What Not To Do

When Applying to
US/UK Universities
The Most Common Mistakes Students in
Indonesia Make - And How You Can Avoid Them!

A CRIMSON EDUCATION PUBLICATION

Overview
If you’re applying to a top US or UK
university, you probably already know
what you need to do to get a foot in
the door: secure top grades, craft a
winning extracurricular profile, and
write some stellar essays.

Sounds pretty straightforward, right?

Think again!

Unfortunately, all too often we see

highly qualified students encounter
the same pitfalls over and over again,
jeopardizing their chances of
admission to top universities.

In this guide, we’ve outlined “what not

to do” when applying to top US/UK
universities. Hopefully by the time you
click “submit”, you’ll be well on your
way to your dream school!
Requirements
To start with, these are the basic requirements you’ll need to check off your list
when applying to universities in the US and UK.
US Admissions Requirements
Whether you’re dreaming of studying
Computer Science at Stanford or
Economics at NYU, the US has countless
world-class university options available to
you. Read on to find out what admissions
officers at top US universities are looking
for, as well as the deadlines to keep in mind
as you apply!
Academic Requirements
+ School Grades (A-Level, IB or GPA)
+ School Rank (how you rank
academically, compared to your
cohort)
+ SAT or ACT scores
+ SAT Subject Tests
+ Teacher Recommendations
Non-Academic Requirements
+ Extracurricular activities
+ Competitions, awards and leadership
positions
+ Personal initiatives
Common Application
Essays & Interviews
+ Crafting your story
+ Contextualising your grades and
growth
+ Demonstrating your fit with the
school you are applying to
Dates to keep in mind:
Standardised Testing
+ ACT: typically held in February, April,
June, July, September and October
SAT: typically held in March, May,
+ October and December
SAT Subject Tests: typically held in
+ May, June, August, October,
November and December.
Common Application
+ Early Action / Early Decision Deadline:
Mid-October to Mid-November (1
November for many)
+ University of California Deadline:
November 30
+ Regular Decision / Early Decision II
Deadline: Early January
Interviews
Interview dates are college specific;
importantly, US interviews are rarely
compulsory, and are usually conducted
by alumni who have not otherwise
seen your application - they are meant
to be a “get to know you” session that
add an extra dimension to your
application!
UK Admissions Requirements Dates to keep in mind:
With hundreds of reputed universities
UCAS Application
amongst its ranks, it is no surprise that the
UK is such an attractive destination for
+ 15th October - Oxbridge, Medicine and
Veterinary Science application
most students aiming to study abroad.
Keep reading to find out what UK
+ deadlines 15th January - all other
UCAS applications
universities look for and what deadlines to
remember!
Oxbridge and other
Academic Requirements admissions tests
+ School Grades (A-Level, IB or GPA) + Oxbridge: generally early November
+ Admissions Tests + Other law / medicine admissions tests
(LNAT/BMAT/UCAT/Oxbridge entrance run from July-November
exams etc)
+ Teacher Recommendation
Interview
+ Oxbridge interviews as well as those
Non-Academic Requirements for medicine, and certain CS/STEM
+ Extracurricular activities courses are generally held in
+ Competitions, awards and leadership December
positions + Location: UK, SG or online
(increasingly so, given travel
Personal Statement & restrictions in place due to COVID-19)
Interviews
+ Demonstrating competency and
curiosity about your intended field of
study
+ Putting your achievements in
context
THE “WHAT NOT TO DO” LIST

Mistakes to Avoid
#1 Rushing your Applications
Perhaps the biggest mistake applicants make is
thinking they can rush their applications to finish
them in a few weeks. The truth is that the
strongest applicants spend months carefully
refining their application strategy and drafts - and
the very best applicants know that the path to a
top university is years in the making.

Common Myths and Mistakes

“The essays won’t take long -

at most, just a week.”
A good application essay is carefully
thought out, well crafted and strongly
articulated - with no room for mistakes.
Usually, it takes students several rounds of
brainstorming to even come up with their
final essay idea - and from there, it takes at
least 7-10 drafts for an essay to reach its
final form.

