Assembling your application

Application Components

For all US applications: applicants should ideally start planning ahead in Years 10 and 11 (Lower VI)

• Common Application form (academic record, extracurricular interests) with some variants - see each college's website for their additonal requirements

For Harvard:

• SAT 1 Reasoning Test and three SAT 2 Subject Tests
• Teacher recommendations and School Report
• Personal essay
• Optional materials (CDs, DVDs, art portfolios, publications)
• Alumni interview in the UK

The "Common App"
Just as you would go to UCAS to fill in your application for UK unis, in the US there is a Common Application that is used by a significant number of colleges - probably all of the ones you are looking at, in fact. The difference is that although each college may use the Common App, as it's called, there may be additional or different requirements for individual colleges that you need to check. For Harvard, for example, you should go to the Harvard admissions website and download their Common App version so you find out exactly what they require. The Common App is saveable online, and you can work on it there.

Your Personal Essay
We have collected a few good examples of past UK applicants' Personal Essays, just to show you what kinds of writing styles people have adopted. Your own style may be very different; but you can see that the format is not the same as for UCAS. Try writing a draft of your Personal Essay and showing it to someone who knows you well. Does your voice sound true? Are you saying something about yourself that makes an interesting statement? We often find UK students really hesitant about writing something personal, so a little mental readjustment is necessary. If you find it really difficult, try tweaking your UCAS statement, or try just writing about something else - it might kick-start the process!

Teachers' Reports
The US application process involves drawing together references from teachers and/or counsellors, but their references ought to reflect not only your academic potential (which would be more typically UCAS), but also your personal qualities. So getting the right references is important. Start thinking about which teachers know you best as a person and would have something to say about your contribution not only to your subjects but also to the school community and beyond. Teachers can see good examples of Teacher Reports which we have assembled. It's a good idea to draw your teachers' attention to these in advance of when you need the reports so that they can see how the style and content differs. Rather than asking them to produce a Report in the middle of the application season when they are busy with all the UCAS procedures, make sure you get that request in early!

Your School Transcript
We have also created a composite transcript (record of secondary schools grades) for you and your teachers to look at. Your own transcript does not have to follow these guidelines closely, but the information on your exam results and other school achievements ideally ought to be laid out clearly and concisely. The transcipt model we use here was designed for a school that offers A-Levels, but if your school is an IB School or in the Scottish system, the model can be modified easily for those different requirements.  

Supporting Materials
There may be further materials you want to submit - published poetry, music, artwork, science commendations, and so on.