Your application best describes you as a person - convince universities to accept you.
It is important to remember that every college has different deadlines, requirements, or even application processes.
The four most popular application options are:
- Regular Decision (RD) - This is the most common deadline option and the majority of universities only accept application as RD. Commonly, the deadline to send your application to universities is December/January, and the university's response will be released in March or early April.
- Early Action (EA) - Students who choose early action application will have to submit documents much earlier than students who chose regular decision, yet this decision is not binding. The decisions about EA admissions are released earlier in January and February.
- Early Decision (ED) - This option is similar to Early Action - students apply earlier and receive their responses earlier. The main difference is that this admission is binding. The student is expected to enroll in the university and should withdraw all of their other applications (unless there are special circumstances, but this is not common).
- Rolling Admissions (RA) - Students can apply whenever they want before a final deadline, but will receive their response a couple of weeks after the application.
Each type of admission has advantages and disadvantages, so choose one that best fits your goals. For example, early decision is binding. When accepted through this option, students have to withdraw applications from all other universities and enroll in the university. In this way, students gain an advantage in showing the university that they truly want to attend - at the same time, students have to be fully conscious of this decision.
What do you need to apply to college?
- School Report - This document describes your high school to the university. This report is especially important for international students and needs to be written in English. Our team will provide you with templates and guidance on how to create an outstanding school report.
- Grades - Every student has to provide grades from their history. If you are an international student, we can help you translate your grades, certificates, and grading scale/system from your country in your application.
- Personal Statement - This essay will describe you as a person to the university. For more information, visit our tab Application Essay.
- Supplemental Essays The majority of universities ask additional questions that require essays as responses. For more information, visit our tab Application Essay.
- SAT - These standardized tests assess your knowledge and abilities to comprehend information. To learn more, visit our tab SAT.
- Recommendation Letters Most universities require 2 or more letters of recommendation to gain better insight into your academic career. One letter must be from your college counselor/academic advisor, and one to two additional letters are required from teachers, mentors, coaches, or any person who can speak to you as a student (this cannot be a family member or friend, however). Check with your university’s requirements.
- TOEFL (international students only) - International students that do not live in an English speaking country or did not attend English school must provide proof of English language understanding. TOEFL is the most popular English certification exam in the USA that tests students specifically in terms of studying at English speaking colleges. For more information, visit our tab International Students.
Application Systems
- Common App The most popular and common website that is used by thousands of students that want to apply to universities. Creation of the account is free and majority of universities use this system.
- Coalition Application The second most popular portal. Coalition is a little bit different - it is important not to apply two times through varying applications (e.g. one from Common App AND one from Coalition Application) to the same university. Choose only one!
- Individual universities like the University of California or MIT A couple of prestigious universities created their own systems that allow them to design the application process and the types of questions they need. For example, the University of California does not require a personal statement but asks four personal insight questions that are shorter essays.
College Application Planning
It is essential to properly plan your application process and create a list of all potential universities that you will apply to. This list should be based on your confidence level of being admitted - a good system is choosing “A, B, and C schools”:
A: Highly competitive (“long-shot”) schools where admittance is not expected, but it is still a chance for students to try.
B: Colleges that may be a little tougher to be admitted to, but the student still has a good chance of this. Not guaranteed, however.
C: Colleges where students have a high, almost certain chance of admittance.
Our team will help you start as early as possible to create your list of universities, plan out all requirements of your application, know what SAT/ACT scores will satisfy your universities and how much time you should spend on essays. We will modify and revise these times through your progress together.
How can our team help you?
Advantageous Education tutors will assist you in:
- Creating a list of schools and narrow them down.
- Finding majors that best suit a student’s interests.
- Finding and connecting students with professionals from the same dream majors.
- Making sure students keep up with deadlines.
- Creating application accounts and filling out your applications on application websites.
- Maximizing your chances to become admitted to universities.
