![]() eduPASS | The International Student's Guide to Studying and Living in the USA |
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More than four hundred fifty thousand international students from
more than two hundred countries around the world come to the United
States to pursue a higher
education each year. Approximately half enter undergraduate
programs, with the rest seeking a graduate or professional education.
5% come from Africa, 58% from Asia, 14% from Europe, 10% from Latin
America, 7% from the Middle East, and 5% from Canada.
The countries with the greatest number of international students
studying in the US are: Japan (8%), China (8%), Korea (7%), India
(6%), Taiwan (6%), Canada (4%), Malaysia (3%), Thailand (3%),
Indonesia (2%), Hong Kong (2%), Germany (2%), Mexico (2%), Turkey
(2%), United Kingdom (1%), Russia (1%).
The US educational experience is among the best in the world. Many US
colleges and universities are known throughout the world for the
quality of their academic programs. Institutions such
as Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, Cornell, and Massachusetts Institute
of Technology are familiar to students, educators, and business
leaders everywhere.
The US has more high quality institutions than any other
country. The depth and breadth of your options will amaze you.
The US is clearly the global leader in higher education.
You will find that a US higher education adds more value
to your professional development than the alternatives.
A US education can enhance your career and prepare you for leadership
in your country. It can broaden your horizons and expose you to a
variety of perspectives, the latest technology, and state-of-the-art
research and training. A degree from a US college or university is a
stamp of excellence that marks you for life.
If you are a graduate student, a US education can help you make
contacts with colleagues in the US. This may lead to collaborations
with leading international researchers after you return to your home
country. Even undergraduate students will find a solid network of support
because the US is a "melting pot" of many cultures and there are more
international students in the US than in any other country. So you
will get help not just from the foreign student advisor, but also from
people in the local community.
With the large number and variety of colleges and universities in the
US, you are certain to find one that matches your needs and interests,
no matter what your criteria.
On the other hand, a US education is extremely expensive. Financial
aid is very limited. You may be able to obtain similar training in
your own country at a much lower cost. You will have to balance the
cost against the prestige and quality of a US education.
Your first step should be to contact the US embassy or consulate in
your country to locate the nearest USIA
educational advising center.
The educational advising centers are located in US Information Service
offices, in Fulbright Commission offices, at
Institute of International Education (IIE) offices, and at other
locations. They provide much information and advice free of
charge. They can provide profiles of US educational institutions, a review of
application requirements, procedures and strategies, information about financial
aid, information about standardized tests required for admission,
such as the TOEFL, SAT, and GRE, information about visas, and information about adjusting to
academic and cultural life in the United States. They include a
reading room and an extensive library of reference materials. They
offer a variety of seminars, including a pre-departure orientation
session.
Educational advisors will need to know some basic information about
your educational status and goals. They will need to know your grades,
your intended field of study, which schools or where in the US you
want to study, whether you will need financial aid, and your English
language proficiency.
The following calendar and checklist will help you with your college
admissions planning. It begins 24 months (2 years) before your planned
enrollment date.
College admission in the US is extremely competitive, especially among
international students. If you do not have a strong academic
background, sufficient financial resources, and proficiency in the
English language, you will be at a disadvantage in the admissions process.
Each school sets its own admission requirements. Because of the large
number of international students seeking a US education, the schools
do not make exceptions to their requirements. Most schools require a
minimum of a high school diploma with solid coursework in science,
mathematics, English, and humanities. They will also require academic
entrance examinations such as the TOEFL, SAT, ACT, GRE, and GMAT. The higher
your scores on these exams and the better your grades, the better your
chances of being admitted. Generally you must have a 3.0 grade point
average on a 4.0 scale to be admitted, especially for graduate school.
Some schools
set very high standards for admission.
The more well-known institutions are often among the most
competitive. While every international student would love to attend
Harvard University or the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, not
every student will be admitted. Certain fields of study are also
highly competitive. These include engineering, computer science,
pre-medicine, pre-law, architecture, and marine biology.
Note that to apply for a graduate or professional degree program,
including medical school, law school, veterinary school, and dental
school, you must first obtain an undergraduate bachelor's degree. Law
students must also generally be licensed attorneys in their own
countries before applying for admission to a US law school.
If you are serious about obtaining a college degree in the United
States, you should request information from at least 10 institutions. College
admissions is competitive enough for international students that you
need to apply to many institutions to have a reasonable chance of
being admitted to a few schools. Some international students apply to
as many as 15 institutions, especially if they are in highly
competitive fields like engineering, business, or computer science.
At least one third of your applications
should be to schools that are less selective. You can get a good idea
of a school's selectivity by the scores they require on academic
admissions tests. Do not limit your selection to only the most famous
internationally-known institutions. If you do, your chances of being admitted to even one
school will be infinitesimally small.
