What universities are looking for?

The admission department’s decisions at the University is primarily based on the academic criteria. While the University looks for ability and potential in a student, it also assesses everyone individually, which means they look at and for different things in different students for different courses. Although, there is no magic formula that guarantees a place at the University. The admissions tutors are always looking for students who they believe:

1.  Have the most academic ability and potential
2. The student who will benefit from and flourish in the University learning environment
3.  The student who is best suited to the course they applied for

Academic Ability and Potential

However, according to counselors, all admissions tutors of Universities look for students that they believe have the learning ability, capacity and will benefit from and flourish in the set learning environment. The admission tutors usually determined the fate of a student by the examination grades in high school and recommendations from counselors and teachers.

Learning at University

Universities look for an indication of a student’s ability to think critically and independently. Also its willingness to argue logically while keeping an open mind to new ideas as well. A student also needs self-discipline, motivation, commitment, and the desire and the potential to go beyond what they have learned at school or in the future at University.

Suitability and Enthusiasm for the Course

Finally, counselors have stressed for decades that students should learn about the subject they’ve applied for and shouldn’t only be interested in the degree at the end. Universities at interview rounds gauge it quite quickly making it an infamous reasons as to why students do not make it to their desired Universities. Therefore it is very important that students should sit down with their counselors and figure out which subject area(s) they are most enthused and inspired about studying for the next few years.

Keynote for Students

There is no blueprint for an ideal student that Universities want, and they give applicants as many opportunities as possible to demonstrate their strengths and potential. Therefore, each application is considered individually and holistically, using all of the following information:

1. Academic record
2. School/college reference
3. Personal statement
4. Any written work submitted
5. Performance in any written assessment
6. Contextual data
7. Performance at interview

Every application is considered holistically. The admission’s tutor analyzes all of the information available before making any decisions. No part of the application is considered separately. For example, a student’s written assessment performance or performance at interview alone does not determine the outcome of their application.