STUDY IN AMERICA

In the United States, higher education can take the form of a university, college, technical school, vocational school, or professional school. There are over 3100 accredited colleges and universities in America. Getting admission in the right school is the major hurdle that most students must face in pursuing a degree program in America. It takes careful planning, research and counseling. First a word about language, Americans generally use the words "college", "university" and "school" interchangeably, particularly in speech.

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Admission requirements differ greatly from one institution to another. All schools, however, require students to submit official transcripts of courses and grades taken in high school and other post-secondary institutions and a formal application. Smaller schools require letters of recommendation. Most schools will require submission of standardized tests such as the TOEFL, and SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test), GRE (Graduate Record Exam), GMAT (Graduate Management Admission Test), etc. Most of these tests are presented by the Educational Testing Service (ETS) in Princeton, New Jersey. It is very important to begin the admission process early because in many cases application deadlines are far in advance of the start of the semester (sometimes as many as twelve months). Students also need to allow time for scheduling any standardized tests needed for admission and then having the results of these tests sent to schools. Each college or university establishes its own unique policies regarding admissions.