𝙃𝙤𝙬 𝙏𝙤 𝘼𝙥𝙥𝙡𝙮 𝙏𝙤 𝙐𝙎 𝘾𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙜𝙚𝙨 (𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙙) 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄𝙩 𝙍𝙚𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙨
To start with, US college admission is a holistic process, which
means every part of your application is important. They’ll not consider just one or two factors, but every single factor you provided in your application to make a decision about you. Without further due –
1st thing: Timeline 📌
Firstly, students should know that, in the US, high school is 9-12 grades, and when you apply to undergrad, you’ve to show all the academics, ECAs, and Awards from these particular grades. So, if any 8th grader is reading this, you’re on the right track. Map your plan and start working. Those who are in 11th/12th grade, start working TODAY! Last but not least, those who already passed HSC, if you think you could make a solid profile, take a gap year and obviously, start working in THIS SECOND!
Another beginners’ thing is, if you apply in the “this year November to Next year January” season, you’ll start classes from next year September. So, if you’ve already passed HSC/A levels this year before applying, you’re going to have a gap year. You’ll have to apply before your HSC/A levels if you want not to have any gap year. Anyway, if you do have a gap year, don’t panic, because gap years have no penalties if you can describe why you took the gap year and what you did in this period.
The early application deadlines are mostly from November 1 to November 15, and regular application deadlines are mostly from January 1 to February 1.
2nd thing: College Research and Making a College List 📌
If you are to apply in the next 5 or 6 months, you should start college research right now! College research is one of the most important things in the process, and unfortunately, most students miss it and end up with a borrowed college list, putting all the colleges where someone else got in, and someone else got a full-ride! That’s not how it works. Yes, obviously it is a factor in making a college list, but there are lots of other factors which students miss.
There are 3 kinds of students when it comes to making a college list:
1. Just applying to elite colleges so that financial aid wouldn’t be an issue. The problem with this is that those elite colleges have only less than a 10% acceptance rate, so a lot of great applicants aren’t gonna make it.
2. Applying to some elite, and some other colleges where someone else got a full-ride, or huge scholarship. The problem is someone else’s profile isn’t yours. You may be as great as him, but you aren’t identical, and that’s why your “fit colleges” are different, which is why you should apply based on your interest.
3. Applying to their own “fit” colleges. This is the ultimate royal move.
Many students may not realize it, but the fit is real. Suppose someone got into a college with a full ride, or at least with a ‘full need met’ situation, and so you are applying. The Thing is, that person’s interest and activities went along with the particular college, and maybe you’ve different interests, and that college’s vision doesn’t really go along with your visions. That’s where you don’t fit into the college even if you have a super great profile. You have to research every college you’ll apply to, and see if those fit your interest and visions, and for that compare major curriculum, ECA opportunities, and campus life, talk to the current students to get an inner view, and if possible have an offline tour to that college, though the last one is not possible for most of the international students.
Looking for financial aid opportunities is a must, but not only your ‘someone applied, got aid’ thing. You should research yourself. Not every college will give you 100% need-based aid, sometimes there will be opportunities to make a full-ride by adding up need-based, merit-based, and other supplementary scholarships. For research, grind a particular college website, go to other supplementary websites (i.e. College Vine, College Board Big Future, Prep Scholar), and get ideas about aid, college life, and interests. Pro Tip: Email the colleges with specific questions, as they are happy to answer you.
Another important thing when making a college list is balancing between Far Reach, Reach, Target, and Safety.
Far Reach: Those elite colleges, which have less than a 10% acceptance rate, which you dream about. For some applicants, these colleges may even be considered as Reach, but for most students, these are Far Reach.
Reach: Those colleges which have a little bit more acceptance rate than the earlier, ones and a little bit your profile matches up to, but not quite. Logically you don’t have much shot, but sometimes it may be your shot.
Target: Those colleges which have a reasonable acceptance rate your profile fits, and your profile is great for these colleges. Your SAT, and ECA all are up to the mark for these colleges.
