70 Tatler Schools Guide 2020 tatler.comPHOTOGRAPH: PAMELA HANSON/ TRUNK ARCHIVEPREVIOUS PAGE: IMAGE OF RAFFERTY LAW & KRISTINE FROSETH TAKEN BY GIAMPAOLO SGURA/CONDÉ NAST ARCHIVEThe American university
submission process can be
a minefield. Harrow’s
Director of Studies offers
some welcome advice
By DR MICHAEL GRAYUS &themFOR ANYONE UNFAMILIAR
with the American system, applying
to a university across the pond can
feel like an impossible landscape to
navigate, with seemingly countless
questions and infinite jargon.
The first step in the journey is to
ask whether a US university edu-
cation is, without doubt, the right
one. An undergraduate degree
takes four years and, unlike the
specialisation that characterises
UK tertiary education, the curric-
ula are broad, with a student
majoring in computer science and
molecular biology at MIT, for
example, also having the option to
take a minor in music, history or
Japanese. While many UK univer-
sities are seeking to introduce
greater breadth into their owncourses, inspired by the US, there
remains a significant gap between
the type of education on offer.
Assuming that the US university
route has been decided upon,
what’s next? It is important to
remember that American universi-
ties adopt a holistic approach to
their admissions processes. In
other words, while they are
interested in A-level grades, they
also want to know about a
student’s passions, interests, values
and character. The opportunity to
share that insight comes in the
form of various application essays,
which are most often written
through the Common App plat-
form, though a handful of US
universities, such as MIT or the
UC schools, also have their own
platforms. This year, Tufts, for
example, asked: ‘What excites you
about Tufts’ intellectually playful
community?’ The key to success
here is to be honest and to
speak from the heart – admissions
officers are experts at spotting
exaggerated embellishment and
prefer something that’s sincere and
genuine, while also demonstrating
an engagement with and sympa-
thy for intellectual playfulness.
Applications need to be sup-
ported by a counsellor reference,
which should be written by some-
one in a pastoral position. In
addition to this, two teacher letters
of recommendation are required.
Too many teachers think that this
is just like writing a UCAS
reference; they couldn’t be more
wrong and many US applications
from UK schools come off the rails
at this point. These letters are
certainly not the time for British
reserve, caveats and equivocation.
Instead, they should be rich with
anecdote, context and personal
illustration of the candidate’s skills,
abilities and attributes.
Another critical component of
any application is the standardised
test scores. While rumours about
whether one should take ACTs or
SATs circulate, it makes most sense
to do practice papers in both to
find out which type of test
suits the candidate best. Whileindividual universities have wide-
ranging policies regarding SAT
Subject tests, trends suggest that
having at least two subject test
scores can aid admission at top-tier
universities. Some US universities
are now ‘test-optional’, such as
the University of Chicago or
American University, while NYU,
for example, permits applicants to
substitute an ACT or SAT score
with the results of an IB diploma.
Too many students simply don’t
know enough about the universi-
ties to which they are applying and
are unable to articulate why they
chose Brown over Cornell, USC
over UC Berkeley, or vice versa.
Students need to ask themselves
whether they want a school in the
middle of a bustling metropolis,
like Columbia, or prefer some-
thing at least two hours away
from the nearest major city, like
Dartmouth. And while some may
be put off by Dartmouth’s relative
geographical isolation and cold
New Hampshire winters, they
might change their mind when
they hear about its incredible out-
doors (or ‘Outing’) club and the
university Skiway. Similarly, they
need to think about whether they
want a small liberal arts college
that principally focuses on its un-
dergraduates like Wesleyan, or a
huge institution like NYU with
several graduate and professional
schools and a total enrolment of
more than 60,000 students.
Ultimately, internet searches,
glossy prospectuses and online
videos are all very poor substitutes
for actually visiting the campuses,
speaking to students and really
getting a feel for the place. Of
course, this isn’t possible for every-
one, but US admissions directors
increasingly travel to the UK and
are typically very happy to
visit individual schools. The
Fulbright Commission’s famous
‘USA College Day’ in September
is the largest US university fair in
Europe – a must-attend event for
those who want to understand the
landscape and the granular detail
of American universities without
travelling across the Atlantic. (10-19-Schools-Guide-Fetaure-AmericanUniversities.indd 70 12/08/2019 11:31