Undergrad in US Universities | Everything you need | How to Apply

Summary

In this comprehensive video guide created by Stanford admit Shaurya Sinha, prospective students receive a thorough breakdown of the US undergraduate application process. The video covers key components such as academics, standardized testing, extracurricular activities, essays, and letters of recommendation. Shaurya provides insights based on his personal experience, offering tips and strategies to help students enhance each part of their application. Whether you're a student or a parent, this video promises to equip you with the essential knowledge to maximize your chances of admission to top US universities.

Highlights

• Shaurya Sinha, a Stanford admit, kicks off by outlining the application essentials for US universities. 🎓
• He emphasizes the metaphor of a 'burger' to explain the application parts, with academics as the bun, tests as the veggies, extracurriculars as the meat, essays as the cooking, and recommendations as the branding. 🍔
• Academics are crucial—the stronger, the better, but consistency is key! 📊
• The SAT or ACT is necessary, but find which one fits you best to shine. 🏆
• Extracurriculars: Not what you do, but how well you do it—unleash your inner potential! 🌟
• Good essays show storytelling mastery and personal insight; bad essays can sabotage a strong application. 📜
• A great recommendation is like a seal of trust and authenticity on a delicious meal. 🥇

Key Takeaways

• Understand the 5 key components of US college applications: academics, standardized tests, extracurricular activities, essays, and recommendation letters. 📚
• Choosing the right academic path is crucial, but more important is that you excel in your chosen curriculum. 🎓
• Standardized tests like SAT and ACT place all students on a level playing field; choose the one that suits you better! 📝
• Essays can make or break your application—storytelling and personal reflection are key. ✍️
• Extracurriculars should reflect genuine passion—it's about depth, not breadth. 🎨
• Letters of recommendation add an external validation layer to your application and showcase your potential and character. 👩‍🏫

Overview

Shaurya Sinha, in this enlightening video, walks aspiring students and their parents through every nook and corner of the US undergraduate application process. His engaging burger metaphor makes it accessible and fun—academics are the bun, tests the veggies, extracurriculars the meat, essays the cooking, and recommendations the branding. Through personal insights and strategies, this video is a must-watch to make your application stand out!

The first major takeaway is understanding how your academic performance lays the foundation for your application. Shaurya emphasizes the importance of consistency in grades across different educational systems. Then, he dives into standardized tests like the SAT and ACT, providing advice on selecting the right option and preparing effectively. With the right preparation, you can stand out on this 'level playing field.'

Shaurya further explores the depth of extracurricular activities, encouraging students to pursue their passions wholeheartedly and develop their skills to remarkable standards. Essays form the heart of your application—here, genuine storytelling and self-reflection can shine brightly. Lastly, recommendation letters come in to validate your journey, adding a credible recognition of your efforts and character. This comprehensive guide is your go-to resource for decoding the application maze!

