Anonymous wrote:There are tons of them...what an odd question.

Look at any nationally known university with 70%+ acceptance rate and basically that is how they accept you:

- Indiana
- Michigan State
- Iowa
- Iowa State
- Nebraska

The list can go on-and-on. Like hundreds.

UCLA and Berkeley are going to be tough because test-blind and they only give a GPA bump to AP (maybe IB) grades OOS.

Anonymous wrote:Almost every school admits by scores if you are clearly above that school's 75%ile.

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Anonymous wrote:Oxbridge does require interviews, but they are NOT like US interviews. They are basically oral exams. Tutors ask questions about the subject the student has applied to study. There is no discussion of ECs or personal background and no opportunity for the student to ask questions about the school or the program. They are merely a different (and less coachable) kind of test.

Mmm, not exactly an oral exam. They asked DD about what she had read in the subject area and what she thought about it. Also why she was interested in subject. Not as wide ranging as some, but not what I would consider an oral exam.

DP I do think it depends on subject. I know for a fact that if you're applying to study Math then they just get you to work through a series of questions until you're stumped and then they observe how you try to figure out something you DON'T know and the angles you take and the suggestions you make. So yes, that really is a kind of oral exam. Similarly for English Lit they will provide you with a poem 20 mins before they meet you online. Then they ask you to explain it. So that too, is very much like an "oral exam".

Mine had that (question sets) plus an interview (later in the process) where they asked about interests related to the area and what she was reading. I would not categorize that interview as an exam.

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Anonymous wrote:India Institute of Technology.

Cambridge University.

Oxford University.

London School of Economics.

You might need to take different tests, though

Cambridge and Oxford are not easy to get into. You need an in depth knowledge of your major. There are additional tests and interviews by professors. DD was interviewed by 4 professors in her subject matter. She has to solve very difficult questions. Or at least show her thought process. Cambridge is a bit weary of taking Americans since they tend to chose too US schools. DD is at HYP and she has a number of friends who turned down Cambridge in the UK, including two Brits.

Why isn't Oxford weary then? Don't Americans also turn it down for HYP?

They don't need to be wary. They did just put their international fees way up though. From roughly 20k sterling to 40-70k sterling tuition per year.

Why doesn't Oxford need to be wary while Cambridge does?

Anonymous wrote:The UK and European countries do this.

This is not our style in America.

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Anonymous wrote:Almost every school admits by scores if you are clearly above that school's 75%ile.

But some schools have 75%ile so high that you can't be clearly above it.

I so hope there is truth to this….

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Anonymous wrote:Oxbridge does require interviews, but they are NOT like US interviews. They are basically oral exams. Tutors ask questions about the subject the student has applied to study. There is no discussion of ECs or personal background and no opportunity for the student to ask questions about the school or the program. They are merely a different (and less coachable) kind of test.

Mmm, not exactly an oral exam. They asked DD about what she had read in the subject area and what she thought about it. Also why she was interested in subject. Not as wide ranging as some, but not what I would consider an oral exam.

I think that sounds like the oral exams I took as PhD qualifiers: what do you know about this subject, how creatively do you think about it, how committed are you to being intellectually engaged with it? There are no questions that do not pertain to the field of study. No opportunities to discuss non-intellectual contributions the student might make. The interviews are not exams based on a set curriculum, but they are evaluations of how much you know in the field and whether you are prepared for higher level study of it. That's a test.

Most of those ("how creatively do you think.." " how committed are you... ") are not exam questions. They are interview questions. Interviews can be evaluative, you know. That's kind of the point!

Yes, but interviews at non-Oxbridge schools 1) are generally for information purposes, not evaluative, and not considered as part of the admission decision, and 2) cover a lot of ground, including ECs, leadership experience, community representation, etc. Oxbridge interviews evaluate what you know and how creatively you think about the specific field you wish to study. They do not evaluate general problem solving, social/ leadership potential, etc.

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Anonymous wrote:Oxbridge does require interviews, but they are NOT like US interviews. They are basically oral exams. Tutors ask questions about the subject the student has applied to study. There is no discussion of ECs or personal background and no opportunity for the student to ask questions about the school or the program. They are merely a different (and less coachable) kind of test.

Mmm, not exactly an oral exam. They asked DD about what she had read in the subject area and what she thought about it. Also why she was interested in subject. Not as wide ranging as some, but not what I would consider an oral exam.

I think that sounds like the oral exams I took as PhD qualifiers: what do you know about this subject, how creatively do you think about it, how committed are you to being intellectually engaged with it? There are no questions that do not pertain to the field of study. No opportunities to discuss non-intellectual contributions the student might make. The interviews are not exams based on a set curriculum, but they are evaluations of how much you know in the field and whether you are prepared for higher level study of it. That's a test.

Most of those ("how creatively do you think.." " how committed are you... ") are not exam questions. They are interview questions. Interviews can be evaluative, you know. That's kind of the point!

Anonymous wrote:My kid added Iowa since they have rolling admissions and was accepted in a matter of days.

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Anonymous wrote:There is not, you have to go to Canada or UK for that.

Some of the top UK schools require interviews.

And require special exams as well as graded paper. Definitely not just exam based.

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Anonymous wrote:India Institute of Technology.

Cambridge University.

Oxford University.

London School of Economics.

You might need to take different tests, though

Cambridge and Oxford are not easy to get into. You need an in depth knowledge of your major. There are additional tests and interviews by professors. DD was interviewed by 4 professors in her subject matter. She has to solve very difficult questions. Or at least show her thought process. Cambridge is a bit weary of taking Americans since they tend to chose too US schools. DD is at HYP and she has a number of friends who turned down Cambridge in the UK, including two Brits.

Why isn't Oxford weary then? Don't Americans also turn it down for HYP?

They don't need to be wary. They did just put their international fees way up though. From roughly 20k sterling to 40-70k sterling tuition per year.