Congratulations to our class of 2026 students on their stellar results! 

As with previous years, we have noticed a few trends that could help set you up for success in your coming application.

1. Universities seem to be moving back to individual application portals

The number of applicants every year has only increased, and with this new level of competition, universities and colleges have to be more discerning than ever. This has led many of the top universities to view the Common App application as insufficient when it comes to differentiating between students. Universities like the University of Chicago have started including their own separate portals in the application process with separate essays and response questions. Having a deeper understanding of each school and its various specialties has become more important than ever. Ensuring you have enough time to deal with this increased workload has also been an added challenge compared to previous years.

2. Numbers are more important than ever

With the increase in the number of applicants, universities no longer have the resources to really go over each student in depth. Therefore, universities and colleges have started using various AI screening tools to assist them in their initial screening of students. Due to the nature of these AI tools, objective data points have become crucial to success, making factors like GPA, standardized test scores, and public examination results more important than ever. While other more qualitative factors are still important later in the application process, ensuring you meet the stricter quantitative thresholds is essential to passing the first cut and ensuring the admission office of your chosen university actually gets to read the rest of your profile before they make their decision regarding your application.

This trend has also been seen in universities outside of the USA. More and more UK and European universities are now using standardized tests and even GCSE results in their admissions process. While predicted grades are still essential, an increasing number of universities are using GCSE results and subject selection as their first cut and rejecting students before they look at the rest of the application.

3. Extra-curricular activities require more depth than before

This added competition has caused the way universities view extracurricular activities to change as well. Admissions officers care less about the number of activities each student lists in their activity form. Instead, they have started to care more about the tangible impact and level of demonstrated interest in their chosen activities. Rather than requiring students to fill in all 10 slots on the CommonApp activity list, schools prefer students to focus all their attention on activities they are truly passionate about and have more concrete examples of their influence and impact in their chosen passions. This can come through in letters of recommendation but also in how students talk about their activities in their supplementary essays, as well as the activity descriptions.

4. Interviews

Furthermore, admission interview difficulty has also increased significantly over the past years. Students now have to demonstrate expertise instead of just interests. It is not uncommon for interviewers to ask about breakthroughs and books that have been released as close to a week before the interview to check if students are keeping up with the latest news in their chosen subjects.

Quantum Prep is an education consultancy that focuses on placing their students at the best colleges or universities. We boast of diverse results. In addition to the traditional rap sheet of prestigious university acceptances, our consultants like to highlight the different paths they have sent students on. All of our students are different; we are proud of our one-on-one tailored approach towards university counselling. Contact us for a complimentary 30-minute initial meeting, where you can get tailored individualized advice on how to put your best foot forward. Read our reviews to see what our clients think of us.

By Brendan Lung, Admissions Consultant

Published 26-02-2026