I have been attending a symposium in Scotland this past week and the learning curve has been extraordinary.
In the past, the UK has been very straightforward in that their in entry requirements are quite transparent here. Generally speaking, each university will list their requirements, and for US students it often means a certain score on AP exams, our board scores: SAT or ACT and a general GPA higher than 3.0. Enter the waning popularity of AP coursework and let’s see what has been happening.
Some, not all universities are starting to look at our dual enrollment, as well as honors coursework. It is beneficial to still take the ACT/SAT as well. It may be that the top research schools in the UK still would like to see AP or IB scores. It is best if students look at the requirements and individual courses may have their own standards as well that differ from course to course. Oxford/Cambridge (known as Oxbridge) still require very stringent scores from our US curriculum, as does Imperial and a few other high profile UK universities. It is important to research with care.
Another new development has been quite a few universities requiring AP scores of ‘3’. There will be a book called The College Finder collated by Dr. Steven R. Antonoff coming out soon that will have this list included.
While I have 20 years of living experience in the UK, why in the world would my professional organization (IECA) plan a visit in mid February? To see the true picture of the UK weather. I love the UK, is the weather perfect? far from it. But, it is important to understand the weather from all points of view. Scotland, the sun may rise a bit late in the morning and set early in the winter months. In the spring, the days are long and lovely with blossoms making for colorful spring days.
Of course, approaches to learning need to be discussed- Scotland requires four years to complete studies, the rest of the UK will be three years (Northern Ireland, Wales and England). There are lecture style courses with tutorials or small group discussions afterwards.
The British are hearty folk, as we toured universities, we walked around in down coats, these folks were dressed not as warm as us, and even US students were able to acclimate to the weather quite well, touring us around the campus wearing sweat shirts and light coats.
Next blog… more about the approaches to learning in more detail.
Until next time