In most cases, students can still put together a great application even if they start the process in Year 12. However, this puts a lot of pressure on you if you want to get into the best institutions. Marks are really important, and you don’t want to spend time on research in Year 12 that could’ve occurred earlier. In short, the earlier you start the research process the better, as good decisions can be made early, that then have a cascade effect on the quality achieved of the various components of the application process. Year 7 is probably too early to start your research; Year 8 is the earliest we would recommend. The main reason for this recommendation is that elective choice into year 9 has some bearing on the ultimate quality of the final application, as does grades from Year 9. Beyond this, Year 9/10 is a great time to do the groundwork with your research – and this is a great time to reach out to a Futures Advisor for assistance.

The US system doesn’t mind if you are still experimenting with what you might like to study – it is possible to choose more generalist degrees – in fact the US system is known for this. (However, the better institutions in the USA still want you to have a relatively high degree of clarity of where you see yourself in say 5 years) 

The UK system on the other hand requires you to be very specific with what you want to study, and you will generally not be able to swap majors or degrees easily – in fact, for the better institutions, you need to demonstrate that you are a bit of a mini expert in the degree you want to study as part of the application process. The UK system suits students who are very academic, whilst the US system suits students who are well rounded between academics, extra curriculars and sports. Finally, students who want to ultimately study an occupationally specific degree like law or medicine, may find it easier to follow this path by studying a more general course in the USA, followed by a post grad back in Australia (as one needs to think about the ease of registration for such degrees when converting back to Australia) – also, medicine courses have government imposed caps for overseas students in the UK which make entry extremely competitive and difficult for international applicants

In the USA, extra curriculars are vital. You generally will have the ability to nominate 10 ‘activities’ that you have taken part in, ranging from simple to more elaborate endeavours, and although you don’t need to fill out all 10, for more prestigious institutions, it is advisable to have at least 10 to work with. Also keep in mind that admissions officers will consider the type of school you go to – if you go to a school like Pymble where lots of extracurricular activities are on offer, you would be expected to do more than a student who goes to a school without such opportunities. Sport can also be considered under the umbrella of extra curriculars, and if there is one factor which is as helpful as academics (or sometimes more important than academics) to help you get into the best institutions in the USA, then being good or really good in a sport can help you immensely (and this does not always mean you need to reach nationals, although that would of course be helpful). 

In the UK, extra curriculars, for the better institutions, actually don’t matter much. They will help you a little as far as your ability to comment on the transdisciplinary skills you have worked on over time, but beyond this, it is your pure academics that count (which includes the personal statement and teacher reference, and how they talk to your academic ability). Super curriculars matter much more than extra curriculars for the UK, so it is advisable that students interested in the UK understand what is meant by super curriculars.

For a top institution, you should expect to have to negotiate the following application components:

o   Application via UCAS

o   Personal Statement

o   Teacher reference

o   Admissions exams in addition to the HSC

o   Interview(s)

o   Submission of extra written components

o   Submission of grades and transcripts

o   Demonstration through all the above of immersion in super curriculars

As a rule of thumb, UK courses at some of the more competitive institutions cost approximately 25,000 pounds per year (some courses will be more, some will be less), and living expenses will be minimum 10,000 pounds per year. Unfortunately, there are almost no scholarships, but relatively small grants can be obtained from some colleges.

 For a top institution, you should expect to have to negotiate the following application components:

o   Application via Common Ap or similar (sometimes direct application is acceptable)

o   Essay and supplemental essays

o   Teacher and Councellor recommendations

o   ‘Optional’ Sat’s or Act’s

o   Interview

o   Submission of academic transcript for Years 9-12, plus official documents upon completion of the HSC (including ATAR transcript)

o   Demonstration through all the above of immersion in extra curriculars

Financial aid is a lot more attractive for students considering study in the USA, in comparison to the UK.

Most US colleges are ‘need-aware’ – this means they will consider you and your family’s ability to pay when considering you for an offer – therefore, unfortunately for these colleges, if you were only prepared/able to contribute so much money to the cost of your studies, you may not get an offer because of this. However, if you do get an offer to one of these institutions despite this (which is entirely possible), you will likely get an attractive grant. For example, at Stanford, a great need aware institution, if your family earns less than approximately $US 125,000 per year, you will be paying NOTHING towards tuition (should you get an offer) – you are left with just accommodation and board costs to account for. As your family earns more, you are expected to contribute more, but not the full cost of the course (universities have a cost calculator on their website to enable you to work out what your family’s contribution would be). Here is another example of a need aware college, Columbia University: as a starting point, if your family earns approximately $US 100,000 per year, the average grant given would bring course tuition costs down to $US 20,000 per year (as your family earns more, your tuition costs increase from there). You may already be thinking that this sounds cheaper than you thought was possible.

Now, the exciting part: ‘need blind’ institutions will not deny you an offer based on your ability to pay – they give out offers purely based on merit. At Harvard, with a family income of approximately $US 150,000, you would typically pay 0-10% of tuition costs, a little over $US 20,000 per year (pretty good). As your family earns more, you contribute more to tuition costs as per their calculator. For international students, all colleges are need aware except for these 5 who are need blind: Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Amherst, MIT (Brown is transitioning to need blind) – they are your best go-to institutions in the US, from a financial aid perspective. Other generous USA institutions (for international students) are Stanford, Wellesley, Duke, Trinity, Williams.

Moreover, scholarships are available for international students at USA institutions – one site amongst many others to research is: International Student Scholarship Search & International Financial Aid (iefa.org)

For the UK, this is an easy answer – academics! (ATAR, Bands, grades, ranks, admissions tests).

For the USA, it is not so simple. Perhaps surprisingly, athletic ability is arguably the most important factor, closely followed by academic performance (ATAR, ranks, grades, SATS’s etc). Extra curriculars, the essay, the supplement essay, and teacher recommendations all play an important part too.

For the most competitive institutions in the UK, you really need to aim for 98.5+ ATAR (a slightly lower ATAR will still be attractive for other competitive UK institutions).

For the USA, it is little more complicated. The simple answer is the higher the ATAR the better; but due to the various components put forward in the application, and the importance of extra curriculars, a lower ATAR could still get you into a great institution. An ATAR of around 95 could get you into a fantastic institution, as long as the other components of your application are received well (eg an SAT result of close to or even exceeding 1500 would help immensely, even in the current test optional environment). Even an ATAR closer to 90 could be enough for some of the competitive institutions; the great thing about the US system is that is generally worth trying your luck, because it is difficult to know how low your ATAR can go before you don’t have a chance.