Lycée High School

At the end of Seconde, you will sit the first exams, the results of which you are likely to include in your university application. It is important to bear this in mind and work well to achieve the best possible results.

The summer is when you will really have to step up your research. Use this time to take advantage of open days. You may also have to take an aptitude test, depending on the subject (Medicine, Law…), and the sooner you get that done, the better. You can also open up your online UCAS application form in August, and start looking at the worksheets for your personal statement.

You will have to fill in and submit an online application through UCAS. In this application, you will have to enter personal information (name, age, address, nationality, grades from previous exams…), write up your personal statement (which is nowhere near as easy as it sounds, and get one of your teachers – preferably a Section teacher, though for certain subjects (scientific, artistic), you may want to consider one of your “French” teachers to add something – to write a recommendation letter. Be careful to check whether a university you are applying to has a different deadline to the general UCAS deadline. The UCAS deadline is in early January, while Oxford and Cambridge require that any application to them be submitted in October.

One of the main elements of your application is the personal statement. With a limited number of characters (letters and spaces), you must describe yourself, your achievements, your ambitions and your reasons for doing the course you have chosen. You can get help from the downloadable UCAS worksheets and from the Section teachers.

Another key part of your application is your choices. At the beginning, you must declare the universities you wish to apply to, and clarify the course you want for each university. You can choose different courses, but you can only apply to the same university once. You start out with a maximum of five choices. They are in no particular order, and the universities cannot see who else you’ve picked. Once your application is sent off, you may have to wait several months before getting your replies. Some places may even want to interview you first.

Each of your choices will make one of three replies: Unconditional Offer (U), Conditional Offer (C) and Denied (D). A U means that the university are offering you a place on the course regardless of the marks you get in your final exams. A C means that they will accept you on the condition that you obtain either a certain average, specific grades in one or more subjects, or even both. A D means that they are not prepared to offer you a place on the course.

Once all your choices have answered you, you must make your own reply. You must confirm or turn down all the universities who made you an offer. You can accept a maximum of two offers. At this point, you will have to rank your two choices (if you have the luxury of two or more offers). Your top-ranked choice will be your Firm Offer, and the other will be your Insurance Offer. If both are conditional, your Firm Offer must have higher conditions than your Insurance Offer. You can only confirm one offer if that offer is unconditional. If you get the required grades for your Firm Offer, you will have to take that place, or else cancel your application. If you do not end up with the necessary grades for your Firm Offer, you will pass down to you Insurance Offer. Beyond that lies the Clearing process, about which you can find more information on the UCAS website. Remember to send you results to the universities you confirmed, as they will not be sent automatically.

If you are interested in applying for a school in the US, you should probably begin to look at the different kinds of schools. You should also become familiar with the entrance exams required, the SAT and/or the ACT. The SAT is more widely accepted, but the ACT is required by some schools in the Midwest. Some schools will accept either test.

You might wish to consider registering and taking the SAT sometime during the spring to give you an idea of what the test is like, to see how you score which will also give you a better notion of what kind of school would be best for you.

To learn more about the SAT, you should visit their website. The website also contains a great deal of useful information about university in the US. For the ACT, you can visit their website.

If you are visiting the US during the summer, it would be a good idea to visit some schools to give you a better idea of the environment on the US college campuses.

This year you should select a list of schools that might be right for you. Make sure you understand their entrance requirements and organise to take the appropriate exams (SAT, SAT subject tests and/or ACT).

If you are visiting the US during the year, you should take the opportunity to visit schools if possible.

Many schools in the US use the Common Application for their admission applications. Once the application is available, you should review the entire application process for each of the schools on your list. Many schools require not only the general common application but also a supplemental application.

Letters of reference – If schools request letters of recommendation, you should ask teachers or any other person recommending you if they would be willing to write the letters well in advance of the deadline. Make sure you provide them, promptly, with the necessary information and afterwards, don’t forget to thank them.

Application Deadlines – If you apply early action/early decision, the deadline is around November 1st. Most other deadlines are between mid-December to late January, but you should note the deadlines for the schools on your list.

Financial Aid – If you are applying for financial aid, your parents will need to complete the forms for each school. Many schools also require two forms which are completed online, the FAFSA and the College Board PROFILE. The FAFSA is a form filed with the US Department of Education and requires information about the financial means available to you and your family. If you file US taxes, much of the information can be found on your tax return. The PROFILE is also required by many schools. Once you have submitted your PROFILE application online, your parents will be required to also submit their tax return for the previous year.

The Admissions Decision – If you have not been accepted early action/early decision, you will receive your answers from the schools around April 1. Most schools will clearly post on their admissions websites when they will be notifying students.

Once you have received your offers and you decide where you will be going, you should inform the school and send in your deposit to guarantee your spot. You should also notify the schools you are not attending so they can allocate your place to another student.