The top 50 universities in the United States require students to have excellent SAT scores to enter the school.
The enrollment of American universities is quite different from that of China University. There is no absolute standard in America. China's higher education entrance examination is an absolute standard compared with the American university enrollment standard. The application for university entrance in China is not so important as that in the United States. The process of university application and enrollment in China is much simpler than that in the United States.
Then, taking a student as an example, the admissions staff of American universities may have to measure the following factors: middle school performance; Character/personality; Class ranking; Middle school grades; Extracurricular activities; Special talent; School recommendation letter; Letter of recommendation from the teacher; Letter of recommendation from classmates; SAT or ACT scores, two or three SATII scores; Application; Apply for a thesis; Family background; Interview; Residential area; Voluntary work; Work experience.
American university application time
The enrollment time of American universities is different. For a normal application, most universities will require you to send the application form around 1 month 1 day of the year you are going to college. Meanwhile, SAT and SATII must be completed by the end of January. If you are a foreign student whose mother tongue is not English, you should submit TOEFL scores. In other words, for most universities, the annual 1 month 1 day is the deadline for university applications.
Application process of American universities
1 1 month 1 days before sending "apply in advance or decide to apply in advance";
Fill in the normal application, and write a short essay 1 1 month;
1Send all other normal applications before February 20th.
Contents of American university application
Applications from American universities are numerous and trivial. In American middle schools, there are full-time college application counselors to help graduates apply for universities. People who specialize in college application counseling are high-income professionals. China students may need to seek professional consulting services more. Some universities can use a unified application form and attach a few application essays. Many famous universities have their own applications. However, whether it is a general form or a special form, the content is almost the same. Simply put, what we discussed in the college admission criteria [pop-up link to "admission criteria"] is all in the application form. If you have already taken the SAT and achieved good results, no matter how difficult it is to apply, you will travel long distances through the snowy mountains and grasslands to reach Yan 'an.
Apply for a letter of recommendation from an American university
One of the letters of recommendation for applying for an American university: the letter of recommendation from the university.
Because there is no unified and objective standard in the United States, the recommendation of the school is even more important. The school will show students' achievements, activities, achievements and so on during their middle school years. Of course, some rare adjectives will also play an unexpected role. For example, in a school recommendation made in 2005 for a China teenager who entered Harvard from Florida, the principal said, "The student's thirst for knowledge and enthusiasm for student work are unprecedented in my 30-year teaching career." It shows that this child is not only the best student in our school now, but also the best student for many years. Think about it, how could Harvard miss such a baby?
Applying for letters of recommendation from American universities (2): letters of recommendation from teachers.
Teachers' letters of recommendation are usually filled out by two familiar teachers chosen by students themselves, and the importance is self-evident. It is best to use adjectives and add specific stories and data to support the teacher's point of view. Too empty exaggeration is not necessarily a good thing.
Double admission:
If the applicant does not have TOEFL /SAT scores, he can apply for "double admission". The questions about "double admission" are as follows:
At present, many American universities offer ESL(EnglishasSecondLanguage) courses, so China students who have no language scores such as TOEFL or IELTS can go to universities to study ESL courses first, and then they can enter formal courses smoothly after completing ESL courses. This kind of program has greatly facilitated many outstanding high school students from China to study in the United States. There are many high school students or college students who are usually nervous about their studies and do well in school, but they really don't have time to take TOEFL or IELTS. Therefore, the language learning program has opened the door for these students to study in the United States.
The first point: in the past, everyone always had the impression that such a school was definitely not a good school, and a good school must have language scores.
A: Actually, the situation has changed in the past two years. At present, many famous universities in the United States have launched language plus courses. The reason is that many excellent students have no time to take TOEFL or IELTS. Therefore, in order to recruit these students, many famous universities have introduced this language plus courses. For example, UniversityofDelaware ranks 66, St.LouisUniversity ranks 77, UniversityofOregon ranks 120, KansasStateUniversity ranks 124, and so on. These are well-known comprehensive universities in the United States, and they can learn languages first without language scores.
Point 2: No matter what the situation, students are suitable for double admission.
A: Wrong! In the past, many parents and students thought that everything would be fine as long as they applied for double admission. There is no need to provide language scores, and the choice of schools should be left to intermediaries. Isn't this the best of both worlds? Actually, it is not. Although more and more universities in the United States now offer dual admission, after all, universities with very good rankings (such as top50 University) still require students to provide language scores. Therefore, for outstanding students from China who have the opportunity to apply for the top 50 universities in the United States, we will still advise them to get a good TOEFL score in China before applying, so that they can get some scholarships in the application. In short, the language barrier will pass sooner or later.
The third point: Does double admission help the visa? How helpful is it? In what ways is it helpful?
A: Students who receive the double admission notice from American universities do get some help in visa, mainly to explain to visa officers that students have been affirmed by universities in terms of academic performance and professional level requirements. Because anyone can apply for a foreign language school, in other words, there is no requirement for students to apply for a language school except for funds, so it is difficult for visa officers to determine the level of students and the real purpose of going to the United States. However, if you get the admission notice of university major at the same time, you can at least prove that students have met the requirements of American universities except language scores.
community college
A community college is a university belonging to a certain region or city. In the United States, these universities are basically called college in a certain city or region, some have a community in the middle, and some are mostly called universities. Some professional diplomas of community colleges are junior college diplomas, and some professional students can transfer to universities for further study after meeting certain requirements.
