Tips for Applying to US Colleges

Editor's note: Here at VOA Learning English we get alot of questions from our audience about highereducation in the United States. So we visited severaluniversities and spoke with students and administratorsabout your questions.

The first school we visited was American University. It is a private universityin Washington, D.C. More than 70 percent of its students take part in studyabroad programs. About 13 percent of its students are from other countries.Julie Soper is the Assistant Director of International Admissions. She metwith VOA Learning English to answer some of your questions about theapplication process. Click on the video to hear Ms. Soper in her own words. She is speaking at regular speed, so you may need to repeat the video a fewtimes.

Q: How can students prepare themselves for study in the US?

A: One of the fantastic things about the US educational system is that youhave many, many choices. But one of the flip sides of that is that thosemany, many choices mean that every school has their own set ofrequirements. So getting that jump start, making sure that you have enoughtime to gather all of the requirements from each different school is reallygoing to set the whole tone for your application process. So in terms ofbeing prepared, starting as early possible is what I would recommend overall.

Q: What advice do you have for admissions essays?

A: I think that one of the things that’s hard to adjust to with the Americaneducational system is that on our applications, we want you to be asindividual as possible, which can be pretty time-consuming.  So, making surethat you—for any of your essays—that you are using something that isoriginal, something that you haven’t used in other school work. Somethingthat you’re sending just to AU in terms of a writing supplement or an extraresume or something like that—making it personalized for each school issomething that I think is different for the US and I think can be a stumblingblock for some students.

Some cultures have a hard time—you know stepping into and owning thatrole of, you know, really talking about their accomplishments. And I think thatcan be not just a cultural thing, but just an effect of being, you know, 17, 18years old and not really having learned to own what are your strengths. Sothat is something that can be a challenge for any college applicant.

Q: What is a mistake you've noticed in admission essays?

A: From time to time, unfortunately, there’s, you know, one or two everyapplication season where they’ve forgotten to proofread effectively andcaught those, you know, little mistakes. And they’re little in terms of, youknow, it was just one word, but it can make all the difference in yourapplication.

In terms of the essay, I think that it should be noted that we’re not lookingnecessarily for something tragic or traumatic or just earth-shattering. Notevery student has access to that story. Not every student has had somethingearth-shattering happen to them and that’s okay.

I always encourage students to just speak from the heart and tell the storythat they’re familiar with. Be reflective, think critically about their experiencesthat they have had and connect that to an academic experience and whattheir goals are. So, it’s not so much about the content of the story, but reallygetting into the mechanics of the story. Grammatically,  your vocabulary has to be strong and it has to be fluid writing. But also, just communicatingwhatever story you have effectively.

Q: What kind of students are American universities looking for?

A: We’ve got these 4,000 universities and colleges in the US and there canbe a big range of what each college or university is looking for. Somecolleges, some universities are looking for a very simple equation. They’resaying, you know, if you’ve got these grades and you’ve got these test scoresthen you’re in. Other schools, such as the one I work for, are a little bit morecomplicated and a little more comprehensive in their outlook on the student.They really want to not only find somebody who is going to be academicallysuccessful, but somebody who has done the research and knows that—that this school is going to be a good fit and is going to really dovetail into theirgoals--somebody who is thinking critically about where they want to be andhow they want to get there.

So, conveying that in the application, that you have done the research and that you know that this school is going to help you achieve your great goals, that is definitely something that we are seeking in an application beyond thebasics of academic success.  

* This story was produced for VOA Learning English by Adam Brock.