Could I possibly receive an unconditional offer from Durham University?

International Students
1 
I am an American looking to attend undergraduate university in the United Kingdom and Durham is my first choice. However I am also applying to St. Andrews, Exeter and the University of Edinburgh. 
Because I am applying to the English department at Durham, the requirements are 5,5,5 (A-levels) in relevant subjects, to include the English literature AP test. I'm curious to see if anybody knows the system or has had an experience that suggests I may be accepted unconditionally, or if I absolutely must wait for my AP scores (which will not be available until MID-JULY!). My "achievements" are as follows:

AP Scores: 5 US History, 4 World History, 4 English Language and Composition
APs to be completed: European History, Microeconomics, US Government and Politics, Psychology, and, of course, English Literature and Composition.
(My referee has predicted I will receive 5s on all, apart from Microeconomics, for which he has predicted a 4)
SAT scores; 2070 overall, 770 Writing, 700 Reading Comprehension, 600 Math.
SAT Subject Tests: Literature and US History (I haven’t received my scores yet but I am confident I will get over a 700 in both)
GPA is around a 97, or 3.9-4.0 on a 4.0 scale.
Extracurriculars include 2 years of Varsity Golf, 2 years acting as Vice President/Co-Founder of my High School’s International Club, 2 years as a member of the National Honor Society, 2 years as a member of the National Latin Honor Society and multiple regional, state and national Latin academic awards. I know extracurriculars are not very important for UK schools, but these are a few.
Also, me English teacher of two years is acting as my referee and I believe he will write an excellent recommendation as I am one of his top students (also is making predictions that would satisfy requirements). I have also showed him my personal statement and he said it was fantastic.

I know this is an extremely long post, but I am dreaming about attending Durham and hoping that I may be accepted unconditionally or even conditionally. I hear that they will sometimes show leeway to Americans with test scores, because In the US most students have already enrolled in University by April or May. My dilemma, therefore, is that If I receive a conditional offer from Durham I will not know whether I have been accepted until Mid July, which is months after American decisions must be made.
Also, If anybody can comment on my chances of being accepted to my other choices (St. Andrews, Edinburgh and Exeter), I would greatly appreciate it. My brother was accepted into St. Andrews a few years ago with lower SAT scores and fewer AP scores, so Im assuming their requirements (which are extremely vague on the website) are not as demanding.
Thank you SO MUCH to anybody who can help me. It’s so difficult to find information, even online, about my circumstances and I am incredibly grateful to anybody who takes the time to read this and write a response!

2

That is false. You will not get an unconditional offer until you meet the conditions set. You are, however, very likely to get conditional offers from all of them, despite the 4 in Lang.

The way that US students usually deal with this is to apply to another UK program where they have already met the conditions- or the conditions will be extremely achievable- and ‘insure’ that offer, or they apply to US schools, put a deposit on their favorite acceptance then withdraw if they make their UK offer.

3

Forgot to say that St A’s info is [url=<a href=“https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/study/entrance-requirements/usa/%5Dhere%5B/url”>https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/study/entrance-requirements/usa/]here[/url], and is pretty clear.

4

St. Andrew’s does seem to be more holistic when looking at Americans than other UK unis.

5

i agree with @PurpleTitan. St. Andrew’s is more accepting of foreign students than many of the English universities. and is usually easier to get into than Durham (which only one notch below Oxbridge in its desirability)

A few other thoughts:

  1. British unis are giving more unconditional offers to land kids that they really want, but they are still rare (e.g. kids with 5 predicted A*'s), so you may get one if they want to keep you from going to an Ivy

  2. English is one of the most competitive majors, so make sure you apply to all 5 schools on your UCAS

  3. Have you visited these schools? They are all great schools and Edinburgh and Exeter are two of my favorite UK university towns, but these schools are very very different. You really should visit before you apply.

Good luck

6

Thanks so much for your response! I have visited these schools-my brother lives in St. Andrews and took me to a few of his classes. I visited Edinburgh while I was there. My cousin attends Oxford so I’ve also visited the other schools-I forgot to mention York as well, which I thought was a beautiful town. Although I have to smit the weather in Exeter was awesome.

7

York also has a great English program as does UCL and Bristol. If you are looking more so at the cities, Exeter and Edinburgh are the best college towns of your choices.

8

Hey, I know this is late and you may have resolved this already, and I’m speaking as a Biology student so it’s a little different, but I (as an American and English citizen, but American resident) was offered an unconditional place, and they seem extremely supportive of international students, so I do think that they’re understanding of our situation … maybe I’m wrong, thought—what do I know?