Applying to the US: Part 1-Academic Requirements

Written by: Juliane

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Trying to apply to a US university? Not as easy as you may wish it was. There are several things that you most likely will need to do before you apply to any university in the United States. This article is probably only relevant for those who are considering applying and are (at least) in high school. In deed, to apply, you have to take the required examinations, keep your grades at a certain standard and be interesting (just kidding...)! Don't worry, it's easy!

In this first article, I'll try to go over the main academic requirements to apply to the US.

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1. SAT/ ACT

Something that is compulsory if you are looking to apply to an American university is to take either the SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) or the ACT (American College Testing). These are both standardized college admissions tests that allow universities to see if you're ready for college and where you rank compared with other applicants. What you should know is that you can take the tests as many times as you want. Also, colleges don't have a preference for either one of the tests so you should take the one you think you'll do the best at.

The SAT is a multiple-choice test, meaning that you don't have to write your own answers, but choose the correct answer among four possibilities (except some maths questions). The SAT measures your skills in three areas: Reading, Maths and Writing. In total, there are four sections in the SAT: Reading, Writing and Language, Math No Calculator, and Math calculator (see this website for more detail); there is also an optional essay which is required by most colleges in California. The SAT is scored out of 1600 points, with 800 points for Evidence-Based Reading and Writing and 800 points for Math.

In oder to know what score you're aiming for, you have to do some research on the universities you're applying to. For example, at Yale, "The middle 50% of test scores (the 25th to the 75th percentiles) for enrolled first-years are as follows: SAT-Evidence-Based Reading and Writing: 720-770; SAT-Math: 730-790". However, not all colleges have standards that are as high, but they may still be great places to study, so keep that in mind. And if you didn't do as well as you had hoped, you can always try again (you have to pay every time you take to though).

The ACT is also multiple-choice test, very similar to the SAT. The ACT is comprised of four sections: English, Reading, Math and Science; again, there is also an optional essay (for more detail visit this website. One of the main differences between the ACT and the SAT, is that the ACT is shorter, meaning that you have to answer more quickly. Moreover, the ACT is scored out of 36. If you happened to be wondering what the science section is, it's just a section with questions on science-based passages. Of course, if you take the ACT, you should also do research on the universities you're applying to. Just to put this into context, the middle 50% of ACT scores of Yale's first-years is 33-35.

The easiest way to decide between both tests is to take a timed full-length practice test which you can find on the internet. Khan Academy offers SAT prep and several full-length practice tests for free which can be very helpful.

2. Language tests

If you're an international student applying to the US-- this doesn't only apply to the US, in case you were wondering--, you'll probably be asked to take an English language proficiency test. This can either be the TOEFL (Test Of English as a Foreign Language) or the IELTS (International English Language Testing System), or any other test accepted by the university you're applying to. The score requirements may vary from university to university... so be informed! Usually, the TOEFL score should range from 61 to 100 (the maximum), or equivalent in other tests.

3. GPA (Grade Point Average)

If you have no idea what this means, you're just like me. Nevertheless, I looked into it, and I can explain it to you right here, right now.

A Grade Point Average is "an average score of a student’s grade achieved across the course duration from a university, college or school".

So, just like the other requirements, the GPA demanded by universities changes from school to school. Your GPA is a rather important factor in determining your acceptance to a college; it basically represents "your success during the entirety of your degree programme": the higher your GPA is, the more likely you are to be accepted to top colleges. In the US, the GPA follows a four point system; an A, the top grade, is a 4, B is a 3, and it continues like this down to a 0, or F (see this website). If your GPA is above 3.75, that's generally good, while anything between 2.75 and 3.75 is average and under 2.5 is poor.

To calculate your simple GPA, you just take the grades that you got (if they are A to F), convert them into a grade out of 4, add them up, and divide that result by the number of grades you have. Keep in mind that if you don't have grades that are A through F, you first need to convert your grades into the US equivalent before continuing the calculation.

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All of these requirements are purely academic and are part of you transcripts, there are other things that are important, but we'll talk about those later. I hope this article was somewhat clear and that you learned some things about applying to the US that you may not have known beforehand. This is only the first of three articles that I've planned on posting about applying to the US, so stay updated!