[Clodey]

Hello,
I am applying to Harvard through The Common Application. I have tried contacting them 3 times and they just say the same answer over and over which is completely useless.
My main question is:

What do you do if your school does not produce School Reports?
This is for the School Forms section. My "counsellor" will be including my Personal Reference which is the same one as used for my UCAS application. This is the only document which I can provide for my school profile.

I have some other questions:

Is it acceptable to use my UCAS Personal Statement as my personal essay?
Is it necessary to add two teachers even though my personal reference consists of references from all my teachers?

Extra Information about me:
Applying to study Computer Science at Harvard. Not only is Computer Science at Harvard appealing to me, but so is the prospect of track and field.

AS Levels - 4 A's (Maths, Physics, Chemistry, Geography)
A Levels - Worst case senario 3 A's (Maths, Physics, Chemistry)
- Minimum I would expect 1 A* and 2 A's

Athletics (Track) - 800m - 1'56
- 1500m - 4'20 [2009]
- 1500m Steeplechase - 4'37 [14th UK]
- 2000m Steeplchase - 6'20 [28th UK]
Also won 7 different Welsh Championships since 2008 and competed at the 2009 UK School Games which is the pinnacle of high school athletics.


Thanks.

[Muffinz]

I'm doing the same thing for my school report. You could use your PS as your statement for the Common App, but I was under the impression that it was supposed to expose something about your personality and what you'd give to the campus rather than your academia. You could include your PS somewhere along the time, but I think you should bear in mind that one of the perks of the American system is that you don't have to declare your major immediately - the admissions team will be interested to see why you want to go to America rather than do a three year pure UG course in the UK.

[Clodey]

(Original post by Muffinz)
I'm doing the same thing for my school report. You could use your PS as your statement for the Common App, but I was under the impression that it was supposed to expose something about your personality and what you'd give to the campus rather than your academia. You could include your PS somewhere along the time, but I think you should bear in mind that one of the perks of the American system is that you don't have to declare your major immediately - the admissions team will be interested to see why you want to go to America rather than do a three year pure UG course in the UK.

My PS does include information on my personality, how and what I can contribute, examples of how I demonstrate my interest for computer science and my academic acheivements. I am expecting an interview, hopefully there I can answer any questions Harvard may want to ask me.

[adam0311]

You guys are screwing yourself if you don't write a new essay for the common app. An American uni essay is 100x different than a UK uni PS. Yes it is a b*tch. I had to write a separate essay for US unis, a PS for the UK unis, four essays for NYU, one essay for GW, two essays for Michigan, and two essays for Columbia. Quite frankly, if you are writing an essay about your interest in Comp Sci and only have 1 extracurricular activity you are going to be hovering over the rejection bin. You need to write a killer essay to makeup for it. Talking about why comp sci interests you is not a killer essay. Understand that in American uni about 2 years of the 4 year degree is spent on subjects outside of your major. Talking only about your interest in comp sci would cause the institution to question your ability to take up a liberal arts curriculum. You shouldn't only just apply to Harvard. Look in to MIT and CIT. Both better for computer sciences.

[SaintSaens]

^This is correct. Your UCAS personal statement probably won't be very compelling to admissions staff. If you're not sure what to write about, you may want to look at some of these:
http://www.conncoll.edu/admission/essays.htm
https://www.amherst.edu/aboutamherst...008fall/essays
http://apply.jhu.edu/apply/essays.html

As you can see, there's a variety of topics that work well.

Since you're interested in competing in track, have you tried getting in contact with the any of the track coaches?

[manchild007]

I included my UCAS personal statement about my interest in studying economics, tweaked slightly by including the books I'd read around the subject and what I've learnt from them and competitions I entered etc, and I was awarded offers from Harvard, Yale and Stanford.

So my point is that admissions committees will understand applications from UK students shall differ from those typical of domestic US students who write a common application essay differently - my UCAS essay was fine (in fact I was praised for showing such an interest in the subject when I went for interviews) and without it, I don't think I would have received my offers otherwise.

[mpc1]

Really want your inputs.

Is it OK to use the UCAS personal statement for the US common app essay?

How many have done that and been successful?