The US government does not
monitor the quality of US colleges and universities, as does the
ministry of education in other countries. Instead, the US Department
of Education approves accrediting agencies. These accrediting agencies
review a school's educational program for quality, and certify that the
school meets a minimal set of standards. So it is important to be sure
that the schools to which you are applying are accredited by a recognized
accrediting agency, since schools without accreditation are likely to
be of lesser quality.
The FinAid site includes a set of links to online
College and University Guides.
You will find these guides helpful in narrowing your choice of
academic institution. Some of the better guides include
CollegeEdge,
CollegeNet,
the College Board's College Search,
Peterson's Guides to
Undergraduate Study
and
Graduate Study.
There is also an online guide to
college and university web pages.
You can find a lot of useful information on a school's web page.
It is important to make sure that the school offers a degree program
in your chosen field of study. If you are applying to graduate school,
make sure that the department has enough faculty in your
specialty. (Read the journals and conference proceedings in your
field, and make a list of the institutions with authors publishing
articles of interest to you.) Other considerations include the
quality of the institution or department, the admission requirements, the cost (and the
availability of financial aid, if any), the size of the institution,
the location, housing policies, and the availability of ESL programs.
Sometimes it helps to
limit your search to one region of the US, such as the east or west
coast, before looking for schools that match your other
requirements. The most important factors in choosing a location are
climate
and cost of living. Costs are higher in large cities like New York,
Los Angeles, and Boston. In contrast, costs are much lower in the
South and in cities like Pittsburgh and Seattle. The most popular
destinations in the US for international students are California,
Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, New
Jersey, Florida and Texas.
There are more than 2,000 undergraduate institutions in
the United States, so the search can be a bit overwhelming. Ask your
educational advisor for help, especially in making sure you have a
reasonable selection of high quality accredited institutions.
Do not rely on rankings of institution quality such as the Gorman
Report or US News & World Report's annual college rankings. The
methodology used to assemble these rankings is subjective,
inconsistent, and not based on any universal standard. One source may
rank a given school in the top ten, while another publication will
rank it in the top 100. The best school for you is the one that best meets your
needs and interests, not somebody else's assessment of an
institution's prestige.
Another key consideration is the number of international students on
campus. If there are very many international students on campus, the
school is more likely to be sensitive to the needs of students from
other countries. On the other hand, you are less likely to receive
financial aid at such a school.
The schools with the greatest number of international
students are listed below.
If a school is listed in italics, it gives financial aid to more than 50
international students each year.
Even though the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) doesn't
appear on this list, it deserves special mention. International
students represent 37% of the MIT graduate student population, and
more than 20% of the overall student population.
Although the schools listed above have many international students,
the inclusion of a school in that list might result more from the
large size of the school than a special emphasis on international
students. The schools with the greatest proportion of international
undergraduate students are listed below.
If a school is listed in italics, it gives financial aid to more than 50
international students each year.
The states which are most popular with international students are
Massachusetts, California, Washington DC, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New
York, Illinois, Texas, Michigan, Florida, Wisconsin, Vermont,
Minnesota, Maryland, and Iowa.
If the school offers rolling admission, there is less deadline pressure on
the international student. Schools with rolling admission accept
applications throughout the year and review the applications when they
are complete. You still need to submit the applications in a timely
fashion, but the extra flexibility can be helpful with delays caused
by the postal system. Most schools, however, have fixed deadlines and
mail offers of admission between March and May.
Unfortunately, as an international student you don't have access to
the best method of determining whether a school is right for you: the
campus visit. If you do have the opportunity to visit the US and tour
a few colleges, do so when classes are in session. This will not only
allow you to previous the professors, but also get to meet a few
students and get a feel for the student culture and whether you'd fit in.
All schools require the Test of English as a Foreign Language
(TOEFL). See the
English as a Second Language
section for additional information about the TOEFL.
Schools may also require tests of general academic preparation, such
as the SAT or ACT, and field-specific tests such as the Achievement Tests.
All of these tests are standardized, multiple choice tests, written in
English. If you do not have a high degree of English proficiency, you
will not do well on these tests, no matter how strong your academic
background.
About once month after the examination, your scores will be sent to
the institutions you specified on the application form. It will take
an additional two to four weeks for you to receive your copy of the
score report, so it is best to not wait to see the scores before
sending them to the schools to which you have applied.
For more information about the SAT, ACT, GRE, GMAT, TOEFL, and other
standardized exams, please see the admissions
testing section of this site.
Schools usually have different application materials for international
students, so it is important that you identify yourself as an
international student when you contact the admissions office.