One of the characteristics of community colleges is low tuition fees. These universities are funded by governments at all levels and charge only a nominal fee, which is much more casual than those universities. In the community colleges I attend, a credit for students in our state is about 30 dollars, and a semester is about 400 dollars, while those universities need thousands of dollars. The tuition fees of foreign students and out-of-state students are higher, but they are also much cheaper than universities. Many people earn some credits in community colleges first, and then transfer them to a university, which not only saves a lot of money, but also gets a bachelor's degree. Interestingly, there are also various scholarships in these community colleges. Some students may apply for scholarships that are several times or even more than ten times the tuition fees they pay. I know a black woman whose tuition is more than 400 dollars a semester, but she applied for school scholarships, low-income scholarships, big company scholarships, single mother scholarships and so on. , totaling $4,500. Going to school has become a lucrative career. Of course, all kinds of scholarships are only awarded to American and foreign full-time students with green cards (the selected courses reach 16 credits per semester).
Another feature of community college is its easy entrance. In America, you have to go through a lot of hard work to get into college, and you have to fight for money. No money, no Harvard, no Yale. It's easy to enter the community college, where the door is open to anyone. There is no entrance examination, no academic background, regardless of age, nationality and color, you can go to school if you want, and you can choose whatever major you want to study. The school will arrange a make-up exam for you before you finish your major. The examination subject is the basic course of your chosen major, and the examination results determine whether you still need to take this course or at which level you should start. For example, if you want to study nursing, you must choose English and mathematics. If the test score of mathematics reaches the level required by the major, then mathematics is exempted from the test. If your English score can't even reach the minimum of 70 points, then you must start learning from 70 points and then reach 80 points in English. You can't get credit until you get11in English. What you have learned before is just a make-up class. This exam is only to test the level of some subjects, so that you can choose some courses that suit your level, and it has nothing to do with whether you can enter school or not. Easy admission does not mean that diplomas are easy to mix. If you want to get a diploma, you really have to work hard.
The third feature of community college is its flexible academic system. Although most majors are two-year, they can be finished in three or four years. When you earn enough credits and meet the criteria for obtaining a diploma, you will graduate. The course arrangement here is also very reasonable. The same course is repeated from morning till night and from Monday to Saturday. You can choose courses according to your own time.
Community colleges are all over the United States, and some small cities also have their own community colleges. Community colleges have trained a large number of technical talents for American society and provided a large number of students for some comprehensive universities. Community colleges have greatly promoted the popularization and development of American university education.
Reminder about registering community colleges
1, the admission conditions of community colleges are lower than those of ordinary four-year universities, and the average score of high school is above 70, which meets the requirements. Schools can provide language training, so if students' language scores do not meet the admission criteria, they only need to pass the exam and complete the corresponding language courses, or they can apply for admission without IELTS, TOEFL and other language scores.
2. Students in community colleges, like other students in American four-year universities, can work in the school for 20 hours/week to gain work experience.
After finishing community college, you can transfer to any four-year university. Generally speaking, community colleges in the state can basically transfer to California smoothly. Most four-year universities have transfer agreements, and some even have transfer guarantees.
Frequently asked questions:
Q: What are the requirements for applying to an American university?
A: 1) graduated from ordinary high school; 2) Can provide valid high school graduation transcripts, TOEFL scores, SAT scores (not required by mainland students), letters of recommendation and other application materials; 3) take care of yourself; 4) Sufficient competitiveness and confidence.
Q: When do American universities usually start school? When do you start applying?
A: The application for admission in September should start from the previous summer. For example, in the autumn of 2007, the deadline for formal admission was from February 2006 to March 2007. The deadline for applying for early admission is from September 2006 to June 2007, 5438+ 10. Of course, there are schools that enroll students in the spring, but there are no scholarships and the number of enrollment places is extremely limited. Because international students need to provide a lot of application materials before submitting their applications, the preparation time can sometimes even be as long as two years.
Q: Is there a conflict between applying for an American university and taking the national college entrance examination?
A: No, in fact, because there are many variables in applying for American universities, students should actively prepare for the national college entrance examination while applying.
Q: What are the admission criteria for American universities? How is the admission decision made?
A: In the process of admission, the admissions staff of American universities will comprehensively examine students' comprehensive abilities such as learning ability, social activity ability, leadership ability, personal character and talent, and consider the recommendation letter and application essay written by the applicant before making a decision. Generally, the admission of American universities is managed by the Admissions Committee, which is responsible for the admission of international students. Admission decisions are generally in the following common forms: 1) recommended by the group and decided by the Committee; 2) Full-time personnel in charge of international students are responsible for admission, and the chairman of the Committee will veto it with one vote; 3) The materials that the full-time management personnel of foreign students fail to pass the examination shall be submitted to the Group for reconsideration.
Q: How much does it cost to go to college in the United States?
A: According to many factors such as the type, level and geographical location of universities, the tuition fees of American universities vary greatly. Generally speaking, the tuition fee of top private universities is about $30,000 a year, ordinary private schools need $25,000 to $30,000 a year, and public schools generally need not less than $20,000 a year. Plus living expenses, a four-year undergraduate education will probably cost 15 to 200,000 dollars. Strong American universities will provide scholarships for international students. In addition, the school will provide many job opportunities for students at school. The income from working 10 to 20 hours per week can meet at least part of the daily expenses.
Q: What is the visa status for studying in the United States?
A: Unlike Canada and European countries, American visas emphasize interviews, which brings many variables to the visa process. Generally speaking, American visas are difficult. In fact, it will be relatively easy as long as you are fully prepared and consider some key issues clearly.
Q: Do you have to go to a prestigious school like Harvard or Stanford to study in the United States?
A: No, the most important thing is to improve the basic quality of learning language and culture in the United States. There are more than 3,400 universities in the United States, and each university has its own advantages, traditions and characteristics. We should not confine our eyes to a few universities.