Harvard Outreach Newsletter

135th Issue, November 2024

In this issue:

School Visits Programme January - April 2025

Each year volunteers from the Harvard Club of the UK visits schools across the country to talk about Harvard and the American higher education system. The session is entitled: Study in the USA – Is it for you? and is aimed at students who are thinking of applying to Harvard and other US colleges either next year or the year after, but would like further information before making up their minds.

Target audiences are students in Years 11 & 12 (England & Wales); S4 & S5 (Scotland); and Years 12 & 13 (N. Ireland). Parents, teachers and university advisers are also welcome to attend. The size and format of the meeting is entirely up to the school. Some schools like to arrange large evening events to which parents are invited, while others prefer smaller seminar-style meetings during the school day for students who have already expressed an interest in studying in the US. Either way, the presentation lasts for 40 minutes plus time for questions – a total length of 45-60 minutes.

To request a visit, send an email to school visits co-ordinator Stuart Gordon at schools@hcuk.org giving the name and location of your school and roughly when you would like the presentation to take place. We welcome requests from both teachers and students, but if you are a student, please seek the approval of the appropriate member of staff (the Head of Sixth Form or the teacher in charge of university applications) before you write to us.

We look forward to meeting you!

Sutton Trust US Programme 2025

Applications are now open for the Sutton Trust US Programme 2025. The programme is designed to support high achieving state school students from across the UK to explore US study and access leading universities. It includes two residentials in the UK before all students spend a week in the US staying on a campus at a leading university and visiting a variety of other American universities. An optional second year of the programme supports students to apply to US colleges alongside their UCAS options.

The Programme is founded and funded by the Sutton Trust, the UK’s leading social mobility charity, and delivered in partnership with the Fulbright Commission, who are experts in helping UK students study in the US. It is free to take part in the programme.

The programme includes:

A UK residential from 8-10 April 2025 where you will meet your cohort from across the UK, as well as alumni from American universities and experts in the admissions and test prep fields.
A second UK residential from 13-15 June 2025 where you will spend time preparing to go on your US week and begin to work on elements of the US admissions application, such as essays and the extracurricular list.
A bespoke, modular course undertaken during May, June and July 2025, where you will learn how to write about yourself, your world view and your achievements. These will form the building blocks of a US application in the autumn.
A week-long residential at a leading US university held sometime between 14 July and 3 August 2025 (until the dates and campuses are confirmed, students should be available for this entire period). You will stay in university dorms and take part in campus tours, information sessions and cultural activities. You will also take part in a university fair, where students will meet with university representatives from all over the US. During this week, you will start to decide if studying in the US is the right choice for you.
The opportunity (in August 2025) to apply to join the second part of the programme if you would like to apply to US universities during the period September 2025 – January 2026.

To be eligible to apply, you must:

Currently be in Year 12 in England or Wales, S5 in Scotland or Year 13 in Northern Ireland.
Attend, and have always attended, a state-funded school or college in the UK (i.e. non-fee paying).
Not hold US citizenship.
Be from a low or middle income family (generally, this will mean a household earning £50,000 per year or less).
Be interested in US culture and higher education.

In addition, the Sutton Trust are looking for students who:

Would be the first generation of their family to attend university.
Have been eligible for free school meals.
Attend a school or college with a below average A Level or Higher point score and/or a low rate of progression into higher education.
Have attended schools with a lower than average progression to higher education, or a higher than average proportion of students who qualify for free school meals.
Live in a neighbourhood with a low rate of progression into higher education and/or a high level of socio-economic deprivation.
Have excellent GCSEs or S4 qualifications. This means you have achieved at or close to the following grades. In England and Northern Ireland: at least eight GCSEs at grade A or 7 or above, or near this level. In Wales: at least eight GCSEs at grade A or above, or near this level. In Scotland: at least six B passes at National 5 or above, or near this level.

The more of these you meet, the more likely you are to get a place on the programme.

Selection criteria

Students will complete an online application modelled on the US Common Application and Financial Aid forms. This will help the Sutton Trust to conduct a holistic review of your application, and will get students in the mindset of the US admissions process.

Academic performance and potential.
Extracurricular involvement, including school and community activities, work experience, paid work, sports and music performance, volunteering, caring responsibilities and other interests.
Character: leadership, service, work ethic, enthusiasm, drive to succeed.
Demonstrated interest in US higher education.

