Anyone in a similar position?

santino · 04-08-2007, 02:25 AM

Hi, I am an International Baccalaureate Diploma student from New Delhi, India. I was one of the few students in my relatively small high school who applied to both the United Kingdom and the states. I was extremely fortunate in my admissions process in the UK as I got all 6 of my UCAS offers.

However, now I am stuck in a dilemna, where I have to choose between the following colleges:

- Claremont Mckenna : US
- University College London : UK
- Warwick University : UK
- Bristol University : UK

The last three institutions, the UK one's, have conditional offers, i.e. they are subject to my obtaining a certain grade level in my IB Diploma final exams.

Claremont Mckenna, on the other hand has given an unconditional offer. Their reply date is May 1st, which also happens to be the starting date for my finals.

If I select any of the UK options, there is an element of uncertainity, and I would have to forego Claremont in such a situation.

I will be grateful for any help!

Student615 · 04-08-2007, 04:50 AM

Well, the obvious question first: forgetting about the conditions, which school would you most like to attend? If your answer is CMC, then life is easy.

And secondly, if life isn't quite so simple: you know yourself best. What do you think your odds are of obtaining the necessary grades on your finals? If they're high, then just choose your favorite school and go from there. If odds are low or you have no idea, then either take the sure bet, do EVERYTHING you can to raise your odds, or buckle down and think up an answer to Question #3...

Finally, if CMC isn't your first choice and you don't obtain the necessary grades, do you have or can you think of an appealing back-up plan? If your answer here is "yes," then you've really minimized the risk of the situation, because it becomes a no-lose.

I don't know how your school works, but you might try talking about this with some teachers. Tell them your dilemma, ask if they think you're capable enough to rely on final grades, and see if there's any study help they can give you. At the very least, these are respectable questions and you'll get another opinion.

ddzai · 04-08-2007, 05:12 AM

Santino, I got into similar situation like yours. I got generous offers from Imperial, LSE, UCL, Kings and Warwick majoring in Mathematics but at the same time I got admitted by Duke and Northwestern but rejected by Stanford. The deadline is approaching and I am still not sure where I am going to end up.

ddzai · 04-08-2007, 05:13 AM

Santino, may be you can go to the Hong Kong Tread to read the post put up by Sam Lee. U may be able to get some insight into it.

inshallah · 04-08-2007, 05:35 AM

I had offers from UCL, Imperial and others but I chose Michigan over them.

chaat · 04-08-2007, 05:52 AM

i think one can accept a uk offer and a us university cuz anyway your place at the uk ones won't be confirmed till like early august right? '

i don't know anything about bristol but the major difference between ucl and warwick would be city versus small town location. people get really spread out in a city and on the weekends they may go off in click-y groups shopping clubbing anywhere in london. with warwick, everyone's contained in a smaller space and it's easier to develop strong friendships with a broader range of people.

Abhi08544 · 04-08-2007, 09:27 AM

Do you know your name in Hindi means to "lick"?

ddzai · 04-08-2007, 01:56 PM

so? what's wrong with it. Dont try to be insulting

inshallah · 04-08-2007, 02:13 PM

I doubt he was trying to insult anyone.

nyjunior · 04-08-2007, 03:22 PM

Haha, I at first thought his username alluded to the dish chaat, you know the thing with peas and different chutneys and then you put in the chaat masala; oh great, I'm hungry now. Anyone know a good place to get chaat in NY (near the city or on LI)?

chaat · 04-09-2007, 02:22 AM

ahahahhaha i think i was really craving some chaat when i created this account. nyjunior, i have friends in newyork and apparently there are a ton of good indian eateries there so don't you worryy

santino · 04-09-2007, 09:53 AM

well, abhi means 'now', so if you put the two together: chaat abhi ! all we need is a poster named kutti...

santino · 04-09-2007, 09:55 AM

Back to the point, Student615 I really like the way you've thought about it. Logically your method is perfect. The problem is i'm perfectly happy at any of the four mentioned unis (except bristol). I can't seem to find that one pro or con to overrule everything else. I have a fairly good idea about my conditoinal offers etc, but I guess the timing is so bad..

Changeling · 04-09-2007, 02:24 PM

Well if you'd be perfectly happy at any of them besides bristol, i'd cut bristol and claremont from your list. UCL and Warwick, especially UCL if ur not studying business are top ranked institutions and will give better employment prospectives. I know everyone says don't look at prestige, but if you're seriously happy either place, then what else do you have to go by =P Warwick campus uni, UCL you're in one of the major cities of the world along with New York, expensive too, so see what you're up to.

inshallah · 04-09-2007, 02:26 PM

What course are plannign to do?