Do you want to go to a US or UK University? (1 Viewer)

[Adrian Crimson Education]

Hey guys, my name is Adrian and I work for a company called Crimson Education as an Associate Academic Advisor. My role is essentially to assess the candidacy of students who want to apply to US and/or UK Universities. If anyone has any questions, add on to this thread and I can do my best to answer it for you! If you want to hear more about what Crimson just go a quick google search!

 

[idkkdi]

Hey guys, my name is Adrian and I work for a company called Crimson Education as an Associate Academic Advisor. My role is essentially to assess the candidacy of students who want to apply to US and/or UK Universities. If anyone has any questions, add on to this thread and I can do my best to answer it for you! If you want to hear more about what Crimson just go a quick google search!

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't UK universities very stingy with financial aid and scholarships for undergrad? If so, how would you reduce a substantial part of the cost of going to universities such as Oxbridge?

 

[Adrian Crimson Education]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't UK universities very stingy with financial aid and scholarships for undergrad? If so, how would you reduce a substantial part of the cost of going to universities such as Oxbridge?

Yep, that's correct, the UK doesn't offer scholarships/financial aid to any international students. Even if you are a UK Citizen, you have to be studying in the country for 4 years prior to starting University to be eligible for any financial aid. Unfortunately, there is no other way to reduce the costs of going to a UK University.

The US, however, is much more liberal with their financial aid.

 

[idkkdi]

Yep, that's correct, the UK doesn't offer scholarships/financial aid to any international students. Even if you are a UK Citizen, you have to be studying in the country for 4 years prior to starting University to be eligible for any financial aid. Unfortunately, there is no other way to reduce the costs of going to a UK University.

The US, however, is much more liberal with their financial aid.

I also wanted to confirm whether HYPSM is basically impossible to get in without significant achievements in extracurriculars that are at least at the state-level, or extremely innovative extracurriculars. I presume that entrance with a 99.95 ATAR and decent essays is highly unlikely?

 

[Adrian Crimson Education]

I also wanted to confirm whether HYPSM is basically impossible to get in without significant achievements in extracurriculars that are at least at the state-level, or extremely innovative extracurriculars. I presume that entrance with a 99.95 ATAR and decent essays is highly unlikely?

For those Universities, a 99.95 ATAR isn't necessary. I've seen students get in with a 97 ATAR and students get rejected with a 99.95 ATAR. It's about the bigger picture, for applications you need 10 Extracurricular Activities including leadership roles, one of which should be a capstone project that links to why you want to study a certain degree. This could be something like adding solar panels to your school for the environment or thinking of a new way to help countries with poverty and implementing it (these are real case studies from our students).

On top of that, you need at least 5 awards or achievements as well. You just got to look at the bigger picture! That's where Crimson comes in and we assist with all aspects of the application.

 

[idkkdi]

For those Universities, a 99.95 ATAR isn't necessary. I've seen students get in with a 97 ATAR and students get rejected with a 99.95 ATAR. It's about the bigger picture, for applications you need 10 Extracurricular Activities including leadership roles, one of which should be a capstone project that links to why you want to study a certain degree. This could be something like adding solar panels to your school for the environment or thinking of a new way to help countries with poverty and implementing it (these are real case studies from our students).

On top of that, you need at least 5 awards or achievements as well. You just got to look at the bigger picture! That's where Crimson comes in and we assist with all aspects of the application.

What level of awards are we talking about? Normal High Distinctions or Prize Winner level?

If you have a national/international level achievement/award, other extracurriculars should be unnecessary right?

 

[Adrian Crimson Education]

What level of awards are we talking about? Normal High Distinctions or Prize Winner level?

If you have a national/international level achievement/award, other extracurriculars should be unnecessary right?

Any awards are fine, but obviously the more prestigious/higher the award the better.

Try looking at it from the Admissions board's perspective when accepting International Students. They already have a huge country full of capable students looking to apply who have a great amount of innovation and depth in their extracurriculars as well as awards. Why should they choose an international student like you over them? The point of your extracurriculars and the entire application is basically to tell a story of why that University should choose you over their own domestic students. They want to know what you would bring to the table, and what changes you can make by studying a degree at their University. A national/international level achievement/award won't allow for you to not submit any extracurriculars, it should be that some of your extracurriculars lead to the award.

 

[idkkdi]

Any awards are fine, but obviously the more prestigious/higher the award the better.

Try looking at it from the Admissions board's perspective when accepting International Students. They already have a huge country full of capable students looking to apply who have a great amount of innovation and depth in their extracurriculars as well as awards. Why should they choose an international student like you over them? The point of your extracurriculars and the entire application is basically to tell a story of why that University should choose you over their own domestic students. They want to know what you would bring to the table, and what changes you can make by studying a degree at their University. A national/international level achievement/award won't allow for you to not submit any extracurriculars, it should be that some of your extracurriculars lead to the award.

So you can't get in solely on the basis of an International Olympiad Medal and good grades along with mediocre extracurriculars?

 

[Adrian Crimson Education]

So you can't get in solely on the basis of an International Olympiad Medal and good grades along with mediocre extracurriculars?

Nope, you'll need to be of a high standard all across the board.

 

[idkkdi]

Nope, you'll need to be of a high standard all across the board.

What would an ideal application for a major in Economics or Applied Math at HYP from an international student look like?

 

[idkkdi]

Nope, you'll need to be of a high standard all across the board.

For Oxbridge, mediocre extracurriculars will suffice if academics and interview are strong enough right?

 

[Adrian Crimson Education]

For Oxbridge, mediocre extracurriculars will suffice if academics and interview are strong enough right?

For OxBridge they pretty much only look at your ATAR, a good interview on top of that will can almost guarantee you. If you have an ATAR below 98.5 however, they won't even bother to look at your entire application.

 

[Adrian Crimson Education]

What would an ideal application for a major in Economics or Applied Math at HYP from an international student look like?

Have a listen to this podcast, it is applicable to any degree www(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=s1kI1UVp_kg

 

[idkkdi]

For OxBridge they pretty much only look at your ATAR, a good interview on top of that will can almost guarantee you. If you have an ATAR below 98.5 however, they won't even bother to look at your entire application.

Is this a predicted ATAR or the actual one? Quite a few schools lowball predicted ATARs.

 

[Adrian Crimson Education]

Is this a predicted ATAR or the actual one? Quite a few schools lowball predicted ATARs.

That'll be your predicted ATAR.

 

[Arrowshaft]

Hey, would my atar be sufficient enough to apply for a degree in science at Oxbridge?

 

[Adrian Crimson Education]

Hey, would my atar be sufficient enough to apply for a degree in science at Oxbridge?

Yes

 

[Arrowshaft]

Yes

I’ve also heard that Skype interviews are possible for international applicants, is this true? Because I would find it rather unappealing to travel to the UK or Singapore/Malaysia to conduct an interview only to be rejected.

 

[Adrian Crimson Education]

I’ve also heard that Skype interviews are possible for international applicants, is this true? Because I would find it rather unappealing to travel to the UK or Singapore/Malaysia to conduct an interview only to be rejected.

You can do that, but it severely decreases your chances of getting accepted.

 

[Arrowshaft]

You can do that, but it severely decreases your chances of getting accepted.

Oh okay. So do you think I should only spend money on the interview only if I am almost certain that I could make it through, or is it worth a shot?