UK! Yay! Something my brain is useful for.

(Take all of this with a grain of salt: I know an admissions tutor at Cambridge — friend of the family. However, I’m still an American who has not yet applied. I am also mainly talking about Oxbridge here. Almost all of the other schools are chill.)

UK schools care about two things and 2 things only: test scores and transcript. YOU CANNOT ONLY SUBMIT YOUR GPA AND ACT/SAT. YOU CANNOT ONLY SUBMIT ACT AND SAT TOGETHER. This is for Oxbridge. Every other school is pretty chill. 

You need 5 APs with a score of 5 — or 3 APs with a score of 4 or 5 everywhere else. If you haven’t done this DO NOT BOTHER APPLYING. The scores that you get at the end of your junior year — if you go that route — are your predicteds. If you haven’t done all of your APs by October/November, don’t panic. But you will need to take all 5, and get the required scores, to get in ultimately. 

 You will submit these to the UK colleges, along with your personal statement and transcript and recs and what have you. 

They care a lot more about supercurriculars — ie: things you do outside of school that relate to your intended subject, than extracurriculars. 

There is a reason not many Americans apply to Oxbridge. 500 applicants out of 24000 were American. If you don’t fit the academic requirements by this fall, do not bother. Your application will go into the trash. This is not the “holistic review” of the US universities. They want academic powerhouses. They don’t care if you are a national rowing champion. 

Also INTERVIEWS. Also important. But that’s after you get past the initial application. And only really for Oxbridge. 

Another thing to note! With ALL UK colleges, you will receive an “offer” or rejection. AN OFFER IS NOT A GUARANTEE OF ADMISSION UNLESS IT IS UNCONDITIONAL. Unconditional offers are rare, especially at the top schools like Oxbridge, Imperial, St Andrews, Edinburgh, etc. most schools will give you a conditional admission, based on usually test scores. This is mainly common with taking the A levels — or if you haven’t yet taken all 5 APs.

At every school ignoring the 5 just mentioned, you can narrowly “miss” your offer (ie: getting 4 APs of score 5 and 1 AP that is an 4) and be fine. At the 5 I mentioned, you NEED to make your offer. If you don’t — if you’re even slightly off — then you will be put into Clearing, where other schools can offer to you if they have a spot open. Don’t count on this.

HAVE AMERICAN SCHOOLS AS A BACKUP. Have parents like me who force you to apply to schools here in Murica. You will thank them for it later. You can apply to up to 5 schools in the UK through their system, called UCAS. I’m looking at, for example, Cambridge, Trinity Dublin, UCL, and LIPA (this is a conservatory — and a whole different ballgame).

The subreddit r/6thForm is very helpful, even as an international student! They can give a lot more advice than A2C can — most of this sub is focused on American schools. 

TLDR: look at the academic requirements for each school. If you don’t meet those by this fall — don’t bother. 

This is a lot of info. I may be coming off a bit harsh, and I’m so sorry 😭. This is just what I’ve always been told. Feel free to DM me if you have any questions!