By Sharon Koharjo, Amanda Ng, and Agatha Christy Chandra
If you had asked someone twenty years ago whether a bachelor’s degree was needed, there was a high chance that person would say the degree is optional. However, in our new age where university opens horizons, a bachelor’s degree has become the minimum requirement for a job. What then, are your options for finishing a university degree?
Your University Pathways
You can go one of two ways: either start as a directly-admitted freshman in university or as a transfer students in community college. As a directly-admitted freshman in university, you are expected to finish your bachelor’s degree at a four-year institution after graduating from high school, whereas a community college student is expected to spend an average of two years before transferring to a four-year institution.
Statistics show that 62% of undergraduate students go as direct admits. Although both routes ultimately lead to a bachelor’s degree, the requirements for gaining admissions into a four-year institution versus a community college vary drastically.
Freshman Students
High school students who plan to enter a four-year institution in the United States should think ahead about how they plan to pursue their ambitions in high school, starting as early as grade 9. As admissions officers look for students who have both a ‘hook’ and an impressive academic profile, students need to think carefully not only about their class selection, but also the extracurricular activities that they are willing to invest their time in.
Freshman Requirements
In their senior year (12th grade), high school students who plan to enter a four-year institution must complete their US applications, which include essays, letters of recommendation, and standardized test scores (ACT or SAT, TOEFL) in addition to official high school transcripts.
They can apply through universities through several application portals. For international students, the most notably used are the Common Application, the Coalition Application, and the University of California Application, all of which are opened on the 1st of August every year. Unlike most countries, in the US each school will ask for essays that are uniquely tailored – if you are applying to seven universities, you can expect to write anywhere between 15-30 essays across all your applications. If you are applying to ten to more, this number could increase to 30-40 essays.
Another component of the application, your letters of recommendation, will come from several different sources: teachers, counselors, and non-teacher evaluations. Letters of recommendation by teachers are meant to shed light on your character and performance as a student, while your counselor’s letter of recommendation should show how you are positioned relative to the broader class you are a part of. Some universities will give you the option of a non-teacher evaluation – if they do, jump at this opportunity to ask for a recommendation from someone outside of your school community. This might be an athletic coach, a music teacher, a supervisor from your last internship, or even the leader of your local church community. At a minimum, most universities will ask for one letter of recommendation from a teacher and one from your counselor. However, you will also find universities, such as the University of California schools (including UC Berkeley, UCLA, UC San Diego, and UC Davis) that have no requirements for recommendations.
Lastly, you will need to take the SAT or ACT, and the TOEFL exam. Preparation for the SAT and ACT is critical, and we highly suggest you begin studying in your late sophomore year (10th grade). Take a practice and quickly identify key areas of strength and weakness – once identified, spend time sharpening your test-taking skills in the areas you are weak. The TOEFL has a shorter validity period of only two years, so you should only take the TOEFL in your late junior year or senior year. The US application encompasses many different components, but are achievable if you are able to get an early start!
Transfer Students
The community college route entails fewer requirements, but will push students to work hard in their two-years of community college to get into their desired four-year university. While standardized tests are not required to get into a community college, students will have to submit their high school transcripts and an IELTS or TOEFL score.
As an applicant to community college, there is some due diligence required, which will help your transfer process two years down the line. It is imperative to spend time reviewing articulation agreements, fulfilling lower-division courses, and checking which credits are transferable, as universities vary in their entry requirements.
Transferring out of a community college to a top university can be tricky – depending on which university you are applying to, transferring can either be more or less competitive than direct admission. For example, the transfer acceptance rate for UCLA was higher than the freshman acceptance rate by 10% in 2018). The opposite trend is true for schools like Stanford University, while others do not accept transfer applications at all.
Transfer Requirements
Transfer applications commonly ask students to write a personal statement: The personal statements are a reflective form of personal characterization and an explanation for why they want to transfer out of community college, which resembles components of the freshman application process. Although not all transfer applicants are required to submit an SAT or ACT score depending on their credit standing, students who intend to apply for private or out-of-state colleges will need to send their IELTS or TOEFL scores again, sometimes followed by recommendation letters. It goes without saying that transfer applicants will need to maintain a high GPA if they are aiming for top universities.
Conclusion
Ultimately, the route you decide to take is both personal and strategic. Regardless of which you opt into, with the right preparation and mindset, there are ways to optimize your chances of admission to the dream university you want to end up at.
