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Getting into an American University: An Overview and Steps


The biggest mistake students make...is they wait to start.

When should you start planning on going to a university? When you’re in an advanced level of English or when? You should start planning even before you come to the United States if possible but at least start by an intermediate level of English.

Now we are going to talk about undergraduate students. What does undergraduate mean? It means the first four years of college, the years right after high school. Today I want to talk about the admission process for undergraduate students. I will first give some general information about universities and the university system, then I will give information on how to choose a university and I will end with the admissions process and a checklist that you can follow.

Let’s start with the types of colleges that you can go to.

1.First, State Colleges or Universities. Each state has a state college or university. Many of these are called Georgia State University, Michigan State University or the University of Georgia, and the University of Michigan. These schools usually have lower costs than other schools. The costs for schools is called tuition. By the way, in the U.S., colleges and universities are the same. We don’t consider universities better than colleges.

2.Next, Private Colleges or Universities. These colleges are usually smaller than colleges. They are still great schools. Sometimes they are more expensive.

3.Finally, Community Colleges. These colleges are usually for only 2 years. You can go to this school and then when you finish, you can go to a state college or private college. When you finish two years of college, you can say I have an associate’s degree.

Now, let’s look now look at our process for getting into a university.

I am going to give you steps for getting into a university. If you are in lower levels, you can go step by step but if you are already in 600 or 700, you are going to just have to do them as fast as you can. Let’s look at the steps:

Step 1: Choose the basic things you want or don’t want in a university. Do in lower intermediate level or level 200 for the GT Language Institute.

Let’s look at the basic factors you should consider in choosing a university.

There are many universities: state colleges, private colleges or community colleges. You can start to find out some basic information to help you narrow your choice of university. With this step, we want to choose 5 to 10 schools and then in step 2 we will narrow that list down. What does that mean? We will look at other factors and try to get our best 3 schools.

First though let’s look at the basic things that students look at in choosing a university.

1.Probably the best way to start is to start with the easiest and that is the location you want to live or not live.

Location determines how expensive it is. You want to think about costs. Is it in a big city like New York? It will usually cost more to live there. Food, gas, a place to live are usually more expensive. http://money.cnn.com/calculator/pf/cost-of-living/

or you can look at this site,

Location determines weather and weather is actually important. If you are from a country that is very hot, you probably don’t want to go to Minnesota. Here is a picture of Minnesota.

To make sure you pick a school that you can get into but still enjoy, you might want to look at the weather. If you are concerned about being cold, you might want to look at this map. This map shows the average temperatures during the winter in Fahrenheit. Remember 0 degrees Fahrenheit is 32 degrees Celsius.

If you are concerned about it getting too hot, you can look at this map for summer weather, https://www.currentresults.com/Weather/US/average-state-temperatures-in-summer.php

Location also determines the size of the campus so size can be important. Do you want to go to a big school? It is harder to get to know students at a big university. Also, do most students live on campus or at their home? When most students don’t live on campus, it is hard to get to know students because students are coming and going.

Here are places where students don’t live at school. It would be harder to get to know other students there. Why do people go there? They are good schools but cheaper.

Location can also determine diversity. You might care how many different types of groups go to the school. If you go to a college in a small town, they might not have too many international students. Do internationals go to this school?

And yes, location can determine entertainment. If you go to small town, there might not be a lot of fun things to do on the weekend.

So location can determine the costs, the weather, the campus size, the diversity, and entertainment.

2.Another factor that is important for students is how difficult is it to get into. There are many popular schools like Harvard, Princeton, GA Tech. You need really high scores to get into these schools. There are MANY colleges in the US that are great colleges and that don’t require high scores. In the U.S. companies don’t care so much what college you went to. They just care that you finished college. Here is a list of good schools that are easier to get into.

Money magazine also publishes a list every year that shows schools that are easier to get into but are consider good schools. All the colleges on this list accept at least 51% of those who apply compared to some schools with acceptance rates as low as 5%.

You can use one of these links and narrow your school down and then go to the third factor.

