There are many rankings of American universities, which vary greatly and have different credibility, such as American news ranking, Princeton Review ranking and Forbes ranking. The ranking of American universities that many students see is mainly the ranking of U.S.News. In fact, American students and parents do not look at the ranking when choosing universities, except for a few well-known universities (such as Ivy League schools).
As China people, at the initial stage of choosing a school, we will certainly act according to the mindset of China people. However, with the in-depth understanding of American higher education, we will find that some ranking criteria are of no practical significance to applicants, so we should choose American universities that suit us rather than top schools.
Look at the nature of the school
American four-year universities are mainly divided into comprehensive universities and liberal arts colleges. American News ranked them separately.
0 1
National university comprehensive university. Such as Harvard, Yale and MIT, all belong to the category of comprehensive universities. There are one or more undergraduate colleges, including liberal arts colleges and junior colleges, such as business, medicine, art and journalism. Different institutions may have different admission difficulties.
02
college of letters and science
03
Professional colleges, such as Juilliard, Babson College, Cooper Union, RISD, etc. , suitable for students with special interests and talents in certain majors, such as art, architecture, music, etc.
Skills of Reading American University Websites
It is skillful to quickly find recruitment web pages about recruiting international students. After logging on to American university websites, first look for "enrollment" or "prospective students". Then find the sub-option "International Students" or "Freshmen" or "Freshmen" or "Undergraduate". In some schools, "international applicant" is a secondary option for "freshman" or "undergraduate".
After opening the enrollment page, you should check the proofreader's requirements for standardized test scores. In some schools, some rules about enrollment are answered in frequently asked questions.
Long-term consideration
There are more than 4000 universities in America, and we can only go to one of them. Therefore, in order to select the candidate universities according to the conditions of the selected universities, we can make the candidate lists of two universities according to the classification of comprehensive universities and liberal arts colleges. Screening conditions are determined by students and parents, such as required SAT or ACT scores, TOEFL scores, tuition fees, school location, etc.
If you are a graduate student, there are no scholarships for business, economics, finance, media and other related majors, and there are no scholarships for law schools and medical schools. The tuition fee is very high. Therefore, if you want to study such a major, you should consider the cost of studying for graduate students. Therefore, it is worth considering whether you must go to the top universities when you are an undergraduate, but it is very expensive.
If you apply for early admission, you should add the application deadline for early admission and the corresponding deadline for submitting TOEFL, SATI, SATI or ACT scores in the form.
Your financial situation should match the school expenses.
Generally speaking, how to choose an American undergraduate school is the general law of American university fees: "The higher the ranking, the more expensive the private university." For example, the total annual expenses of Stanford and Yale University are more than $40,000. Such schools believe that even if they can be admitted, if they rely entirely on their own funds, the four-year fee will be a very heavy burden for most families.
In addition, inland and small towns are relatively cheap, and the proportion of scholarships in liberal arts colleges is also relatively high. These factors can be taken into account when choosing a school that saves money (tuition fees in American universities will increase by 5%- 10% every year, and this increase may change according to the changes in the American economic situation).
Consider the school's admission and finance of international students.
0 1
Admission policy, Need-Blind: students are not considered whether to apply for grants or not when entering the school. There are very few schools that claim to need foreign students in blind schools, and it seems that they have begun to give priority to self-funded students in the economic downturn. Demand awareness: Considering students' financial situation, applying for financial aid may reduce their competitiveness.
02
On-demand FA: It aims to help students with limited family conditions who can't afford tuition. Most public schools do not have this policy for international students. In the past, schools with more FA international students usually continued to be generous to international students.
03
Scholarship merit scholarship: a bonus awarded to outstanding students who meet certain conditions, usually with a small amount. Some schools, including Ivy League schools, don't have scholarships. Specifically, you should go to official website in various schools.
In the years of the financial crisis, public universities basically did not give scholarships or grants to international students, and individual schools that gave scholarships required SAT or ACT scores.
Religious/political tendencies in schools
0 1
Religion: Some American universities still have religious affiliation, such as Notre Dame University (Roman Catholic Church) and Emory University (United Methodist Church). However, these schools do not force students to change or accept their beliefs, nor will they affect their admission because of their beliefs. They value sincerity, respect for others and enthusiasm for knowledge. Schools usually add some valuable compulsory courses in philosophy/religion. Generally speaking, these universities are conservative, but their religious enthusiasm and intensity are different.
02
Politics: The political inclination of a school can probably be inferred from the support rate of its state and student groups for democracy and the two parties. For many people, schools in the south and midwest tend to be conservative, while schools on both sides of the Taiwan Strait tend to be more radical. Of course, it still varies from school to school.
Find school safety data
According to the federal law of the United States, all universities in the United States must publish crime data including theft, robbery, arson, sexual violence, rape and murder. You can see the name, telephone number, address and the number of criminal cases around the school in the past three years on the website of the Ministry of Education.
In addition, you can also check whether the school has security precautions, such as whether there is a night escort service to ensure that students who come back late can be safely escorted back to the dormitory, or whether there is a designated security station on campus for emergency calls. The most important thing is to ensure that all information is open and transparent to the schools where foreign students study in China.