Chapters

• 00:00 - 01:00: Introduction and Purpose of the Channel This chapter introduces viewers to the purpose of the YouTube channel, which is aimed at guiding students through the process of applying for undergraduate education in the United States. The chapter starts with an assurance that by the end of the video, viewers will be well-equipped with all necessary information for their application process. The host, Shawla Sinha, is introduced as an Indian student admitted to Stanford University's class of 2024, who took a gap year. Shawla has started this channel to share insights and assist others in their academic journey.
• 01:00 - 01:30: Components of US Undergraduate Application The chapter titled 'Components of US Undergraduate Application' addresses the main questions and components involved in applying to US colleges. The focus is on providing a comprehensive timeline and guidance about the application process, including necessary tests, required extracurricular activities, and the grades needed. It aims to answer common questions for applicants striving to get into their dream colleges in the United States.
• 01:30 - 04:30: Component 1: Academics This chapter introduces the comprehensive elements of the United States undergraduate application process, emphasizing the following five components: Academics, Standardized Testing, Extracurriculars and Co-curriculars, Letters of Recommendation, and Essays. The focus is on providing a detailed overview for serious applicants who are deeply committed to being admitted into their dream college, highlighting the significance of each component, particularly the personal essays.
• 04:30 - 11:00: Component 2: Standardized Testing The chapter focuses on the importance of staying engaged with the content related to standardized testing, as it can be beneficial for both students and parents involved in the college application process. The speaker shares valuable advice accumulated over six years, particularly insights that contributed to their admission to Stanford. The audience is encouraged to pay attention and consider subscribing for further guidance on college applications from a student perspective.
• 11:00 - 15:00: Component 3: Extracurricular and Co-curricular Activities The chapter uses a metaphor of a burger to explain high school survival tips, indicating academics as the essential 'buns' of this burger analogy. It serves as an introductory setting for students, especially newcomers, to understand the significance of academics among other aspects of high school life.
• 15:00 - 20:00: Component 4: Essays The chapter discusses how academic performance is a key focus for the United States' education system. It emphasizes that performing well in any curriculum, be it IRC, CBSE, state board, or IB, will not put students at a disadvantage. The chapter also acknowledges that some curricula may have benefits over others, with a promise of a more comprehensive discussion on that topic in a future video. Concerns about grades are also addressed, assuring that good performance is recognized regardless of the curriculum.
• 20:00 - 24:00: Component 5: Letters of Recommendation The chapter discusses the GPA requirements for getting into prestigious universities. It mentions that while there isn't a fixed 'number' required, maintaining a high average percentage is crucial. For IRC or CBSE boards, an average of 94 to 96 percent is considered strong for institutions like Stanford, whereas a percentage above 90 is deemed sufficient for universities like Yale, Princeton, and MIT. The key takeaway is that the academic score should convince the admissions committee of the applicant's ability to perform academically at their institution.
• 24:00 - 26:00: How to Apply and Conclusion The chapter emphasizes that colleges prioritize well-rounded candidates over top academic performers. While maintaining good grades is essential, especially from grades 9 to 12, other aspects such as extracurricular activities and essays play a pivotal role in college admissions. Consistency in academic performance is key, but it is equally important to excel in non-academic areas to stand out in the college application process.

