First, the application steps for studying in the United States

1, hardware score preparation.

Students are advised to prepare for relevant language tests, such as TOEFL and SAT, from the first year of high school. Language achievement is the key to the school, and there are hard requirements. The reading part of SAT requires a high vocabulary, so it is difficult to improve it greatly in short-term assault. Therefore, it is suggested that students actively expand English reading and pay attention to the all-round development of listening, speaking, reading and writing, which is conducive to the accumulation of vocabulary and can achieve excellent language results before the start of high school, so as to apply for schools in advance.

2. Preparation of soft conditions.

The audit of American universities is not only about looking at scores, but also considering the applicant's situation comprehensively. Therefore, it is suggested that students can plan various competitions and extracurricular activities in advance, participate in summer courses (with and without credits) organized by American universities, feel the teaching atmosphere of colleges and universities, strive for letters of recommendation and transcripts from college teachers, communicate with outstanding students from all over the world, and comprehensively improve their abilities, including organizational ability, communication ability and independent thinking ability, which is helpful for applying for American universities in the later stage.

3. Find school information.

Applicants should actively search for detailed information about their favorite schools in the summer vacation of Grade Two, including basic information, application deadline, score requirements, professional advantages, geographical location, tuition fees, etc. , so as to be targeted. It is suggested to focus on searching the information of 20-30 schools, and finally determine 10- 15 schools according to their own conditions, and divide these schools into three levels: sprint, target and guarantee.

4. Enter the application stage.

After the third year of high school starts, the application will be carried out in an orderly manner. Students who apply for advance approval should prepare their application materials before 1 1 Students who apply for the normal batch should complete all the applications before June 5438+ 10. In March-May of the following year, students will receive admission notices from the school one after another. At this time, they should pay attention to reading the information in the school mail or paper materials, and whether there are requirements and deadlines for paying the deposit. If the students have decided on the school they want to go to, they will start the follow-up work, including paying the deposit, applying for accommodation, visas and so on. And finally arrived in the United States smoothly.

Second, the undergraduate application conditions

One of the most important conditions for applying for studying in American universities: IBT scores. American universities require international students to provide IBT scores. Most of the top 20 schools require an IBT score of 100, and even some schools do not specify the IBT score, such as Harvard University, which does not specify the minimum score requirement, but several international students with an IBT score below 100 are admitted to Harvard University.

The second most important condition for applying for studying in American universities: SAT scores. Generally, the average score of SAT/KLOC-0 in the top 20 universities in the United States is around 1400. For students in Chinese mainland, some schools do not require them to take the SAT, but if you want to apply for a high scholarship, the SAT is essential. Some schools require you to take SAT2, and you can choose your subjects according to your major. Most professional applications like Boston University require SAT2 scores, and SAT2 is recommended except for the General Research Institute and the Academy of Fine Arts. The requirements of the school must be provided, and even if the IBT school accepts it, it cannot give students an evaluation.

To apply for studying in American universities, the most important condition is that the average score of students in the first two or three years of high school is at least 85 points or more and 90 points or more. American universities will examine the students' learning situation through the applicant's usual performance in high school for one year, which is a very important reference standard. Looking at the top 30 or even the top 40 schools in the United States, almost all require GPA above 3.5.

Third, undergraduate application skills

1. Choose two guaranteed schools.

Your academic performance and exam results are basically slightly higher than the average level of these studies. You should know that even if your score is higher than the average, those schools with high selection standards cannot be your "safe" schools. Only by choosing some schools with high admission rates and relatively low standards can they become the first choice for "safe" schools.

2. Choose three "sprint" schools

Applying to these schools, your grades and scores may not be up to standard. After careful study, you will find that it is not impossible to apply successfully, but it will be a long-term goal.

3. Three schools with "equivalent" conditions

Looking at the general situation of these universities, your academic performance and exam results match them. You will feel that you are very suitable for applying to these schools and will be admitted to a large extent. However, you should be mentally prepared. Matching schools doesn't mean you will be accepted. The success of admission will be influenced by many factors, which is also the reason why many applicants miss out on the school.

2. Payment methods for studying in the United States

1. Money orders, telegraphic transfers, traveler's checks

To use these three methods, we should consider the way of changing dollars. Some people will have private channels to exchange large amounts of money, which will be more cost-effective than in the bank. Banks in some cities in China don't accept US dollars, but they will accept RMB according to the quotation of the day.

2. Credit card

Asking about school policy. Some schools charge a handling fee for paying tuition by credit card, which may be 2%-3% or even higher. Although there is no handling fee for depositing US dollars in China, the handling fee for going abroad is too high. Generally speaking, most parents choose to give their children a subsidiary card of domestic US dollar credit card and charge their children's tuition and fees to the school account. Parents return RMB to the main card in China. If the main card is linked to another RMB account in China for automatic repayment, the bank will automatically repay according to the exchange rate on the repayment deadline day every month, without going to the bank all the time. However, it should be noted that some schools only accept American credit cards (Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover)- (from Bank of America), and the billing address should be in the United States. In fact, some China credit cards can be used (for example, China Merchants Bank and China Construction Bank can't), which means that China Merchants Bank credit cards don't verify the billing address, while China Construction Bank does. It is recommended to ask the bank before handling it.

