EAST ASIA · MAINLAND CHINA
Students in mainland China finish school in different ways: with the gaokao, A Levels, the IB Diploma, or an American diploma with AP courses. Yours shapes where you can apply and what each university will ask of you.
For 2027 entry
START WITH YOUR QUALIFICATION
If you’re taking the gaokao, you apply to mainland universities through your province once results are out. With A Levels, the IB, or an American diploma, universities abroad look at your results, your school’s grading, and your subjects, each in its own way.
NATIONAL CURRICULUM
You sit the national college entrance exam at the end of high school: Chinese, mathematics, and a foreign language, plus other subjects you’ve chosen.
BRITISH CURRICULUM
You usually take three or four A Levels in your last two years, for example in the international division of a public high school or at an international school.
INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE
You take six subjects, three or four at Higher Level, plus the core. Your teachers predict your grades before the final exams in May.
AMERICAN CURRICULUM
Your school’s diploma and GPA, usually with Advanced Placement (AP) courses and exams.
Letrado’s adviceAsk your counselor for your school profile early. It explains your curriculum and grading, and U.S. colleges read it alongside your transcript. If you’re in an international division, ask how your school reports your grades and predicted results.
The exams: In 2026, the national exams in Chinese, mathematics, and a foreign language began on June 7, followed by exams in the subjects you’ve chosen. In Beijing, for example, exams in subjects such as physics, history, and chemistry ran on June 9 and 10.
Results and applications: Each province releases its own results and runs its own application window, where you list the universities and majors you’d accept. Beijing’s 2026 results came out in late June, and applications ran from June 27 to July 1.
Cambridge: Most of its colleges accept the gaokao, but they expect different results. Some expect a rank in the top 0.1% of your province plus extra achievement, such as science Olympiads or AP exams. Others ask for at least 90% in each of three relevant core subjects, or overall results in the top 1% to 3%. The remaining colleges don’t accept the gaokao alone and ask for A Levels, the IB, or at least five AP exams at grade 5 as well.
Sheffield, for example: It accepts the gaokao for direct entry: at least 75% of the total marks for courses that usually ask for AAA or higher, 70% for AAB to ABB, and 65% for BBB to BBC.
HKU in Hong Kong: It runs its own application for gaokao students, separate from the national system, and looks at your total and English scores and an interview if you’re invited. For 2027 entry, applications open on 6 October 2026. If you accept HKU’s offer, you leave the mainland admissions process.
Testing: Johns Hopkins requires standardized test scores for fall 2027 entry, and Cornell requires the SAT or ACT. UCLA and the other University of California campuses don’t consider SAT or ACT scores for admission or scholarships.
Where to test: Check test dates and centers on the College Board’s and ACT’s own websites early.
English tests: If English isn’t your first language, colleges may ask for TOEFL, IELTS, or Duolingo scores. Cornell, for example, sets a minimum of 7.5 in IELTS.
COMPARE THE SYSTEMS
You can apply to all three in the same year, and we help with all three. Each has its own application, deadlines, and idea of a strong applicant, so give each one its own plan.
UNITED STATES
Selective colleges look at your grades in the context of your school, alongside your essays, activities, teacher and counselor letters, and test scores where they ask for them. You apply to each college separately, often through the Common App.
Letrado’s adviceMake sure your school profile and counselor letter explain your curriculum. Then use your essays for what only you can say.
UNITED KINGDOM
You apply through UCAS to up to five courses, with one personal statement for all of them. Universities look closely at your subjects and predicted grades, and some courses add an admissions test or interview.
Letrado’s adviceChoose a subject you’d enjoy studying for three years, then check each course’s subject requirements before anything else.
MAINLAND CHINA
Mainland universities admit students mainly through the gaokao, province by province, after results. Joint universities such as NYU Shanghai and Duke Kunshan add their own assessment, including a campus day: Duke Kunshan counts your gaokao score for 60% and its own assessment for 40%. HKU in Hong Kong also admits students on their gaokao results, through its own application.
Letrado’s adviceNYU Shanghai asks you to apply before the gaokao. For 2026 entry, its deadline was 1 February, so check each joint university’s dates early.