3.A third factor is whether they have your major. Do they have my major and are they good with my major? College Navigator lets you search for colleges by major, by location, etc. To search by major, go to this link http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/

and look for browse programs. What does browse mean? It means to search so you can go to browse programs and search for your major. There are a lot of search options on college navigator that can help you. Here are some of them:

Name of School

States (use map for more than 1 state)

ZIP Code

Programs/Majors

Level of Award

MORE SEARCH OPTIONS

So after you look at College Navigator, you should have about 5 or 10 colleges that you’re interested in. You can do that in level 200. Then you’re ready for step 2.

Step 2: Narrow your choices to 1 to 3. Do in levels 200-300. You want to do this as soon as possible but preferably no later than level 400.

How can you find out?

Research Colleges. You can research and use the information I gave you in step 1.

Talk With Those You Trust. Obviously, you can talk with teachers, family, and those who work in the career you want to study.

Take a College Tour. All colleges will let students come for a tour of the campus. While at the college, you can ask the questions you need to know and get a feel of the campus to see if it is right for you. Many will let you stay overnight.

Attend a College Fair. You can attend college fairs in your country. A college fair occurs when colleges in the US come to your city to talk about their universities. (Here is a list of those in case you will go home before getting your undergraduate degree, https://educationusa.state.gov/find-event?field_audience_value=stdnt&field_event_location_type_value=in_person&field_event_in_person_location_country=All)

Georgia Tech’s Language Institute has its own College Fair. Please ask me (O’Keefe Room 110) or contact Jackie Ramenazi (O’Keefe Room 106) for more information.

Contact the International Student Advisor. You can also email the international student advisor at the college; you can get information and ask for a contact of a student from your country that is already at the school or has graduated from that college.

You can follow them on Twitter or Facebook. You might want to read blogs from the admissions department of universities you want to attend. You can Google them and also get fast updates on Twitter. Here is Georgia Tech's Admission's Blog, http://pwp.gatech.edu/admission-blog/

By the end of this step, step 2, you should have 1 to 3 colleges or universities that you’re interested in. You can do this in levels 200-300 but no later than 400 if possible.

Step 3: Get Your Papers Together. Do by 400.

1.Your grades from high school and college (TRANSCRIPTS). These are called transcripts. You need an official transcript from your high school or college. Then you need to get it translated into your language and this needs to be done by a professional organization. This site does professional translations, https://www.universitylanguage.com/services/certified-translation/

You want to do this as soon as you can because it does take time. I have had students who got into a university but then had to wait because they hadn’t gotten their transcripts yet and it took a long time in their country to get them.

2.Get recommendation letters from your professors and bosses in your country. What does recommendation mean? It means the professor says that you are a good student. Many universities will send them a link and they want them to do the recommendation online. Even when it is online, the main part is a letter that explains in more detail why the university should want you as a student. You can get these earlier and should. Do not wait until the last minute to get this recommendation. In some countries, it is hard to get those recommendations so don’t wait. Some professors or former employers will want you to type a recommendation for them to send. If you need help with that, I’d be happy to help you but don’t wait. Get help sooner rather than later.

Note: When you get to 600 or 700, you can always get your teachers at the Language Institute for a recommendation letter.

Step 4: Start Filling Out the Applications. Do by 500.

1.Use the Common App if Possible. Thankfully now many colleges are using the same form called the Common App. See if the schools you have chosen will let you use the same college application by going to this link, http://www.commonapp.org/search-colleges

2.If not, you’ll need to find the application online and fill it out. For each school, you have to create an account and it is your responsibility to fill it out correctly. You also have to keep track of what you need. We’ll talk more about this when we talk about creating a checklist.

One of the hardest parts is finding out what you need to do for each university because some of their websites are difficult to understand. Let’s look at one college in GA, Kennesaw State University:

It’s not on the common app so we have to go to the website.

Can you tell where you should go on this site? Can you find the application on this site?

(It is all the way at the bottom in light coloring)

Let’s look at a sample application. I got this by googling printable college application UGA, https://www.admissions.uga.edu/Portals/1/Documents/first-year-application.pdf

See handout on vocabulary for filling out an application. It will be in the next lesson.

If you don’t understand how to fill out a section, please schedule an appointment for a tutorial. If you're a GTLI student, you can do that at https://gatech.mywconline.net/

3. Make sure you pay attention to the due dates of applications. Due dates mean the date you have to turn in your application or it is too late. For most schools, these dates are not flexible. In other words, if you miss the deadline, you have to wait until the next deadline.