Undergrad in US Universities | Everything you need | How to Apply Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 after watching this video you will know every single thing you need to apply to the united states for your undergraduate education let's get started hi for those of you who are new here my name is shawla sinha and i am an indian admit to stanford university for the class of 2024 and then i took a gap year because govind but now i've started this youtube
• 00:30 - 01:00 channel to help all of you try to get into the college of your dreams the biggest question people have going into this process is well how do you actually apply to the college what are all of the things you need what are the tests you need to take what are the extracurriculars you need to have what kind of grades are supposed to have and i am here to answer all of those questions giving you the most comprehensive timeline on applying to the united states for your education so let's quickly get started there are
• 01:00 - 01:30 five components to the united states undergraduate application number one academics number two standardized testing number three extracurriculars and co-curriculars number four letters of recommendation and number five which is in my opinion the the most important essays this entire video is going to be extremely long extremely comprehensive and it's not for people who want to take this process lightly if you're a serious applicant if you really really want to get into the college of your dreams i expect you
• 01:30 - 02:00 to at the very least sit through all of this content because trust me it will help you if you're a parent send this to your student if you're a student what's up this to your parent save it for later because it contains all of the most valuable pieces of advice and information i have collected over the last six years while applying to university and what eventually helped me get into stanford also if you're new here hit the little button down there if you're looking for advice on the college application process insights from a student who's
• 02:00 - 02:30 gotten in and just want help in general on how to survive high school this is the place for you just to get started for the entire video i'm going to be using some form of a metaphor now i haven't figured that out yet but you know what let's let's roll with a burger because i feel like that's possibly the most simple to understand when it comes to academics they are the buns of your burger i should have used a more appropriate hand gesture buns of your burger they are what you need to call it a burger because when you're submitting your scores to
• 02:30 - 03:00 the united states the number one thing they want to know is how you are performing inside the classroom now let's get a few misconceptions out of the way when it comes to the us academic process number one whether you're in irc whether you're in cbse whether you're in a state board whether you're in an ib curriculum if you're doing well in that curriculum i guarantee you you will not be at a disadvantage that being said there are benefits to choosing one curriculum over the other and i'll have a much more comprehensive video on that later but if you're worried about what grades you
• 03:00 - 03:30 should get there is not one number you need to get into a college we call it more of a gateway or a threshold number so in my opinion if you're in irc or cbse maintaining an average of 94 to 96 percent is really really good if you're applying to universities like stanford however yale princeton mit if you're just above the 90 mark that's great as well because at the end of the day you only need something that's going to make someone on the other side of the table feel like you're going to be able to perform academically if you come to their institution
• 03:30 - 04:00 they're not looking for the topper they're not looking for rank one rank two rank three they're just looking for someone who is able to perform in a classroom because after that is out of the way the other things like your extracurriculars and your essays are so so much more important but without academics you're not going to be able to get in in the first place now there are two main approaches people have to academics in school number one it's important to remember that colleges are going to be seeing your grades from 9th to 12th grade how are they going to be seeing it try to maintain a consistent amount of
• 04:00 - 04:30 performance in 9th and 10th and 11th and 12th an upward incline is probably the best thing but it's very natural to have a dip in some period of time for example i didn't perform that great in 11th grade compared to my 10th grade and my 12th grade it's natural they expect it to happen but try your very less to always stay on top of your academics because it's the bun of this burger now people also ask should i take sign stream should i give a humanity stream should i write a commerce stream what kind of subjects should i take take the subjects you like take the
• 04:30 - 05:00 subjects which line up with the degree you want to pursue don't take science because you feel like it's much more rigorous and therefore colleges are going to let you in because of that yes you know a physics might be a harder subject to score in than a sociology but if you are applying to colleges your school is also going to report the average score a student got in that particular field so for example in physics if you get a 98 on 100 and the average for your grade was in 85. colleges are going to know you're doing a lot better than your average grade
• 05:00 - 05:30 but in sociology for example if you get a 94 and the average is an 89 they're going to know that you're not done that much better than the average so it's all about how you perform relative to the other people in your grade don't even compare schools try to compare yourself to how everybody else around you in your grade is doing academically so that's out of the way now let's get to the number two part standardized testing
• 05:30 - 06:00 so to use the burger metaphor we were going for if academics is going to be the bun your standardized testing is really the lettuce and the tomato and the vegetables that go along with the bun they complement it and basically give colleges an idea of how you're performing with respect to everybody else around you because in academics it really depends upon the teacher it depends on the curriculum it depends upon the school but with a test like the sct or the ect everybody is taking it everybody is preparing for it and it really puts
