my mind is still in chemistry mode.

YES u shud! plus they only give out acceptances, rejects or waitlists :P so its unconditional no matter what If you have solid SATs, extracurriculars, awards and stuff like that Cornell shouldn't be a problem for you XP

What major would you do in the states? and idk, i'm under the impression that US students party harder ;P but it's a 4 year thing sooo you'd be in school for one more year....and fees are generally at least twice as much as oxford for any ivy league :/ and european status dusn't help :P so you'd be in the same international boat as me XP

edit: i take that back with the cornell :P you can probably make most of the ivy leagues with that SAT score of yours XP at 4HLs you'd be extremely strong....and i'd guess you'd have good extracurriculars and such so you should definitely go for it XP

Oh God, on that note my dad and subsequent former-uni-mates/now friends all went to Cornell... they're kind of pressuring me to go there. One of my dad's friends is even starting some sort of program/something-or-other there and wants me to join it... then another of my dad's friends is telling me I can use his residence address if I want to go there to avoid the international fees. I'm just like... no thanks I'm good thanks for the offers but I like the UK D:

Yeah dodging the conditionals will be nice
I'm pretty solid for a States app I think, and I know I've said it before but I really do have a knack for impressing Americans.

I'd be an econ major, politics minor (still stuck on PPE )
Like I said, I'd think fees would be compensated by higher starting salaries...remains to be seen

Thanks for the encouragement, I'm definitely going to try...

However, the fast-track to high paying careers that top-tier US universities provide is also extremely appealing to me personally: three acquaintances as examples: one a photography major making $70k a year in his second year at deloitte, another an economics major making $130k a year as regional VP with Hitachi in Chicago, and the third an economics major now working as an associate at a Wall Street firm making $100k in his first year. First two are UC Berkeley, third is Dartmouth. That kind of money is virtually unheard of in the UK.

omfg =_= u kidding me.....there's people who would kill for a chance like you have! :P if you can get in-state fees, that will probably parallel oxford's and if you factor in cheaper living costs..might actual be cheaper....X.X

i went to class with a kid who knew one of the executives on the Cornell board of directors ....didn't do him any good though XP but his credentials sucked anyway XP

Cornell's in NY, so its close to a gigantic metropolis, obviously good for business contacts and such.....although ithaca is reputedly quite cold XP

A question for you, though: are you planning to get a job and/or settle in whichever university's country you end up in? Or are you planning to do something else?

is anyone applying to Canadian or Australian unis?

Are you? If so, definitely feel free to ask me anything you ever wanted to know about Canadian unis... Though make it quick I'm flying out to England THIS SATURDAY (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!). I'll have wi-fi though yay.