What is the process of studying abroad after graduating from high school?

The application process for studying abroad is quite long. It may take nearly a year from the earliest preparation for TOEFL, GRE or GMAT to the final application for admission, so if you plan to study abroad, the sooner you prepare, the better.

Undergraduate application

There are generally two situations for domestic high school students to go to universities in the United States: (1) They have already taken the college entrance examination in China, but they have not been admitted to their own schools or do not like being admitted to their own schools, so they choose to go abroad; (2) Since high school, I have made up my mind to study abroad, so I applied for the United States directly without taking the college entrance examination. The second kind of students have to take an English test called SAT (those who have passed the college entrance examination are not required), which is equivalent to the American college entrance examination. American high school students also have to take this test when applying for college.

The initial preparation stage is mainly the exam, which is TOEFL. As I said before, if you don't take the college entrance examination, you will take the SAT. After the results come out (the TOEFL test will take half a month to get the results, but the paper report card may take one and a half months to get them out, so the test time should be arranged), so the paperwork can be carried out. This should be done according to the requirements of each university, and the admission requirements of each university can be found in official website. Generally speaking, what needs to be prepared are: (1) resume; (2) Transcripts during school (both Chinese and English versions are available, and they must be stamped), and if you graduate, you must have a diploma; (3) TOEFL transcripts (SAT transcripts); (4) the teacher's recommendation letter; (5) Personal statement, also called study plan; (6) proof of family property. The cost of undergraduate study is relatively large, so the more real estate, the better. Generally speaking, bank deposits must be time deposits with a maturity of at least half a year. Of course, the lack of savings is not the reason why schools refuse students. However, at present, with the economic downturn in the United States, there are too few students who can get full scholarships, so the number on the deposit certificate is a necessary guarantee for a student to successfully complete his studies. Other materials include learning-related awards (optional).

After the materials are mailed to American universities, wait. Generally, if you enter school in autumn, you will receive a reply from the school before April, and then you can get a visa. First of all, the date of booking a visa, the earlier the better, because June and July are the peak period for international students' visas, so it is sometimes difficult to make an appointment.

General visa materials include passport, a 50cm * 50cm photo (posted on the cover of passport), I-20 form sent by the school, deposit certificate, parents' income certificate, property certificate and other assets certificates (stocks, private car driving license, etc.). ), DS 160 form, SEVIS expense receipt. Others, such as graduation certificate, English school report card, TOEFL SAT report card, etc. You can take it with you just in case. The process of visa reservation and the required materials can be found on the official website of the US Embassy in China. International students should apply for a non-immigrant visa F 1.

The following is my personal application process schedule (taking enrollment in autumn and September of 20 13 as an example):

1. End the TOEFL and SAT exams by June 20 12 at the latest.

2.2065438+June 2002: Deposit the money in the bank regularly.

3.2065438+June-September, prepare and seal transcripts in Chinese and English for all courses at school, letters of recommendation from three teachers, diplomas with Chinese and English seals (if graduated), English resumes, personal statements, parents' income certificates with official seals, certificates of deposits, certificates of fixed assets and other assets, and English version of awards.

4. According to the requirements of the school you choose, mail the materials, including TOEFL and SAT transcripts, before 20 12 1 1.

At the end of May or around April, I received the reply from the school, chose my favorite university, logged in to the US Embassy in official website to download the DS 160 form, and began to make an appointment for the visa date. Students in Zhengzhou should make an appointment with the US Embassy in Beijing first, and then consider the Guangzhou Consulate if they can't make an appointment.

6. The visa result will be known then. If it passes, it will take 3-5 working days to get your passport back.

7. Buy a plane ticket as soon as the visa results come out. Generally, the sooner the cheaper.

Graduate application

The process of applying for graduate students is basically the same as that of applying for reading books. The difference is that you have to take the TOEFL besides going abroad for postgraduate study.

Take GRE or GMAT or LSAT. The difference between these three exams is that GMAT is taken by students who apply for business school, while LSAT is taken by students who apply for law school, except for the majors of these two colleges, they have to take GRE.

GRE test has a large vocabulary and high difficulty coefficient. It is recommended to prepare for the exam after 4-6 months. The exam has been revised to a new version, which is difficult because there is no previous reference. The most important thing is that the results of this exam are cumulative, unlike TOEFL, which can only choose the best results to submit, and the test results before GRE should also be submitted, so it is best to ensure that you pass at one time. If you feel that you are not sure about only one exam, try not to let the difference between the two grades be too big, otherwise it will be very unfavorable for admission. In other respects, Shen's graduate students are similar to Shen's undergraduate students. It would be better if you have relevant research experience or published papers.

Precautions:

Nowadays, many American universities accept IELTS scores in addition to TOEFL scores, so many people turn to IELTS because IELTS is relatively simple. But I suggest that it is best to take the TOEFL. Because TOEFL is an American native test and IELTS is a British test. Faced with the same level of achievement, the admissions staff are more inclined to take the TOEFL.

The minimum standard for undergraduate students is TOEFL 60, and the minimum standard for graduate students is 80. Although the higher the score, the better, but language achievement is not the only criterion for admission. School test scores, whether personal statements are brilliant or not, and whether resumes are rich or not are all criteria for judging. It is really hard to say which is more important. Therefore, it is not necessary to blindly pursue high marks and reduce the time for preparing other materials, but to arrange the time reasonably.