Some possible differences include:
Application requirements and deadlines are usually the
same. Nevertheless, you should
allow extra time for applications to arrive, because the international
postal system introduces delays. Expect it to take four to six weeks
for you to get a response to inquiries. So allow plenty of time. Get information as much as possible
from web sites and by email and facsimile. You should begin the
process at least a year and a half in advance of the application
deadline, and no later than August of the year before the academic year in
which you plan to enroll.
Send all inquiries by airmail and request an airmail reply. Even if
you are able to correspond by facsimile and email, the actual
application and accompanying documents will need to be sent by airmail.
Your initial inquiry should be addressed to the Director of
Undergraduate Admissions for undergraduate applications, to the
Department Chair or Dean of the Graduate School or Director of
Graduate Admissions for graduate applications.
Your initial inquiry should either include a preliminary application
form obtained from the nearest educational advising center, or at
least the following information:
There are several organizations that allow you to apply for admission
using the World Wide Web. You will still need to submit your
credentials via airmail, but using the web-based application services
can save you some time. No one service handles applications for all
the schools, so you may need to visit several sites.
The services include APPLY,
CollegeEdge,
CollegeLink,
CollegeScape,
and Peterson's CollegeQuest
(GradAdvantage for MBA programs).
In addition to completing the application and essays, you will need to
provide certified copies of your original educational credentials
(diplomas, grade reports, test scores, comprehensive exam scores), certified English translations of
these documents, TOEFL exam scores, scores for any required academic
entrance examinations, financial information, letters of
recommendation from teachers, and the application fee.
Include all the items requested, or your application will be
considered incomplete. The admissions office will not review your
application until it is complete, and it is your responsibility to
make sure they receive all of the required documents. If a requested
document is not available, include a letter stating this and
explaining why the document could not be provided. In such situations
it is helpful to include a cover letter from a third party such as the
educational advising office or the US cultural affairs officer that
confirms the details of your situation.
The transcripts of your educational records should be sent
directly from your former schools. This is to prevent forgeries and
modifications to your transcripts. The admissions office will also
want explanations of the grading and class ranking system and
descriptions of the courses.
Do not send your original documents, since they cannot be
returned. Copies should be certified with the school's official seal
or by a notary public (a public official responsible for certifying
documents). English translations, if necessary, should be done by a
professional translator and also certified. The translator should be
unrelated to you. Information about professional translators can be
found in the credential evaluation section of this site. US embassies and
consulates do not certify documents.
The application will ask questions about your academic background,
your hobbies and extracurricular activities, and your educational and
career plans. It will also require one or more essays. The purpose of
the essays is partly to see an example of your English writing ability, and
partly to provide an opportunity for you to express yourself in a more
open format.
One of the essays will be a statement of educational purpose. Use this
essay to explain why you are pursuing an education in your field,
describe your experience and strengths in that field, and outline your
plans for the future. Weave the strands of your life together into a
tapestry that shows where you've been, where you are now, and where
you are headed in the future. Your essay should be cohesive and
well-organized. Give specific examples to support any general statements.
Review your essay for spelling and grammatical errors
before writing it on the application form.
Pay careful attention to the deadlines, and allow enough time for the
mail. Submit your completed applications two or three months before
the deadline. Send the applications as early as possible. You may wish to use an express delivery service, since then you
will know that the application has arrived in a timely fashion.
Keep a copy of everything you send to the admissions office. If your
application is lost in the mail, this will help you resubmit it.
Create a chart showing all the deadlines and important dates, and keep a record of the
date you mailed each application. This will help you track your progress.
When asking teachers to write you a letter of recommendation, choose
teachers who know you well. If a teacher taught you for two years,
that is better than a teacher who taught you for only one year. Ask
the teachers whether they can write you a good letter of
recommendation. If they can't, ask them to suggest other teachers.
Provide your references with a copy of your completed application or a
summary of your qualifications. This will remind them of your better
qualities.
The best letters will present an honest appraisal of your abilities,
highlighting both weak and strong points. A letter from a teacher who
taught you in a challenging course is more valuable than a letter from
a teacher who taught you in an easy class. The purpose of the letter
is to evaluate your background, motivation and promise, and not to
offer meaningless praise. When admissions officers receives letters
from a teacher for several students, praising each of them as the best
he's seen in his career as a teacher, they ignore them. The result is
a negative mark against the students, not a positive one. It is better
to be balanced in presentation, so that the admissions officer can
learn to trust a teacher's opinion over the years.
Your teachers will want to mail their recommendations directly to the
university. Provide them with a stamped airmail envelope with the
proper address, and write your name in the lower left hand corner of
the envelope.
