Study Bachelors in USA

United States of America (USA) continues to remain the most popular study destination among Indian students for undergraduate education!

 

Quick notes to clear your most common queries about undergraduate studies or Bachelors in USA :

 

Duration of Bachelors in USA :

Bachelors in USA is of 4 years duration in general. Some programs like Architecture, Medicine, Pharmacy, Law, Nursing can go over 5 years since State licensure is involved.

Intakes :

Nearly all Bachelors programs in USA begin in Fall (August). The other intake is Spring (January) but it’s a smaller intake.

Cost of Studying Bachelors in USA :

Course fee for Bachelors in USA ranges between $15000 to $60000 per year (typically ranging from Rs. 10 lacs to Rs 40 lacs). Note: Higher fee does not determine the quality of the program or university. The fees at US State Universities are generally lower than the fees at Private US Universities.

SAT / ACT :

Most Bachelors programs in USA require SAT test or ACT test score. It is best to start preparing for SAT or ACT when a student is in class 11 (or year 1 of IBDP or A Levels) or during the holidays after class 10. The validity of SAT and ACT is 4 years. These tests are held 4 times in a year. Students often prepare for 3 to 4 months for SAT or ACT. Learn more about SAT I or ACT here.

SAT II :

Many colleges use the SAT Subject Tests for admission, for course placement, and to advise students about course selection. Some colleges specify the SAT Subject Tests that they require for admission or placement; others allow applicants to choose which tests to take. There are 20 SAT Subject Tests in five general subject areas: English, history, languages, mathematics and science. We generally recommend that students who may score over 1350 in SAT 1 may also want to appear for at least two SAT 2 subject tests.

English Language Requirement for Bachelors in USA :

Either IELTS test or TOEFL test is compulsory for all examination boards except students who are doing IBDP, where many US Universities waive the English language requirement. The test could be done within one month from the date you decide to take the test ie. preparing for the test, registering for the test, to appearing for it. If you need to register for the test or need help or coaching for IELTS or TOEFL, you could contact us at +91 90001 33877.

Time to Apply for Bachelors in USA :

Best time to apply for Bachelors in US is October and November in the year prior to the year you are joining for the forthcoming Fall (Aug) start. Applications are done through Common Application (about 500 Universities), UC Application (all University campuses under University of California like UC Berkeley, UCLA, UC Davis, etc.), U Texas Apply (Universities in Texas), many Universities have DIRECT applications too (eg. University of Wisconsin Madison, Indiana University Bloomington, etc.). If you are opting to use Early Admission Process (Early Decision or Early Action), you are aiming at finishing the entire work of essay writing and application submission around mid-Sep.

US Scholarships :

US Universities are known to be the most generous with scholarships. Many Universities do not have a separate scholarship application. Students are considered for scholarship based on their complete application. Some Universities have different scholarship applications that require students to fill out a separate application, write essay (s) and more.

Financial Aid :

US Universities also offer financial aid to students if your circumstances do not allow you spend on your higher education. Universities may ask for your family’s financial status.

Work During Study :

Students can work up to 20 hours per week during the Bachelors course and full-time (40 hours per week) during holidays.

Work After Study (Work Permit after Bachelors in USA) :

You could stay back for 12 months on the Optional Practical Training (OPT) period after your Bachelors in US. Post one year, you need a job offer in hand to stay back and an application for H1B has to be made (based on the job offer). Read more about the work permit rules for STEM degrees in USA, which allow students to work upto a period of 3 years.

Academic Grades :

You will need to submit the scores from 9^th grade to 12^th grade (term 1). Also remember that your predicted grades are based on your previous performance. Thus, all years of study are important! (Do not take the first year of your IBDP, A Levels, ISC, HSC, CBSE lightly!)

Essays :

US Universities either ask you write Topical Essays or otherwise require a Statement of Purpose (SOP). Strong essays will set you apart from other candidates. You’ll have to write 2-3 essays per application. It’s important to be creative in order to stand out from the crowd.

Recommendation and School Reports :

You will need to designate 2 to 3 school teachers as referees. The guidance counselor at your school has to submit your school profile, transcripts, predicted grades and performance evaluation. This cannot be the same person as your referee! However, if you don’t have a school counselor, we can help you with the application anyway.

Factors to consider while selecting Universities :

Choice of Major and Minor, University Ranking, Cost, Availability of financial aid and scholarships, SAT or ACT requirement, location, class size, research facilities, international student population, placement options, Deadlines.

Types of Application Deadline:

You have 3 application deadlines as part of the Common Application or most other application systems: Early Decision (ED), Early Action (EA), and Regular Decision (RD). Some Universities also have Rolling Admissions (RA). You can understand the differences between these below.

 

Early Admission for Bachelors in USA

Deadlines : Early Decision | Early Action | Regular Decision

Early Admissions: To make it simple, early admissions mean that you can apply to programs at US Universities earlier than their regular application deadline. This way you get a quicker decision from the University and can know whether it’s an admit or a reject. Early admissions can be divided in to: Early Decision and Early Action.

What is EARLY DECISION when applying for undergraduate studies or Bachelors in USA?