Most students imagine that their

university essays will be similar to a writing
assignment at school when in fact, it is a
deeply reflective exercise that will
communicate to admissions officers
exactly why you deserve that coveted offer
from your dream university. The
application essay is quite different to most
essays you will write in school, and will
require a great deal of thought before you
actually put pen to paper - and if you’re
applying to US universities, you will have
to write multiple essays, on multiple
topics.

We recommend that you keep an ongoing

list of essay ideas at least a year ahead of
your application - and start writing your
essays at least in May/June of your year of
application.
“I have enough time after my
A-Level and IB examinations
to work on my application.”
While you theoretically can finish your
applications after your exams (during your
December holidays), you also run the risk of
rushing them and producing lower quality
work than if you had prepared early. We
typically encourage students to put their
application together in May/June of their
year of application - but really, the best
students build their candidacy for top
universities 3-4 years before they apply.

In particular, if you are applying to the US,

waiting until your exams are finished puts
you at a disadvantage because you would
be missing out on the strategically
important Early Deadlines. Early
Decision/Early Action Deadlines allow you
to apply early (usually Nov 1st) to your top acceptance rates at competitive universities
choice school - and if you get in, you will are far more forgiving than Regular
receive your offer by mid-December! (Early Decision acceptance rates.
Decision is also binding, which means that
if you get into your Early Decision school, For example, for the Class of 2024, the
you will have to attend). University of Pennsylvania (an Ivy League
school!) had an Early Decision acceptance
These Early Deadlines hold a crucial rate of 19%, compared to its Regular
strategic advantage - usually, Early Decision acceptance rate of 7.1%.

“I have to focus on my
schoolwork - my university
applications will come later.”
While it is true that your schoolwork is a
priority, it is also the case that your non-
academic and extracurricular profile will
have significant bearing on your application
- and it takes time to build a compelling
extracurricular profile!
Remember that when you apply to
universities, admissions officers will
consider the last 4 years of your school
experience. Therefore, cramming 4 years
worth of extracurricular activities into a few
months right before your applications will
be neither convincing nor effective.
Instead, we encourage you to take the time
to explore your passions organically and
slowly build up an extracurricular profile
that demonstrates your interests,
achievements and commitment over time!
This means you’ll be well positioned to
showcase your accomplishments when
your application is due.
THE “WHAT NOT TO DO” LIST

#2: Overly Narrow School Choices

While reputation is certainly an important consideration in choosing where to apply,
we also advise you to think carefully about fit and realistic attainability based on your
profile.

To start with, it’s important to note that rankings don’t always reveal the full picture.
For instance, there are only 8 universities in the Ivy League - Brown, Columbia, Cornell,
Dartmouth, Harvard, UPenn, Princeton and Yale. They don’t account for other high
calibre universities like Stanford, MIT, Caltech, NYU, and more. Any of these
universities might be a better fit for you in terms of your preferences of location,
subject specialisation, school size, and more. Even within the Ivy League, you’d
encounter a great deal of diversity in terms of student experience - for instance, New
York City’s Columbia would provide a vastly different student experience to New
Hampshire’s Dartmouth, which is located in the more rural town of Hanover.

Similarly, while Oxford and Cambridge undoubtedly deserve their high rankings,
other universities may be a better fit for you in terms of your subject interests.

