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Hi guys! American applying to UCL

OP

Sounds good, I should be getting over a 2100 on my SATs and I'm probably getting 54555 in history, english, bio, physics, calc. But these are all predictions so we'll see.

The programs I'm applying for at UCL are Neuroscience and Medical Physics, at Edinburgh I'm applying Cognitive Science and Mind & Language. If anyone knows anything about these programs I would love your input.

Reply 61

kamie

10

I don't have a clue - but have you checked their websites?

And just a thought - you have to apply through UCAS (like Common App). But you only get one "personal statement" in which to sell yourself - no other essays or answers, the rest is factual apart from one teacher reference. Applying for courses which are really different makes it really hard to write it, because you have to persuade them why you are absolutely fantastic for this course.

Reply 62

Jean-Paul Sartre

OP

Thanks for all your help, and after considering the fact that there is only one personal statement I've chosen:

Neuroscience-UCL
Neuroscience-King's College
Neuroscience-St. Andrews
Cognitive Science-Edinburgh
Mind & Language- Edinburgh

I will have to self-study for the chemsitry AP test but I think I have a good shot at all of them. Once again, thanks for your help if I can help in anyway concerning American universities, feel free to ask.

Reply 63

Chemical_Scum

14

Jean-Paul Sartre

Thanks for all your help, and after considering the fact that there is only one personal statement I've chosen:

Neuroscience-UCL
Neuroscience-King's College
Neuroscience-St. Andrews
Cognitive Science-Edinburgh
Mind & Language- Edinburgh

I will have to self-study for the chemsitry AP test but I think I have a good shot at all of them. Once again, thanks for your help if I can help in anyway concerning American universities, feel free to ask.

iv seen admissions stats that suggest Berkely isnt as hard to get into as MIT or Stanford etc. infact it seems that Berkely is like Warwick Vs Cambridge for difficulty of gaining a place. i know Berkely is AMAZING and i have no doubt that the easier admissions has no effect on the quality of the place but i wondered if there was a clear sort of ranking of the difficulty to get into US unis? like we have Oxbridge, Imperial/LSE, UCL Warwick Durham, Kings Edinburgh etc. Stats i see (from the U.com mainly) say Harvard is harder than the others and stanfors, princeton yale are harder than MIT which is then harder than berkely by quite a bit! only to get in this is, nothing to do with the courses. i have always viewed the top US unis as equalish because abviously i dont hear stories of friends getting in x,y and rejected from z like i do for UK unis. could you brake it down roughly for me?

Reply 64

dismal_laundry

15

Fail

Does that not strike anyone else as rather high?

Yes, of course it does. Arts and Humanities degrees at UCL are a bit less expensive, for 2008-2009, they are 11.8 K GBP or about $24,000. Sciences and Engineering (and Architecture I believe) are about 3 K GBP higher, and Medicine, especially clinical medicine, is truly stratospheric. However, Medical school in the US, which is always graduate professional school, can be up to $50,000 per year (tuition only) for four years. UCL and other HE institutions of its calibre have priced their overseas fees assessed tuition levels with an eye to what the big international markets, currently North America and developing and developed countries in East Asia and South Asia, will bear. They have extensive reciprocal arrangements with their other big international market, the EU and the EEA. Fair doesn't come into it, it's business. No matter how appealing and fuzzy the human faces of UK universities may appear to be, it's the suits that run things just as in any other cartel. I wish it weren't so.

Reply 65

dismal_laundry

15

Jean-Paul Sartre

Are the questions general "tell me a little about yourself?" questions or do they ask about the courses you applied for.

They will be mostly about the course you propose to follow and about your reading, preparation, and readiness for the course.

Reply 66

dismal_laundry

15

Jean-Paul Sartre

I have a paid job now at a company that works with the US Department of Defense, I assemble and monitor servers. I have an uncle that works at a university pharmacology lab so I might be able to get an internship there. Money isn't a problem, my parents have put aside 80,000 for college tuition so far and I've saved roughly 3000, working.

I'm filling out my UCAS applicatoin now and after I get my October SAT II results, I will submit it. Do colleges in the UK give preference to early applications?

There is no preference given for early application and no comparable system of early decision or early action, etc. As long as you submit your UCAS application by 15 January, it is guaranteed equal consideration.

Reply 67

Intaglio5

I'd say that you stand relatively little chance of gaining admission to UCL if the US universities to which you're applying are BC and Rutgers; the UK equivalent of Rutgers is probably Essex. I think a good American parallel to UCL is U Michigan or U Texas; do your scores put you into a BME program at those schools?

Reply 68

dismal_laundry

15

I think Rutgers is better than Essex, especially in the case of Rutgers' graduate programs. UCL is most frequently compared to University of Pennsylvania.

