Common App Essay vs UCAS Personal Statement

Country

This application is used by students who want to apply to universities and colleges in the USA

This application is used by students who want to apply to universities and colleges in the UK

Word/Character Limit

There is a word limit of 250-650 words. See this post here for more information on the word limit of the Common App essay. 

There is a character limit of 4000 characters including spaces, which is approximately 500-600 words. 

Main Focus

The main focus is on the student as a person rather than on academic achievements, although they may discuss academic successes if they wish. However, the Common App essay is designed so that the admissions committee gets to know the student better as a person - what are their beliefs, values, motivations, ability to grow, etc?

The main focus is to highlight academic achievements and showcase why the student wants to study a particular course or subject at university. Reflections should be made based on academic achievements, intended field of study, and future career goals. 

Prompts

There is a fixed list of prompts given by the Common App. The 2024-25 prompts can be found here.

There are no prompts given and it is open-ended. The student is free to write about any aspect of why they wish to study a particular course or major.

Tone

The tone can be more informal, with students being allowed to add a playful or fun touch to their essays to make them more personal and unique. The use of anecdotes, personal reflections and stories are often used by students to support the main message of their essays. 

A formal, academic tone must be maintained. Students often focus on more serious topics such as academic aspirations and career goals, and these are topics that require a more professional tone.

Structure

Although most students follow the general trend of introduction, body, and conclusion, some variation in presentation is encouraged to keep the essay's format unique. For example, in this essay here, the student has made their introduction read like an itinerary which adds creativity to the essay.

A more traditional structure of introduction, body, and conclusion is required, in line with the professional tone of the essay. Informal variations are discouraged. 

Number of Schools

This essay is accepted by over 900 schools in the US. See this post here for the full list of schools, broken down by US state. Students can apply to a maximum of 20 schools using the Common App.

This essay is accepted by over 350 schools in the UK. Students can apply to a maximum of 5 schools using the UCAS application. 

Academic Emphasis

This essay does not need to have an academic emphasis, but the student may talk about their academic achievements if they are relevant to the prompt. 

This essay has a strong academic emphasis, especially on the subject or main that the student intends to study at university.   

Extracurricular activities

The student can highlight a range of extracurricular activities that are relevant to the prompt. Activities discussed can include sports, playing instruments, volunteering, starting a club, etc.

The student should only highlight activities related to their intended field of study and career goals. For example, if applying for a chemistry program, it would not be good practice to talk about playing sports or instruments. Rather, it would be better to talk about being the leader of a science club or volunteer experience mentoring younger peers in chemistry.

Application Fee

There is no application fee to use the Common App platform. However, individual schools may charge processing fees, with fee waivers being offered to eligible students.  

There is an application fee of £27.50 (approximately $35) which includes applying to up to 5 different courses. The application fee for a single course is £22.50 (approximately $28). No fee waivers are provided.