I’m currently in the depths of US college admissions. Having submitted a few applications already and submitting a few more soon, I’d like to think that I will soon see the light at the end of this tunnel. As I’ve been going through all of this, I’ve had some time to reflect, and I wanted to share a few things I’ve learned along the way. Some of these were my own misconceptions, and others are things I hear from people around me all the time. Hopefully, this gives anyone who’s curious about applying a clearer picture of what the process is really like!
“All good college essays are just trauma dumping”
I definitely believed this before starting my own, so I get where this comes from, especially because a lot of the ‘traumatic’ essays get a lot of traction on social media (I know you’re all thinking about “I hate the letter S”). However, your college essay is simply about telling universities more about yourself aside from academics. Unlike the UK personal statement, the US college essay is viewed by admissions as a way of learning more about you aside from academics and determining whether you’re a good fit for their institution. One piece of advice I can give on approaching this is to try and be memorable; a very unique or emotionally impactful essay is going to make you stand out to an admissions officer reading thousands of essays. This may mean exploring personal hardship, or it could just be telling them a unique and personal story about who you are. Go crazy with it, there’s so much creative freedom!
“The SAT/ACT is easy”
Now, listen, I know everyone loves to make fun of Americans over their education system, but I’ve seen a lot of people online dismissing these tests as easy to the point where I, too, thought I’d ace it on the first try. At first glance, the majority of questions may appear easy, with the more difficult questions appearing at the end of each section, but you need strong foundational mathematical, verbal, and, if you’re taking the ACT, scientific knowledge to do well without any studying. Which I know doesn’t come easily to everyone, it certainly didn’t for me.
I would say one of the most difficult parts of the SAT/ACT is the percentage you need to get a strong score. Here, an 80% on a test would be considered very strong; in America, very strong would be closer to 90-100%. So, the difficulty for many is that there is absolutely no room for error. This means no silly mistakes and very strict time pressure. In my personal experience, the hardest part of this test is often the race against the clock, which then causes you to make even more careless errors. So, if there’s one piece of advice I have, it’s to not underestimate the standardised tests and leave plenty of time to prepare yourself.
“The Ivy Leagues are the best schools”
One thing I’ve heard a lot is the notion that the Ivy League is synonymous with academic quality and prestige, and I’ve received reactions of shock when I tell people I have no intention to apply to a single Ivy League school. But you’d be surprised to know that the Ivy League is just an athletic conference, and while all 8 of these colleges are very prestigious, many amazing schools like Stanford, MIT, Caltech, Duke, Vanderbilt, and others aren’t in the Ivy League and so tend to be more overlooked. It’s also important to remember that the US has approximately 4,000 colleges while the UK only has 165. So, you don’t need to go to a top 10 or top 20 institution to get an amazing education. All of the colleges in the top 100 are also amazing and worth considering. It’s such an opportunity to have so much optionality, and I’d recommend fully exploring your options more widely rather than concentrating on the most well-known institutions.
“Strong grades are enough to get you into a great university”
Don’t get me wrong, this will definitely help! But I think that, coming from the British system, many students overemphasise the importance of grades in the US application process. They are important, yes, but they aren’t the only important thing. The US system is ‘holistic’, meaning they consider a variety of factors in reviewing your application, and these include your extracurriculars and leadership, essays, letters of recommendation, personal character, and other contextual factors. So, having brilliant grades often needs to be supported by other strengths to make an overall ‘strong’ application for elite colleges. So, do not neglect the other parts of your application!
“You only need to write one college essay/personal statement”
I wish. That being said, you can choose to apply exclusively to colleges that don’t ask for supplemental essays, but the reality is that most do, especially the more highly ranked, prestigious colleges. I ended up writing 14, including my main college essay, though some were much shorter than others. My advice would be to start early. Your first draft of your main college essay should be finished by the end of year 12, and I’d recommend spending that summer writing as many of your supplemental essays as you can. Because, trust me, you don’t want to spend the first term of year 13 juggling assignments and essays, it’ll feel unbearable. Also, to calm some of your fears, I want to reassure you that a lot of colleges have very similar supplemental essay prompts, and so you will most likely be able to recycle essays, which saves a ton of time.
At the end of the day, this whole process is definitely not easy, but honestly, no application process really is. And despite how stressful it may seem, there are so many exciting benefits. Studying in the US opens up a variety of unique possibilities: the kind of university you choose, the flexibility in what you study, and a completely different academic and social experience. Also, it can be incredibly rewarding! Writing these essays has allowed me to tap into the creativity I often am not able to in my subjects, and I’ve learned so much about myself in the process. Also, the extracurricular activities I have been involved in have inspired new passions and led to new connections which I probably wouldn’t have pursued otherwise. So, if you’re thinking about doing this, I highly encourage you to!
From my own experience, the biggest keys to staying on top of it all are time and consistency. Get as many essays as you can done over the summer, and try to take your final SAT then or early in Year 13. It makes everything so much more manageable. And most importantly, don’t lose sight of why you’re doing this. If you truly want it, the work won’t feel quite so heavy. Romanticise it all: make Pinterest boards, scroll through Rush Tok, buy that cute college merch that makes you excited for what’s ahead.
You’ve got this.