Applications: Students should apply online here

Student application form deadline: 11.59pm, Tuesday 14 January 2025
School reference form deadline: 11.59pm, Monday 20 January 2025
Applicants will be notified of the outcome in early March 2025.

Teachers providing references should read the Sutton Trust’s information for teachers.

The Sutton Trust also provides information for parents.

Teachers and university advisers – what information do you need to provide to US colleges in support of your students?

If you are a teacher with responsibility for supporting students with their UCAS applications, but are unfamiliar with the US college application system, this article will provide you with information about what your school needs to provide in terms of reports, student transcripts and references.

Additional information can be found on the ‘School Counselors’ page of the Harvard College website. While fairly US centric, it does have broadly helpful information like changes to Harvard’s application process and helps to demystify financial aid.

Although not all US colleges accept the Common Application Form, or ‘Common App,’ it is nevertheless used by over 1,000 institutions, including all the top research universities, so a large majority of applicants and advisers are likely to use this method. The main documents that schools need to provide are:

School Profile – description of the school and its community.
Student Transcript – record of the student’s exam grades and predicted grades.
Counselor Reference – (also known as the ‘Secondary School Report’ at Harvard) – a character reference written by the Head of Sixth Form or other senior member of staff.
Teacher Reference – an academic reference written by one or more of the student’s current subject teachers.

The School Profile is a description of the school and the community it serves. Context is very important for a US college application as it helps admissions officers to make sense of the numerical data. The US-UK Fulbright Commission provides a helpful template under the ‘School documents’ section. It suggests that, in general, the school provide the following information:

Type of school (in the USA, “public” means state funded, and academies are comparable to charter schools)
Admissions process, if applicable
School history and cultural/local information
School ethos, mission statement or ideology
Quotes from inspection reports or the press
League table position (especially important if the school is ranked low but your grades are excellent)
Student body (demographics, single sex or mixed, class size, etc)
Percentage of university enrolment (broken down by Oxbridge, Russell Group, etc if possible)
If your school ranks pupils by performance or not (this is common in the USA, so readers will expect your class rank if there is no explanation)

The Student Transcript is a document produced by the school as an official record of a student’s academic performance. The US-UK Fulbright Commission suggests that the one page [two side] school transcript should include:

Official school letterhead, stamp and signature
Years attended
Achieved and predicted national grades from the last four years of secondary education (Years 10-13 in England and Wales, S3-6 in Scotland, Years 11-14 in Northern Ireland)
Academic honours and awards
Explanations and equivalencies of new or unfamiliar qualifications for university entry (EPQ, Pre-U, Welsh Baccalaureate, BTEC, etc)
Information about how curriculum reforms relate to a student’s subject choices
Plans to resit any exams
Extenuating circumstances
How your choice and number of subjects compares to the average student

If the student changed schools within the four years before graduating, the school should ask their previous school to produce a similar document. Like the reference letters, the transcript must be submitted directly by the school.

Different templates corresponding to the exam systems used in different parts of the UK can be viewed on the Fulbright Commission website at the end of the ‘School documents’ section.

The Counselor Reference (or Secondary School Report) places applicants within the context of their entire year group and school community, and should address the student’s academic performance, extracurricular achievements and personal qualities. In the US, this reference would be written by the school’s College Counselor, and the nearest UK equivalent of this role is the Head of Sixth Form or teacher in charge of university applications.

The Teacher Reference should focus on the student’s qualities as a scholar: intellectual curiosity, creative thought, quality of writing, class behaviour and work habits. The student may request either one or two teacher references from their current subject teachers.

Common App Recommender Guide

The Common App Recommender Guide provides useful information for counselors and teachers about the differences between the two roles and writing effective letters of recommendation. Click the links below to view the information documents.

Writing guide for counselors and teachers. While both counselor and teacher recommendations capture a student’s personality and strengths, there are distinct differences between the two perspectives. This document gives examples of some key student characteristics admissions committees are trying to assess and how each writer might address them.
Writing effective letters of recommendation. Useful tips on the content of an effective student reference.
Developing a school profile. What is a school profile? Why is it important? What information should it include? Additional information about the school profile which complements that provided above the Fulbright Commission (see the ‘School Profile’ section above).

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