Where Should I Apply to??

naijastudent · April 2016

Hey all,

I'm an American student living abroad looking to study International Business/PPE/Business. I also want to be able to take Chinese along with my degree. I'm not sure which universities to apply, but I'm gravitating Oxford, St. Andrews, King's, and Edinburgh. Here are my stats:

AP World History- 5
AP Bio- 5
AP Psychology- 5
AP Human Geography- 5
AP English Language- 5

SAT World History- 790
I will be taking the SAT 2's in Biology, Math 2, and Chinese

I haven't taken the new SAT yet, but in the old one I got 2130.

My GPA is 3.9, and in terms of extracurriculars I'm strong.

Can you give me some guidance as to how competitive my UK application is? Where do you think I should apply?

collegemom3717 · April 2016

I don't think that St As or KCL have Chinese options. PPE at Oxford doesn't have a language option, but you can use the language labs independently. Edinburgh has Economics + Chinese, which makes it the closest to what you describe of those four

For the UK in general you are fine- the focus is on standardized testing (typically 3 APs in relevant subjects with scores of 5), SAT >2100, a Personal Statement (an essay that makes it clear that you know something about the subject that you are applying to study and are a good candidate for the course) and your recs. ECs that relate to your subject are useful, the rest, not so much. GPA is mostly a non-issue- most schools don't care (St A's does- it is the most Americanized). Oxford has a separate admissions test (the TSA) and of course the interview.

If you are not tax-resident in the EU (that is, if you are counted as an International student) I would feel pretty confident (assuming a decent PS & recs) at all except Oxford, which is a wild card.

PurpleTitan · April 2016

Those AP's won't get you in to PPE, though. The econ part requires doing well in math as well.

Don't know what the requirements are for business. Check that.

boomting · April 2016

On the subject of doing Chinese alongside your degree, even when you cannot officially combine it as part of your degree (e.g. BA Business & Chinese), it's very common for universities to let you take the odd module in a foreign language as part of your degree e.g. http://www.kcl.ac.uk/artshums/depts/mlc/study/modules/index.aspx

You may also want to think about studying abroad for a semester or a year - it can be a very positive option.

collegemom3717 · April 2016

@boomting is right in general, but KCL doesn't have Chinese modules.

boomting · April 2016

@collegemom3717 Yes they do - they have Mandarin modules, Mandarin being the most commonly spoken form of Chinese http://www.kcl.ac.uk/artshums/depts/mlc/study/modules/descrip/mandarin/index.aspx

collegemom3717 · April 2016

Eeps- good catch @boomting! Thanks for the correction.

cmcary · April 2016

You should check out Hult International Business School! It has two 'home' campuses one in London and one in San Fran. Although it doesn't offer mandarin it does have summer programs that you get to study in Shanghai or Dubai. This would be a great opportunity to learn. Also as being very international school there are plenty of opportunities to learn. It is one of the most entrepreneurial schools according to Bloomberg, there are such great opportunities at Hult!

Where Should I Apply to??

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