Unfamiliar with the universities in UK^^

[clueless~^^]

Hello!!^^ Thank you for taking time to read this post.

I'm a diploma student in South Korea and I'm attending an international school, the courses I'm taking are

English A1 HL, Biology HL, World History HL, Math Studies SL, French Ab, and Spanish Ab.

Since all the students are focused on going to the US there's really no one who has any idea about the universities

in the UK and how to apply, even the counsler...

I've done the research and found some schools and also found out about UCAS but since I've never been to Europe

I was wondering if anyone here could help me get an idea of what the schools I've found out are like and if I have a chance...^^;;

Warwick University- PPE or business/management

University of York- PPE or business/management

University of Kent- business/management

University of Edinburgh- business/management

University of Leeds- business/management

University College London- business/management

Cambridge University- archaeology (its kind of like the dream school with my dream major but my parants dont want me to go with archaeology

but i figure if i can get into cambridge with it they wont object and stuff...lol)

I've read some of the posts and everyone seems to have amazing predicted scores...I'm not so sure about mine though(cuz my teachers kinda have favoritism n ya...maybe 555 in HL and 677 in SL?? it's not that I'm bad its just ya iono...but i kno my exams will be sooo much higher...) I haven't been the best student...lol n my recommendations are iffy too cause I just moved to the school last year (ib kinda jumped outa no where...T.T)

but i HAVE to get my recommendations from this school...but I'm not exactly teacher's pet if you get my drift....

Anyways I do some stuff outside of school like I've started a english reading program at our local library for the last two years and I'm now working as an intern at a museum, also I do cross country and cheerleading and I work as part of the make-up crew for school productions but I've never done anything fancy like student council n stuff...neways ya...with ees ias and world lits + apps that need doing like the rest of the IBers...

I feel like major crap and I just wanted to know if I had hope??? Any and all advice would be really helpful like does american spelling matter? what is the general opinion of the schools? Whats the UK like? (I've started watchin bbc n some stuff~lol) I know answering questions like can i get in is impossible, I'm just wondering how I compare and how students usually apply to UK univs^^...I've e-mailed admin offices for help but I just don't want to seem like a pest lol

Thanks again everyone and sorry for such an afwully long post^^ Have a good day~!!

Edited July 2, 2009 by clueless~^^

[Cynthia]

First of all, I think you should really consider whether you should go for B&M only for your parents' wishes. You might want to read for example this if you/they are worried about your career prospects with the degree. Also, in many universities Archaelogy offers are generally lower - for example York, which is ranked 5th in Archaeology in the UK wants 30 points for that but 32+ for Management.

For many of your universities your predicted grade of 35ish/42 is ok. Still for example Cambridge typically wants 42 points with 766 HL, so it might be tricky for you to even get an interview unless you get an awesome PS and reference and can get your teachers to bump up your predicteds a bit.

All of the universities you mentioned are generally respectable, you might want to compare some university league tables, like this and this. Also see some sites/forums, like thestudentroom.co.uk, which has lots of information I've found pretty useful, including sample personal statements.

It's pretty hard to say what the UK is like. I like the country (which is why I'm going there myself) - it's pretty much the typical western country, and from what I've heard things like healthcare tend to work ok. It would probably be good if you could visit the place at some point before you go to uni.

Oh yeah, and American spelling definitely does not matter ;>

Edited July 2, 2009 by Cynthia

[Vvi]

It's always best if you can visit the universities before you apply, but it honestly doesn't matter. South Korea is a long way away from the UK, and thousands of students start university without ever having seen the place they're going to. The majority of people are happy in the places they do end up attending, and you grow into it.

All the universities you wrote down are good ones (reputation-wise). Now you should search for the the module contents of each course (Google these or go to the university's website, find your course and it should be listed there). You need to compare the content of ecah course and see if you're really interested in the subject/how they teach the course. All the coruses might have the same name, but some approach it more theoretically, otehrs have work experience, tehre are different exchange opportunities, etc.

After reading through the contents of the course, you should be able to decide if you relaly do wnat to study Business. Tuition fees for international students are over £20,000 a year, which is an awful lot of money to spend on studying a course you don't like, just for your parents' sake.