EducationUSA, the U.S. government’s network of study advisers, has five centers in mainland China: Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Shenyang, and Wuhan. Its advising, workshops, and college fairs are all free of charge.
PLAN YOUR YEAR
U.S., UK, and mainland deadlines, results, and offers fall at different times. Seeing them together shows where you may need to decide before every result is in.
U.S. From Oct 1
The application opened for drafting on August 1.
UK Oct 15
18:00 UK time.
U.S. Nov 1
Other U.S. colleges set their own early dates.
U.S. Nov 30
U.S. Jan 2
Johns Hopkins’ Early Decision II deadline is the same day.
UK Jan 13
18:00 UK time.
U.S. May 1
The usual U.S. reply date, weeks before the gaokao begins.
Mainland China Usually from Jun 7
The 2027 dates aren’t announced yet. In 2026 the national exams began on June 7.
Exam results Late June
Each province sets its own date. In 2026, Beijing’s came out in late June.
Mainland China Late June–early July
Beijing’s 2026 window ran from June 27 to July 1.
Exam results Early July
In 2026 they came out on July 6.
Exam results Mid-August
In 2026 they came out on August 11. UK universities then confirm conditional offers.
U.S. dates vary by college, so check each college’s own page. The Ministry of Education sets the gaokao dates each year, and each province sets its own results and application dates.
TRY THIS WITH EACH UNIVERSITY ON YOUR LIST
Open each university’s own pages and note an answer for every row. Bring the gaps and questions to our conversation, or work through them with your counselor.
| What to check | What to note for each university |
|---|---|
| Your qualification | Does it accept the gaokao or the certificate you’ll finish with, for direct entry? |
| Subjects and tests | Which subjects, grades, English tests, or admissions tests does the course need? |
| Dates | When is the deadline, when will you hear back, and when must you reply? |
| Full cost in yuan | Tuition, housing, flights, insurance, and visas for the whole degree, and again with a weaker yuan. |
| Would you go? | If this were your only offer, would you be glad to go? |
PLAN THE COST
A U.S. bachelor’s degree usually takes four years, and many UK degrees take three. Exchange rates can change over that time, so plan for the full degree, not just the first year.
YOUR YEARLY BUDGET
Letrado’s adviceRun your budget twice: once at today’s exchange rate and once with the yuan 10% weaker. Keep at least one option that still works.
Your yearly allowance: Each person can buy foreign currency worth up to US$50,000 a year at a bank, with a valid ID.
Study costs: For study abroad, you can buy more outside that allowance by showing your ID, your admission letter, and related documents. Ask your bank what it needs before your first payment is due.
UK Student visa: You can apply up to six months before your course starts. You pay the health surcharge for every year of your visa when you apply.
U.S. student (F-1) visa: You apply once your college has sent your I-20 form. If you’re a U.S. citizen, you don’t need one.
Appointments: Appointment waits vary, so check the U.S. Embassy or consulate’s own page early.
A STUDENT FROM MAINLAND CHINA · Z.W.
Z.W. studied in the international division of a public high school in China. She was drawn to biology, public health, and explaining science to others, and she applied to U.S. universities.
Her first draft made a summer lab placement sound like independent research. She had prepared materials, observed procedures, and helped organize basic data, so she rewrote it to say exactly that.
She translated short science explanations for the bulletin. Her essay was about revising one after younger students misunderstood a cell diagram.
Interview practice used technical and everyday versions of the same explanation, so she could adjust to the listener without losing accuracy.
An accurate description of what you did is stronger than a borrowed title.
HER OFFERS
HER CHOICE: UCLAUniversity of California, Los Angeles · Photo: Beyond My Ken / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Cropped.
Johns Hopkins offered the closest match to her early interests, and Cornell appealed for its breadth. UCLA gave her biology and public health with room to explore before choosing a research specialty, and its campus and what her family would pay were part of the decision.
WHEN YOU’D LIKE A HAND
Bring your questions to a free 45-minute introduction with your proposed mentor. Afterward, we’ll email a personalized plan with recommended next steps.
