Discover

(Redirected from College admissions)
'College admissions' or 'university admission' is the process through which students enter post-secondary education at universities and colleges. The system varies widely from country to country.
In many countries, prospective university students apply for admission during their last year of high school or community college. In some countries, there are independent organizations or government agencies to centralize the administration of standardized admission exams and the processing of applications.
==Australia==
As Australia uses a Federal system of government, responsibility for education, and admission to Technical and Further Education colleges and undergraduate degrees at universities for domestic students, are in the domain of state and territory government (see Education in Australia). All states except Tasmania have centralized processing units for admission to undergraduate degrees for citizens of Australia and New Zealand, and for Australian permanent residents; however applications for international and postgraduate students are usually accepted by individual universities. The Australian government operates the Higher Education Contribution Scheme for undergraduate students, so admission is rarely limited by prospective students' ability to pay up-front. All states use a system that awards the recipient with an Equivalent National Tertiary Entrance Rank, or ENTER, and the award of an International Baccalaureate meets the minimum requirements for admission in every state. The Special Tertiary Admissions Test is the standard test for non-school-leavers nationwide.
In all cases, applicants must be proficient in the English language to be considered and meet the course requirements listed by the admitting institution.

Contents

National Center for Examinations and Evaluation

National Center for University Entrance Examinations

Admission in Sweden requires completion of secondary education, along with the proper specific qualifications (e.g. science in high school to study science in college). Prospective students are admitted based on their grade point average or SAT, although majors such as theatre and architecture may require some extra work. The admission process begins by applying no later than April for that year's semester of the fall, with a preliminary result coming in June. None of the major universities and colleges require any tuition fees.

United Kingdom

Undergraduate entry

The application process

Factors affecting admission

Postgraduate entry

United States

See also

References

External links

New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory

The Universities Admission Centre accepts applications for all NSW and ACT tertiary institutions. Applications usually comprise of standardized test results, adherence to the university's selection criteria for the applicable course, and a suitable application. The standard test for school-leavers is the Higher School Certificate in NSW, and the 'Year 12 Certificate' in the ACT, resulting in a University Admission Index score out of 100.

Northern Territory

The South Australian Tertiary Admissions Centre accepts applications for Northern Territory tertiary institutions. Year 12 students are awarded the 'Northern Territory Certificate of Education' and must meet course requirements.

Queensland

The Queensland Tertiary Admissions Centre accepts applications for Queensland tertiary institutions. Year 12 students are awarded an Overall Position, based on their performance in class subjects and their schools average result in the Queensland Core Skills Test, as well as meeting course requirements.

South Australia

The South Australian Tertiary Admissions Centre accepts applications for South Australian tertiary institutions. Year 12 students are awarded the South Australian Certificate of Education, and must meet course requirements.

Tasmania

Tasmanian school leavers applying for entrance at the University of Tasmania need to apply directly to the university. Tasmanian school students receive a 'Tertiary Entrance Rank' on successful completion of the 'Tasmanian Certificate of Education'. Students from interstate wishing to study at UTas may apply through either the Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre, or directly through the University.

Victoria

The Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre accepts applications for Victorian tertiary institutions. Applications comprise of standardized test results and meeting institutional requirements. The standard certification for school-leavers is the Victorian Certificate of Education.