Reply 69

Jean-Paul Sartre

OP

I could get into UMichigan and Texas (especially if I was instate) , I'm only applying to Rutgers as a back-up. American schools that are my caliber are NYU, Lehigh, Notre Dame, USC; I could probably get into Carnegie Mellon too considering both my parents graduated from there.

solo2wolf

iv seen admissions stats that suggest Berkely isnt as hard to get into as MIT or Stanford etc. infact it seems that Berkely is like Warwick Vs Cambridge for difficulty of gaining a place. i know Berkely is AMAZING and i have no doubt that the easier admissions has no effect on the quality of the place but i wondered if there was a clear sort of ranking of the difficulty to get into US unis? like we have Oxbridge, Imperial/LSE, UCL Warwick Durham, Kings Edinburgh etc. Stats i see (from the U.com mainly) say Harvard is harder than the others and stanfors, princeton yale are harder than MIT which is then harder than berkely by quite a bit! only to get in this is, nothing to do with the courses. i have always viewed the top US unis as equalish because abviously i dont hear stories of friends getting in x,y and rejected from z like i do for UK unis. could you brake it down roughly for me?

Admissions in the US are not done by individual courses, but by either faculty or the school as a whole. Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, MIT, & Caltech all have ridiculously low admission rates, followed by the rest of the ivy league (Dartmouth, Cornell, UPenn, Brown, & Columbia) and some other top schools such as Duke & Washington University in St.Louis. After that there are what I like to call the "semi-elite" universities which are difficult to get into and provide good educations but don't have the ivy league name brand. They are Northwestern, Johns Hopkins, Vanderbilt, Rice, Berkeley, Georgetown, CMU, and Notre Dame...there are a few others as well. Then there are the rest of the top 40 schools including USC, NYU, BC etc., then after that there are the "good schools" they aren't elite but they provide good educations often, if they're state schools, they aren't expensive. These are University of Illionis, Rutgers, UTexas, Penn State, University of Maryland, RPI, & Case Western (many people that get into ivy league schools opt to go to Case because they give good scholarship money). Hope that clears things up, and sorry for the late replies guys I'm all the way across the pond.

Reply 70

kamie

10

dismal_laundry

There is no preference given for early application and no comparable system of early decision or early action, etc. As long as you submit your UCAS application by 15 January, it is guaranteed equal consideration.

I think the UK system can be compared to the Ivy League system of 15 January/1 January is the deadline and you will be considered - but since in the states the Ivies have a common release date of results (31 March this year), they can weigh all the applications against each other. However the UK universities have a more rolling program so an early application might stand a better chance due to lack of space by January 15th.

At any rate - the earlier you apply the earlier you are likely to know :smile:

Reply 71

dismal_laundry

15

However, the UCAS January 15 date guarantees equal consideration.

Reply 72

chrisj99

dismal_laundry

However, the UCAS January 15 date guarantees equal consideration.

In practice though, especially for very over subscribed courses, it is advisable to get it in much earlier than this. They only guarantee to consider it if it is sent by 15th January; however, they often have very many more applications to wade through the later it gets... thus they can spend more time looking at the applications they receive earlier and therefore make a more informed decision. It's not a very cast iron, set in stone type of guarantee. It's not unheard of for universities to just discard applications at random on the most oversubscribed courses (which have entry requirements of AAA) just because they don't have time to look at them all.

Reply 73

AMummy

5

You say that early application is not an advantage - I beg to differ. My daughter applied (Natural Science) in October, had an interview and an offer in November! This has been great for her because she has been able to put the application process out of her mind and concentrate on meeting her offer as she is very keen on UCL.

Reply 74

Chemical_Scum

14

AMummy

You say that early application is not an advantage - I beg to differ. My daughter applied (Natural Science) in October, had an interview and an offer in November! This has been great for her because she has been able to put the application process out of her mind and concentrate on meeting her offer as she is very keen on UCL.

this was also the case with me as i heard back from everyone but (annoyingly my first choice) Imperial before January. btw well done to your daughter on getting UCL!im sure youre very proud.

Reply 75

dismal_laundry

15

It is true that they operate rolling admissions, and it's also true that you are likely to hear earlier if you apply earlier. So you are right in your points, above.

Reply 76

AMummy

5

solo2wolf

this was also the case with me as i heard back from everyone but (annoyingly my first choice) Imperial before January. btw well done to your daughter on getting UCL!im sure youre very proud.

Thank-you very much, I am and I tell her so too!

Reply 77

Ed.

17

AMummy

Thank-you very much, I am and I tell her so too!

Ha Ha, my mum doesn't even know how to turn the computer on let alone join a forum. You are well cool. :biggrin:

Reply 78

inshallah

I went to U of Michigan last year to do Engineering last year and got into UCL/Imperial/Manchester/Edinburgh/Sheffield and Loughboro. I'm an international studet at both countries. I'm hoping to transfer to a UK school this year and have got into Sheffield,Edinburgh and Warwick so far. Waiting on UCL still tho! I'd aggress with rutgers = essex

Reply 79

Jean-Paul Sartre

OP

^I looked at Essex's webpage and their entry requirements for Americans is much easier than those at Rutgers. I doubt they're comparable although I have very little experience with British universities.

Hi guys! American applying to UCL

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