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Original post by jakepds
Okay, so maybe start prepping fro the SAT I at christmas of year 12, and take it in March or April?
For the SAT II I was thinking of doing Maths and Physics, simply because I am doing these at A Level. At what point should I take these, start of year 13, or later/earlier?

Yep, it's always the best plan to do what you're doing at A-Level.

I don't know that I would feel comfortable starting when the final run to AS exams is getting underway. If it were me I'd much rather start revising in the summer after year 11 to take in the october/november/december time during year 12. I believe there's a June SAT too so maybe one after AS exams are done would be convenient.

As for SAT II I'd take maths literally whenever you want because it seems that would be the subject test with most overlap in terms of what you'd already be studying for A-Level. Physics I'd take in the autumn of either year 12 or year 13, but keeping in mind I have to finish all of the testing by the December of year 13.
Reply 81
Original post by vaudevillain
Yep, it's always the best plan to do what you're doing at A-Level.

I don't know that I would feel comfortable starting when the final run to AS exams is getting underway. If it were me I'd much rather start revising in the summer after year 11 to take in the october/november/december time during year 12. I believe there's a June SAT too so maybe one after AS exams are done would be convenient.

As for SAT II I'd take maths literally whenever you want because it seems that would be the subject test with most overlap in terms of what you'd already be studying for A-Level. Physics I'd take in the autumn of either year 12 or year 13, but keeping in mind I have to finish all of the testing by the December of year 13.


I know that the SAT is changing, and so I want to take the new style, which starts to be rolled out next year, hence the reasoning to do it then. The first sit is in March, so if I do it then I should be fine, right??
Are you aware of how much more knowledge I will need to learn myself if I were to do my subject tests in the October/November of year 13?
After I have done these tests, what else do I have to do; I have heard about the TOEFL test, is this necessary?
What does the application consist of, any help is greatly appreciated!
Original post by jakepds
I know that the SAT is changing, and so I want to take the new style, which starts to be rolled out next year, hence the reasoning to do it then. The first sit is in March, so if I do it then I should be fine, right??
Are you aware of how much more knowledge I will need to learn myself if I were to do my subject tests in the October/November of year 13?
After I have done these tests, what else do I have to do; I have heard about the TOEFL test, is this necessary?
What does the application consist of, any help is greatly appreciated!

No, the TOEFL is just to prove you can communicate in English, so obviously it's waived for UK schoolkids.

I honestly couldn't tell you about Physics/Maths A-Level vs SAT because I've taken none of them. But what I got from my French paper was there was lots of vocabulary that hadn't come up the usual curriculum, so wider reading would have been required had I prepped properly. I unfortunately don't know the Maths and Physics version of wider reading to tell you.

I also didn't consider the changing SAT. If you're fine with March then do it by all means, I just remember that I personally wasn't comfortable with the idea of working on anything outside of my A-Levels during that time.

What does what application consist of?
Reply 83
Original post by vaudevillain
No, the TOEFL is just to prove you can communicate in English, so obviously it's waived for UK schoolkids.

I honestly couldn't tell you about Physics/Maths A-Level vs SAT because I've taken none of them. But what I got from my French paper was there was lots of vocabulary that hadn't come up the usual curriculum, so wider reading would have been required had I prepped properly. I unfortunately don't know the Maths and Physics version of wider reading to tell you.

I also didn't consider the changing SAT. If you're fine with March then do it by all means, I just remember that I personally wasn't comfortable with the idea of working on anything outside of my A-Levels during that time.

What does what application consist of?


As far as I understand it, I have to apply to each school individually. How do I send my scores off and my financial status off to the universities.
I want to apply in the lest painful way possible, and so any advice as to how to attack the application to USA universities would be appreciated.
Where did you apply/get in to?
Original post by jakepds
As far as I understand it, I have to apply to each school individually. How do I send my scores off and my financial status off to the universities.
I want to apply in the lest painful way possible, and so any advice as to how to attack the application to USA universities would be appreciated.
Where did you apply/get in to?


Oh right, yeah. Painless is definitely something to aspire to in this process. I prepared my apps for a bunch of places, but the university I ended up enrolling at (Pittsburgh) do rolling admissions, so by the time that came in I just dropped my applications to everywhere else, because of all the supplementary crap you have to send with your main applications I just did not care to do - as well as the application fees I also no longer cared to pay. I applied ED to University of Pennsylvania, then RD to Pitt and UC Davis where I was accepted. Those were the only ones I had completed fully by the time my Pitt acceptance came through, and I was more than happy to go there so I didn't end up actually going through with any others.

Tips for painlessness though:

Read up on the application process for places you might be interested in during the summer before year 13 as it often varies

You need two (possibly three) teacher recommendations. After the first lesson back you have with your teacher, tell them after school that you'll be sending a link for them to write you a recommendation. Let them get it done before they're drowning in homework to mark.

Broach the subject of your application to your head of year/head of 6f as early as the end of year 12. One of them will write your counsellor recommendation, and they'll be doing all the stuff like inserting your grades and writing letter recs, which you'll also need to keep them in the loop about.