Western Australia

The Tertiary Institutions Service Centre accepts applications for Western Australian tertiary institutions. The standardized test for school-leavers is the 'Tertiary Entrance Examination'.
==Austria, Switzerland, Belgium==
These countries probably have the most liberal system of university admission anywhere in the world, since anyone who has passed the Matura may enroll in any subject field (or even several at no additional cost) at a public university. In Belgium as well, the only prerequisite for enrolling in university studies is to have obtained a high-school diploma. In both Switzerland and Belgium, medical studies are an exception, which have a numerus clausus system due to overcrowding. This liberal admission practice led to overcrowding and high dropout rates in the more popular fields of study like psychology and journalism, as well as high failure rates on exams which are unofficially used to filter out the less-capable students. Following a ruling by the European Court of Justice issued on July 7, 2005, which forces Austria to accept nationals of other EU Member States under the same conditions as students who took their Matura in Austria, a law was passed on June 8 allowing universities to impose measures to select students in those fields which are subject to numerus clausus in Germany. Starting in 2006, the three medical universities (in Vienna, Innsbruck and Graz) did introduce entrance exams. There are no intentions to introduce a numerus clausus in any subject field.
==Brazil==
Admission to Brazilian universities requires a secondary school diploma (''Diploma de Ensino Médio'') or equivalent, and a satisfactory performance in a competitive entrance exam known as Concurso Vestibular. Most top state-funded universities have a limited number of places for first-year students, which are filled for each individual major by ranking the respective candidates' scores on the Vestibular in descending order. Contrary to other countries, extracurricular activities, secondary school grades and interviews play no role in admissions, which are based solely on Vestibular scores. Each university is free to determine the format and syllabus of its own Vestibular exam, but the exam consists generally of two parts: a preliminary Part I with
multiple-choice questions on the core secondary school subjects (Portuguese Language and Literature, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, History, and Geography) and a more specific Part II consisting normally of three or four write-in exams. A Portuguese Language/Literature exam including a student-written essay is required of all candidates at Part II, irrespective of their intended majors. In addition, candidates also take two or three exams in subjects that vary according to their intended course of study. For example, for prospective engineering students, Part II normally includes Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry exams, whereas a prospective Law student would have to take History and Geography, and Medical School-bound students take Physics, Chemistry, and Biology. Critical reading ability in a foreign language (usually English) is also tested, normally at Part I of the Vestibular, but it represents a very small percentage (usually less than 10%) of the overall exam. Candidates must generally achieve a minimum cutoff score in Part I (known as ''nota de corte'') in order to be eligible to take Part II exams. The cutoff score varies for different majors as it depends on the number of first-year places available for each field of study. Finally, admission to certain majors like Architecture, Drama, Fine Arts, and Music also normally requires additional specific skills tests and auditions.
==Canada==
Post-Secondary Application Service of British Columbia (British Columbia), Ontario Universities' Application Centre (Ontario).
==China==
A standard national exam given each summer is required for each student. The exam covers common school topics such as math, language, history, science, etc. Better institutions require higher scores for admittance. The required score also varies by province (students in more competitive provinces, like Jiangsu, need higher scores than students from less competitive areas such as Tibet).
==Finland==
''See Numerus clausus in Finland''
==Germany==
Prospective students who have passed the Abitur may decide freely what subjects to enroll in. However, in some popular subject fields such as medicine or business administration, students have to pass a certain numerus clausus — that is, they cannot enroll unless they have scored a minimum grade point average on their Abitur.
One should distinguish two types of higher education institutions in Germany, the universities (including'' Technische Hochschulen'') and the'' Fachhochschulen'' (polytechnics). A prospective students who has passed the Abitur is qualified for admission to every German university, with the exception of very few new degree programs, where additional entrance examinations were recently introduced. A Fachhochschule, in contrast, requires from the student the completing of an internship to qualify for admission.
There is also a second German school leaving exam, which qualifies the prospective students for admission to higher education in Germany, the ''Fachhochschulreife'', often called ''Fachabitur'' in colloquial usage. An internship is already part of the Fachhochschulreife itself, therefore a Fachhochschule requires no additional internship from the student. However, most universities do not accept this qualification for admission. An exception are universities in the German state of Hesse, who accept this qualification since 2004 for admission to Bachelor's degree courses, but not to the traditional German Diplom degree courses.
==Hong Kong==
Joint University Programmes Admissions System, using HKALE (developed and administrated by Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority).
==India==
Most Indian universities participate in one or another centralized admission procedure. National tests and interviews are organized by an independent body composed of members of the participating organizations. Little weight is given to applicants’ past academic record and more to their exam results. Applicants are ranked by exam grades, and submit their preference of universities/programs based on their rank and choice. Some such common entrance tests are:

★ Joint Entrance Exam (JEE), the undergraduate exam for the seven Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs);

★ Graduate Admission Test of Engineering (GATE), the graduate exam for the IITs;

