United States
Create one Common App profile, add your schools, and submit a shared application plus any school-specific supplements. Your counsellor sends transcripts and recommendation letters directly.
Grades and test scores matter, but extracurriculars, leadership and achievement still carry real weight alongside them. A strong activities record can meaningfully offset a slightly less perfect transcript.
Where you apply
Common Application at most schools. Some also accept the Coalition Application or run their own portal.
What you'll need
- Full four-year transcript, grades 9 to 12
- SAT or ACT, though many schools are test-optional
- One to two teacher recommendations plus a counsellor recommendation
- Common App personal essay, 250 to 650 words
- School-specific supplemental essays at most selective schools
- Any curriculum is accepted. CBSE, ISC, A-Levels, IB and HKDSE are all read alongside a US GPA, interpreted through the school profile your counsellor submits
Tests
SAT or ACT. Many schools went test-optional after 2020 and a strong score remains a meaningful advantage at selective institutions, though several have since reinstated a requirement. Check each school directly.
SAT 400–1600 · ACT 1–36 · superscoring widely accepted
- State flagships
- ~1200+ SAT / ~25+ ACT
- Selective (top ~50)
- ~1400+ SAT / ~32+ ACT
- Ivy / elite tier
- ~1500+ SAT / ~34+ ACT
Many schools are test-optional, but a strong score still helps at selective ones — a school's own published range, shown on its page elsewhere in this app, beats any generic number.
Essays
Required everywhere. The Common App personal essay goes to every school and most selective schools add their own supplements, such as short why-us answers. This is among the most heavily weighted parts of the application.
Extracurriculars
Weighted heavily. US admissions is genuinely holistic, and depth in one or two activities with real leadership or measurable impact reads far better than a long list of shallow involvements.