Although applications from American students are usually considered on
a need-blind basis, applications from international students are
increasingly being reviewed in a need-sensitive manner. Competition
among international students is so intense that most schools can get
enough qualified students who do not demonstrate financial need. As a
general rule, it is still worth applying for financial aid. If you
need financial aid and don't apply for it, the school might admit you
without offering any aid at all, yielding the same result as an
outright rejection. Many international students have sent email
reporting that they have been offered admission to a US university but
do not have enough financial resources to pay for the cost of
education, even when the schools provide some financial aid.
Once you have submitted your applications, you will have to wait for
several months before hearing anything. If you do hear anything in
that time period, it will usually be a request for additional or
missing items.
If you are lucky, you will be accepted by one or more
institutions. They will send you a letter of admission and the form
you need to apply for a student visa (Form I-20). Accept one (and only
one) of the offers of admission, and confirm your acceptance according
to their instructions. You will probably have to write a letter to the
admissions office confirming that you will enroll and including a
non-refundable deposit of several hundred dollars. If there are any additional forms, submit them
in a timely fashion.
Once you have accepted one of the offers, send a letter to the other
schools declining their offers. Not only is it polite to do so, but it
allows them to reallocate any financial aid they offered you to other
students.
You are admitted to a college and have accepted their offer. What
happens next?
Once you have accepted a school's offer of admission, the first thing
you should do is apply for a student visa. Information about student
visas is presented in the Passports and Visas section of this site.
You will receive a large packet of information. It is important to
follow the instructions carefully. You will also need to arrange for
plane tickets and access to your funds from abroad. You may need to
send some money to the school to pay for the first
semester's tuition. You will also need to decide whether you will live
in on-campus housing or off-campus housing. Information about housing
is presented in the Housing section of this
site.
Your local educational advising center may offer a pre-departure
orientation program. If so, you should attend.
Most schools have special orientation sessions for international
students a few weeks
before other students start arriving on campus. It is a good
opportunity to meet the foreign student advisor and your fellow
international students. Orientation will include a variety of academic
and social activities, and time to familiarize yourself with the neighborhood.
If expect that Americans will have trouble pronouncing your name, you
might wish to pick an American name to use as a nickname.
Advantages of a US Education
USIA Educational Advising Centers
Calendar and Checklist
When What September
(24 months)Begin your search for colleges. Visit the nearest
educational advising center and the library. Explore college sites on
the web. Talk with family, friends, and acquaintances who may have
studied in the US. Write to 10-15 schools for information. October-November
(22-23 months)Start preparing for the TOEFL exam and other
admissions tests (e.g., GRE, GMAT, or SAT). December - May
(16-21 months)Register for the TOEFL exam and other admissions tests. January
(20 months)Select the schools to which you
will apply. Request application materials if you haven't already. March - June
(15-18 months)Take the TOEFL and other admissions tests. You must take
the tests before November, or you will miss the deadlines at most
universities. Taking the tests now gives you a chance to improve your
scores by taking them again in October. May
(16 months)Identify the
teachers you will ask for letters of recommendation. July
(14 months)Read the
college applications and backtrack the deadlines to allow yourself
enough time to complete them. Remember to allow for delays in the
mail. Narrow your list of schools to 10. August
(13 months)Write a
draft of your application essays and statement of purpose. Get
comments on it from friends and an English teacher. September
(12 months)If you
want to try improving your scores on the TOEFL and other exams,
register for a second set of tests. September
(12 months)Ask
your teachers to write letters of recommendation for you. Given them
the necessary forms and a stamped, addressed envelope. October
(11 months)Complete
your essays and application forms, including the financial aid
application forms. Mail them airmail. Ask your schools to send certified copies of your
academic transcripts. October
(11 months)Take the
TOEFL and other exams again, if necessary. November
(10 months)Check
with your teachers and the school to make sure your recommendations
and transcripts have been mailed. December
(9 months)Respond
promptly to any requests for additional information. April-May
(4-5 months)You
will start hearing from colleges. Contact the admissions office if you
do not receive anything from them.
Accept one school's offer, and
notify them and the others of your choice. Ask the school to send you
the I-20 or IAP-64 form. Make permanent housing
arrangements if you will be staying on-campus, temporary housing
arrangements if you will be living off-campus.
Apply for a passport if you
do not already have one. June
(3 months)Apply for a
visa. Attend pre-departure orientation programs in your country. Make
travel arrangements. Plan to arrive at least 15 days prior to
orientation (2 months if you have to take an English course). July-August
(1-2 months)Have
a nice trip! College Applications
Choosing a School
Academic Entrance Examinations
Requesting Application Materials
If you don't provide this information, the school will respond with a
preliminary application that requests it. Otherwise, if you meet their preliminary
criteria, they will send you a full formal application for admission
with instructions.
Preparing the Application
What's Next?
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