★ All India Engineering Entrance Exam (AIEEE);

★ Common Admission Test (CAT), for the Indian Institutes of Management.
States have their own admissions exams and policies. For example, the state of Maharashtra uses the HSC test as a prerequisite for entering Degree level college and uses the SSC test as a prerequisite for entering Junior Level college as well as Diploma Level College.Apart from that 15% reserved for NRI / Foreign students Read More
==Israel

National Center for Examinations and Evaluation

Japan

National Center for University Entrance Examinations

Malta==
Entrance is done after performing well in examinations which are a local version equivalent to the General Certificate of Education
==Netherlands==
Prospective students have to choose, two years before graduation, for a graduation type (e.g. natural science graduation type). Subjects at Dutch universities freely accept all students who have chosen the correct graduation type (e.g. to enroll in physics, the graduation type 'natural sciences' is required). All other students have to pass an exam to be enroll (this is the exception). Popular subjects, such as medicine or dental medicine have a numerus fixus, meaning that a limited number of students may enroll for this subject at a particular university. To decide who is allowed, a lottery is held in which ones grades influence chances of being chosen (an indirect and incomplete numerus clausus).
== Pakistan ==
For undergraduate admissions the national universities have common entrance tests which are SAT based and are held according to provincial zones, the private universities hold their own entrance test which are also SAT based.
For postgraduate admissions some of the universities hold tests which are followed by interviews and others take interviews only.
==Portugal==
Admission to higher education level studies requires the secondary school credential, ''Diploma de Ensino Secundário'', which is achieved after completing the first twelve study years. Students must have studied the subjects for which they are entering to be prepared for the entrance exams, but they are not required to have previously specialised in any specific area at the secondary school. Students sit for one or more entrance exams, ''Concurso nacional'' for public institutions or ''Concurso local'' for private institutions. In addition to passing entrance exams, students must fulfil particular prerequisites for the chosen course. Enrollment is limited; each year the institution establishes the number of places available. For the public institutions the exam scores count for the final evaluation, which includes the secondary school average marks. Then the students have to choose six institutions/courses they prefer to attend, in preferential order. The ones, who reach the marks needed to attend the desired institution/course, given the attributed vacant, will be admitted. Some public university courses demands generally higher admission marks than most similar courses at some polytechnical institutes or private institutions. (''see also Education in Portugal'')
==Sweden

Admission in Sweden requires completion of secondary education, along with the proper specific qualifications (e.g. science in high school to study science in college). Prospective students are admitted based on their grade point average or SAT, although majors such as theatre and architecture may require some extra work. The admission process begins by applying no later than April for that year's semester of the fall, with a preliminary result coming in June. None of the major universities and colleges require any tuition fees.

Turkey==
The ''Student Selection and Placement Center'' ÖSYM is the responsible body for organizing ÖSS, the national level university admission examination.

United Kingdom

''See also: UCAS''

Undergraduate entry

The application process

The United Kingdom has a centralised system of admissions to higher education at undergraduate level, UCAS. In general, students are not admitted to universities and colleges as a whole, but to particular courses of study.
During the first few months (September to December) of the final year of school or sixth form college (age 17/18) or after having left school, applicants register on the UCAS website and select five courses at higher education institutes (fewer choices are permitted for the more competitive subjects such as medicine and veterinary medicine). If the applicant is still at school, his or her teachers will give him or her predicted grades for their A-level, Highers or IB subjects, which are then used for the application. If the applicant has already left school, he or she applies with results already obtained. The applicant must also write a personal statement describing why they want to study that particular subject and why they would be an excellent student. This statement can often be decisive in applications for competitive courses, as many students are likely to apply with similar predicted and actual grades. Some universities, especially the most prestigious ones, including Oxford and Cambridge, may ask candidates to attend an interview before deciding whether to make an offer.
For each course applied for, the applicant receives a response from the institution: rejection, conditional offer or unconditional offer. If a conditional offer is received, the student can only take up the place on the course if they later fulfil certain conditions: normally the achievement of certain grades in their A levels, Highers or IB. The minimum requirement for admission to higher education in the UK is two Es at A level or equivalent. If no offers are received following the initial application, or the applicant does not wish to take up any of their offers, UCAS+ can be used. Applicants can then apply to one course at a time in order to try to find a suitable offer.
Following the receipt of offers, whether after the initial application, or through UCAS+, the applicant chooses two courses for which offers have been made: a first choice and a second choice. If the conditions of the first choice offer are later met, the applicant may attend this course. If the applicant does not fulfil the conditions of their first choice, but does fulfil the conditions of their second "insurance" choice, they can attend their second choice course. If they fail to meet the conditions of both offers, they may choose to go through "clearing". This involves ringing up or sending their application to different universities in the hope of finding a place on another course. Many students do successfully find places through this route.

