Reply to How would British / UK schools stack up against American / US schools?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]There isn't any emphasis on [b]extracurricular [/b]or sports, and you have to be able to write well. The US system has many high stakes multiple choice exams like SAT/ACT but when you take exams in Britain at the secondary level there are more written exams. [/quote]

The caveat here is extracurriculars related to your intended course. You definitely should be able to have demonstrated interest in your subject matter through either extracurriculars or independent study. This will help when you go to write your personal statement.[/quote]

There is a small part of UCAS application forms where you put in your EC info. It is very important. If you want to study medicine you had better have volunteer experience in a number of hospital or care related settings. If you want to study Veterinary Science, you need experience with - animals. Etc. If you want to study English at Cambridge, you'll need to have spent time doing work experience in a literary agency / a bookshop / a publishing house and you will need to demonstrate a history of writing for your school newspaper / have stories published etc.

EC content is CRUCIAL. Don't let anyone tell you anything different. [/quote]

Not sure if you're an American or Brit writing this, and what your experience has been, but as a Brit who has been through this system and has friends now going through it with their kids and this just isn't true at all. You need to have something to put in the EC section, sure, but it's not CRUCIAL (in caps!) and it's nothing like the kind of things people do here where they spend years doing activities and getting into the top schools requires serious commitment to serious ECs. In my Cambridge interview to study English, we discussed literature in depth - and that was it. I almost think the prof who interviewed me would have found the idea of wanting to read English because I had done work experience at a publishers to be a little sordid. For Oxbridge: know and love your subject. For all other UK universities, have the grades and don't worry about very much else.[/quote]

I'm British. I attended university at York where I studied literature, Lancaster and Manchester, my sister atCambridge, my DH at Oxford, my parents Sheffield, my cousins Queen Mary's medical school and Manchester university.[/quote]

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