The application system varies widely across different universities in the U.S. Therefore, in order to keep organised and on track, you should create a list of all the universities that interest you. Do not worry if you have a long list of universities – you can filter them afterwards. How do you choose the universities? If you are an international student applying to the US you probably already have a reason why you are going to the US – so choose universities within that reasoning. I recommend categorising your universities into three categories:
- Dream schools
- Average schools which you can get into
- Back up schools (if something goes wrong with the first two categories). You are overqualified for these universities
The universities in each category will vary immensely according to the level of the student. In addition, the weighting (which category has the most/least number of universities) will vary as well. For example, if you are a top student, you may have four dream schools, two average schools, and one back up school. If you are an average student, you may have two dream schools, three average schools, and two back up schools. These are just examples and should not be taken as strict numbers.
If you are an athlete, choose universities that offer your sport. If you are more science/tech, choose schools that have a strong focus in tech. You get the point.
Start Now!
Make your list of universities now! This is not the finalised list – putting something down will make this process easier. We have created a University Application checklist, which will help you keep track during the application process. In the first column (‘university’) go ahead and put your universities. Don’t worry about the other columns – we will go through them in the next steps. If you would like to see an example of a filled-in university application checklist, click below:
University Application Checklist Blank
University Application Checklist Example