• 06:00 - 06:30 everyone on one playing field what are standardized tests there are a few tests you need that some universities in the united states require now it's important to understand that in 2021 because of covert 19 a lot of colleges have gone test optional that means that for those particular exams colleges say that you don't need them anymore do they help you yes but if you're unable to take them because your test center shut down or because you're not able to afford them you're not going to be put at a disadvantage what are these tests you have three main
• 06:30 - 07:00 kinds of tests that colleges do require from you for your undergraduate studies number one you have the sat or the act i say sct or act because if you take one you don't need to take the other these tests basically try and understand your ability to quantify analytical skills as well as your reading and your grammar so if i put it in two broad buckets you have english and you have maths in english you usually have writing and reading writing as you know your grammar reading is your ability to understand
• 07:00 - 07:30 comprehensions and math as well math now in terms of which one you should take between the sct and the act i recommend you go to crack sct.com or crack act.com take a practice test in both of the fields without studying anything you're going to understand your base level assessment of those two tests so for example in the act if you get a score of 32 and in the sat you get a score of about 1350. you're going to know that in the act 32 which is you know out of 36
• 07:30 - 08:00 you've done a lot better in comparison to the act which is you know 13 something out of a 1600 so if you're naturally better at the act you should stick to the act in terms of the few differences between them the act is more paced in terms of time you're going to have to be a lot quicker there is also a science section which isn't really about science it's all about reading but again it's an additional thing the act also has the writing section which the sat has gotten rid of but in general i would say that the maths and the reading of the act is
• 08:00 - 08:30 slightly easier than the max and the reading of the s80 but take the two tests for yourself try it out and whichever one you get a higher score on stick to that now in terms of when you should take the sct and act i personally took my first attempt of the act in the month of october in my 11th grade however i would recommend doing it earlier if possible so if you can get it out of the way in the beginning of your 11th grade that would be perfect what this means is that when you're finishing your board exams if you're in icse cbse
• 08:30 - 09:00 try to start preparing for the act and sat immediately after that and do a june attempt which should be about a month or month and a half after your board exams finish if you get the act and sat out of the way it will make your life so much easier in terms of how long you're supposed to spend preparing for these tests i would recommend about six to eight weeks i think that's more than enough to try and crack these tests also if you can't manage to do it in your june attempt or your october attempt always save space for a second attempt which is going to be the month of december
• 09:00 - 09:30 so with that out of the way let's get into the second kind of test which are the aps a lot of indian students ask me whether they should take aps and my advice is simple if you knock the sat and act out of the way you can afford these tests not only financially because they are extremely expensive examinations to take but also in terms of time it's not going to distract you from your schoolwork then go for aps they are a very good academically or you can add over your application especially now that the subject sat has been cancelled what are the main
• 09:30 - 10:00 benefits that i had when i took the aps for those of you who don't know i took three aps i took calculus a b i took psychology and i took micro economics now the main benefits i got out of taking the aps is that number one it gives me college credits what this basically means is that when i go to stanford i will be able to say that hey i took the ap calculus ab exam which gave me six college credits that means that you don't have to take a class with those number of credits in college which will at the end of the day save
• 10:00 - 10:30 you money which is always something that we love number two i prepared for my aps in the year of 12th grade i took them in may of my 12th grade and i prepared for them for two months before it the syllabus i studied for my aps was the same syllabus that i had for my entire 12th grade so when i took the aps i was actually a lot better prepared for my 12th grade school studies than i thought i would be which helped me improve my grades number three i was one of the few students who had taken aps in my school so it definitely
• 10:30 - 11:00 did distinguish me from a larger pool of students the cons of taking aps like i said before number one extremely extremely time consuming because most indian schools do not teach you the ap curriculum you're going to have to go to a test prep center you're going to have to go to khan academy you're going to have to buy books all of these things are things you're going to have to do yourself and it is going to take you a lot of time but b it's also an extremely expensive test so if you can't afford it please do not feel pressured to take this exam with that out of the way let's get into
• 11:00 - 11:30 the third chunk which is extra and co-curricular activities the third component of an application to the united states are your extracurricular activities and your co-curricular activities these are really the meat of your application this is what is going to tell a college what you're doing outside of the classroom because that's what the u.s college application system really prizes and takes pride in now if you want to know the broad
• 11:30 - 12:00 kinds of extracurricular and co-curricular activities go to the common application portal which is how you apply to most colleges in the us create an account and go to the activity section in the common app and check the different kinds of categories they have you have community service you have leadership you have volunteering you have academics you have entrepreneurship all of these things are categories that you can try and give an extra or co-curricular for now to get the biggest question out of the way what extracurriculars should i pursue to get into the college of my dreams
• 12:00 - 12:30 here's my take on this it doesn't matter what extracurriculars you pursue it matters how good you become at them or how much you're able to achieve in them listen to this statement very carefully top tier colleges like harvard year princeton stanford mit are looking for students with the potential to change the world the crucial word here being potential they want to look at your application and say that okay this kid is going to achieve things in
