Applying to USA colleges 101: Basics to get started!

The first thought that hits your mind when you find out about someone who went to the US for undergraduate studies on a scholarship is: Wow, how do I do this too? But you are stuck, you do not know where to start, you ask yourself: what are the requirements, what is the system like, is there an admission test to take, are my grades good enough?... etc. The questions are endless and you can quickly feel overwhelmed by that. If that feels like you, this post is for you!

I had similar questions when I first knew about applying to the US. I had to spend hours doing online research, reaching out to people seeking answers. Unfortunately, this preliminary step took me so much time and effort, which is already exhausting.

That's why I am writing this post; save yourself the hassle and read the whole page, you are not going to regret it!

The first thing to know is when to apply. This is important because it will direct every other step you take later. You have to adjust your tasks and plan ahead to ensure your applications are ready in time. The application cycle in the US starts exceptionally early and lasts for around 6 months because of the number and type of options an applicant has. A general rule to remember is that you can submit your application as early as September of your senior year, and as late as January, with exceptions that still exist. Let's use this timeline chart as a starting point:

What this means is that you have two types of deadlines to submit your applications by. Each school in the US will offer some of these options (or all in a few cases). For this reason, you need to understand what each deadline means for you as an applicant:

1. Early deadlines: Each school will have a different early deadline, but most of them are in November (usually November 1st or November 15th). We will go over how to find this kind of information in the coming posts. Although the dates are important for planning purposes, the types of options you have are far more important. Let's learn what each option means:

• Early Action (EA): You apply to the school earlier than most applicants, and therefore you receive an admission decision earlier than most applicants (December-January). In this case, you don't have to commit to the school upon acceptance and you can wait up to Decision Day (May 1st) to answer the school back. Under this plan, you still have the right to apply to more schools during the regular cycle.

• Early Decision (ED): You apply early to your first-choice school and receive an admission decision from the college usually by December. (Remember that specific dates are dependent on each school) Under this plan, you sign a binding contract with the university under which you accept to attend the college if accepted and offered a financial aid package that is considered adequate by the family. There is a catch to this! You can only apply to ONLY ONE college under the early decision plan. As a result, you have to withdraw all applications and stop submitting new applications if accepted through ED. Keep in mind that you can still apply to other schools through EA!

• Restrictive Early Action (REA): You can think of this plan as a mix between EA and ED, meaning that you get to apply to your first-choice school early without having to attend if accepted. The drawback to this plan is that you can only apply to one school early at all, i.e you apply to only one school early if it is through REA.

1. Regular deadlines:

Each school will have a different regular deadline, but most of them are during January (usually January 1st). The options are less confusing than early ones, but still important to understand.

• Regular Decision (RD): You apply during the regular cycle to as many schools as you want (there are some limits though to the number of schools you apply to overall). Just like EA and REA, you don't have to commit to the school upon acceptance and you can wait up to Decision Day (May 1st) to answer the school back.

• Early Decision 2 (ED2): This plan is not very popular but can be very beneficial. Under it, all ED rules apply, the only difference is the deadline time, which in this case is specified by the university but is usually during January!