Safety: Those colleges that require a lot less than what you have, and have a pretty high acceptance rate. Well, unfortunately, if you’re an international student seeking a huge amount of financial aid, there technically is not any safety school for you. But still, when making a list, consider the earlier criteria for a safety-not-safety list.
If you apply to 20 colleges (you can apply to more if you can monitor all of them, and that’s your choice, here we’re taking 20 as an example), your list should have 5 safeties, 9 targets, and then 5 reaches, 1 far reach, or 4 reaches, 2 far reach, according to your dream, choice, and profile.
3rd Case: ED EA REA RD 📌
After making the list, decide specific actions (i.e. ED, REA, EA, RD) for colleges.
ED (Early Decision): You apply early (November), get a decision early (December) and it’s a binding application. So, if the college accepts you and meets your financial need, you’ll have to attend it no matter what. Otherwise, they’ll blacklist you, in some cases blacklist your high school, and technically speaking, they even can sue you (because you signed the binding paper). The pros of ED is that many colleges have twice, even thrice of acceptance rate compared to Regular Decision. You can do only one ED, as it is binding, but you can do some other EA along with it, and then RD obviously, but if you get accepted to your ED with proper aid, you’ll have to withdraw other applications.
REA (Restricted Early Action, for some colleges it is named single choice early action): You apply early (November), get a decision early (December) and it’s not binding. But this time, you can’t apply early (neither ED nor EA) to any other colleges, that’s why it’s a single choice. You can do RD obviously. It doesn’t have that much acceptance rate increase as compared to ED, by the way.
EA (Early Action): You apply early (November-December), and get a decision early (December-January), but it’s not binding and not a single choice. The acceptance rate will increase slightly but not as much as ED.
RD (Regular Decision): It’s our average Joe. You apply in regular time (January-February), and get a decision in regular time (March-April).
ED-2: Some colleges have policies like ED 1 and ED 2. ED 1 is identical to ED. ED 2 is basically the same, except for the timeline. Here you apply by January and get a decision by February.
If you feel the REA offering school is your dream, go ahead. But if you don’t feel that way, it’s wise to do 1 ED (which is a dream school or nearly a dream school, or at least you won’t regret going there), and do several EAs.
4th Case: CommonApp, Scoir (Coalition), ApplyTexas 📌
CommonApp and Scoir are two different websites, where you can apply to many colleges to create a profile, where you basically put your soul. CommonApp has a larger collection of colleges, but you can’t apply to more than 20 colleges through CommonApp. Scoir has a smaller collection, but you can apply as many as you want.
You’ll fill out academics, extra-curriculars, awards, and essays, and invite teachers and counselors to provide Letters of Recommendation. Through ApplyTexas, you can apply to Texas state’s colleges.
Other than these, you might have to apply to some colleges through their own website, but that’s just a few, or none, according to your college list.
5th Case: Fee Waivers 📌
Through CommonApp, you can apply for a fee waiver for applications, the same with Scoir. If you apply another way, email the colleges. Most colleges give out fee waivers. And those colleges which don’t give fee waivers, most of them don’t give proper aid, so research more about that, if you need a huge amount of financial aid.
Email colleges for Duolingo fee waivers when it comes to English proficiency tests, if you are not taking IELTS (they won’t give fee waivers for IELTS). Email colleges for CSS profile Fee waivers.
6th Chapter: Academics 📌
If you’re still in high school, focus on your school exams. US colleges require School exams grades too, along with board results.
When you’re applying, collect 6 transcripts: 9th, 10th, SSC/O, 11th, 12th, and A Levels. If you can’t collect all of them, collect at least 4: 9th, SSC/O, 11th, and A levels, most of the time these work just fine.
7th Chapter: Standardized Test 📌
SAT and ACT are the two standardized tests. Take one of them. SAT is out of 1600, and ACT is out of 36. Both exams have English and Maths.
