In the United States, the college admissions process is often at the top of high school students’ minds. In an attempt to create a competitive application, U.S. students need to balance their academics with a large number of extracurricular activities, sports, and personal interests. While standardized test scores are not required at many schools, submitting a high test score can do a lot to aid a student’s resume. Nonetheless, which students are admitted is often not straightforward. Even when a student meets the necessary requirements, it is never a given if they will be admitted or not. Different college admissions procedures vary greatly around the world, offering new perspectives and bringing up questions surrounding if one country’s way is better than another. 

In the UK, the college process is much more straightforward than in the U.S. The primary point of decision making is based on academic performance and scores on a standardized test called the GCSEs. Students must also take an admissions exam that is based on the specific program they want to apply for. Just as the US has the Common App, an app that aids in the application process, the UK has UCAS, which is very similar. The UCAS website states, “Here are the top things admissions teams will look for when reviewing your application: qualifications, content of written personal statement displaying passion for the subject area, while demonstrating motivation, enthusiasm, and the skills and experiences that will enable you to succeed at university. Knowledge of, and commitment to, the subject discipline.” As is shown on the UCAS website, the UK’s approach to admissions is based nearly entirely on academics rather than including extracurricular activities like in the U.S.

 In China, college admissions serve as a culmination of a student’s education thus far. High schoolers prepare their entire lives for the gaokao, the exam that determines which students get accepted into higher education. The test is nine hours long, held over two or three days. In 2017, 9.4 million students took the exam, with 7 million students being admitted to universities or colleges. The number of students accepted varies from year to year, with some years having near complete acceptance and others having only around half. Students can only take the test once a year, as opposed to students in the US being able to take the SAT or ACT repeatedly. This disparity leads to a massive amount of pressure and anxiety on students, and can be extremely detrimental to their mental wellbeing. 

In South Africa, National Senior Certificate Scores are needed for admittance to South African universities. There is also the National Benchmark Tests, which “…evaluates a student’s ability to cope with the entry-level academic literacy, quantitative literacy and mathematics demands they will face in their university studies” (South Africa Education). Something that sets South Africa apart is the lack of a centralized system in which students can apply for multiple universities at once. Similar to many countries around the world, South African universities seem to also base entrance decisions primarily on academics. 

The different types of college admissions processes makes for an interesting comparison, particularly when considering a student’s mental health. While the holistic nature of college admissions in the United States makes the process less predictable, it also takes into account a person’s whole identity rather than just the numbers they produce. This creates space for a question about college admissions culture as American society knows it: should we adopt ideas from other countries, or is ours already the most effective and humane?