Hi! For context, I am a half Asian/ Middle eastern female at a very large, top specialized high school in NYC!
Course: philosophy, politics, and economics!!!
Unweighted/ Weighted GPA: My schools been being weird about this and not releasing them yet but most likely i have an 86% unweighted and a 92% weighted
Class Rank: my school doesn’t rank students
ACT/SAT Scores: 1250 (IK IK its terrible and im retaking it in august) (pray that this isn’t what keeps me out)
(SIDE NOTE MY SCHOOL HAS A RULE WHERE YOU CANT TAKE MORE THAN THREE APS A YEAR + ONLY 2 FOR SOPHOMORE YEAR)
Coursework:
Sophmore year
AP European history: 4
AP Computer science principles: 3
Junior year with planned scores
AP Computer science applications : 5
AP US History: 5
AP Microeconomics : 5
AP Macroeconomics: 5
My senior year, I’m taking AP Calc BC + AP stats
Awards:
Won regional Silver in Scholastic writing competition for poetry
Won Regional Gold in scholastic writing competition for short story
AP Scholar Award
Extracurriculars:
Model UN
Several writing internships
+ Ive always scored around a 70-75 on my TSA (i never found it very challenging)
+ My guidance counselor (referee) has said shes writing me a very good rec letter and has experience writing them for UCAS
IK not all of this is relevant for Oxford but I filled out the outline to the best of my ability Let me know what you think!
Based on what i’m seeing on line - no - you won’t hit GPA or SAT. Perhaps someone else will think differently.
Good luck.
Oxford sets high academic standards for its applicants, usually ranging from A*A*A-AAA. This is equal to a GPA of 4.30 to 4. So, you should be aiming for the highest grades possible. Below is a direct outline of the US entry requirements for Oxford University:
UK Entry requirements
US Entry requirements
A level: A*A*A
Four APs at grade 5.
OR
Three APs at grade 5 plus a 33 or above score in the ACT or 1480 or above in the SAT.
A level: A*AA
Four APs at grade 5.
OR
Three APs at grade 5 plus a 32 or above score in the ACT or 1470 or above in the SAT.
A level: AAA
Four APs at grade 5.
OR
Three APs at grade 5 plus a 31 or above score in the ACT or 1460 or above in the SAT.
I thought that the SAT wouldn’t matter as much since i fit their preferred criteria of 4 APs at a score of 5. + Oxford doesnt look at GPAs (I SWEAR IM NOT TRYING TO BE ARGUMENTATIVE just a bit confused)
This is a minimum, not “preferred”. Bear in mind many applicants exceed the minimum requirements. If you get to the shortlist, there are still usually two interviews to get through. The interviews are critical - you can have perfect stats on paper and not get through the interview process. Also bear in mind that the UCAS application requires you to report all standardized test scores (APs and SAT) - you don’t get to cherry-pick like you can with the common app, so they will see the 1250 and lower AP scores as well. Bottom line, it’s a reach, but as you meet the requirements and seem to be able to produce a decent TSA score it’s definitely worth a try.
Question: you say your referee has “experience” writing for UCAS. Do students from your school often apply to Oxbridge, or is it more other UK unis? If the former, is she able to give you some idea of how your application might stack up against other successful applicants?
Curious if your less-reachy applications will be to US or UK colleges or both.
Take this for what it is worth, but I have been told a few times this is perhaps one of the ways that Oxbridge are able to cut the US applicant pool down to a manageable size. In some sense it makes it harder for the kids from high schools that encourage a lot of AP-taking from early on, and makes it easier for kids from high schools where most of the advanced classes at not APs (although you do need the minimum). But Oxbridge might not see it as a priority to avoid that effect with US applicants.
Oxford PPE is a reach for everyone- no matter what their GPA is, no matter how many 5’s they have on AP’s. So it’s important for you to spend as much time figuring out a realistic college list- where you’re likely to be admitted, where your family can afford to send you- as it is to fantasize about Oxford. Americans see the requirements and think “I’m over the bar”. Oxford is publishing the bare minimum (i.e. the floor) and then admitting students who are WELL above the minimum.
Based on the handful of American kids I know who were admitted to Oxford- your application doesn’t scream “We want this person”. But if this is what you want- go for it, while making sure you also have a more realistic set of options.
I mean, it probably has that effect even if it’s not the original intention of how UCAS does it. I would see it more as a leveling the playing field kind of thing - other school systems by and large don’t work in a way that you can pick and choose which grades you want to show, so I just see it as an extension of that principle to the US. And one assumes they look at the full picture and not only the scores that will meet their minimum. This is what I was alluding to above - OP may present the requisite four APs with 5s, but they may be compared against someone who got, say, 5s in all of their APs and SATs of 1500+ at all sittings.
Yes, I think from their perspective they are leveling the playing field between applicants from different systems, which is a higher priority than anything going on with applicants just from within the US system.
But I do think there is an inherent problem in that the college/university advice secondary school kids get is typically based on their own system. And since the vast majority of US colleges don’t require you to submit everything, some kids are encouraged to take APs in 9th or 10th grade, take multiple rounds of SATs/ACTs, and so on.
But again, it is very unlikely Oxbridge are going to see this as an issue they should be addressing.
To be fair, it must be a tiny % who apply to Oxbridge, and most will have an eye on the rigor/scores aspects for US schools where this system works for them.
Let me know what you think!