<p>Hi! I am a junior in the US applying this fall for UWC. Could anyone tell me more about the application process, what the interviews are like, etc.? Thanks!</p>
<p>Hi everyone! I thought I was subscribed to this thread but for whatever reason I never got any notifications about replies. I’m happy to answer as much as I can about the application process. </p>
<p>From what I remember, the application became available around October/November. There is a section about your academics and family and then there are four shorter essay sections. There is also a longer essay, sort of a personal statement. You are required to send in three letters of recommendation: one from a teacher, one from a counselor, and one from an extracurricular advisor. You also send in your transcripts and test scores from the SAT, ACT, Plan, or PSAT. </p>
<p>The interview is very fun, and although I was very nervous I had a great time meeting all sorts of amazing and cool people. That was when I really realized how much I wanted to go to a UWC. We played games and debated current affairs and it was all very interesting to discuss such things with people who are equally passionate about what is happening with the world.</p>
<p>@mskchs: I’m from Canada too! I only just found out about UWC so I don’t know a lot about what they’re looking for but it sounds like you have a good chance!</p>
<p>Since some other people are doing this, credentials:
I am now in my first year of an IB program and usually had a 97% average in pre-Ib, although who knows how much it is going to go down with IB haha…
I fence competitively and am on my school’s cross country team as well as student council and I am the founder of our social justice club. I’m really involved with the charity Free the Children- I went on a volunteer trip to Ecuador this past summer, I run events with them in my city and my friend and I run fundraisers for them, and I also volunteer tutoring immigrants in English. I love to write and have won a couple contests. Any thoughts on my chances of getting in? :s
@littleivy: thanks, that was pretty helpful! But just wondering about the “good personality” thing: do you have to be really outgoing to get in? I’m not extremely shy or anything but I’m not the most outspoken person either and I’m wondering if that will affect my chances at getting in?</p>
<p>I don’t know very much about your chances since I know more about the American system but from what I can tell, everyone who gets an interview is strong academically (but not necessarily perfect) and had very strong and passionate essays. Once you get to the interview stage, everyone has a very good chance. It has a lot to do with how you fit with the rest of the applicant pool and just how much you can convey your passion and why you want to go to the UWCs.</p>
<p>I’ve convinced the parents so I officially will be applying with all of you! 
I’m so excited!
Ok, Credentials-
I’m a sophomore. I’ve gotten all A’s except for a B+ once. I am 2 years ahead in math, in Honors English, and AP history (2 weighted classes by the end of the year). Summer before freshman year I did a Study Abroad type program at Oxford U on a half scholarship. Last summer I interned at the mayors office (only high school student they’ve ever had). I’m also on the Mayors youth advisory board which is basically a lot of community service and service learning projects. but also we give input on ways to make the city a better place. I’m on the executive board of a program called Girls Give Back, which is basically a group where we learn about whats going on in the community and get involved with many different service opportunities. Being on the executive board means I help plan and organize what we do. I’m part of two clubs at my school. One being community-service oriented, the other is about the protecting the earth. Last year I got the Presidents silver service award (I think that’s what its called.It just means I did a certain amount of hours of service.) I took the PSAT last year, and off the top of my head, I can’t remember how I did, but I will probably provide the PSAT or PLAN from this year.
Everyone seems so qualified. I’m so nervous already.
@WindowPainting16, Thank you so much for all your information! It is much appreciated. Are you applying again for this upcoming year? Being wait listed has got to be so frustrating!</p>
<p>In case anyone is wondering, here are my stats: </p>
<p>4.0 UW GPA/I don’t know my weighted.
