It is very rare to have the idea and plan to study abroad now. After graduating from high school, you can go to the United States to study for an undergraduate degree by submitting an application to the school of your choice one year in advance. If you are admitted, you can apply for a visa and successfully enroll in the school's undergraduate course. There are often two ways to apply. One is to apply by yourself, the so-called DIY, and the other is to use an agency to help apply. Of course, you have to pay the agency service fee. Whether you entrust a study abroad agency to handle the application or the student contacts the school to complete the application, the general process and arrangements are objectively the same. I will also briefly describe the process and arrangements to you.

Step one: Take the standardized test

The standardized test for undergraduate studies in the United States includes two parts: one is TOEFL and the other is SAT test.

TOEFL is a compulsory test, and some schools can accept IELTS instead of TOEFL scores. For the top 50 schools, if Chinese students do not take the SAT test, it is generally not easy to be admitted. Because most of the students competing with you for these spots will take the SAT.

U.S. undergraduate applications have high language proficiency requirements for students. Undergraduate education requires a large number of courses, and exchanges between classmates are more frequent and extensive. Without a good English language foundation, it is difficult to adapt to study and life in the United States. The TOEFL requirements for general schools in the United States are probably between 80-89. If it is a prestigious school, it should be above 90. SAT is the abbreviation of Scholastic Assessment Test. It is a test that American high school students must take to enter American universities. Its importance is equivalent to China's college entrance examination. It is also the test for high school students from all over the world to decide whether they can be admitted to prestigious American schools and whether they can get scholarships. Important reference. It is recommended that you start preparing for these two exams at the beginning of your freshman year, in order of TOEFL and then SAT.

Step 2: Prepare application materials

Because you are required to apply one year in advance, you need to prepare the following materials at the beginning of the second semester of your sophomore year. Submit it to the school in preparation for the first semester of senior high school.

(1) High school academic performance (GPA)

Applicants generally need to provide high school transcripts to the university they are applying for. There must be two copies in Chinese and English, each with the school stamp. official seal. The average high school score is generally above 80 points, which is enough for applicants. Academic scores in the United States are generally calculated based on a full score of 4.0. Chinese students only need to provide the original transcript issued by the school.

(2) Letters of recommendation

Applicants generally need to provide 3 letters of recommendation in English. Some schools only require 2 letters. According to the actual situation of Chinese students, you can ask the class teacher, grade leader or school leader to write it. It is best to get a letter of recommendation from the principal. However, these 2-3 recommenders must have actual contact with the applicant.

(3) Personal Statement (Essay)

American universities generally require applicants to provide one to several personal statements (Essay). These materials are important documents for admission and scholarship applications. A general principle when writing essays is that you must write around your own characteristics, because what American universities hope to understand through essays is the applicant's specific situation. Therefore, applicants must write down their unique characteristics. In addition, the word count of each essay must be strictly controlled according to the specific requirements of American universities.

(4) Reading plan (some schools do not require a reading plan, and the essay in some schools is actually a reading plan)

More often, schools will require it when applying for graduate students Written. But if undergraduate students can write a very in-depth study plan, it will naturally be helpful to their application.

Step 3: Send materials and scores

After preparing these documents, send the materials to the school.

Note that the sending date of materials must be before the deadline. For sending TOEFL or SAT scores, it needs to be sent through ETS (the school does not recognize TOEFL or SAT scores sent by students themselves), and materials sent by ETS often require It takes more than a month, so these scores can arrive at the school later than the application deadline.

Step 4: Contact the school to see if supplementary materials are needed

When the school is reviewing student materials, it may ask students to provide some other materials, so please pay attention to many Asking the school about your admission status can, on the one hand, let the school know that it attaches great importance to this school. On the other hand, it can also prevent some of the materials you sent from being lost due to some reasons during the school's review process. Notify you of additional shipments. We have encountered situations where the application document was sent to the school, and it also showed that someone had signed for it, but in the end the school was still unable to find the document, and had to send another one.

Study in the United States

Step 5: Does the school require an interview?

Prestigious American schools generally require students to participate in telephone or direct face-to-face communication. It's actually a kind of interview. Because everything submitted by students is written materials, in order to measure whether the students are truly outstanding, the school will call the students for an interview.

Step 6: Wait for admission and ask for I-20

After completing the above steps, your application will come to an end. At this time, after you receive the admission notice from a certain university, the school will generally ask you to pay a certain deposit to the school, and will also ask you to fill out some accommodation and personal health forms, as well as a certificate of who will fund your studies. Forms and supporting documents. After filling out these forms, attach a deposit to the school (can be by credit card or money order, each school's situation is different, but cash cannot be used). After sending these materials back to the school, the school will send the I-Visa I- 20 will be returned to the students. All the work in applying for admission to the school has already been done.

LZ also mentioned the very critical issue of study abroad expenses. The cost of studying for an undergraduate degree in an ordinary school for four years is about 800,000 yuan or more, which is very high. So you need to consider it carefully. Of course, there are also some ways to save money:

1. Apply for scholarships or grants

This usually requires the applicant to submit relevant scholarships when submitting the application. To apply, each school's scholarships vary widely. Students can check through the school's international student scholarship webpage. Private schools have more scholarships than public schools, but scholarship applications generally require sufficient materials.

2. Participate in the CO-OP course, that is, paid internship

Paid internship is a completely separate course for students who are already studying in American colleges and universities, combining majors with Paid practical activities related to practice. The average monthly salary for students is US$1,500-2,500. Internship time does not occupy students' normal class time, so children will have work experience when they graduate, and many students have found suitable jobs as a result.

Many colleges and universities in the United States provide paid internship courses for their undergraduate programs. The length of internship courses varies according to different majors and schools. Generally, the internship can be at least 6 months, and some schools can provide internships in 5 months. Internship for 18 months during the year.

For example: The paid internship program of Jueshuo University in Philadelphia is very famous. Students of all undergraduate majors can participate in paid internships, and students with four-year undergraduate programs can participate in internships

6 months. Students with a 5-year undergraduate degree can intern for up to 18 months. 50 of these students have obtained formal jobs. The University of Cincinnati is also very famous for its paid internships, but the internship students are mainly concentrated in engineering majors.

3. Choose a school with lower tuition fees

Study abroad experts said that it is very important to choose a school that reduces the cost of undergraduate studies in the United States. The choice of major can be changed after attending school.

Undergraduate students are at the foundation stage and need a quiet learning environment. The fees of prestigious schools in some states in the central and southern United States are relatively cheap and are more suitable for children with average family backgrounds, such as the University of Oklahoma. Most of these schools are also national-level universities. They have excellent academic styles and the quality of education is no worse than other schools. They are very good choices for undergraduate students.

4. Second-level jump from community colleges

After finishing high school, many children in the United States enter community colleges to complete their first two years of courses. This is because of the cost of community colleges. It is usually very cheap, with some schools even offering tuition for less than $10,000 a year. Community college credits are usually mutually recognized with university credits. After students complete these two years of courses, they can transfer to other excellent universities to continue their studies for the next two years, saving a lot of undergraduate fees.

Alternatively, you can consider some countries with low tuition fees for studying abroad, such as European countries or Asian countries. It's indeed a long-winded answer, but I personally think it answers your doubts in more detail.