If the university doesn’t get it in time, it’s not their fault. They will say it is yours. Here is what Amy Jarich, who is the Director of Undergraduate Admissions at the University of California at Berkley said:

“Many students who submit on the date of the deadline assume that everything transmitted and was received. But sometimes things are lost in cyberspace. By the time we process the thousands of pieces of information that come in on the final day, the actual deadline has come and gone, and it's possible that something is still missing. We try to give a few days' grace period, but colleges and universities expect you to confirm that your application has been received and that it is complete.”

4. Double check the application. If you make a mistake, it could really hurt you so read it over at least 2 times.

STEP 5: Finances. How are you going to pay for it? Do by 500.

In the U.S., a lot of students now will save money by going to a cheaper college at least for the first two years. You can also look to see if colleges offer assistance. Here is a list of colleges that offer financial assistance for international students: http://www.edupass.org/finaid/undergraduate.phtml

1.Fill out and send in financial aid application forms. If CSS PROFILE is required, you can start filling in information online by October 1. Getting funding as an international student is very difficult but you can find it. You need to contact the university you have chosen as soon as possible. You can also look at these resources: http://www.edupass.org/finaid/

2. Scholarships. This link shows scholarships for international students, http://www.edupass.org/finaid/databases.phtml

Please note that you have to work hard and spend a lot of time to get this done so if you need finances, you might want to do this as an earlier step.

3.List of costs and worksheet. This link provides a list of costs and a worksheet to help you figure out how much college will cost, http://www.edupass.org/finaid/costs.phtml

Here is even more information on financial aid or help,

Use a checklist to help organize these documents and other information. See at the end of this document.

Step 6: Study and Take the Tests You Need TO. Start in 500.

1.Learn which tests you need to take and register for those tests.

Different universities may require different tests. Remember there are some universities that have conditional admittance and will let you start your major as long as you finish their ESL program.

ENGLISH TESTS. Many require an English proficiency tests and you need to check the university to see which test or tests that university will accept.

The typical English tests include one of the following:

TESTS FOR UNDERGRADUATE ADMISSIONS. Most universities will require students to test either the SAT or the ACT. Some will accept both.

Note: If you are still in high school, you can take the PSAT,

PSAT 8/9, PSAT/NMSQT, and PSAT10. These tests measure the same skills and knowledge as the SAT, and you can connect your scores to free practice resources at Khan Academy.

2. Prepare and study for the tests.

I typically recommend that students do these 3 things for each test: 1) Understand each part of the test and what they are testing you on. 2) Do a practice test and find out what you are good at and what you’re weak at. For the ones you are good at, you want to get better and faster and 3) for the ones you are weak at, you want to better understand what the question is testing you on and the strategy or strategies for answering those questions correctly.

Some students will take courses. You can do that at the Language Institute. If you need to take the SAT or the ACT, some of the best test preparation courses are at universities. If you want to take one of these tests at GA Tech, just Google, for example, ACT prep course GATECH.

Step 7: Is There Anything Else a Specific College is asking for?

Sometimes colleges will ask for other items because their major requires it like an online portfolio or sometimes the college requires it like a resume or CV. If you need help with the portfolio, please see me or the Coursera course. If you need to do a resume or CV, I would recommend starting on LinkedIn and doing it from there. If you need help, please contact the tutoring center.

Let’s Review the Steps and Get You A Checklist.

Step 1: Choose your school: 200

Step 2: Narrow your choices of school to 1-3: 200 or 300

Step 3: Get Your Papers Together: 400

Step 4: Start Filling Out Your Applications: 500

Step 5: Finances: How are You Going to Pay For It? 500 or earlier depending on your need

Step 6: Study and Take the Tests You Need To: Begin in 500.

Step 7: Is There Anything Else a Specific College is asking for or you could do?

To make sure you are on track or on schedule, I would suggest following this checklist or a similar checklist.

In this lesson, we looked at the major steps you need to do to get into a US university. If you have questions, please let me know and remember START RIGHT NOW.

OTHER RESOURCES

Tutoring Center at the Language Institute, Make an appointment by going to this link, https://gatech.mywconline.net

Vocabulary handout for applications

Study in the US

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