• 12:30 - 13:00 the future now what do they achieve these things in it does not matter you could be the world's finest chef and obviously a college would like to take you because you're going to go and become a pioneer in your field someday so when people ask me what extracurricular should i pursue i say do what you really want and then take it to a level which no other student has before so how does that look in terms of time i would say that i split it into three key buckets number one is
• 13:00 - 13:30 mindset preparation this is mainly for middle school students if you're in sixth grade seventh grade and eighth grade please try and sample as many activities as you can to truly understand what you like try theater out try public speaking out try entrepreneurship out maybe try listening to a few podcasts consume as much information as you can about the world around you and try as many different things as you want without the pressure of doing well in them this is so that you can understand what it is you really like
• 13:30 - 14:00 so if you're in eighth grade and you identify like me that you like filmmaking that is a really important revelation you've had because now when you enter ninth grade you're ready to start doing extracurricular activities in fields that you love that brings us to the second domain which is ninth grade and 10th grade these two years are primarily for you to try out and give a decent amount of time to the activities you think you enjoy after sampling them in middle school for example for me i really knew that i was interested in
• 14:00 - 14:30 entrepreneurship i knew i was interested in filmmaking i knew i was interested in behavioral economics because i tried a few books these are things that you now can equip yourself with and these are tools that you can try and use in ninth and tenth grade for example in 10th grade i went for a summer program called launch x for entrepreneurship this was a step i took in the field of entrepreneurship to test out how much i really liked it and finally you come to 11th and 12th grade in these two years you really want to understand which extracurricular
• 14:30 - 15:00 activities are going to become the face of your application which extracurricular activities are going to be the stand out feature this is when out of maybe the 15 activities that you pursued in 9th and 10th grade you whittle down to a few and you select those and say i am going to give a lot of my time to these fields i really want to pursue them and i really want to take them to the next level so for the last time no it does not matter which extracurricular activities you're pursuing because anybody can take initiative and just start something it's much more important how far you take
• 15:00 - 15:30 those extracurricular activities if you have a startup how successful was your startup if you have a social impact organization how many people did you help with that organization if you have a research paper where did it get published those are all things that tell a college that you're really going to be one of the best in those field which is really what matters that brings me to the most important part of the college application process if academics was your bun if
• 15:30 - 16:00 standardized testing is your lattice if co-curricular and extracurricular activities was your meat essays is how you're cooking that meat here's what i mean if you have the best extracurriculars in the world and you're not able to present them effectively you're not able to cook that meat effectively the burger is basically raw it's inedible an admissions officer is not going to be able to understand your story your personal life the values you have and if they can't understand who you are as a person the likelihood that they're
• 16:00 - 16:30 going to admit you into the university becomes zero a bland essay will even the strongest of college applications and this piece the college essays is the one segment that barely anybody pays attention to in the long run everyone talks about your grades everyone talks about your extracurricular activities but people just forget how important the essays can be to push you over the door now let me give you a quick example there's an individual in the college application process a student
• 16:30 - 17:00 who we'll call a superstar their academics are so good their extracurricular activities are so good that any university in the world would love to have him or her in the entire continent of asia i would say that there are roughly 200 to 250 of these superstars now the important thing to remember is that a majority of us are not those superstars the majority of us really need to bank on other things to get us in and for all of those people that other thing is a college application essay when i
• 17:00 - 17:30 spoke to my stanford admissions officer she said that one of the biggest things that she loved about my application was my essays it's one of those things that can take an individual who has good test scores good extracurriculars really over the ledge because 80 percent of the people will be the same they're going to have the test they're going to have the academics they're going to have good solid extracurricular activities but what really distinguishes you from the other person your ability to cook that need your ability to present your story so how do you do that i set
• 17:30 - 18:00 out on this journey about six months ago when i got into stanford i really wanted to help other students write compelling college application essays because when it comes to being an international student or even being a student in the us nobody teaches you how to write about yourselves creatively think about that nobody is teaching you how to write about yourselves creatively in school you're taught to write long answers 1500 words you're taught to wrote learn you're taught to write maybe you're taught to be creative
• 18:00 - 18:30 in art maybe but combining both of them writing about yourselves creatively never done before and you're going to imagine that you know when i grow older i'll become a better writer when i'm 17 18 i'll be a better writer than i was at 16 or 15. that is not the case writing is not something you're just going to naturally pick up it's something you have to develop over a long period of time i made this mistake when i was in 12th grade i spent four months just on my college application essays because i hadn't spent any time reading or writing before that and it was an extremely extremely
