Wanting to go to Cambridge

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Cambridge University in England, not Ohio.

I live in PA, in the USA, and my goal is to go to Cambridge. I've done plenty of research on it, might be able to be considered 'Home Status' - meaning no extra fee for being an international student - but if not, I'll still go through with it if I can. I'm over two years away from finishing secondary education still. I've got a few questions, I guess, about it all.

Where should I start with Cambridge - Should I contact it now and introduce myself and my want to be a student there, and get help/aid with that?

How do AS/A levels translate to classes over in the U.S.?

What would be a recommended GPA for me to set a goal on, if not to exceed? I saw that when applying, when it considers your grades, you should find the average grades of the three most relevant classes to what you're taking if you're going into a Science field - which I am. Seems like a 95% was the average that most students got that successfully get into Cambridge.

What college(s) would be good for the field I'm going into? What one(s) are most likely to accept me because of it? (For my field, look down)

This might affect how you answer - I'm planning on going into Physics.

If anyone answers, thanks for answering.

Well a lot of big British unis are taking in more and more overseas students so you're in luck there. Doubtless you'd have seen the stories about how some students got all A* in their GCSE and A Level and still didn't get into Oxford or Cambridge, so it's f**king tough. If you really want to get in, work as hard you can and get the absolute top marks you can.

I wouldn't recommend talking to them until the time comes to apply, but if you have contacts inside then it may be beneficial.

This is all just my personal opinion, of course. I'm applying for unis at the moment, but I'm not from overseas nor am I anywhere near smart enough to get into Cambridge.

Best of luck to you.

Got it. Work as hard as I can in school, get the highest grades. Ugh, that's going against my philosophy for the last... Well, ever since I began school. "I'm smart enough to practically cruise on by." Blegh. Alright. Thanks.

Can't do that if you wanna get into Cambridge. I used to be the same in GCSE, but even when I got to sixth form I had to stop doing that.

Unfortunately.

So yeah, for my other questions. What do A level classes translate to over here in America? Is taking plenty of AP classes enough, or should I also try my hardest to get into an IB program? I may not be able to, depending on what school I end up at when I move this summer. I'm starting up the gifted program now, which will open up some academic competitions and field trips and the like. Would Cambridge consider doing well in academic competitions much? Or is it simply what is on paper as my grades for SATs/AP/potential IB exams?

From http://www.kings.cam.ac.uk/study/underg ... ments.html

You would have to pass an interview too. Show off your extracurricular enthusiasm there.

When you apply from within the UK, you have to complete a personal statement where you can talk about why you want to do the course and what extracurricular activities you've done. I'd imagine an international student would be able to write an equivalent of one of those.

If you can pull that off, go. I was accepted to Oxford but they offered no financial aid and I didn't have that kind of cash.


It might help to contact people there, but for the most part undergraduate admissions will not depend on you having contact with someone at the university. Oxford/Cambridge are divided into different "colleges" (basically residence halls, but with semi-affiliated faculty members) and you are accepted to a college rather than to the university as a whole. Try to look around and see if one college might be more favorable for admissions purposes.


They will accept AP classes/tests in place of A levels. They will want to see you score a 5 (top score) on several AP exams, preferably in math and science. Avoid IB; if you end up at an American school the IB will be much less valuable than AP.

For the record, there was no interview involved in my application process at Oxford. I applied and eventually heard that I got in.


As high as possible. I was valedictorian with a perfect GPA and a dozen or so APs; I was accepted to Oxford during their second round of application reviews. This basically means that the college I applied to within Oxford threw my application into a general "maybe" pile and some other college decided to pick it up and accept me. The one that accepted me has a preference for disabled/disadvantaged students; I think the fact that I have Asperger's may have been a factor in getting in there.


There are any number of great universities to study physics, both here and abroad. My research advisor did his undergrad in physics at Cambridge, and he turned out pretty successful. Imperial College London is a science powerhouse (I also got in there) but their fees are higher than Oxbridge. In the US, the big names are places like MIT, CalTech, U Chicago, UC Berkeley, Stanford. A little bit closer to home for you; Carnegie Mellon and Penn State are both excellent universities. I know a big state school like PSU may seem less prestigious now, but don't underestimate the tremendous resources that size has to offer. Besides, in physics you most likely have graduate work ahead of you, and no one will ever care where you got your BS.