About the program:

The Crimson Access Opportunity (CAO) is a program for ambitious, high-achieving students who demonstrate significant financial need. The program will offer Crimson admissions consulting services completely free of charge to a select group of students from around the world through the Edge and Collective programs. Note: the program will not cover any university costs, such as application or testing fees, beyond admissions support. 

Eligibility:

• The program supports both domestic and international students. 
• We support students who can contribute less than 30,000 USD/year towards their education.
• CAO supports students who are applying to universities in the EU and intend to start university in 2027. CAO is not able to support students who are not in their application year, so students must be in the equivalent of grade 11 or higher to apply.
• We are not able to support transfer students. 

Tips on filling out the application:

• Before answering any of the application questions, please read all the instructions and questions carefully.
• We recommend that you watch this video walkthrough of the application (note that some minor details may have changed since the recording of the video) and that you read all the linked resources provided in the different application sections.
• When approaching every question, please answer them as informatively, clearly, and honestly as possible. Please note that we take honesty very seriously at Crimson; you will be asked to agree to the CAO honor code before submitting the application.
• Carefully check all the information you have provided before submitting as you will not be able to change your answers after submitting the application form.
• We recommend drafting the application on a separate document and asking someone whose opinions you trust to review your application before submitting it. Put as much effort into your answers as you can!
• Although our application is not exactly the same as that of universities, it does draw inspiration from several of its sections. You might therefore find this video series helpful. You will also be able to re-use a lot of your answers on this form in your actual applications - yet another reason to draft it on a separate document (you can save it and re-use it in your college applications)!

Application deadlines:
-Priority consideration: April 15, 2026 at 11:59pm GMT
-Final application date: May 1, 2026 at 11:59pm GMT

Applicants will hear back about their admission by the end of June, 2025. You do not need to follow up on your admissions decision over email - it will be shared with all students. Please contact cao@crimsoneducation.org for any concerns.

We look forward to reading your application and learning more about you, good luck!

The submitted information will not be shared with anyone other than Crimson administrators.

Academic History

We are interested in your academic performance in high school. Please provide your grade average for each high school year (the equivalent to the American grade 9, 10, 11, and 12). If you can't find your school system here, please use this tool to convert your grade averages to a US GPA.

While there is no minimum grade average to be a part of CAO, we look for students who have consistently excelled academically; our students tend to stand out in their community for their academic achievements.  

You will need to select pre-written options for your grades. We know that this may not fully represent your report cards. For that reason, we ask that you select the closest option and then upload all your academic records in the space below.

Important notes:

• We cannot consider students who have not uploaded the transcripts for all their years of high school (the equivalent of US grades 9, 10, 11, and 12).
• CAO is not able to support students who are not in their application year, so students must be in the equivalent of the US grade 11 or higher to apply.

Instructions for Describing Activities

Please upload a copy of your resume or CV below. You can find tips on creating a CV here. We want to see the activities that you are the most proud of, that you have been the most involved in, and that best demonstrate your interests, impact, accomplishments, and leadership.

Instructions for Describing Honors

List max 5 academic honors, awards, competitions, or other achievements below. Please use no more than 100 characters to describe each one.

This is an important section, as we've found that most top-university candidates have outstanding achievements in their honors. 

Essays

In the essays below, we want to understand more about you, your goals, and your motivators. We recommend drafting the essays on a separate document and asking someone you trust to review it before you submit it, as the essays are an important part of the reviewing process.

Note: the essay must be your own work, and you may not use an AI-produced essay in your application. If we detect that AI has been used in the production of your essay, your application will, unfortunately, be dismissed.

Video Introduction

We'd love to meet and get to know you! Imagine this as a conversation or interview you're having with our application reviewers on the CAO Admissions Committee - keep it light, fun, and natural! 

This section is very important - this is where you should tell us how you'd benefit from the program and why we should choose you to be a part of the program.

In your 2-minute video introduction, we want you to respond to the following questions:
- What are your goals and aspirations, and how do you think the CAO Program could help you get there? Important: Please make sure that your answer is specific to the CAO program(s) that you selected (CAO Edge and/or CAO Collective).
- Why would you be a great fit for the program?

In the words of Brown University, "Your video should begin with you in front of the camera saying, "Hi, my name is [insert name] from [high school]." After that, what you choose to say and how you choose to say it is up to you. Simple and unrehearsed is fine, and you are welcome to be creative."

We recommend that you watch Brown's "Video Introduction: Do's & Don'ts" before you start recording your video.

If you can't record a video, please submit an audio file. However, please note that CAO team meetings are conducted over video calls - this is a great time to practice feeling comfortable with video communication.

Honor Code: I have completed this form truthfully and to the best of my ability. I understand that as an applicant to the CAO program, I am beholden to an Honor Code, and promise to be truthful regarding all aspects of my application and in all interactions with Crimson and university personnel. I also understand that I am not allowed to use AI when producing my application materials. I acknowledge that any false or misleading information included on this application form by the student or guardian(s) will result in an immediate dismissal from the Crimson Access Opportunity program, and I will be barred from any other Crimson affiliate programs.

Please acknowledge and agree to the honor code below.