Demonstrating a proficiency in English while not missing a student’s home country and anecdotally proving a student’s personality through teacher recommendations will be the more personal aspects of applying to colleges and universities in the United States. But, what about governmental documentation, academics, and finances? Grab your popcorn parents, because that’s exactly what we’re here to discuss in this blog post.

Additional Documentation

Most schools will have thorough explanations, or at least a checklist, of what is required to apply to become a student of theirs as an international applicant on their websites under something like the ‘How to Apply’ tab. The instructions will include these transcripts and teacher recommendations and English proficiency tests, but will also explain that governmental documentation is required to prove a student’s eligibility to physically arrive on and stay at campus.

 To ensure an international student’s propensity for arriving in the United States, colleges will want to see proof of their passport’s legitimacy. This will typically be included in the CommonApp and can simply be a .PDF of a photo of the passport demonstrating that it is valid and still under its 10-year warranty. Additionally, an F-1 Visa is going to be required for a student to own to ensure that the Biden administration will allow your child to study and stay in the States. 

We all know that college tuition has risen over the years. Our parents and grandparents gave their colleges a couple of bucks and a firm handshake in return for four years of education. Nowadays, tuitions will skyrocket into the tens of thousands each year and colleges will get angry, like a disgruntled chef, if they don’t get their tuition. Before accepting your international student into their classrooms and dorms, American universities will require formal documentation that the child will be sufficiently supported financially throughout their years as an undergraduate. These statements that explain banking information will need to be current (meaning within a year of the student’s presumed starting date at the school), written in English, and signed and stamped by a bank official. It may seem like a hassle, but a simple phone call or visit to the bank to request the form is necessary to initiate the application.

Standardized Testing

Haggis sounds like an intimidating dish. It’s a sheep stomach filled with other meats and, if this isn’t a traditional meal at your home’s dinner table, it can be a consequential advancement in a diet. However, once someone eats it, they’ll realize it tastes familiar to the frankfurters and bratwursts and sausages that they’re accustomed to (and it’s really good, too). Why are we talking about Scottish delicacies? Well, even though the SAT, as well as AP testing, is traditionally an American aspect of education, via the College Board, we still highly recommend that international students participate in the exhibition of their academic acumen through these avenues. 

The SAT exam and AP courses are offered throughout the year and are able to be taken all around the world. Both of these formats are fairly difficult to excel in, so an exceptional score on the SAT or a high grade on an AP exam will require extensive studying and dedication, but this hard work will pay dividends in the future. Schools will even allow students to fulfill credit for requisite courses if they score high enough on a subject’s AP exam. 

Throughout the year, the SAT is offered every couple of months. To register for a test, visit the College Board’s website and create an account. As a warning, each test has a deadline for registration that is about a month in advance of the exam. So, a student cannot just show up to the center on a random Saturday or Sunday and hope to be given an exam. The AP registration process is similar in that students should register in advance for their exams, all of which usually take place around May. Your student’s school may already offer an AP curriculum, so that makes these tests much easier to find for them! If your student’s high school is IB or otherwise does not offer AP courses, there are independent resources (ahem, like Zinkerz) through which your student can enroll in to prepare for these exams – proving their knowledge and understanding of the advanced topic.

Scholarships

As we said before, college in America is going to be expensive. But, need-based financial services exist at schools across the country. Finance is not a reason for a student to be rejected from getting an education, so schools will offer need-based scholarships to lighten the financial burden on a student and their family.

Along with this aid, colleges and universities dish out merit-based scholarships to recognize your child’s achievements both academically and extracurricularly. In the past, Zinkerz students have won Director’s Scholarships, Provost Scholars, Honors and President’s Scholarships, Pioneer Scholarships, and Women’s Leadership Scholarships (ranging from gifts of $5,000 a year to $30,000 a year). Through explanations in their supplemental essays and the high grades they received on their transcripts, your child could be awarded thousands of dollars from their college of choice for their previous hard work.

Besides the aid and merit-based scholarships, there are also scholarships which students can apply to, even before they commit to a school. Typically requiring anywhere from one to five essays, these scholarships are competitively judged against rubrics and the execution with which the submission is handled.

Conclusion

We won’t sugarcoat it: college in America is a highly competitive arena and an expensive one at that. However, embarking on the adventure of furthering a student’s education in the United States will make the child a more attractive candidate for employment upon their commencement. The road to get here is difficult, but Zinkerz is here to make it a more manageable and more enjoyable process as a whole for you and your child.