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Thursday, July 24, 2008 |
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www.collegeboard.org Prepare a folder for each of the schools you select in which to keep copies of correspondence and other information. Read anything you can find about colleges in which you are interested. Identify and talk to alumni of these institutions, to parents of students studying there, to professionals in the filed of your choice, and to faculty and counseling staff of your school or university. A good selection of programs or institutions can be made only if you are well informed. Undergraduates register and prepare for the TOEFL and SAT exams. Keep working at your subjects at school. Good grades in the courses you are taking will count heavily in the admissions decisions. Graduate students should study college catalogs to find suitable programs and identify faculty who share their interests. Catalogs of all universities in the United States are available on CD-ROM in U.S. educational advising centers. 12-14 months before U.S. study: Register and prepare for the TOEFL and GRE or GMAT exams. Send letters to colleges you have selected requesting applications and information, or obtain this information and necessary forms over the Internet. Narrow your choices to one or two institutions that you would like to attend but that may not accept you, two that appeal to you and which you feel would accept you and one or two where you are quite certain to gain admission. Now is also the time to inform the institutions if you need financial aid. Graduate students should send one letter to the director of graduate admissions with a copy to the chairman of the department in which you seek admission. International mail is slow and sometimes unreliable, so mail yours now and keep copies in case something gets lost and you need to write a second time. Identify two or three teachers or other people who know you well and ask them to write recommendation letters for you. Give them sufficient time to prepare a good recommendation. Remind them in conversations, or by giving them a written summary, of your academic and other accomplishments over the past few years. For undergraduate applicants the best references are teachers and your school counselor or principal. Family friends, religious counselors, and others should be used only if they know you very well and can provide unique or significant information that is relevant to your academic goals and promise. Graduate students, obtain letters from your teachers or professionals in your field whom you have worked with and who can attest to your academic promise as well as your academic and other accomplishments. Ask the schools and universities you have attended to prepare your transcripts (documents which show the courses you have studied and the grades you have received in those courses). Note that recommendations and school transcripts must be authentic and original. It is usually best if transcripts are sent directly to the U.S. institution from your school. If you send references or transcripts with you application form, you should ask the person completing the reference or the official providing the transcript to place them in a sealed envelop. The college seal or signature of the recommender should be place over the sealed flap of the envelope. This assures the U.S. institution that no one has tampered with the documents. If your previous TOEFL, SAT, GRE, or GMAT scores was not satisfactory, take the test again. Remember, these tests must be taken no later than January (December if you are applying to very competitive institutions) if you seek admission in August/September; and no later than June if you seek admission the following January. 11 months before U.S. study If you have not yet received the application forms you requested from the institutions you wrote to, send another letter repeating your request. Many colleges and universities in the U.S. have applications available on their Web sites. Be aware that some Web sites carry only applications for institutions that subscribe to that site. If you cannot find what you need on one site, look for it on others. Some suggested sites in addition to the ones mentioned above are: http://www.edge.net Study the applications you have received. Note carefully the deadlines on each of them. Undergraduates should write an application essay if the institutions require one. This essay is an important part of the application. It should reflect who you are and what you feel is important. Try not to repeat information you have provided in other parts of the application, but instead work to make the essay unique and personal. Ask a teacher to check it for mistakes you might make. Graduates should write a statement of purpose if the institutions have indicated that they require one from applicants. This is an important part of the application. A good statement of purpose will show that you are a focused student; you should demonstrate how your studies to date will provide a foundation for what you plan to do and how your proposed studies in the United States will serve as a logical stepping stone to your career plans. You should be as specific as possible about your research interests and experiences. Make photocopies of the applications and begin to fill in the required information on the copy. If questions confuse you, seek guidance from your school, or from advisers at U.S. educational advising centers. 10 months before U.S. study: Type or fill in the original applications by hand very carefully. The finished application will be your initial introduction to the universities of your choice. You want to make a good impression, so make these look good! Keep copies of the completed applications and essays in your folder, and mail the originals to the institutions in the United States. Observe the deadlines! Applications must reach institutions before the deadlines. Make sure your recommendations and school transcripts have been sent. Remind your teachers and other school officials of the deadlines as well if necessary. Make a checklist of the items required for the submission with each application. These may vary slightly from one college to the other, but they usually include:
Send your completed application packet to the director of undergraduate admissions. Usually the designated individual at the university will be indicated on the application form. Check to see if the application needs to be sent to a designated individual at the university to which you are applying. If not, send your completed application packet to the director of graduate admissions. Send a copy to the chairman of the department to which you hope to gain admission Upon receipt of your completed application, the university will probably begin corresponding with you. It is not unusual for institutions to request more information or resubmission of something you have already sent. Unless there is some delay with your application, you should expect a decision by April or May, perhaps even earlier. If you have intelligently chosen the schools and programs to which you apply, met the admissions requirements, met the deadlines, weighed advice and made choices that are right for you, an institution will send you a letter of acceptance along with the document you will use to apply for your student visa. 3 months before U.S. study. Get a visa application form from the U.S. embassy or consulate nearest you. When you apply for a visa, the consular officer may want to see the following: An I-20 or IAP-66 from an accredited college or university Original documents evidencing your educational credentials for the previous four years. The scores of tests you have taken, such as the TOEFL, GMAT, STA, or GRE exams Financial documents. These documents must show you have sufficient funds in a bank to pay for the first year of your studies in the United States. In addition, you should be able to prove the sources of your academic funding for subsequent years of study. It is not sufficient to show assets. You must be able to prove income generated by assets, family business, or property. Electronic Applications: An Additional Note If you hope to apply to an academic program using electronic application on the Internet, please note that not all universities have the capability, especially for graduate applicants. Sometimes only certain departments within a university can offer electronic application. Not all electronic applications are identical, although the information requested will be fairly consistent. These applications will take a lot of thought and time to complete well. You are advised to download the applications you are planning to use, fill in the information in a rough draft first, then transfer data to the on-line application before submitting it to the university. Few academic institutions are equipped to transmit transcripts electronically, Such information is traditionally sent through the mail. The same is usually true of recommendations, which require the same proof of authenticity as transcripts (a sealed envelope with the institution's or individual's stamp or signature across the seal). While electronic applications are convenient, remember that you may not be able to rely on the Internet for all parts of the admissions process. Follow the timeline above, and good luck with your admission! International Student Admissions and International Student Services: What is the difference? Application for admission are processed by people specialized in evaluating transcripts, test scores, and other documents and credentials. Once you have been accepted, others on campus will provide you with information about your arrival and stay in the United States. Direct questions about your application to undergraduate or graduate admissions officers or (graduate students only) to department chairs. Questions about housing, health insurance, visas, when to arrive, what to bring, and most other matters should be directed to the international student office or adviser.
For More Information InternationalStudent.com contains a wealth of information and is a necessary resources for any one considering applying to school in the US
IEFA.org maintains the most comprehensive listing of grants, scholarships, loan programs, and other information to assist students in their pursuit to study abroad. Copyright
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