I didn't go through financial aid but that's even more forms and paperwork to be dealing with. Be mindful of the deadlines on that, and all the forms you need.

Reply 85
Original post by vaudevillain
Oh right, yeah. Painless is definitely something to aspire to in this process. I prepared my apps for a bunch of places, but the university I ended up enrolling at (Pittsburgh) do rolling admissions, so by the time that came in I just dropped my applications to everywhere else, because of all the supplementary crap you have to send with your main applications I just did not care to do - as well as the application fees I also no longer cared to pay. I applied ED to University of Pennsylvania, then RD to Pitt and UC Davis where I was accepted. Those were the only ones I had completed fully by the time my Pitt acceptance came through, and I was more than happy to go there so I didn't end up actually going through with any others.

Tips for painlessness though:

Read up on the application process for places you might be interested in during the summer before year 13 as it often varies

You need two (possibly three) teacher recommendations. After the first lesson back you have with your teacher, tell them after school that you'll be sending a link for them to write you a recommendation. Let them get it done before they're drowning in homework to mark.

Broach the subject of your application to your head of year/head of 6f as early as the end of year 12. One of them will write your counsellor recommendation, and they'll be doing all the stuff like inserting your grades and writing letter recs, which you'll also need to keep them in the loop about.

I didn't go through financial aid but that's even more forms and paperwork to be dealing with. Be mindful of the deadlines on that, and all the forms you need.




Through chatting with other people, they have said to me to leave going to the USA until Post Grad, because the first time you want to be miles away from home is not in your first year, struggling at uni.
I don't know, however; I love the idea of going to uni in the USA, whats your opinion of the whole idea, any views are appreciated!
I have just been on the UCL website, and a lot of their course have the option to do a year abroad. The economics one, for instance has the chance to study at Columbia, Chicago or the University of California. Does anyone have experience of these degrees, are they recommended?
Original post by jakepds
Through chatting with other people, they have said to me to leave going to the USA until Post Grad, because the first time you want to be miles away from home is not in your first year, struggling at uni.
I don't know, however; I love the idea of going to uni in the USA, whats your opinion of the whole idea, any views are appreciated!
I have just been on the UCL website, and a lot of their course have the option to do a year abroad. The economics one, for instance has the chance to study at Columbia, Chicago or the University of California. Does anyone have experience of these degrees, are they recommended?


Well, you're the only one that can gauge your level of preparedness for this sort of thing at the end of the day. For residential school trips, were you always the one eager to go or were you clinging to your mum's leg? Do you understand how to balance a workload or are you the type to let things build up and stress you out? Are you the type that easily lets others get under your skin, even if it's just over something meaningless?etc

I know that I am none of these three so the concept of "struggling" at university is not one that tbh even strikes me as a possibility. The one other very important thing is physical health too I guess, if you have some sort of condition it might make going away a bad idea.

Not to mention that a post-grad is most definitely an if rather than a when, if you grow weary of academia in your final year or especially even if you're fortunate enough to land a job right after graduating.

Year abroad is another option, but my knowledge of that is obviously limited :tongue:
Reply 87
Original post by vaudevillain
Well, you're the only one that can gauge your level of preparedness for this sort of thing at the end of the day. For residential school trips, were you always the one eager to go or were you clinging to your mum's leg? Do you understand how to balance a workload or are you the type to let things build up and stress you out? Are you the type that easily lets others get under your skin, even if it's just over something meaningless?etc

I know that I am none of these three so the concept of "struggling" at university is not one that tbh even strikes me as a possibility. The one other very important thing is physical health too I guess, if you have some sort of condition it might make going away a bad idea.

Not to mention that a post-grad is most definitely an if rather than a when, if you grow weary of academia in your final year or especially even if you're fortunate enough to land a job right after graduating.

Year abroad is another option, but my knowledge of that is obviously limited :tongue:


It's a very fair point. I like to think that I am proactive and never fear leaving my parents. My health is good, some may say perfect; I have no allergies etc...
I balance work and life well, although I get the impression that uni has a lot of work, but if you get it over and dome with then it isn't that bad.
I have found a course at UCL called "economics with a year abroad" and I really fancy it. If I didn't get into a US uni, I would hope to go there. It is a four year course and in the third year you are sent somewhere else around the world; the two main unis they mention are UChicago and Columbia, so that would be great :smile:)))
Reply 88
I don't know if it has been mentioned already as I haven't read the entire thread, but these universities are very competitive and much more applicants than are accepted have the equivalent of your stats. It's not a lot about grades such as in the UK, having a high grade is more a requirement, but not something that sets you apart. So you should really focus on your extra curricular activities to set you apart. Do you know what you want to study? Enrolling in summer programs such as headstart shows interest and motivation.
Also, you might want to look at the statistics of succesful applicants which you can find on college confidential - (http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/harvard-university/1752941-harvard-university-class-of-2019-rd-results.html for this year, for example). Although don't be intimidated because americans have more extracurriculars available to them, but it can still give you an idea.
Good luck!

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