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As noted below, there are very few American undergraduates at Oxford. I happen to be one of them, so let me address the central question: what it takes to actually get admitted.First off, to understand Oxford admissions you need to understand the English[1] secondary school system. For the two years before they go off to university (called sixth form), students specialize down to a few subjects (typically around three or four) which they study exclusively. They sit national standardized exams at the end of each year on these subjects, known as AS-levels for the first year and A-levels for the second year. These exams are graded on an A*-A-B-C-D-E scale, and your A-level grades form more or less the entirety of your secondary school record. There are no GPAs in England. Nor are there SATs or anything comparable to them.Since A-level results are how English applicants are judged, English universities try to find something comparable to judge international applicants with. When it comes to Americans, AP tests are the natural choice: they're comparable to A-levels in material covered and are graded on an easily-converted scale, where a 5 is converted to an A, a 4 to a B, etc. If your school offers it, the IB is also something which English universities understand (some people do it over there). In lieu of these two, SAT II subject tests may be seen as a replacement.In order to apply to an English university, you need one category of these three. You'll also need SAT or ACT scores, as you would for American universities. Noticeably absent from here is your GPA/high school transcript. I applied to five UK universities and the only one which asked for my high school transcript was St. Andrew's, which has a lot of Americans. I've heard of Cambridge requesting transcripts as well. By and large, though, English universities don't really understand high school transcripts, in part because they are so non-standardized that it's not easy to interpret them fairly to everyone and in part because they just don't really correspond well to their system.One other important part of the system: you might have noticed that I said that English students apply with A-levels and that I also said that A-levels are taken the end of the year before you attend university. This means that when people apply, they haven't actually received their results yet. Instead, they apply based on what they are predicted (by their teachers/school) to achieve. They'll then get what's known as a conditional offer: they'll be admitted on the condition that they get certain grades in their A-levels. As an American, the upshot of this is that you can apply using tests you haven't taken yet in order to fulfill the requirements. The downside is that if you do, you'll probably get a conditional offer yourself, and then if you mess up a test you'll lose your acceptance. No pressure!On to Oxford itself. Oxford asks Americans to have SAT scores of 700+ in Critical Reading and in Math, with 2100+ overall (this will probably change in a few years with the planned restructuring of the SAT). In addition, they ask for either three APs with a score of 5 or three SAT II subject tests at 700+ each. As noted by other answers, at Oxford you apply at the beginning for a specific course of study (e.g. biology or English), so they also want your APs/subject tests to be in subjects related to your course. For example, if you're applying for chemistry, AP chemistry or the SAT II chemistry is a must, and at least one (preferably both) of the others should be in related subjects (e.g. other sciences, math).The first step of the process is to submit an application with a personal statement and the scores discussed above. The next thing you'll need to do is typically a submission of your work and/or a subject test. This varies a lot between subjects. There's the MAT for math and for computer science, the HAT for history, the TSA for a variety of subjects, including E&M and PPE, and various other admissions tests. Essay-based subjects (English, history, etc.) generally will require you to submit a writing sample.Based on your scores and on your submission/subject test, the next step is to be selected to interview. There's nothing quite like the interview process at Oxford and Cambridge. Over the course of two weeks, thousands and thousands of prospective students descend upon the university. Everyone will be given 2-5 (or maybe even more) interviews with 1-2 tutors (academics-- think "professor" in the American sense, though a "professor" over there is a narrow term more akin to someone with a named professorship in the USA). These interviews will be usually 30-45 minutes each and are academic in nature. The interviewers are trying to determine how good you are at your subject, or how good they think you could be. For example, for math you'll spend the whole time doing math problems; for English, you'll probably be given a text and asked to analyze it.As an American, you'll probably have the option to do your interviews via Skype. I chose to fly over for mine and made it into a mini-vacation with my mom.The interviews are hugely important. Generally once you reach the interview stage your performance in your interviews is the basis for whether or not you actually get in, though the other parts of your application are still considered.So that's how you apply and get in. Now the other question: how hard is it to get in?If you look at how the admissions process works, it's first and foremost selecting for talent. This is a huge and refreshing difference from the USA! American university admissions have a huge jumping-through-hoops component, with the emphasis on extracurriculars and on essays, as well as on high school GPA, which is something of a hoop-jumping exercise too. At Oxford, all that matters is being good at what you want to study.In a general sense, it's pretty hard to get in to Oxford (no surprise here) because it's hard to be really good at things. At the same time, if you're really good at your subject, this will come out in the admissions process and you'll probably get in. This is true in a sense in the USA too, but in the USA it depends on having well-recognized accomplishments (USAMO, ISEF, etc) to signal your skill, which introduces much more noise into the process. If you're very talented but don't know about those opportunities or can't take advantage of them for whatever reason, it's very possible for Harvard etc. to have no way of knowing about you and for them to consequently reject you.One final note: over the past few years I've talked with quite a few Americans who were interested in applying to Oxford and wanted information or advice. None of them actually followed through with it. There are only something like 30 or 40 American undergraduates at Oxford every year, and of those a bunch have some kind of international connection: they go to an international school or have a parent who went to Oxford or something. The US high school -> Oxford jump is very rare, and not without reason. In fact, in general I wouldn't recommend most Americans to go to Oxford. But I'll save that for another answer.[1] Well, it's not just England. Since Scotland has Highers instead of A-levels, though, I'm restricting myself to England for simplicity.

