Does Citizenship Impact Your Chances of Admission to Top UK/US Universities?

You’ve worked hard for your exams and your university application, checking off every deadline. You may even have gone the extra mile with a personal statement and references. Now, you’re probably wondering what comes next.

In this blog, we’ll provide an overview of the review process for non-UK and non-US students applying to top UK and US universities. We’ll address key questions, such as whether your citizenship affects your application. We’ll discuss the factors considered in the admissions review and explore different citizenship considerations on a case-by-case basis.

Behind the Scenes, After the Application: How do Admissions Officers Review Your Application?

For starters, here’s a quick overview of what happens immediately after you submit your application to a UK or US university.

Applications Reviewed by Geographical Experts: The first stop is that your application will be reviewed by an admissions officer (AO) who has been assigned to the region where your high school is located, e.g. Southeast Asia. The admissions office for each school is divided into regions, so your officer will be quite familiar with the education systems of each place. This also allows them to accurately assess your calibre against those of your peers, reviewing what each of you has made with the same set of resources!

The Review Process: Now safely in the hands of your AO, your application will go through two rounds of review by the AOs responsible for your region. At this stage, the process is like a funnel, which steadily narrows the pool of candidates. If your application is greenlit, it’ll be entered into the regional sub-committee meetings. Here, the AOs will advocate for the best applications they’ve found in their assigned region. In situations as close as these, it’s helpful to know how to make your application stand out from the crowd of candidates!

Once you’ve made it through the deliberation by the regional sub-committee, your application will be entered into the full committee. At this stage, you’ll be competing internationally, and candidates from all regions will be evaluated. If your application makes it through this round successfully, you’ll be offered admission!

How Are Applications Evaluated?

When it comes to the scale for evaluating applications, the AOs consider three main factors.

Holistic Review Process: Perhaps the most important thing for you to know is that each application is evaluated holistically. This means that your AO will be trying to get a sense of who you are as a person—through clues like your extracurriculars, or your personal statement—in the context of your school and country. No single factor guarantees admission; every component of your application plays a crucial role. Your grades, test scores, extracurricular activities, awards, essays, personal impact, positive qualities, recommendations, and interviews contribute to your overall evaluation.

Diversity and Class-Shaping: When AOs look through applications, they aim to shape a diverse class overall, not simply select great individual students. To some degree, they’ll consider various factors like gender, race, field of study and interests. As a result, making your application stand out to them may boil down to showing a simple awareness of how your interests mesh with the diverse campus culture that they’re trying to cultivate, or an understanding of the college’s curriculum. Ultimately, it’s not only about asking “Is this student great?” but rather, “What does a great class look like?”, and where you might fit into that vision!

No Cut-Offs or Quotas: For most colleges, there are no strict cut-offs for grades or test scores, nor are there quotas based on nationality and citizenship. At the end of the day, the AOs are looking for introspective, well-rounded students who will be able to contribute to the university culture and community in unique ways.

With this understanding in hand, let’s go through three profile examples of how citizenship factors into your application and admissions process.

Three Profiles Examples on Citizenship: A Case-by-Case Review

Singapore PR/Citizen (Including Males with NS)

Pros: Applying after NS might actually be more of a boon than a bane, as you’ll have bought yourself more time. With greater life experience and maturity under your belt, you can craft a more well-rounded application and strengthen your profile with the insights you’ve gained from this time!

Cons: While deferring your enrolment is certainly a possibility, there is no blanket policy to accommodate this. As a result, deferring your admission may complicate the process for you, as each university has a different policy when it comes to deferred admissions.

US Admissions Considerations: Like other non-US citizens, you will be evaluated alongside your peers from your high school—such as junior college or polytechnic—based on your country of residence (Singapore) and your passport nationality (either Singaporean or PR).

UK Admissions Consideration: Depending on your citizenship status, you could be evaluated as either a local or international student. Regardless, there are no strict quotas for citizens of any specific country, as the UK’s admissions system is merit-based. Instead, you’ll be compared to other applicants in the Singapore pool, and not directly to international applicants.

Foreigner (Non-Singapore PR/Citizen)

Pros: Applying as a non-Singaporean, particularly for male students, means you won’t have to navigate the two-year delay related to National Service (NS). This allows you to apply right after graduating from high school.

Cons: However, this also means you’ll have fewer chances to apply unless you decide to take a gap year. Ultimately, it depends on what type of academic journey suits you best.

US Admissions Consideration: Like other international students, your application will be reviewed based on the high school you attended, such as an international school in Singapore. At the beginning of the process, you’ll be measured against your peers, so your AOs can get a sense of what you’ve done with the same set of resources. From there, you’ll also be evaluated against the pool of applicants from Singapore, and your passport nationality.

UK Admissions Consideration: Similar to the case of the US, you’ll also be considered as an international student when you apply. Typically, in the UK, this simply means that you’ll be paying higher fees than a domestic student, but there are still no specific quotas in place. However, your choice to apply from Singapore may be quite advantageous! This is because UK AOs are familiar with the rigour of the Singapore education system, though they may also compare you with applicants from your home country.

US PR/Citizen

US Admissions Consideration: When you approach the application for a US university, it’s important to note that you’ll be considered a domestic applicant, regardless of whether you attended high school in the US or abroad. This may prove beneficial for you, as US universities typically reserve more spots for domestic applicants, especially when it comes to top-tier schools like those of the Ivy League. Effectively, the admissions process may play out like this:

• You’ll start by being compared to your peers from the same high school, then evaluated against applicants from your country of residence. If your application stands out in these two rounds, you’ll be measured against a global group of candidates.
• When it comes to the admissions process, if an AO is evaluating two similar profiles—one from a domestic applicant and one from an international student—the statistics show that a US citizen is more likely to be admitted, primarily because there are more reserved spots for domestic students.

UK Admissions Considerations: Similar to the sections above, a student who is a US citizen should face no hindrances when it comes to applying in the UK. The UK’s admissions process is generally quite straightforward, and much more attention is paid to merit and academic qualifications, instead of citizenship status! Much like other international students, you’ll be charged higher fees, but your US citizenship should not hold you back from achieving admission.

We hope you found this blog helpful and that it alleviates any concerns you may have about how your citizenship affects your chances at top UK and US universities. Ultimately, universities prioritise your characteristics and suitability, so factors like citizenship status shouldn’t deter you from pursuing higher education. If you’d like to learn more about how your citizenship may impact your university application, schedule a free consultation with one of our Academic Experts, who can share more about the admissions process, answer any questions you have, and evaluate your profile.