Each university in the United States sets its own admission criteria and determines which students meet the admission criteria. You must apply separately for each school.
Even if you have chosen the school you want to study, you should still apply to other schools chances are that the school you at the top of your list does not accept you. At least one of the two schools you choose to apply to must be the schools where you and your academic advisor are confident that you will be admitted. Remember that you are competing with other international students around the world to enter a limited number of places.
TERMS TO KNOW
Academic records: Official academic records of students
Credits: Enough credits attained, usually by the number of hours in class each week
University students: Students who study at a university and have not been awarded a Bachelor’s degree; A university has academic programs that allow students to obtain a higher degree than a bachelor’s degree
GPA (Grade Point Average) The measure of students’ learning ability based on the results from the number of credits and scores earned in each subject.
Most US universities encourage international students to contact the school for at least a year before students want to enroll. Please take the following steps when applying for admission to US universities.
SENDING EMAILS/LETTERS TO SCHOOLS
After choosing the school you want to attend, contact the school for more information on the application process for international students and to request an application for admission. If you want to know more about a bachelor’s or English language program (like an ESL program), send a letter to the Admissions Office of each school.
To apply to postgraduate schools (after the bachelor’s degree) you must apply directly to the postgraduate department you meet, such as the Department of Physics or History. Contact the Admissions Office of the graduate school or with the dean of the faculty.
You must have a good academic record if you want to be admitted to the graduate program.
SENDING AN APPLICATION FOR ADMISSIONS
US universities often use students’ academic achievements and results of tests such as TOEFL, SAT or ACT to decide on student admissions. If you apply to graduate schools, you must have additional test scores such as GRE or GMAT.
The Admissions Office of the graduate school office will send you information about their program of study and the application form. (You can request an online application from a certain school or apply at your local education advisory center.) The fee for each application is from 35 USD to 100 USD. This money is used to process your application and will not be refunded, even if you are not admitted to the school.
The Admissions Office will consider your academic score in the last four years of the high school program and the score of your high school graduation test. If you apply to graduate school, your academic grades in the undergraduate program will also be considered. Before you take the entrance exams, you should ask your current school to send copies of your official transcripts to the schools you want to study.
Most applications for admission will require the following information:
- Personal information including name, address, family situation, place of birth, citizenship and similar information.
- Activities List a list of clubs you have participated in, the awards you have earned, the sports experience in the team, or the leadership roles you have ever taken.
- Write a short essay explaining why you want to study at this school, what course you want to study, what your career goals are and research plans.
- Essays Some schools require you to write a separate essay on any topic you want to choose. See the next column.
- Letter of recommendation – The application for admission has many blank pages for recommendation letters. Ask some teachers and professors to write you a letter of recommendation and send these letters directly to the Admissions Office of each school of your choice.
- You should remember to submit your application to the university very soon before the application deadline.
REGISTRATION FOR TESTING
Students applying to US universities must test for proficiency and academic ability. In addition, international students must also take an English proficiency test. These exams are held at testing centers around the world. These are “standardized” tests to have students evaluated on the same basis. Your test score results are sent to the Admissions Office to evaluate your ability compared to other students.
Attend the entrance exam. Your test scores will be sent directly to the universities you apply for. When you register for tests such as the SAT or ACT, you will be asked to name these schools on the enrollment form, or in the case of a computer test, you will list these schools at the test site . Test organizations will send your test scores directly to these schools. If you request to send destinations to schools after the exam, you will be charged a fee
GETTING AN ACCEPTANCE LETTER
After the application deadline, you will start receiving letters from the schools you applied for. Some schools notify applicants that they are accepted into the school shortly after the Admissions Office receives the student’s application. This is called a “rolling admissions” notice. But there are also schools that wait a few months and notify all students at the same time.
PAYING AN ADMISSION DEPOSIT
Most schools require students to pay a certain amount of money before enrolling for a certain period of time if students want to hold a place in the program. For international students, this deposit may be as high as the cost of a sixmonth or a fullyear course.
You must send money to the school immediately if you are applying for financial aid or if you intend to live in a university dormitory. Since many schools do not have enough dormitories for all students, you have many opportunities to be given a room in a university dormitory if you send in your application for housing and early deposit.
The school you choose may also ask you to provide a financial report that shows how much you will have in total during your school years. If you are covered by a scholarship or national government or your company, you will have to send the school all the details of this scholarship or grant.
TIPS FOR SETTING AN EXAM
When preparing and training for the tests, students should remember that having a solid level of English is very important. You achieve good English through practice and always practice.
- Spend a lot of time preparing for the exam. Use available exam materials to familiarize yourself with the content, structure of the test, and instructions. Instructions for how to test by computer and on paper will be provided during the test.
2. Practice with the questions and sample exercises available. These exercises often have reallife questions and topics that have been used in previous tests as well as sample tests. Try to practice as much as possible before taking the actual exam.
- Look at the exam environment and try to put yourself in that environment. Only allow you to answer questions within a certain time and answer the questions of the sections quickly and effectively if possible, identify and focus on the topics and skills you need to cultivate more.
- Employ all the resources you can use. Once you know a lot about an exam and know how the test is graded, you will take the test much more effectively. The Internet is an excellent resource and most of the information available online is free. Take advantage of all the instructions and documents you are provided to take the test successfully.
- Follow all instructions. Read all instructions carefully and thoroughly before starting the exam. Make sure you understand your goals and how to achieve them. Don’t worry if you don’t know how to answer a question focus on the question you’re doing and try your best to answer this question but remember to not stop at any questions for too long. Allocate the time properly so you have enough time to answer all the questions in the test.
6. Be calm and confident. Get enough rest before taking the exam. Remember that the more you rest and get ready, the more relaxed and calm you are, be confident while doing the exam.
WRITE AN EXCELLENT ESSAY
You may not be familiar with having to write a personal essay to apply for college admission. Here are some tips on how to write an excellent essay!
Step 1: Think of a good topic. Your essay topic must be meaningful to you. This topic must say something about who you are, what your values or interests are and how different you are from other applicants. Write something about you that is not expressed through your grades, through the list of subjects you have studied or through other parts of your application. Choosing the right topic is very important. When you start thinking about the topic, think about some of the following questions: What kind of person are you? What did you do? What do you want to achieve?
Step 2: Write an essay. Writing takes a lot of time. Don’t rush or think you can finish writing an essay in just one afternoon. Pay close attention to the opening section. Find ways to make readers more curious and want to read until the end of the article to learn more about what you present. Use simple words to present ideas; You don’t need to use big words to show off you use language to express yourself, not to prove your intelligence. Remember to give an example after each point.
Step 3: Don’t rush & remember to help others. Make sure you have enough time to write the essay; you can stop writing for a few days or weeks then write back. By doing so, you will be able to read your article again with a new eye. In addition, you should also ask a friend or family member to read your article these people can identify points you missed or didn’t think of to say. Be enthusiastic but slowly write, it is important to prsent yourself!
Source: ttps://studyusa.com/en/a/34/applying-for-admission-to-a-u-s-program