As a university cell and human physiology instructor, I often write letters of recommendation for students, usually those applying to medical school. Here are my suggestions (based on 21 years of experience):Do not ask for a letter of recommendation if you have receiced a grade of C or lower from the particular professor to whom you are making that request; the recipients of the letter will be wondering why you didn’t get a recommendation from a professor from whom you’ve received a grade of B or higherWhen visiting the professor’s office, be dressed conservatively as a student; no need for suits or dresses here; just show up to the professor’s office neat and dressed well for s student (but no need to overdo it here)When the professor asks your name (sorry, not all of us remember all student names), don’t say Mary or John; instead, say your full name, such as Mary Smith or John Doe; it amazes me how many times students make the mistake of thinking that I can look up her/his grade records based upon a first nameWhen the professor asks when you took class with her/him, know the precise semester that you took that class or those classes; I would estimate that well over half of the students who have taken class with me cannot recall the semester or year that they took that class with me if it has been more than a semester since they had that class; this simply does not look good to the person writing the letter for youHave the following ready and neatly prepared in an envelope for each professor from whom you are requesting a recommendation:a resume detailing who you are and listing your accomplishmentsa copy of your university transcriptany forms or other information the professor may need to write the letter of recommendation (printed forms and snail-mailings have become less and less common as on-line submissions have become the norm)the email and physical addresses that the professor will need to write the recommendation letter for you; make certain thta these are accurately written and neatly printed out; please look professional hereIf the professor asks to interview you (I always do this, at least briefly), have intelligent replies to the following:Why do you want to be a doctor or future science researcher (substitute doctor or researcher with another title if you are applying for something else)?PLEASE seriously consider not replying “Because I want to help people.” This is a generic statement that, in my view, is equivalent to a beauty contest participant replying “I want to work for world peace.” Moreover, this answer often smacks of little forethought and, sometimes, perhaps also insincerity. Please do some thought and come up with your own answer that reflects your unique abilities.What makes you especially well qualified for the position to which you are applying?Say ”Thank you” to the professor when he/she agrees to write the letter of recommendation for you (I rarely turn down students who have obtained a grade of A from me and often write letters for students who have obtained grades of B).Ask the professor when you can politely email her/him to inquire if the requested letter(s) of recommendation has/have been written (any professor should not be offended by this; these letters are critical to your future and we sometimes forget this when we get preoccupied with other academic matters).Wishing all of you applicants the best!

As a professor who writes letters of recommendation, I’m going to turn your question around:Why do students requesting LOR wait so long to ask for them?I’ve said this before, but, students, PLEASE help your profs write you a good letter. Here’s how:Before requesting a LOR, ask, in person if possible, the following question: “Can you write a strong letter of recommendation for me?”. The wording is important…you are not asking *what* the prof will write (that’s unethical), but you will let some say “no, I can’t give a strong recommendation”, which is very important information (if this happens, ask someone else), or “yes”.FYI if you know you’ll be asking for a LOR, inform the prof on the first day of class. When I know a student plans on medical or graduate school, I pay more attention to the non-academic things we’re asked to comment upon in LOR.Once you’ve identified LOR writers, send each an email with the following info: Your name, your ID number (so prof can look up your records), your name AS YOU WANT IT TO APPEAR IN THE LETTER (sometimes it’s different), the name and address of the person to whom the letter should be addressed (or the information about electronic submission…many places will generate an email request sent to the prof), why you’re applying, your statement (that you included in your application), any other information that will help the prof write the letter, and attach your transcript and a current resume.Send this to the prof 4–6 weeks before the deadline for submission of the LOR. THIS IS WHERE MOST STUDENTS HAVE ISSUES, IMHO. Writing a LOR is like writing a research paper. I have to do the research, write a draft, and then “sleep on it” and revise the LOR. The process will NOT start the day I receive the request, and won’t be the only thing I work on, so it will take at least 2 weeks…I’m already busy doing other things. A good LOR takes time to write, just like a good essay/paper on any topic.THE BOTTOM LINE: I can write an okay-quality LOR in a week. I can write a crappy one in 24 hours. But a good one takes weeks.If you know that applicants will be considered on a “rolling” basis, give the prof that information and ask that, if possible, the LOR is submitted earlier than the deadline. But be sure your application was completed well in advance of the deadline, and included with your request for LOR.So, why do profs send LOR at the last minute? Possibly because the request came very late (because the student did not understand how this works…see above). Possibly because it takes time to gather all the information (see above) required for a LOR but NOT provided by the student in the request. Possibly because s/he was still revising and trying to do as good a job as possible. Often because the official request did NOT come when the student started the application but after submission and after a quick review (weeks, possibly, after the application deadline). Possibly due to a heavy workload (end-of-semester often has us writing several, or even dozens, of LOR). And possibly due to laziness/procrastination, but that’s not going to be the most common reason, in case that’s what you were suggesting.