US College Application Process—Long and Daunting? YES.
Applying to college as an international student, especially in the US can be...complex. Here’s my attempt at simplifying college applications.
(Disclaimer: I haven’t considered every factor. I’m just going over the basics)
Step 1: Shortlisting Colleges
First, you’ll need to figure out where you’re applying. Sounds easy, right? Wrong. Welcome to the land of safeties, targets, and reaches—a little game where you gamble your future based on acceptance rates and gut feelings.
Safeties: These are your comfort schools. Think of them as the warm, fuzzy blanket of your list—colleges with a 60%+ acceptance rate, where your grades and test scores make you the overachiever of the class.
Targets: These schools are like blind dates with potential. Acceptance rates hover around 20%–60%, and your stats are solidly in the middle of the pack. It’s a coin toss, but hey, you like a little thrill, don’t you?
Reaches: Ah, the dream schools. Ivy Leagues. MIT. Stanford. Places with acceptance rates so low they make your chances of winning the lottery look optimistic. These are for the ambitious, the hopeful, and the slightly masochistic.
By the end of this step, your final list might be as short as one or as ambitious as 20+, depending on how much you enjoy writing essays and burning through $70 per application. (Pro tip: Fee waivers are a thing, but we’ll talk about that later.)
Step 2: Choosing deadlines
Now comes the real fun: deciding when to apply.
There are four main options here, each with its own quirks:
Regular Decision (RD)
This is the most basic option. Deadlines usually fall in January, and you’ll hear back by March or April. No frills, no strings, just a painfully long wait. Perfect if you want extra time to whip your essays into shape or recover from a tragic 11th-grade slump.
Early Action (EA)
Due in November, with results by mid-December, EA lets you apply early without committing to a school. It’s a bit like saying, “I like you, but I’m keeping my options open.” Acceptance rates are usually higher, but don’t be fooled—legacy kids and recruited athletes skew the numbers.
Early Decision (ED)
This one’s for the brave. ED is binding, meaning if you get in, you’re going. No take-backs. It’s risky, but it shows the college you’re obsessed with them. Just make sure it’s a mutual obsession, or you’ll be stuck in a one-sided relationship.
Restrictive Early Action (REA)
Think of this as EA with a side of possessiveness. Fancy schools like Yale, Stanford, and Princeton use this method to make sure you’re only applying early to them. It’s non-binding, so you can still break up if they accept you, but it’s like saying, “I’m seeing you first, but no promises.”
Step 3: Filling out the Common App
Now that you’ve decided where to apply and when to apply, you have to decide how to apply. Most of the colleges are affiliated with a college application portal called Common App. There are also a few colleges that have their own website where you can fill out their application. This process is quite simple; you just enter everything you know.
Profile: Who are you? Where do you live? What’s your star sign? (Okay, not that last one. Yet.)
Family: Tell us about your parents. Are they cool? Do they have degrees?
Education: Brag about your school, your awards, and how your curriculum is so much harder than everyone else’s.
Testing: SAT, ACT, APs, A-levels, TOEFL… a bunch of acronyms to prove you’re smart.
Activities: Describe your life in 150 characters per activity. Good luck fitting “Led a grassroots campaign to save the planet” into that tiny box.
Writing: Pour your heart out in the Common App essay, then casually toss in a few “extenuating circumstances” in the additional information section.
Courses & Grades: Dig up every grade you’ve earned since 9th grade and pray no one asks about that one physics test you bombed.
Once you’ve added your colleges, brace yourself for supplemental essays. Some schools will ask for one; others will ask for five. While demure schools finish up with, “Why X University”, others, like the University of Chicago, will hit you with wild prompts like, “What’s your favorite odd number and why?”
Other questions might ask about how you created a community for yourself and how you demonstrated leadership. These prompts probe for your personality while giving you an opportunity to showcase your creative writing skills, and your interest and commitment to the school you’re applying to.
You’ll need to address how your activities shaped you while connecting it to how you will contribute to the college. You’ll have to dig deep into college websites, research professors, programs, and resources to tailor your answers.
Step 4: Hit submit?
Think you’re done once you hit submit? Ha! Cute. After submitting, you’ll need to:
Add your school counselor and teachers to the “Recommenders and FERPA” section.
Check your email obsessively for login details to each college’s portal.
Send any missing documents because of course something will be missing.
Step 5: Now...we wait.
I think that’s pretty self-explanatory...
(Pro tip: Unsubscribe from the mountain of marketing emails. Or better yet, create a separate email account just for applications.)
That’s it. Thank you. Bye
PS:
Let’s be real—this process is absurd. How is a teenager supposed to research colleges, maintain grades, save the world with extracurriculars, get international awards, write papers with college professors, write supplemental essays, do school assignments, ace the SAT, AP tests, A-level exams, school exams, AND stay sane?
It’s okay to feel overwhelmed because it is overwhelming.
The consoling news is that help is everywhere. Reddit, CollegeVine, admissions officers, and even alumni on LinkedIn are just a message away. Don’t hesitate to reach out. And remember, you’re not alone.
Take a deep breath. You’ve got this.
All the best!
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