SAT 1400 or ACT 31: Good one, but can be improved.
SAT 1450 or ACT 33: Great
SAT 1500+ or ACT 34+: Passed a certain threshold, won’t have to worry about it anymore.
If you get less than 1400 in SAT or less than 31 in ACT, you should consider retaking, if you want a huge amount of financial aid. SAT helps you get merit scholarships which ultimately helps colleges to meet your financial need by adding need-based aid.
8th Chapter: English Proficiency Test (EPT) 📌
It’s just a requirement, and it doesn’t play any role in getting in or getting scholarships. For example, you need to be a male to attend Notre Dame College or Dhaka College, and you need to be a female to attend Viqarunnisa or Holy Cross College. Does being a male increase your chances at NDC or DC, or does being a female increase your chances of getting into Viqarunnisa or HCC? It doesn’t, and in the same way, the English Proficiency Test is just a proof that you can communicate in English. Nothing Else.
If you are only thinking about the US, Duolingo is the safe choice, because you can get fee waivers and most colleges happily accepts Duolingo. If you have plans on applying to Europe or Asia, you can consider taking IELTS or TOEFL. For Duolingo you can take that being at home, for the other two you’ll have to take those in a center, and maybe register a week or two earlier, while Duolingo doesn’t require that. For IELTS result, you’ll have to wait 13 days, whereas that’s only 2 days for Duolingo. Whatever suits your interest and priority, you can choose what to take. Visit particular college website for the requirements i.e. how much score you’ll need.
9th Chapter: Extra-Curriculars aka ECAs 📌
Do what you love, what you are passionate about. Without passion, you won’t work very much in that, and AOs (Admission officers) love when you do what you love. They love commitments, and so do some of the main activities for years. It shows interest, passion, and personality.
Don’t do anything because someone else did it. Yes, obviously you can see others’ profiles and get inspired, but don’t just do it because they did it. Do it because you love to do it. If any parents are reading this, please let your kids do whatever they love, don’t restrict them to just academics.
Do leadership activities, every college loves that, no matter what your major is, or what your goal is. Leadership is a great way to make your profile stand out.
Do some unique activities if they mean something special to you. Don’t do unique things just because you have to, rather find uniqueness in your favorite activity and demonstrate that.
Don’t tell, Show: you probably heard this phrase a lot if you are in this process for some time. To expand, don’t just tell them that you did it, rather show them by using action words, and numerical values. Don’t write full sentences while completing the CommonApp Activity section as there are only 150 characters for each activity.
Special Addition: Spiked VS Well-Rounded Profile
When it comes to ECA profiles, there are two kinds of profiles.
Well-Rounded: This kind of student has a vast number of ECAs but all are in different fields, and maybe one or two directly relates to their intended major.
Spiked: This kind of student also has different ECAs but most of them are in the same field, and possibly related to their intended major’s field, which creates the idea that they are really enthusiastic about what they do and what they want to do.
Now, there are no visible problems with any of this kind, but speculations are that maybe the AOs like the Spiked profile because they want enthusiastic students, though there are other forms of speculations that colleges sometimes do prefer the well-rounded ones, who are still figuring themselves out and weighing their options.
The very selective colleges tend to have student bodies with more spiked students than well-rounded according to one survey. Anyway, there is no explicit announcement that they always prefer the spiked ones. Maybe if you could show your viability through your well-rounded profile, it’s worth taking a shot.
10th Case: Awards/Honors 📌
Popular belief is that Awards have to be extracurricular related, but it’s not actually true. Awards can be about your academics too, even CommonApp added the ‘awards’ part in the ‘academics’ section.
Mostly you need to have 5 mentionable awards, International and National, and others also may work sometimes.
11th Case: ESSAYS 📌
Craft your essays early, i.e. start your personal essay 4 months earlier than the early deadline. You’ll need to write more essays later, i.e. different supplements and ‘why us’ essays. Many colleges don’t require those, but personal essays are required everywhere.
