My thoughts on how to get into Harvard, Oxford, Cambridge, MIT and so on

[Lunaa]

Hey!

I'll have my Ib exams in 2012 and I am not expecting a 777 at my high levels

my HLs are:

Maths

English B

Turkish Literature A1

SLs:

Chemistry

Biology

Physics

IB in our school is pretty hard as we cant choose every lesson we desire + we have to choose subjects according to our national program.

I have a quite a lot of extra cirricular activities and I am expecting a good grade in my EE. Do I stand a chance in Cambridge, Oxford etc if I get a grade like 36-37?

[zen16]

^ Is it 36/37 without bonus points or with? If it's with, that's below what they're looking for. I think Cambridge looks for a 39 w/ bonus points included though I may be wrong (I'm not applying to the UK).

[Scade]

What subject would you be applying for in Cambridge or Oxford? To be honest, 36-37 doesn't really cut it for Oxbridge. You need to be somewhere around 40s and more (although if your school is inexperienced with the IB or something you might get a bit lenience). You should have anywhere between 766 and 777 predicted for your higher levels. From what I've gathered, Oxford seems to make slightly lower offers, but who would want to go there (sorry for my bias).

All in all, exceptional grades just make you an average applicant standing on par with everyone else. What really makes the difference is your interview and any written work, etc. you do for Oxbridge.