Hey! I’m Josh a first-year Chemist at The Queen’s College, Oxford.
Alongside my UCAS application to UK universities I also applied to US universities and was fortunate enough to secure a full scholarship at Emory University before ultimately deciding to go to Oxford instead.
The main reason I applied to US universities was because of the breadth of the US liberal arts system which would have allowed me to customise a large part of my degree and pursue my multiple academic interests with out having to focus solely on one. Had I gone to a US university I could have potentially double majored in Chemistry and Art!
My application to US Universities was primarily guided by the Sutton Trust US Programme which helped me prepare for the application process from around March of year 12 upon till submitting my application towards the start of year 13.
A key part of my application was taking the ACT exam (an alternative equivalent to the SAT exam which is considerably more accessible to international students). I was fortunate enough to be able to sit the exam three times before the application period. The first time I sat the exam I was grossly underprepared, and I underestimated how much revision was needed for the exam. The ACT is comprised of 4 sections: English, Reading, Science and Maths. As someone with a strong affinity for STEM subjects I really struggled with the English and Reading sections. However, after a lot of revision I was able to better my score after each subsequent sitting until my overall score was in Emory’s range of having a competitive application.
Another crucial part of the application was the personal essay. This differs completely from the UCAS personal statement which tends to focus on a person’s academic ability. The personal essay is meant to reflect you as a person and any significant periods of growth. This is because US universities alongside academic ability care about your character and whether it is in line with the philosophy of the university. I chose to write my personal essay about definitions of masculinity in my local area and the effect it may have had on me growing up. I actually quite enjoyed writing the personal essay as there was quite a lot of freedom in how I wrote the essay, both in structure and content.
I also applied for financial aid from Emory – it’s quite common to receive need-based grants and scholarships at US Universities as there’s no national Student Loans Company in the US – and because my household income satisfied Emory’s need requirements I was fortunate enough to be awarded a need-based scholarship which would have covered my entire cost of tuition and accommodation. However alongside need-based scholarships many US universities grant merit scholarships for various reasons such as outstanding academic performance, great athletic ability in a certain sport as well as significant contribution to improving your local community.
Although I decided to go to Oxford instead, I do believe that the US higher education system while different to the UK system is extremely rewarding and hopefully after Oxford I might be able to pursue postgraduate studies in the states.