207 PSAT</p>
<p>Freshman year:
Honors English A/A
Geometry H A/A
Biology A/A
Chinese 1 A/A
Spanish 2 A/A
JV Water Polo and JV Swimming</p>
<p>Sophomore Year:
Honors English A/A
Algebra II A/A
AP Chemistry A/A
Spanish 3 A/A
Honors World History A/A
Choir A/A
JV Water Polo co-captain and club water polo</p>
<p>Junior year:
AP Lang
AP Physics B
AP US History
Math Analysis Honors
Spanish 4
I tore my MCL (a major ligament in the knee) and may not be able to do water polo. If I get clearance from my doctor I am hoping to be able to be on varsity.</p>
<p>I have volunteered over 400 hours at the county hospital in a large urban area. I work in the NICU with sick babies, many of whom were born drug-addicted or brain damaged. I wrote my personal statement about how I dealt with the moral difficulties of this job, how it related to my experience being born as a very premature infant, and how I hoped to use this to become a doctor working with charities to help children with orthopedic disabilities.</p>
<p>I have played piano for 12 years and have played in many competitions and festivals including Bach Festival and Romantic Festival. I also do Certificate of Merit and am doing level 10 (the final level) this year.</p>
<p>I am joining Youth and Government this year and hope to advocate health care reform.</p>
<p>My hobbies include playing the electric ukulele and I am currently working on a historical fiction novel.</p>
<p>My top three choices were RCN, Atlantic, and Mahindra but this year I think I am equally interested in all the UWCs.</p>
<p>Sorry If this is too much I just wanted to give you guys a full picture of my stats. </p>
<p>Also I did a chamber music camp at Scripps College this summer on a full scholarship (one of only 3 pianists out of 35 kids and the only one on scholarship). </p>
<p>And I got a 5 in AP chem and an 800 on the chemistry SAT II. My class rank is 1% but my school doesn’t weight so everyone with a 4.0 has that rank.</p>
<p>Whoops, forgot to mention, I played JV water polo last year, used to be on the swim team (had to stop because I had no time), and in my spare time I play guitar (A little uke), and I enjoy long walks on the beach. Just kidding :P</p>
<p>@lindzmm: I think you have a very good shot. Like I said, however, the admissions process is very holistic and I feel that much of the decision comes down to the interview and your essays.</p>
<p>Everyone here sounds so amazing! From what ive heard the canadian process is similar to the canadian, but I cant confirm it. Also, I am a little confused about the dates. Here in canada, I heard you dont find out if you are accepted until late april/early may. If I dont get accepted, I want to do some summer programs (volunteering and shad valley). I wont be doing them if I get accepted in UWC though. I would have to confirm participation in the other programs before thatAnyone been in this situation, or anticipating being in it?</p>
<p>@moramora so cool you are canadian! Where are you from? I am on the east coast!</p>
<p>Also to add to my credentials, I won this competition a couple years ago as one of the top 12 role models for young girls. Also im in grade 10 violin and will be taking my exam to become a teacher soon. So far I have about 550 hours accumulated over 3 years of volunteering with this organization, called CISV.</p>
<p>One thing that worries me a little is at my junior high (which I was in until last year, grade 9), there werent very many oppertunities for enrichment. It only happened if a teacher decided to offer it. I am doing pre IB courses this year, but marks wise I wont be able to send in any advanced marks from last year. I dont know if this will efect my chances of being selected.</p>
<p>You guys all sound like such amazing candidates for UWC, I hope we all get selected!</p>
<p>Mskchs: I know what you mean about summer things. My advice would be to plan on NOT being accepted until you get to the interview stage, as you don’t know anything about your chances, but after that you can begin to plan based on how you think your interview went.</p>
<p>Mskchs: Also like I said, from my experience is that the process is very holistic and they will be very flexible and understanding about your situation with the grades and extracurricular opportunities. If you send them an email explaining it to them further they might even let you send in your 9th grade transcript.</p>
<p>What are all your first choices? Mine is Red Cross Nordic and Adriatic tied for first, then Atlantic, Pearson, and South East Asia, although they all sound incredible! :)</p>
<p>My top three when I applied last year were Red Cross Nordic, Atlantic, and Mahindra, although I’m pretty sure I’d be very happy at any of them. I’ve had a little bit of trouble finding out the culture at Southeast Asia. @lindzmm: Just curious, what do you like about UWCSEA? I’d like to know more about it.</p>
<p>Oh wow you guys are all so qualified - my main concern is that I kinda never recorded my service hours or anything of that sort before this summer, so my ECs are all mainly school related and not service related. I guess I’ll give my credentials?</p>
<p>Academic
I’m a sophomore, by the way I have a 4.59 weighted GPA, that being without the classes I am taking this year (3 or 4 of which are weighted - I’m not sure if my Chemistry class this year is considered Honors or not). I’m a grade ahead in CA as well as math, and in math I’m taking an accelerated pre-calc and calculus course (we finish 3 years of math in 2). My classes this year are Band, Physics, Spanish 3.5, Soph Chem, AP European History, Honors Accelerated Pre-Calc BC, and AP English Language. I haven’t taken the PSAT yet, but I am going to this year (and I’m going to find out how I did on one of the practice ones I took as soon as my counselor grades it), but I took the PLAN last year and got…hm. Whatever the equivalent of a 35 on an ACT is - I only remembered that equivalent (but I do have the official score recorded). Woo.
A note about band - I play clarinet in both marching and concert bands and am thinking of auditioning for All-District band. I love band quite a lot and if I was not going to be moving after this year I’d be trying out for section leader for junior year</p>
<p>ECs
Last year, my main thing was tech crew for plays - I was the primary sound technician as a freshman and worked all the shows my school performed last year. I lived in the theatre, basically, except for when I’d have marching band for a football game or something of that sort right after when tech crew got out.
My other activities, though (last year):
Eco-Meet: An environmental/biological competition, we had to identify organisms and collect samples and perform and interpretive and informational skit - this was a one-weekend thing, though, not very important.
FBLA - Future Business Leaders of America - I placed 4th at State for Introduction to Business, 8th for Business Procedures, and 5th for Introduction to Business Communications.