Factors affecting admission

Whether to admit an applicant to a course is entirely the decision of each individual university. They will base their decision on a variety of factors, but primarily the grades predicted or already received in school leaver examinations. As more and more applicants are attaining higher and higher grades in the A level examinations, most universities also use secondary admissions criteria. These may include results at GCSE or Standard grade examinations (or equivalent), the references provided on the application and the information provided on the personal statement. The personal statement can often be the deciding factor between two similar candidates so a small industry has sprung up offering personally written personal statements for a fee. The personal statements generally describe why the applicant wants to study the subject they have applied for, what makes them suitable to study that subject, what makes them suitable to study at degree level generally, any relevant work experience they have gained, their extra-curricular activities and any other relevant factors. This is the only way admissions tutors can normally get an impression of what a candidate is really like and assess the applicant's commitment to the subject.
In addition to the information provided on the UCAS form, some universities ask candidates to attend an interview. Oxford and Cambridge almost always interview applicants, unless, based on the UCAS form, they do not believe the applicant has any chance of admission. Other universities may choose to interview, though only in some subjects and on a much smaller scale. The interview gives the admissions tutors another chance to assess the candidate's suitability for the course.
Universities are increasingly being put under pressure from central Government to admit people from a wider range of social backgrounds. Social background can only be assessed by the type of school attended, as no information about income or background is otherwise required on the UCAS form.
Another important determinant of whether an offer is to be made is the amount of competition for admission to that course. The more competitive the course, the less likely an offer will be made and, therefore, the stronger the application must be. Applications for medicine are often expected to have undertaken extensive work experience in a relevant field in order to show their commitment to the course. For the most competitive courses, less than 10% of applications may result in admission, whereas at the less competitive universities, practically all applicants may receive an offer of admission.
Ulitmately, however, no matter how many extra curricular activities and work experience have been undertaken, if the admissions tutor does not believe, based on the submitted exam results, the candidate is academically capable of completing the course, he or she will not be admitted.

Postgraduate entry

All applications are made directly to the university or college, with no limit on the number of courses that can be applied for.

United States

Main articles: College admissions in the United States

American high school students apply to either four-year liberal arts colleges or universities, which include both undergraduate or graduate students. Non-traditional students are usually students over the age of 22 who pursue studies in higher education. Students may apply to some colleges using the Common Application. There is no limit to the number of colleges or universities to which a student may apply, though an application must be submitted for each. Students apply to one or more colleges or universities by submitting an application which each college evaluates by its own criteria. The college then decides whether to extend an offer of admission (and possibly financial aid) to the student. In general, students are admitted to the college as a whole, and not to a particular academic major, which is chosen later. The system is decentralized: each college has its own criteria for admission, even when using a common application form.

See also

★ College application

★ Educational consultant

References

External links

★ College Board The organization that administers the SAT and AP exams; much useful information on college admissions plus a searchable database of colleges and universities

★ College Insider Free college planning advice from the New Hampshire Center for College Planning.

★ College Opportunities Online Searchable college database maintained by the U.S. Department of Education

★ The Common Application- Application form accepted by over 300 colleges and universities in the United States. Free to use, can submit applications online.

★ College Admissions College Admissions: Who Wins and Who Loses? a video produced by the Massachusetts School of Law

★ American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO) Professional association for college and university admissions practitioners.

★ Admissionchances Statistics about US university admissions.

★ College Admission Free college admissions service.