<p>How many of you (outside of Texas) know what I mean by UIL (University Interscholastic League)? I want to apply primarily out of state (and even overseas), and I’m primarily concerned that they won’t know what I mean by “UIL Academics”. Can anyone help me come up with a concise, easily understandable explanation, particularly for the British schools? </p>
<p>UIL Academics is a bit like Academic Decathlon except there’s more than 10 subjects and most people only do 1. And there’s no nice scholarships for winning. Basically, we take pencil-and-paper tests on Saturday mornings/afternoons (there are a couple speech and technology tests too), and the highest scorers get medals. There’s the general school team, which earns points based on how well individual members and teams score, as well as the teams for specific subjects. I’m rare because I compete on two teams and may join a third next year. We compete at the district, regional, and state levels, and several of our teams regularly compete at state. I was on a team that won state for a particular subject last year, which I want to put on my apps… But as space is limited, especially on the UCAS personal statement, I need some help shortening and clarifying that explanation. There’s another snag: my chosen field is Engineering, but my subjects are Current Events and Spelling; I can’t do Science because it occurs at the same time as Spelling and since there were too many people for Math and I already do two events, I didn’t join. It doesn’t matter too much for American schools but the English schools I’m applying for prefer major interest in my field and don’t really care for outside activities. I can certainly spin them to explain skills, etc., but do you think it may be safer to simply leave it off the personal statement and spend the space discussing other qualifications/interests?</p>