europe EU application requirements for US applicant

[simon.marty0]

Hey, I'm a French citizen who lives in the United States and is applying to UK colleges.

I was looking at requirements for EU colleges and I started realizing that their IB requirements seem exceedingly high. For example, UCL, EPFL, Imperial college (which are all high-end, I will admit) require a 39 Predicted Grade total. I don't know about folks in Europe but here that means 6 on almost every single exam. There's no way any teacher would give anyone a predicted grade around or above 6 at my school, especially for science courses. 

I have a 4.3 GPA and I'm in the top 10 percent of my school with an 800 on the SAT Math, so how comes these scores are so unbelievably hard to achieve even with my high standings? Comparatively, Ivy League requirements here in the US seem like a breeze. Are IB teachers elsewhere just more lenient or am I not trying hard enough?

[kw0573]

I have thought about this recently. One interesting observation was that in November examinations, mostly conducted in Australia and New Zealand, had many science courses with over 40% of students getting 6s or 7s, and their exams are by no means easier than May ones. The most plausible conclusion is that many of these schools are simply more prepared at teaching IB than the typical American high school. I find that it is possible that the GCSE (and IGCSE exams outside of Britain) prepares students much better for A-levels or IB than say the typical American curriculum. So the best explanation I can come up with is that many such well-performing schools introduce many of the topics before IB and for many people, IB curriculum is not completely new. 

EDIT: I think the fact that US students have to take ACT/SAT means less time for IB. As a result UK have high admission requirements because there is not an equivalent to ACT/SAT there. While IB scores are secondary in US admissions, they are quintessential for UK. 

Edited December 18, 2016 by kw0573

[Guest]

That's an interesting observation from @kw0573, which I'm inclined to agree with to some extent. I've been in the Australian system and I can totally understand how more people would get 6s and 7s in their sciences (my science years in years 8 to 9 there were by far my favourite, other than the IB ones) but for New Zealand, I'm less likely to agree. NCEA is a terrible, especially NCEA Level 1, and it literally does nothing useful. However, since it's Australia and New Zealand, Australia's system probably makes up for it, and is probably more closely aligned with the GCSE due to the fact that Australia was a British colony (just theorising here). 

To some extent, I'd also say it depends on the school too. I don't know how it runs in the USA, but I know in New Zealand and (from what I know) in Australia most schools will only allow you to take the IB if your grades are high enough in the previous year or so. That may factor into the higher proportion of people getting 6s and 7s. It could also just be something in the water  However, I assure you, our teachers mark no easier than yours. Especially my English teacher.

[IB`NOT`ez]

On 12/14/2016 at 8:19 AM, simon.marty0 said:

Hey, I'm a French citizen who lives in the United States and is applying to UK colleges.

I was looking at requirements for EU colleges and I started realizing that their IB requirements seem exceedingly high. For example, UCL, EPFL, Imperial college (which are all high-end, I will admit) require a 39 Predicted Grade total. I don't know about folks in Europe but here that means 6 on almost every single exam. There's no way any teacher would give anyone a predicted grade around or above 6 at my school, especially for science courses. 

I have a 4.3 GPA and I'm in the top 10 percent of my school with an 800 on the SAT Math, so how comes these scores are so unbelievably hard to achieve even with my high standings? Comparatively, Ivy League requirements here in the US seem like a breeze. Are IB teachers elsewhere just more lenient or am I not trying hard enough?

"Ivy league requirements here in the US seem like a breeze" wow wtf u been smoking

jokes aside, I think it's relative for everyone. Generally, for someone who's academically sufficient, UK will be easier than US since they place less emphasis on extracurriculars, leadership positions, and stupid american tests. imo the idea of an offer mostly being centred around your performance in school academics, interviews, and your final exams is so much preferable to the "holistic" admissions process that US universities conduct. 

That said, most Ivy League universities would also have average DP scores of 37 at the very least (UPenn has an average of 38 and Cornell and Brown coming closely behind), and I'm betting MIT/Harvard would have an average of 39-40, which would be close to Imperial, a UK equivalent to MIT. However, you'll also likely have a Law of Diminishing Marginal Returns taking place that upon reaching the 40 point mark, each extra additional point would matter less and less as that's when they'll start looking at other components of your application. It's also my personal belief that strong academic performance in standardized tests and school won't even get you into Ivy League schools – only getting you at their door. Imo part of the reasons for high academic requirements in the UK is because they tend to specialise in the course/major you're taking straight from Day 1, whereas US universities will have a grace period of 2 years where you can pretty much study anything – liberal arts – until you declare a major at the end of your second year. Therefore, UK universities really want to see their potential students being able to handle their courseload.

Considering your academic accomplishments, I don't think it's a stretch that your teachers shouldn't predict you 7s. Assuming its in Maths II, your SAT Maths score is extremely impressive – the highest out of a few Maths HL friends taking the SAT Maths II test was a 690.  I've seen teachers that are pretty lenient, predicting half a dozen people 7s when in all likelihood only one of them is actually going to get it, and others that are much more reserved with their predicted grades. Personally, most of my teachers try to be stricter than actual examiners in marking mock exams etc. so students can better prepare for the worst.

Communicate with your teachers as to what they'd like to see from you in order to get a higher grade. If you're actually struggling with your subjects, I'm sure if you ask around this forums, there'll be a ton of people eager to help. 

Edited December 19, 2016 by IB`ez

[simon.marty0]

Lol I was just trying to lighten up the mood, don't worry I'm fully conscious of how hard requirements are for Ivys (just got denied from one Xd). It just seems incredible to me that the situation is the same, if not even worse in Europe when it comes to college acceptance. Maybe I just haven't lived there long enough to understand how hard getting into a uni is.

Edited December 20, 2016 by simon.marty0