ADMISSION PROCEDURE

The first crucial step for seeking admission in any US university / school is starting early the process because it is a lengthy one. In fact, you should follow a schedule that could land you in a US school by its end. You have to apply to each school or college of your choice separately. Most Schools / Universities encourage students to apply 12 months prior to their plan of study.

  • University / School Selection
    • Gather as much information as possible about Universities / Schools of your interest. Speak to your seniors, teachers, friends, relatives, and seek information directly from the Universities / Colleges, visit their websites, etc. This will help you understand the requirements and academics about the University or College. Finally, depending on various factors like cost of study, documentation, ranking, availability of program, etc, you can select a University / School.

  • Application Process
    • For the application process, you can either fill online forms or ask for hardcopies but remember that you would be required to send some documents to the target University / School. Most of the Universities / Schools offer downloadable application forms which you can fill and send.

    The most challenging things in getting through the application process are following:

    01. Financial statement:
    You might need to produce IT documents, business ownership proof, etc to prove that you will be able to carry out your studies at the university and your sponsors, whoever they are, are in sound financial health. Cost of study in universities varies by a great extent. Thus, one university might have different financial requirement than others.

    02. Essays
    You might be required to submit an essay telling about your purpose of choosing the field you have opted for and why have you selected any particular University / School.

    03. Recommendation letters
    You might need recommendation letters from your professors telling about your personality and competence. Such letters are drafted by the professors and given to the students, who can then send them to the Universities / Schools.

  • Visa Documentation
    • Once you decide upon a course and University, you need to get a form from them which will tell the Embassy about details of your tenure there. F-1 Visa requires form I-20. For J-1, it’s usually DS-2019. Once you get the form, you are required to pay fee of (about USD 100) for SEVIS that is a database of foreign students in US. Males are required to fill out additional form.

    When you are done filling the forms, submit them to authorities. Finally contact the embassy for an interview.

  • VISA Interviews
    • For VISA interview, you generally have to carry with you your Passport (original), form from the university (DS-2019 or I-20), SEVIS fee receipt, some other forms, acceptance letter from University, Academic documents like TOEFL, SAT scores.