Carry cash

This method is dangerous, but it is also the most convenient. In addition, you can issue a certificate of carrying cash. For example, you can deposit US dollars in the Bank of China and take them out (there is a daily withdrawal limit, which seems to be 5000). You can issue a certificate with USD 1w in China Bank, and you can enter the United States aboveboard 1w, and never exceed the specified amount.

4. Write a check after opening an account in the United States

When people arrive in the United States, they can open an account in the school bank. Domestic remittances can be transferred to this account, and students can write checks to pay tuition fees. However, the handling fee generated in this process is expensive.

3. Factors to consider when studying in the United States

1, admission conditions

Admission conditions mainly include three aspects. First, the requirements of American study abroad schools for applicants, including GPA and TOEFL scores. Although admissions officers will examine students in many ways, standardized scores should be carefully considered as admission tickets to American universities. Unless you are confident that you can improve your grades soon, or win an international prize to make up for your lack of grades, I suggest that you don't apply to a school that is too far behind you according to your own situation. This will not only bring no motivation, but also bring too much pressure on yourself.

Secondly, students who want to study in the United States should refer to the school's annual admission rate. Applicants should have certain application difficulty and can give students the motivation to fight for it. For schools with too low admission rate, we should also choose carefully and be prepared to be rejected.

In addition, a good employment rate is also a factor to attract parents and classmates. After all, the four-year undergraduate course, tuition is also a considerable expense. Therefore, most students should also consider the future employment situation in the process of choosing an American school to study abroad.

2. Comprehensive ranking

When choosing a school, many students often have plots, attach importance to the comprehensive ranking of universities, and think that the comprehensive ranking of schools is high and they will have face when showing themselves to others. Although comprehensive ranking is a factor that cannot be ignored, professional ranking is often more valuable than comprehensive ranking for students with clear professional goals. The professional knowledge gained by those Lishui graduates in school is not enough to give them an absolute advantage in employment. It can be seen that when choosing a school, we must compare it in many aspects, and we should never take ranking as the measure.

3. Occupational characteristics

Before studying abroad, don't blindly set up majors according to your hobbies, but understand the characteristics of different majors themselves.

For example, law schools and medical schools in the United States do not recruit undergraduates. Students who want to study law in the United States need to have professional backgrounds such as history, politics, philosophy and engineering. And meet the requirements of applying for IBT and LSAT in order to have the opportunity to study in depth; The same is true for medical majors. At the undergraduate level, you need to choose relevant science and engineering majors, complete pre-medical courses and pass the MACT exam. In addition, it takes a long training period to become a doctor in the United States, and attention should be paid to the time cost when choosing.

When applying for graduate students, some master's courses have requirements for background. For students who decide to go abroad for further study, only by seeing the requirements in advance can they be fully prepared. There is also a certain relationship between major and the breadth of future employment. If the main purpose of studying abroad is to find a good job in the future, then students should be prepared before choosing.

4. Internship opportunities

Internship is closely related to future employment. From the perspective of company HR, everyone hopes that the employees they apply for should not only have excellent professional knowledge, but also have work experience in related fields. If a school can provide abundant internship resources, it will undoubtedly increase students' advantages in finding jobs after graduation.

4. Common sense that should be paid attention to when studying in the United States

1. Pay attention to distance when talking about study and life in America.

When talking to Americans, keep your body distance from each other. A distance of half a meter is more suitable. When you chat with an American, if he goes straight ahead, you may be a little far away from him; If he keeps backing away, you may be too close to him, so keep a proper distance.

Don't greet people who study and live in America.

According to experts studying in the United States, people in China greet acquaintances loudly to show their enthusiasm, while public places in the United States are relatively quiet and people talk quietly. They don't usually shout unless there is an emergency. See acquaintances also approached to say hello.

3. Talk about keeping eye contact when studying in the United States.

Keep eye contact when talking to Americans. Cold eyes or looking at other places will leave Americans with the impression of distrust and arrogance. Therefore, it is very important to keep smiling eye contact when dealing with Americans. If a stranger walks up to you and smiles at you, he will say "hello". It's just a courtesy, but it doesn't mean that he will stop talking to you.

You can't play jokes on them when studying in America.

Some students in China sometimes tell a white lie or joke, which is considered normal. However, in the United States, if you lie to him or joke that he is dishonest, these words will make Americans unhappy, because the United States is a nation that stresses credibility, and their economic and social status is based on personal credibility. They can't stand the lack of credibility of others.