Essays portray your personality, AOs learn about your personal interest, choices, experience, and overall you by reading your essay. So make it really personal. As Alex Smirnov (was an international applicant, now probably a Kenyon College Senior or Graduate) said in his 3-years-earlier YouTube video (watch me get rejected from every college) said 3, “Rip Your Fu*king Heart out and Squeeze The Blood onto the Paper.” It definitely works because it makes your essay super unique.
For more essay suggestions, you can go to College Essay Guy, you can even submit your essays for review there, and to college vine.
12th Case: Letters of Recommendation 📌
Ask your 2 teachers for teacher recommendation letters, and your school counselor for 1 recommendation letter. Ask EARLY! You can’t stress yourself about it, so ask in August, and collect by September.
Ask those teachers who know you well, and will write about you and your personality in a very specific way. Of course, your teachers have to be enthusiastic about it too.
If you believe an employer recommendation and a peer recommendation would help, ask your employer and peer (your friend, cousin, sibling – anyone) too, early. These are optional, except some colleges do require the peer one.
13th Chapter: Financial (Need-Based) Aid Application (CSS Profile and ISFAA)
As international students can’t fill out the FAFSA, we are not going to talk about that here. Generally after the deadline of the application, there still remains 15 days for the financial aid application deadline, though there are some exceptions. So, research your college website to know the specific deadline.
CSS Profile: Go to College Board, and create your account. Then log in to the CSS profile. It is an application where you provide your family’s income in a very accurate way. Pro Tip: Sit with your parents/guardian while having their tax return paper or the employer certificate with them; this will save you a lot of time.
Now, the CSS profile does require a fee to submit. So, email your college asking for a fee waiver. Some colleges provide it, some colleges don’t. Those who don’t provide CSS Profile fee waivers will ask you to submit the ISFAA.
ISFAA (International Student Financial Aid Application): An alternative to CSS profile. Though the main part is similar, the interface is different as it is a pdf and requires a lot less info than the CSS Profile.
Some colleges don’t give CSS Profile fee waivers and don’t allow submitting ISFAA. In their cases, you’ll have to submit the CSS profile by paying $16. There are exceptions though, many colleges will tell you that they’ll ask for CSS after you’ve been shortlisted or selected. So, email the colleges you’re applying to.
14th Chapter: Other Scholarships Application
Some colleges have merit and other supplementary scholarships in addition to need-based aid. Some of those don’t require any separate application, but some of them do.
Grind the college websites to keep track of those separate application deadlines, and apply to those particular colleges before the scholarship deadline. Some other colleges won’t have any separate application but sometimes they do have a scholarship priority deadline for application. Don’t miss those priority deadlines.
15th Chapter: Interviews
Many colleges have forms on their website, if you submit those forms they’ll take an interview of yours even before applying. Fill out the forms of the colleges you’re applying to.
Those who don’t have such policies, email them for interviews. Many will accept the request, but some colleges don’t give out interviews if they don’t feel that way, and there you’ll have to wait if they call you for an interview. By the way, not getting interviews does not mean that you’ll be rejected, getting interviews definitely helps though, if you can make the best out of it.
Interview questions are very simple; about you, your activities, hobbies, and your interest. Just be honest, and explain where it may be needed. The average interview length is 30-40 minutes, some may go longer than that.
16th Case: Portfolios and Supplementary Documents
Most Colleges give out the opportunities to provide some supplementary documents and portfolios. Grab this opportunity! Photography, writing, art, any video content, whatever you do, submit them. They’ll evaluate those as a part of your application.
17th and The Last Case: Demonstrating Interest
While you’re applying to colleges, research if those colleges keep records of demonstrated interest or not. If it doesn’t then it’s your wish if you’re going to attend the virtual sessions. But if they do keep records, it’s best to join virtual sessions, ask them questions and prove to them that you’re interested in that college.
To conclude, if you feel that it’s worth applying, go ahead! See what happens! Best of luck.
