This discussion is now closed.

Check out other Related discussions

US high school vs UK A-Levels

sleepy_person!

because you’re more likely to get in to Harvard or a decent med or law school because your parents can buy an extra wing of the university

Not really.

Reply 61

usa1981

15

jimmydoerre3

um.....they never asked for my GPA so I never gave it to them, i was at the bottom of the top 10% at my school when I applied but they dont know my GPA cause they only take SATs SAT IIs and APs. i think my interview was fine since i applied for PPE and have been highlighting articles from brookings institute, cato, washington quarterly, foreign affairs, orbis, the economist for the last 3 years and read quit a bit of philosophy also. i mean i do spend literally around 30 hours a week reading this crap and giving speeches on foreign policy every weekend. and during the interview my interviewer asked me which college i applied to and i stated "mansfield" and then he remarked something along the lines of "dont worry about it, you will be fine, if it was balliol or something like that it would be hard but mansfield....." i think the reason i got rejected was because i couldnt find any decent written work so i just submitted some trashy in class essays i wrote, and the 3rd part of my entrance exam (economics) wasnt so hot either.

What was your GPA?

Reply 62

bleeper

11

I just loooked through an AP biology paper and it seems about the same. In some ways harder because it covered some of the stuff i did not do in A level

Reply 63

Earlham

1

dismal_laundry

You are deluding yourself. AP is probably of approximately the same difficulty, and IB is considerably harder.

I'm going to agree with the relative toughness of AP/IB. I can't speak to A-levels, of course.

Reply 64

Spider

As it's been mentioned before, other systems are way more stressful. I like the stress anyway, I wouldnt be bothered if I had more. There's way tougher things that people deal with, and I really don't see the fuss. Exams have consequences, therefore they're stressful.

And - I accept I may be completely wrong here - but I like the fact that I can choose what I want to study during A-levels, whereas I hear you have to take a broad mix of subjects in the american system? On that alone, I'd choose A-levels, even if they were twice as hard, and ten times more stressful.

Reply 65

User69701

10

Tehy are more stressful. I belive that the American system is better though. That is why many learned people want to switch to ii instead of GCSE's and A level. A levels do not corrsepond to how well people do at uni. Pretty much just how much you can memorise. The american sytem however uses you entire school career.

Reply 66

jimmydoerre3

usa1981

What was your GPA?

4.2 but its really relative so what matters is my class rank

Reply 67

shady lane

OP

16

^^
oh you went to one of those funny schools with weighting.

Reply 68

Barzini

1

I think weighted GPA's make more sense since you cant really take people who do cooking, algebra 1, weightlifting and health senior year with those who take Physics C, Calc Bc, english lit and say, chem.

btw jimmydoerre3, I think one of the main reason's you might not have got into oxford was because those 9 5s were really in what Oxford would have called blacklisted A-levels...sorry to say. AP lites dont really count too much...

Reply 69

JamieInPompey

6

My friend didnt get into Cambridge on 5 A's and they were in hard subjects like Maths, further Maths, Physics, Electronics and Critical thinking. I on the otherhand, took subjects such as English, History, Drama, PE, Critical Thinking and General Studies. Which are generally classed as easy subjects. I think that the A-level way is a lot harder because a friend of mine who came over and studied at our school said she had no idea of half the stuff and then when she went back she said that it was what she had learnt over here but a year later.

Reply 70

Apagg

13

English and History are classed as easy subjects? You're joking, right?

Reply 71

username61396

1

jimmydoerre3

yea i dont think oxford realizes that APs are difficult though i had 3344555555555 and they still rejected me..........

Sour grapes? :eek3:

Reply 72

usa1981

15

Is what below about right for Oxford really considered ( out of the 13 exam that jimmydoerre3 took)? The only 5's that looked at very strongly would have been Macroeconomics and Calculus AB. The other exams that they would have really looked at was Microeconomics 3 and the Calculus BC 4.

Reply 73

Earlham

1

But Macro and Micro are both "baby" APs (in that they each cover half the material of something like Calculus); would they really be given the same consideration? Also, I don't know if the Calc. exams would be considered seperately, since they're actually the same exam (the AB is a sub score of the BC). Confusing? Yes!

Reply 74

usa1981

15

jimmydoerre3 what was your unweighted GPA?
What the top GPA at your school?

Reply 75

dismal_laundry

15

JayB124

Tehy are more stressful. I belive that the American system is better though. That is why many learned people want to switch to ii instead of GCSE's and A level. A levels do not corrsepond to how well people do at uni. Pretty much just how much you can memorise. The american sytem however uses you entire school career.

Hi peeps, the thing is that there is not really ONE American system in high school. There are several systems, and, for the more academic kids, supplementary programs working in parallel. AP is one, IB is another, some states have harder terminal exams, like the Regent's exams in New York State. In my opinion, one of the reasons taking the full IB Diploma is harder is that you have to take terminal externally assessed exams in six subjects across the range of five academic disciplines- math, social science, first language, second language, and experimental science. The quality of the award is recognized by the amount of credit higher education institutions allow for a good grade: for example, a grade of 6 or 7 in experimental science HL is worth between 6 and 9 college credits, and a 6 or 7 in history HL is worth 6 college credits. The quality of the IB has also been recognized very recently in the UK where it's been determined that IB results will be allotted tariff points beginning with 2008 entry. The tariff points for a 36 at IB are something like 460- 480 I believe. I'll try to find the material and post a link here.

Reply 76

shady lane

OP

16

There is one system in the US though.
Universities accept American students based on their high school GPAs, not on their AP or IB scores, except to supplement the application. Americans get university offers by May at the latest, and they are not conditional upon pending IB or AP scores. This system, I believe, is less stressful for students.

Reply 77

Earlham

1

True, but the APs you've taken earlier and the simple fact that you are an IB candidate student can help in the applications. On the other hand, it's very different in that your admission doesn't hinge on the results (As shady said).

There's also all that academic satisfaction...ahhh, tasty!

Reply 78

dismal_laundry

15

Here is the link to the UCAS tariff points which will be alloted to IB diplomas beginning in 2008. I was way off- a 36 in IB is 559 points- or roughly 4 1/2 A Levels at grade A. About time the IB got the recognition it deserves.

http://www.ucas.ac.uk/candq/tariff/

Reply 79

Barzini

1

equating 36 points with 4.5 A A-level's is slightly strange, considering that during my application, the unis equated a 5 = A = 7 IB. the typical warwick econ offer was AAB, and they required 554 only.

US high school vs UK A-Levels

Related discussions

Latest

Trending

Trending

Articles for you