Oxford is my dream school with my dream major being PPE, and I really want to get in because they do not offer PPE courses in the US… but I am not sure that I am qualified.
I am currently a Junior in High school and my credentials are as follows:
1450 (out of 1600) on the new SAT
5 on AP Computer Science Test
5 on AP Chinese Test
4 on AP US Government Test
These are the test scores I am hoping to get this year:
5 on AP Comparative Government and Politics
5 on AP Calculus AB
5 on AP Psychology
5 on AP World History
5 on AP English Language
1500 on SAT retake
750 on English SAT II
750 on World History SAT II
These are the tests I will be taking in Senior Year (and projected test scores)
5 on AP English Literature
5 on AP Calculus C
5 on AP Statistics
5 on AP French
5 on AP Economics
Although the test scores I received in Sophomore year were poor, I have confidence that I will be able to do well from now on. This is because I did not study for any of the tests that I took then.
I am just worried that Oxford will not consider me because of the 4 on my AP US Govt test and my poor score on my first sitting of the SAT…
I understand that I still have to worry about the TSA and Interviews next year, but I first have to get my test scores up.
Am I qualified for Oxford? The honest truth would be appreciated.
Thanks!
Well, your research skills suggest that you may struggle at Oxford. There are more than 30 colleges and universities in the US that offer PPE, including a number of very familiar names.
Your approach to listing out the classes you plan to take and the marks you plan to get seems a bit showboat-ish, particularly in light of your aside that ‘I didn’t bother to study and still got a 5,5,4 and 1450’ (with the concomitant implication that if you can achieve such “poor scores” without studying, getting better scores if you bothered trying will be a doddle).
Note that you don’t get double credit for SAT subject tests.
Fwiw (which isn’t much), you don’t have much in the way of essay-based tests, and PPE-ists write a LOT of essays.
Your actual question seems to be “will a 4 in a relevant subject doom my application to Oxford” and the actual answer is no.
If you meet the minimum US test scores to apply (they are on the website) you can apply. You are right in my opinion that the US does not offer the exact equivalent to PPE as although you can study politics, philosophy and economics as part of a liberal arts degree, the approach would not be so focused as Oxford’s. At Oxford you will only study these three subjects, and can drop one after your first year if you wish. A minority are admitted without maths A level ( approximate equivalent Calculus AP) but the economics course is maths heavy and they will probably have to drop it after the first year. Also, the whole degree is three years usually. Oxford is not heavily recruiting in the US the way St Andrews for example is, but they do admit some Americans as undergraduates. But most Americans still come as graduate students, and if you come as an undergraduate you should realize that the focused, specialized nature of the study is different from the US.