Common Myths and Mistakes

“My SAT score of 1580 places “As long as my predicted

me within the 25-75th grades meet the minimum
percentile for many Ivy requirements for UK
Leagues, so I’ll only apply for universities, I’ll be able to get
those schools.” into all of the course
A strong standardised test score is choices.”
certainly something to be proud of, but
While the entry requirements at UK
you can’t bank on it alone to get your foot
universities are a helpful benchmark when
in the door. After all, do remember that
considering your school choices, keep in
your standardised test scores are only one
mind that these are only minimum
component of your application!
requirements.
In fact, most international students
In other words, not everyone with an AAA
applying to top schools will have
at the GCE A-Levels (or a 42+ IB
comparable SAT scores and school grades
equivalent) gets into Oxford.
- which means that admissions officers will
look hard at your non-academic profile
The minimum requirement is only a
(including your extracurriculars and
threshold for admissions - beyond that,
essays) to determine who gets in.
you also need to focus on crafting a strong
admissions narrative through your
Just because your SAT score places you
personal statement, and impress during
within the 25th-75th percentile at top
your interviews (if required), in order to
schools does not necessarily guarantee
secure your admissions offer.
your acceptance. Therefore, it’s important
to apply to a range of schools - including
“reach” schools, with lower acceptance
rates, as well as “target” and “safety”
schools, where you have a higher chance
of admission based on how your profile
compares to its previously admitted
cohort.
THE “WHAT NOT TO DO” LIST

#3: Lack of a Compelling

Application Narrative
Your university application is the first time an admissions
officer gets to “meet” you. Therefore, your application should
tell them everything they need to know about you to prove
that you are a compelling enough candidate to admit. This
means that it is crucial for your application to have a strong
“narrative” - a coherent story that you want to tell about
yourself.

Unfortunately, most students focus on checking off good

grades and extracurricular activities from their list- and don’t
spend enough time thinking about what their application
narrative will look like. This can result in a disjointed or
incoherent application, which can be a disservice to even the
most qualified of applicants!

For example, consider Student A - he wants to study

Economics at LSE. He has strong predicted A-Level results and
has taken Higher Level Maths, Chemistry and Physics, and H3
Biology. He is also captain of the school football team, and plays
in the school orchestra, and has a strong track record in
community service. For all intents and purposes, this is a highly
qualified applicant - he’s got good grades and a strong non-
academic profile. However, nothing in his profile indicates an
interest in Economics - therefore, his application would not be
as convincing as if he had a few extracurricular or co-curricular
activities that could speak for his intended course of study.

Common Myths and Mistakes

“My friend got into Yale by “I’m going to list all my

doing these extracurricular
activities, so I’ll just copy her.”
This is the worst thing you could do!
Copying someone else will not benefit you
in any way - remember that admissions
officers want to see what drives and
motivates you, not someone else. It could
also be the case that your friend played
tennis because she was a highly skilled
tennis player, winning national and
regional competitions. If you play tennis,
but only recreationally, the
accomplishment will not be as compelling.
Instead, you should focus on your
strengths - work on identifying and filling
gaps in your profile and tailoring activities
that fit your interests.
accomplishments in my
Common Application essay.”
The Common Application gives you an
Honors section and an Activities section
where you can list up to 5 and 10
accomplishments, respectively. This is
where you should be stressing your co-
curricular and extracurricular
achievements - not in your Common
Application essay. Your Common
Application essay should be neither
academic nor a “brag list” - instead, it
should offer the admissions officer an
opportunity to get to know who you are
beyond your accomplishments and
grades.
Stay informed!

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admissions resources,
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Final Thoughts
As university admissions at top US/UK universities become increasingly
competitive, it is more and more important for you to do everything possible
to build a stand-out application profile. This means that good grades and
extracurriculars are only a starting point - it is equally important to think
critically about your application strategy and do everything you can to put
your best foot forward!

In this guide, we’ve addressed the most common mistakes we see students
make when applying to their top choice schools in hopes that you can avoid
these pitfalls yourself.

You have everything you need to ensure success - now all you have to do is
use it!

If you’d like to learn more about exploring your university options, visit our
website for a free consultation, where we’ll assist you every step of the way.
From finding your best fit university to actually applying, we’ve got you
covered!

Send us an email if you’d like

to learn more - we’d love to
connect with you!

+62 878 2323 0585

indonesia@crimsoneducation.org
 Ready to
Learn More?
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EU university admission support.

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