Some US Colleges offer an early decision program. It indicates that you most interest in securing an admit from that particular College. Early decision is binding meaning that you have to accept the admission at that University or College if you get an admit. Early decision deadlines are generally in October and the University will generally inform you of the decision within a month.

Quick notes on Early Decision :

• You can only apply to ONE early decision college. This means you should select your best choice only while taking the Early Decision option.
• If you are accepted by the college you must go to that college. Hence early decision plan is referred to as “binding”.
• Some US Universities even have two early deadlines, called Early Decision Deadline I and Early Decision Deadline II. They both work the same way, but the second deadline gives you more time to decide whether to apply early.
• While using Early Decision plan in one College allows you to apply as many other US Colleges through regular decision, you must however withdraw all other applications if you are accepted by this college (where you have used the Early Decision plan).
• Early Decision deadline is generally in October and if there is more than one early decision provided by the same College, then it is generally in November.

 

What is EARLY ACTION when applying for undergraduate studies or Bachelors in USA?

Early Action as a type of early admission process allows you to apply earlier than the last application deadline. Many US Colleges offer Early Action plans thus enabling you to get a decision from the University within one month of your application ie. generally by December you should receive the decision. Early Action is ‘non-binding’ which is the major difference between Early Decision and Early Action. This means you can apply to as many US Colleges that offer you an Early Action plan. You can accept or decline the offer once you receive a decision.

Quick Notes on Early Action :

• Early Action deadline is generally in November and the decision to your application generally comes out in December.
• You can apply to more than one Early Action college.
• Early Action plan is non-binding. If you are accepted by a College, you can say accept the offer right away or wait until January to accept or decline
• Not all Colleges offers an Early Action plan.
• Early Action is a very good opportunity for students whose academic record is consistently high and who do not wish to wait for their mid-term results to show an improvement in the academic profile.

 

What is REGULAR DECISION when applying for undergraduate studies or Bachelors in USA?

Regular decision is your last deadline to apply to your choice of Universities. Commission Application deadline (regular decision) is 1^st January. UC Application deadline is 30^th November. The admission decision under regular decision may go up to April.

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Study Bachelors in USA – How we help?

 

Consulting and Profile Development :

We explain the complete process of studying in USA. Our experts assess your profile and understand your suitability to study in USA. We suggest areas of profile development so that you could best present yourself and your application to the admissions committee. Parents generally approach us 2 years in advance or as soon as the student appears for his / her grade 10 examination. If necessary, we recommend taking the career tests to establish your choice of study.

Timeline and Action Plan :

We create a timeline for you and develop an action plan so that you could finish the application related work timely. For undergraduate students, we believe this is very important since there are numerous activities going on at that point in time eg. School / College academic studies, projects and assignment submissions, extended essay submission (IBDP students), preparation towards preliminary examinations and the pressure of final examinations looming.

Shortlisting :

Based on your interest area, future plans, career objectives, budget and several other factors, we help you select the right undergraduate programs in USA you must apply to. This is very important because you spend application fees per university, send out couriers and invest more during the process and not applying to the right set of Universities would mean a loss of money and time. We categorically suggest Ambitious, Moderate and Safe University options from which you can select from so as to create the right set of final 8 to 10 Universities.

Many of our students apply to multiple countries too!

Application Documentation :

We guide you with your documents required for applying to US Colleges. This includes helping you build and edit the right CV, editing suggestions to strengthen your essays and SOP, providing guidance on your recommendation letters, and more. We are one of the leading admission consulting in the country and essay editing is our forte.

Essay Editing :

Applying to 8 to 10 US Universities mean you may end up writing between 16 to 24 essays. We help you edit and refine each and every word of the written essays and we suggest how to improve the content. With limitless iterations, we make you craft the finest essays and bring out the real YOU in your profile. Ask any of our students and they have loved how we have guided them with the essay writing and editing.

Application :

We guide you through the applications to US Universities where we plan the complete application, help you bring out your strengths in your application, help you fill the application forms correctly, check the content, rectify any errors, and help you submit the application. This is followed by checking the application documents to be sent to the right department at the University.

Follow Up Counseling :

We are always there for you. Universities email you their queries or provide updates on your applications. Often times, we follow up with your Universities. After your applications too, generally you are bound to come up with a lot of questions, and we will be happy to help.

Interview rounds :

Many top US Universities would want to do an interview round with you before finalizing your admissions. We provide you with mock rounds and help you build your confidence, so that you could establish to the University that you could contribute well to their class.

Finalization :

Once your offers are in, we help you finalize on the right program. Often students face a dilemma at this stage when they receive more than one admit.

Financial Matters :

We will guide on how you have to make your fee payment and get your confirmation from the University.

Visa Guidance :

We guide you through the complete student visa process including suggesting the right documents, documentation check, applying for appointment, preparing the visa application file, providing mock interview rounds and more.

Connect :

We try to connect you with other students who are going to the US or who are already studying there.

Accommodation :

We guide you with booking of your accommodation in US to whatever extent that is possible.

Remember :

Shortlisting the right set of Universities and editing essays is the biggest task where students face issues. We have always encouraged our students to join top Universities and with our brainstorming discussions, we believe to have placed students to Universities that have been their dream!