• 18:30 - 19:00 stressful process and that is why two months ago i founded sleep deprived dreamers which is the most comprehensive online course on the college application essay ever when you look at a good college essay there are three things you have reflection you have storytelling and you have writing you need to be a good writer you need to be able to communicate your thoughts in a clear concise impactful way you need to be a good storyteller you need to understand what is it that's going to let your essay rise above
• 19:00 - 19:30 every other application and really capture the attention of your admissions officer because these people are reading so much that they're going to be bored they're going to judge you on the base of your first line they're going to think that you're just not someone who would be an interesting person to talk to based off of your essay which is why storytelling is so important and number three reflection you have to be able to know yourself well in a college application essay because if you don't know yourself well how are you going to tell someone else about yourself and over the last eight
• 19:30 - 20:00 months i've been working on sleep deprived dreamers and i recently launched it so that people can really make sure that this is not the hurdle they fall over and this is the one i honestly feel the most strongly about because a good college essay can really really take you to the next level and get you in and that's my honest opinion regardless of the fact that i have an online course about it so if you're interested in sleep deprived dreamers i will put the website down below if you'd like to have a conversation with me about it i'll put a google form below so that you can fill it out but
• 20:00 - 20:30 that is everything i think a good good college application essay needs to have and how i've tried to bring it in just one online course at 195 which if you think about it is 150th the price of a private counselor and the cost of about three college applications that's everything on essays let's head to the last part which is your letters of recommendation so we've done academics standardized
• 20:30 - 21:00 testing extracurricular activities essays we finally come to the last part which is letters of recommendation now letters of recommendation if we had to use the burger analogy again is basically the branding of it you're going to be trusting a burger that's given by mcdonald's a lot more than one that's given by a package that's unlabeled a letter recommendation basically verifies everything that you're talking about in your application and also recommends you to the college so who do you reach out to for a letter of recommendation there are two kinds of sources number
• 21:00 - 21:30 one are your school teachers these are individuals who've seen you inside the classroom and can evaluate your ability as a student i would recommend that you go to a teacher who knows you extremely extremely well one that you have fostered a relationship with one that will be able to say you are one of the best students that they've ever taught or you are a student who has integrity you are a student who is humorous you are a student who always sits in the front of the class and answers questions first who are you as a student that is the individual who is going to be
• 21:30 - 22:00 clarifying that to a college number two you have an external letter of recommendation this can be a mentor you have this can be an academic professor this can be anyone you've worked with in any capacity who can also recommend you to a college and the third kind of lateral recommendation you have is from a counselor these are your school counselors these are the individuals who will be sending your application to a college now it's important to note that for all three of these letters of recommendation you're not going to be able to see any of them which means you can't control
• 22:00 - 22:30 any of the content in them so the biggest step that i give is that you should fill out something called a brag sheet this is everything that you've done in that particular field so for example if my psychology teacher is giving a letter of recommendation i would give her a breaksheet that talks about everything i've done in the field of psychology both inside and outside the classroom i would write in the black sheet about my relationship with her how i've spoken to her outside of the classroom and really asked for help in the field of behavioral psychology or developmental psychology what have i
• 22:30 - 23:00 done to demonstrate my interest in the field of psychology what have i done to further my interest in the field of psychology she is going to be able to know all of that from the brag sheet that you give her because these teachers or external mentors are writing for so many students you want to make sure that they don't forget about the things that you've done in the process so writing a black sheet is the most important thing you can do it basically verifies everything you've done to a college and makes them know that yes you are who you say you are oh this is what you're like outside of the classroom oh this is what you're
• 23:00 - 23:30 like inside of the classroom oh this is what you're like as a student of psychology oh this is what you're like as an entrepreneur a letter of recommendation should really add another layer to your college application and give them an insight into who you really are from an external perspective now the very last thing i wanted to talk about is how you apply you're going to be applying through something known as the common application i will put a link to it down below in the common application you're going to be able to fill in your academics your standardized testing your extracurriculars your essays and
• 23:30 - 24:00 your teachers are going to be able to submit their letters of recommendation through there as well some universities don't use the common application for example the university of california system has an entirely separate application mit has a different application georgetown has a different application but about 90 of universities use this that is every single thing i have on the u.s college application process to distill it once more number one academics number two standardized testing number three extracurriculars number four essays number five letters
• 24:00 - 24:30 of recommendation i hope you found this video helpful again if you're interested in sleep deprived dreamers which is my online course on the college application essay feel free to visit the website down below feel free to fill in your details in the google form and i hope this video helped you bye [Music]