SAT and A-levels

Hey everyone,

So I am facing a dilemma here. I am currently doing the A levels and my subjects are History, Eng Literature, Psychology and Geography. I am planning to do an undergraduate in History, and through the years Oxford has been my dream destination. However, during the last couple of months I've been thinking about going to the States more and more often. I am thinking of the Ivy League schools (Harvard, Yale, etc.) but found out that in order to apply I will need to take the SAT tests. The thing is that SAT includes Mathematics, and I am not doing Math A-levels! I can't seem to an answer to this question anywhere. Thank you very much for all your help!

A number of universities in the states will accept your A-Levels in place of subject tests so your only exam would be the SAT I paper. Considering you're doing English and History you should be okay with the reading and writing sections but should practice these as much as possible. For the maths paper you will need private tuition. I don't think there is anyway around that, the maths section is practically impossible for anyone without A-Level maths so perhaps ask a maths teacher at your sixth-form to help with preparation. Other than that I'm sure there are tutors who specialise in teaching those who want to take the SATs so perhaps see if you can find one in your local area.

P.S I'm going to Oxford next month to do BA History so if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask

Aghh that's so disappointing.. Maths is really not my thing. Looks like I will have to get a tutor!

Wow, really? Congratulations! Oxford is beautiful, you'll love it. Yes actually, what did you do for work experience? And how was the interview, did they ask you these unreasonable questions that every cries about? And finally, what was your A-level scores or did you do the equivalent? Thank you so much for your help!

Thanks! For work experience I worked on a history book and transcribed some oral history interviews No, my interviewers were really lovely and they asked me questions on my PS and the essay I submitted. In my second interview I was given an unseen source and had twenty minutes to privately look over it and make notes before I was asked questions about it in a formal interview. The second half of that interview involved expanding upon the topic of the source using information I had learnt at A-Level and I had to make connections between those themes with books I had recently read. It was intense but kind enjoyable. At AS I got AABC and at A2 I did History, History of Art, and English Literature and finished with A*A*A. And I did an EPQ which was graded as an A.

Okay, thank you so much again! I forgot to mention it in my first comment, how hard did you find the HAT Test? Also, what about the extra-curricular activities? I am doing 5 societies, MUN -( I'm the leader), Duke of Edinburgh Silver and Young Enterprise. Also, I'm going to do some volunteering and Student Council. Do you think that's enough? Apparently Oxbridge doesnt really care about these unless they are related to the subject your studying, is that true?

A number of universities in the states will accept your A-Levels in place of subject tests so your only exam would be the SAT I paper. Considering you're doing English and History you should be okay with the reading and writing sections but should practice these as much as possible. For the maths paper you will need private tuition. I don't think there is anyway around that, the maths section is practically impossible for anyone without A-Level maths so perhaps ask a maths teacher at your sixth-form to help with preparation. Other than that I'm sure there are tutors who specialise in teaching those who want to take the SATs so perhaps see if you can find one in your local area.

P.S I'm going to Oxford next month to do BA History so if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask

You need at least 3 subject tests regardless of a levels - thats why mericans do AP's

I'm self-teaching you must be very well-off if you can afford tuition for SATs

Some universities will take A-Levels in place of AP subject tests. It's best to check with all the universities because it could end up saving loads of time. You can self teach but it could just as easily hire a tutor. Apply to American universities is expensive, it's all part and parcel of making the decision to go abroad rather than stay in the UK.

I spoke to Princeton and Harvard and they wanted min 3 subject tests as well as sat and a levels.

So I will do that, will probs do math level 1 too

You are right though, everything costs money!!

Hmmm. The Maths in the sat I (the really long general SAT) is around GCSE level (I recently sat it). The subject test maths is slightly harder. I've only looked at Maths II as opposed to I but it requires knowledge which isn't on the syllabus for GCSE or C1-2, most notably a small amount on the use of graphing calculators

As for harvard and subject tests, I thought entry from this year onwards the subject tests were optional?


Posted from TSR Mobile

Hey everyone,

So I am facing a dilemma here. I am currently doing the A levels and my subjects are History, Eng Literature, Psychology and Geography. I am planning to do an undergraduate in History, and through the years Oxford has been my dream destination. However, during the last couple of months I've been thinking about going to the States more and more often. I am thinking of the Ivy League schools (Harvard, Yale, etc.) but found out that in order to apply I will need to take the SAT tests. The thing is that SAT includes Mathematics, and I am not doing Math A-levels! Doesnt that give students that did IB, AP or Math A-levels a privilege? Is taking SAT Subject tests an option? I can't seem to an answer to these questions anywhere. Thank you very much for all your help!