Should I apply to Oxford for Undergraduate when I plan to do Graduate in the USA?

College Search & Lists
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I am a junior in high school in the USA, and I am thinking ahead of what colleges I will apply to. Oxford is at the top of my list. It has long been a dream school of mine, undergraduate wise. However, I want to attend graduate school in the US. I am leaning towards going into law, and I understand that undergraduate at oxford directly focuses on the subject of your choice. Does this mean that I would take NO classes at all pertaining to unrelated courses, like math for example? How will this impact the impressions on future law school admissions in America? Will they view an undergraduate law focus favorably or unfavorably? Is there a degree given to Oxford undergraduates for law? If so, what does that degree mean, if anything, for potential law schools in the US? (I am not considering working in the UK or Europe in the future for my career, only in America)

Another option is to choose a subject that is not law to emphasize on at Oxford. If so, what course would be the best option?

Those are more long term questions. For the short term, relatively, what is the law undergraduate admissions process like for Oxford? I would highly appreciate information from successful applicants. I understand that compared to US admissions, UK schools put much less emphasis on extra curriculars. Does this mean that including extra curriculars non relevant to your subject would be detrimental to your application, even if they are prestigious? Also, what ARE extra curriculars that Oxford would look for in a law candidate? What are AP tests and SAT Subject tests that would be important for a law candidate?

Any thought out responses are extremely appreciated! Thanks.

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Short answers:

The undergraduate Law course at Oxford is academically / theoretically focused- after you finish you have to go do the practical part. The usual way to get qualified in the US after an English law degree is to go do an LLM in the US. But, IMO you would have a better UG experience and have a better run at getting through the US process by doing a different subject- any subject you are interested in- at Oxford. Btw, US law schools really don’t care what subject you do in college- LSAT + GPA is all that matters, so you might as well study something you like!

Yes, if you do (say) history at Oxford you will ONLY take history for all 3 years. The usual course that Americans are attracted to is PPE (Politics, Philosophy and Economics)- very competitive to get into, esp as the admissions tutors see a lot of US applicants.

The APs/Subject tests you need will depend on what you apply for- if you apply for law, essay based tests- Histories / English Lit- are typical.

ECs that are NOT related to your subject won’t hurt you, but won’t help you either. As an Oxford admissions tutor (on the Admissions podcasts on iTunes): “we want you to love our subject as much as we do”. One of the big differentiators that US students sometimes overlook is that if you are really truly interested in something you tend to spend time with it / in it, and build up a reservoir of information that you aren’t even really aware of.

As for admissions, applications are done online, through UCAS. UCAS is like the common app- except that you pay 1 fee for up to 5 courses (you can only apply to 1 course at Oxford, but you could also apply to, say, Durham and Edinburgh), you upload 1 essay (Personal Statement) that demonstrates why you are a good candidate for the course(s) you are applying to, and you have 1 recommendation. You put in all of your data and if you are made an offer they will tell you what data you need to document with originals (eg, AP scores). When you apply you will be asked what college within the university you want to apply to, or if you want to make an ‘open’ application (they assign you to one). The deadline is October 15 of your senior year. Most (not all) Oxford courses have admissions tests, taken in November of senior year (but you have to register earlier, and depending where you live it can take some time to organize a test center, so start researching that once you know what subject you are applying to). Interview invitations come out sometime around Thanksgiving, and the interviews are held in early December (in person or by Skype). Interviews are critical to admissions, and are not ‘what a lovely person you are’ but are like a cross between an oral exam and a tutorial.

There is a UK version of CC, the student room, which has threads for Americans Applying to Oxford and Oxford applicants 20XX. Note that in the UK you go by the year you go in, not the year you finish, so you would be the 2017 cohort.