UL Entrance cheat sheet

Applications are assessed on final or predicted secondary-school results; conditional offers become void if final grades fall below the stated threshold.

A conditional offer names required subjects and grades; an unconditional offer requires only proof of completion and identity.

Deferred entry usually requires a written request before the deadline and a stated plan for the gap year; not all programmes permit it.

Personal statements are typically capped near 4,000 characters or 47 lines; content beyond the cap is cut, not penalised separately.

References are submitted by the school, not the applicant; applicants may see them only if they waive or retain rights per local law.

Standardised tests (SAT, ACT, or national equivalents) are optional at some institutions and mandatory at others; check each programme's stated policy.

Application fees are usually non-refundable and charged per institution or per programme, not per applicant.

Plagiarism checks on personal statements compare against prior submissions and published text; similarity reports go to admissions staff.

Reading comprehension question types: main idea, explicit detail, inference, vocabulary in context, tone/purpose, and author's argument structure.

Inference answers must be supported by the text; an option that is merely plausible but unstated is wrong.

Transition words signal logic: contrast (however, albeit), cause (therefore, consequently), addition (moreover, likewise), concession (although, while).

Subject-verb agreement: ignore prepositional phrases between subject and verb; 'the list of items is' not 'are'.

Dangling modifiers: the introductory phrase must describe the grammatical subject of the main clause.

Active voice is preferred in formal writing unless the actor is unknown or the object is the focus.

Punctuation: a semicolon joins two independent clauses; a colon follows a complete clause and introduces a list, explanation, or quotation.

Register: formal essays avoid contractions, slang, second-person 'you', and rhetorical questions.

Percent change = (new − old) / old × 100; successive changes of a% and b% give a combined factor of (1+a/100)(1+b/100).

Slope = (y₂ − y₁)/(x₂ − x₁); parallel lines share slope, perpendicular slopes multiply to −1.

Quadratic formula: x = [−b ± √(b² − 4ac)] / 2a; the discriminant b² − 4ac gives two, one, or zero real roots.

Circle: area = πr², circumference = 2πr; sector area = (θ/360)πr² for central angle θ in degrees.

Right triangles: Pythagorean theorem a² + b² = c²; common triples are 3-4-5, 5-12-13, and 8-15-17.

Average (mean) = sum / count; median is the middle value of an ordered set; mode is the most frequent value.

Probability of independent events = product of individual probabilities; P(A or B) = P(A) + P(B) − P(A and B).

Compound interest: A = P(1 + r/n)^(nt), where r is the annual rate and n the compounding periods per year.

Newton's second law: F = ma; weight = mg with g ≈ 9.8 m/s² near Earth's surface.

Photosynthesis: 6CO₂ + 6H₂O + light → C₆H₁₂O₆ + 6O₂, occurring in chloroplasts.

The pH scale runs 0–14; below 7 is acidic, 7 neutral, above 7 basic, and each unit represents a tenfold change in hydrogen-ion concentration.

DNA base pairing: adenine–thymine and guanine–cytosine; RNA substitutes uracil for thymine.

Cell types: prokaryotes lack a membrane-bound nucleus; eukaryotes have one plus membrane-bound organelles.

The water cycle stages are evaporation, transpiration, condensation, precipitation, and collection/runoff.

Plate tectonics: divergent boundaries create new crust, convergent boundaries produce subduction or uplift, transform boundaries cause lateral faulting.

Fundamental SI units: metre (length), kilogram (mass), second (time), ampere (current), kelvin (temperature), mole (amount), candela (luminous intensity).