KHS Survey (Snake Trip) - the Kansas Herpetological Society has a survey for herpetofauna in a new county every spring and fall, and volunteers go and camp Friday-Sunday and spend all day Saturday as well as part of Sunday surveying for the Kansas Field Guide, which is updated with the results from the survey. It’s basically the best thing ever
Science Knowledge Bowl - this was a thing I did a little bit. Again, last year was so dominated by tech that all other activities were in much smaller quantities.
I don’t know if this is an EC, but I also participated in and completed National Novel Writing Month.</p>
<p>This year’s ECs are different:
tech - a little bit. I’m trying to cut down my time there for two reasons - 1) so to other activities, and 2) so that someone else can be trained on soundboard as my family will be moving after this year.
FBLA again - I’m hoping to get 3rd or higher in Intro to Business this year so that I can qualify for nationals!
ecomeet again - yup
snake trip - yes yes yes the next one is in 3 days I’m very excited!
Academic Decathlon - the topic this year is Russia, so I’m doing it this year because I speak Russian and I believe that will be a benefit
Science Knowledge Bowl - this year, this should be more prominent as I’ll likely be on a higher team
oh, there might also be an actual Environmental Club this year, yay!</p>
<p>Now, more service-y ECs (read: not school sponsored)
I volunteer at my local library Wednesdays through Fridays, which is some shelving/organizing of books but also a lot of setting up youth-oriented projects advocating reading. Because reading is great.
If all goes happily, then I’ll finally be able to start volunteering at Village Shalom, which is a senior living community close to my house - unfortunately, it’s been very difficult to schedule with the organizers so this might fall through.
I’m also working on starting a community chapter of the Harry Potter Alliance in Kansas City - the HPA is a nonprofit that uses parallels from fiction (primarily Harry Potter, of course) to make an actual difference in the world. They do literacy campaigns such as Accio Books!, as well as campaigns that are more politically involved - such as Rock the Vote, which was a project to register voters across the country at concerts and performances. They sent 5 cargo planes of supplies to Haiti with Helping Haiti Heal…okay I’m going to stop now, but the point is that I really love the HPA and would love a chapter here, so I’m working on it. You guys should all go check them out, though, because the HPA rocks.</p>
<p>Umm, so random other “qualification”:
As I already mentioned, I speak Russian fluently because my mom and dad are Ukrainian and Russian, respectively (well, they were both from the Soviet Union. TODAY’S Russia and Ukraine). So I’ve got the multicultural aspect - I’m actually Armenian, as well, from my paternal grandfather, so my last name is Armenian and my first name is Russian.</p>
<p>That’s it for recorded and actual “credentials”, I think, but it was so tempting to sit here and write about experiences that shaped me into the kind of person who wants to attend a UWC. The concept of the UWCs is just so amazing…</p>
<p>oh wow that was long. but my top choices are Atlantic, then Red Cross Nordic, then a tie between Adriatic, USA, and Pearson. Honestly, I would like to attend any of them, but there are a few that my parents are hesitant to let me go to and I am also more interested in the ones that have a higher diversity (not a majority from the country of residence, like Waterford or UWCSEA).</p>
<p>Lunascreatures: At the end of your qualifications post you said that you wanted to hold back from talking about the experiences that made you want to attend a UWC. Those are exactly the things you SHOULD be talking about! They receive +600 applications a year, all with good academics and some history of service. The people they accept are the most passionate and the most excited about the UWC movement. And if that’s you, make sure you show it.</p>
<p>Also, I agree with you about school choices. The more diverse, the better.</p>
<p>@Windowpainting16: I don’t know much about the school itself, but it’s more of the location that draws me in. Singapore is not only beautiful, but has great education. Not that it matters because all the UWC’s do. I guess my opinion is skewed a bit on that one. My best friend is considering a one year study abroad program in Singapore senior year. She explained all the benefits of living in Singapore to me, but I can’t explain it like she can. I can ask her for information if you’d like. Its more about the location than the school itself though.
@Lunascreatures: You’re credentials sound great and make you an outstanding candidate. Your GPA is incredible! My school doesn’t even offer weighted classes freshman year, and sophomore year it is very limited. A 4.59 would be virtually impossible at my school at this time, even with the advanced and above grade level classes I am taking. I hope that won’t hurt my application.</p>
<p>@windowpainting16 oh, of course - on the application, I’m going to have to try to keep myself coherent because there’s so much I want to say! I just didn’t want to burden this thread with my “essay”, since we were just discussing credentials - but I’m DEFINITELY writing a lot about that when the application comes out.</p>
<p>@lindzmm: I’m positive that the admissions committee will only judge you based on how well you took advantage of the courses available to you. Similar to your situation, my school has limited APs available and the only one available to me sophomore year was AP Chemistry, which I took. While it certainly won’t hurt lunascreatures and it demonstrates tremendous academic ability, so much of the process is based on essays, the applicant’s maturity, and interviews that I can’t imagine that you would be held at a disadvantage.</p>