Admissions · UCAS · Common App · Boarding
US & UK University and Boarding School Admissions
A realistic school list first, then the testing timeline, then the essays. Applications planned 12–18 months out, not in the final term.
Most admissions problems we are asked to fix are timing problems. Families come to us in the autumn of the application year with an ambitious list, a test score that needs another sitting, and six weeks to write essays that should have taken three months. The work is doable; it is just far more stressful and the outcome is usually worse.
Our consultants — graduates of Ivy League and Russell Group universities — work with families from Year 10 onwards on university applications, and from Year 5 onwards for UK and US boarding schools.
UK university applications (UCAS)
- Course and university selection, including the entry requirements that actually bind — subject prerequisites at HL, and the IB point totals that vary far more between courses than families expect.
- The personal statement, which in the UK is about academic suitability for a specific course, not a rounded portrait of the student. This is the single most common mistake in Hong Kong applications.
- Admissions tests for medicine, law, mathematics and the Oxbridge courses that require them.
- Interview preparation for Oxbridge, medicine and other interviewing courses.
US university applications
- School list construction — reach, target and likely, built against the student's actual profile rather than a ranking table.
- The Common App essay and supplements, where the supplements do more work than most applicants realise.
- Testing strategy — whether to test at all given each school's policy, and if so, the SAT and AP timeline. See SAT and AP tutoring.
- Activities and the academic narrative — depth in a small number of things beats a long list, and this needs planning years ahead.
UK and US boarding schools
For families applying at 11+, 13+ or into the sixth form, we prepare students for the ISEB Common Pre-Test, the SSAT, school-specific papers and interviews, and support the application itself. Our students have gone on to Sevenoaks, Harrow, Cheltenham College and Cheltenham Ladies' College, Millfield, Wycombe Abbey, Phillips Academy Andover, Phillips Exeter and Choate Rosemary Hall, among others.
How the consulting works
- Profile review. Grades, predicted grades, subjects, activities, and what the student actually wants — which is not always what the family assumed.
- Strategy and timeline. A written plan working backwards from the deadlines, including when each test should be sat.
- Execution. Essay drafting cycles, test preparation, interview practice, and reference coordination with the school.
- Decision support. Offer comparison, and reapplication or clearing strategy where needed.
We do not write essays for students. Admissions offices read tens of thousands of these and consultant-written essays are recognisable — beyond the integrity problem, they do not work.
What Hong Kong parents and students say
Bob is able to make learning fun and effective. He puts fun, structured learning and target oriented together in his lessons.
Nice learning environment. Tutor Bob sir is excellent :)
Talk to an admissions consultant
Tell us the year group and the countries you are considering. The first conversation is free.
填寫表格，安排免費IB／IGCSE試堂（包括網課），我們會於24小時内聯絡。
- Free trial lesson before you commit
- Tutors screened to a 10% acceptance rate
- Change tutor at any time, no questions asked
- Causeway Bay · Kowloon · online
Prefer to talk? 2781 5514 or WhatsApp +852 6155 6896
Frequently asked questions
When should we start planning a university application?
Year 11 or the start of Year 12 for UK applications, and ideally Year 10 for US applications where testing and activities need a longer runway. We take on students later than this regularly, but the options narrow.
Do you write the personal statement or Common App essay?
No. We coach structure, argument and redrafting, and we push hard on multiple drafts. The words are the student's. Consultant-written essays read as consultant-written and admissions officers are practised at spotting them.
Which universities have your students gone to?
Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Cornell, UCLA, Toronto and UBC in North America; Imperial, UCL, Warwick, Durham and Sheffield in the UK; and HKU medicine locally. The full list is on Why Hudson.
Can you help with boarding school applications for a younger child?
Yes — from around Year 5 for 11+ and 13+ entry, covering the ISEB Common Pre-Test, SSAT, school-specific papers and interview practice.