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Common App Vs. UCAS

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Common App Vs. UCAS

In terms of applying to colleges for overseas education, there are multiple country options available. Out of the most renowned and famous options, students prefer applying to the US and UK. This is because while applying to the colleges in both countries, they get a larger pool of options, increasing their chances of admission. 

Before jumping onto the difference between Common App and UCAS applications, it is important to know about these systems.

  • UCAS: It is known to be a centralised system for applications common for all UK universities.
  • Common App: It is a centralised application system for US universities. 

The Common App system allows the candidates to apply to multiple universities. The biggest USP of the Common App application process is that the candidate does not need to be mindful of the costs before applying to every university. But in the case of UCAS, there is a restriction as per which a student can only apply to 5 universities. If the student applies for more than 5 universities, there is a flat fee attached. The fees range roughly between ₹2100 approx. for a single course and ₹2700 approx. for more than one course.

Purpose

The major difference between the two is related to the actual use of these portals. For instance, US students use the UCAS portal to apply to several UK universities, and the students use the Common App portal to apply for US colleges. Also, a few universities outside the US apply students to apply via the Common App portal and submit their Common App essays. 

An important point to note here is that, even though Common App is a renowned portal, still many US colleges do not use it. On the other hand, in this case, the UCAS portal is pretty much sorted as about 350 + UK universities, majorly all of them accept undergraduate applications through the portal. Common App is used by students globally in more than 200+ countries. 

Differences Between Common App and UCAS

Both of these portals do offer a proper and easy process to apply to universities. But there is a little difference between the two portals in terms of fees, deadlines, etc.

Here are the major differences between Common App and UCAS, which every international student should be aware of:

Basis of DifferentiationUCASCommon App
FeesThe application of UCAS is very cheap as it is somewhere approximately $36 for any 5 universities for which the student applies.In the case of the Common App platform, it is a completely free platform, but individual colleges have the right to charge a certain amount of basic application fees. In the case of Common App, the fees can be waived depending on the student’s financial condition. Also, it is the schools’ decision whether they will charge the same amount to both national and international students.
DeadlineIn case of the deadline, for most of the UK applications, the deadline is Jan end every year. But this is not fixed, as many universities have a flexible deadline and accept the applications as per their requirements.In the case of the Common App deadline, each college has the flexibility of choosing its application deadlines. Some options here include early action, decision, regular decision or rolling admission. A very important factor to keep in mind is that to meet the deadlines, the student needs to apply and all the documents, such as the Common App essay, by 11:59 PM as per their local time and not the time zone of the college
Personal EssayThe personal statement of UCAS should be around 4000 characters.The personal statement of Common App should be around 6000 characters.
Personal StatementThe personal statement of UCAS is mainly about asking the student why they want to choose this course.The personal essay of Common App, it is more related to personal questions.

To Conclude

To get proper guidance on applying to universities, you can consult the education counsellors at UniVisory. It is always a better idea to get in touch with the education counsellors who have in-depth understanding of the whole admission process. With the help of the right guidance and professionals, the students will be able to understand all the tricks, tips and other relevant information which one needs to know while applying for such high-end universities.

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