8 steps for a standard application to an American university

Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Khuong, an independent consultant in Minneapolis, Minnesota, guides you through 8 mandatory steps when preparing your application to study in the US.

Common App

This is the website you use to apply to colleges. Nearly all of the top 100 schools in the US use this website. In addition to the Common App, some schools use the Coalition App, ApplyTexas, or have their own application systems.

On the Common App, you will fill in personal information including name, date of birth, school you are attending, information about your parents and siblings... When you click on a certain school, you will receive more specific questions such as what major you want to study; do you have any family members who have studied here; do you want to apply for financial aid?

This is also where you submit your primary and secondary essays, letters of recommendation, and high school transcripts. The Common App is like a one-stop shop for all the information colleges need to know about you.

Transcript

Students will submit transcripts from grades 9 to 12 because high school in the US begins in grade 9. Students in grade 12 should submit transcripts from grades 9 to 11, and then gradually supplement them during the application process. If the school does not provide transcripts in English, students must have them translated and notarized.

Make a list of schools

Normally, students apply to 10-12 schools. But last year, many schools dropped the SAT requirement, so many people applied to 20 schools. However, you should aim for 10-15 schools, and if you have time, apply to more. Don't focus on quantity and ignore the quality of your application.

In these 10-15 schools, divide them into three groups: Dream, Reach, and Safety. The Dream group are the schools that are extremely difficult to get into, and you are applying just to try your luck. All schools in the Ivy League or in the top 20 are Dream. The Reach group are schools that are a bit out of your reach, beyond your academic ability. The Safety group is almost certain to get you into.

It’s not easy to categorize each group, but you can find the average GPA (grade point average) and SAT score of each school to compare with your ability. If your academic performance is equal to or better than the average, it may be a Safety school. Otherwise, it is Reach or Dream.

In addition, usually a school's pass rate of 60% or higher is Safety, lower will be in the Dream and Reach groups. However, each person is different so these are just some suggestions.

Main essay

The main essay, also known as the Personal Statement or the Common App essay, is a single, 650-word essay that you submit to the schools you are applying to. The main essay requires you to share a story or stories about yourself. The purpose is to show the admissions committee who you are, your personality, your ambitions, and your life.

There are a wide variety of ideas you can choose from about yourself. For example, one student described daily activities such as waking up, caring for her younger sibling, and going with her mother to work to tinker with lab equipment. Through these simple activities, the reader gets a sense of what is important to this student, what she wants to study, what she wants to do in the future, and why. In another example, a student wrote about how past events inspired her to pursue Electrical Engineering.

If you're still confused, just type in "US college essay" and you'll find examples, from essays written for Harvard to ones you've never heard of. The writing process typically takes 1-2 months and involves at least 5 drafts.

Sub-essay

Some schools, especially those in the top 70, will require you to write an additional essay. The higher the ranking, the more writing is required.

For example, Princeton University requires applicants to write six different supplementary essays, while Depauw University does not require any. Each supplementary essay is typically 100-300 words long, with a variety of topics. The most common topics include "Why do you want to study at X school?", "Why do you want to study medicine?", "How will you contribute to the development of your local, national, or global community by studying at this school?".

Some schools even give applicants a quote and ask them to write a review.

The supplementary essay is just as important as the main essay because it shows the admissions committee how much effort you put into your application. So, if you wait until the last minute to write a supplementary essay, and it is not of good quality, the admissions committee will easily notice.

Letter of recommendation

Letters of recommendation are usually written by the applicant’s teacher. In this letter, the teacher shares about the applicant’s academic performance, activities, personality, and ambitions. The letter can be 1-2 pages long.

You will need letters of recommendation from at least two teachers. If you are applying to a top 20 school, you may need letters from three teachers.

English Certificate (TOEFL/ IELTS/ DET)

IELTS and TOEFL are accepted at all US universities. In addition, the Duolingo English Test (DET) has become popular in 2020 due to Covid-19 because it allows test takers to take the test at home, is shorter, and costs less. Many schools have accepted DET, including prestigious schools like Cornell University.

However, you should still check on the school's website to see if they accept DET or not. Some schools only temporarily accept DET in the last application year, and may drop it in the following years because it is too easy and too short compared to TOEFL/IELTS, or not difficult enough to test the applicant's English level.

When taking a certification exam, you only need to achieve one score. For example, if you have already scored 7.0 or 7.5 on the IELTS, you do not need to retake the test because at that level, you can apply to masters and doctoral programs in the US. The admissions committee cares about your English ability to sit in a lecture hall, talk to professors, and debate with other students, not how advanced you are.

Financial documents

In the US, there are two types of schools: need-based financial aid and no financial aid.

In the first type, schools will give you money based on your ability to pay. For example, a school has a total cost of 65,000 USD/year but your family can only pay 20,000 USD, which means you need the school to support 45,000 USD/year to be able to attend. To know if the family can only pay 20,000 USD/year, the school will have to analyze the financial situation of the parents such as personal income, assets, annual expenses.

Applicants will self-report these details on the CSS Profile or the International Student Financial Aid Application (ISFAA), along with supporting documents such as tax documents, payslips, and bank statements for the last three months.

You only need to complete and submit one of the two procedures above. When submitting CSS Profile, you have to pay 16-25 USD (380,000-590,000 VND) to each school. ISFAA is free so students from poor families can choose this procedure if the school allows it.

If you do not submit this document, you will not receive financial aid. Instead, you may only receive a merit-based scholarship.

Second are the schools that only offer scholarships, usually public schools like Indiana University - Bloomington, University of Massachusetts - Amherst, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities. When applying to these schools, you can skip the CSS/ISFAA step. You will still receive money, but not as much as schools that offer financial aid.

Nguyen Ngoc Khuong

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