Hi! I’m an American high schooler interested in applying to Cambridge with a major in economics. Does anyone know what kind of scores I need to get in? What AP’s should I take? I know you need a minimum of a 32 ACT and 5 AP’s with 5’s (focused around intended area of study.) I have already obtained these scores, but I want to know whether it’s worth retaking the ACT (I got a 34) and what more it will take. What’s the usual breakdown for an American admitted to Cambridge??
Thanks!
A very similar thread was posted a few years ago (I’d imagine the stats haven’t changed at all for an American):
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/study-abroad/1507117-could-i-get-into-cambridge-university-as-an-american-student.html
Admission to Cambridge (& Oxford) is a series of hurdles. Once you cross the hurdle how much you crossed it by doesn’t matter very much.
Hurdle 1: ACT & APs (and for Econ at Cambridge, specifically including AP Calc BC).
Hurdle 2: Personal Statement & LoR. These address how suited you are to the Econ course at Cambridge.
Hurdle 3: the Econ Admissions Assessment. You can’t take that until next Nov, and the score is used to make the cuts for interview.
Hurdle 4: Interview: like a cross between a supervision (tutorial) and an oral exam.
You have to clear the first 3 hurdles to get invited to the interview. The interview is make or break.
tl;dr: 34, 35, or 36 isn’t going to make a difference in whether you get invited to interview.
The success rate for Americans averages around 7%. Scores breakdowns aren’t released for US applicants. Fwiw, Economics has about a 14% success rate- the lowest, bar architecture, of the humanity subjects and about the same as engineering and comp sci.
Agree with @collegemom3717. Don’t retake the ACT. You have to disclose all scores (so a possible lack of improvement would be a negative) and this is good enough that it won’t count against you.
Focus on getting all 5s in your APs and then prepping for the test and interview. Having some extra-curricular economics involvement might help also (internship, summer program, etc).
It’s going to be a very mathematically oriented course so the most relevant APs will be Calculus BC and Statistics. Most British candidates will have maths and further maths which cover some parts of AP Physics. If you haven’t done Calc BC in junior year then a conditional offer might result.
Decisions went out today. Did you get in?