As a comrade on the quest to find the perfect university, I understand how most of you struggle to answer the million dollar question; “How do I even begin?” Just like the poster hanging from my room wall left by my sister says, “Decide: You can do anything after that”, the first step to university application is the hardest. There’s so much to do that I don’t know how, where or what to start on. I am fortunate enough to have a sister that took the ADP and is now in the States. Now I shall pass on what I’ve learned from my sister and my own personal experiences to you.
As a member of the Do Everything at the Last Minute Club, the biggest hindrance during my university application is the race against time. I took things for granted and thought that if I could do it later, why do it now, right? WRONG! Anything can and will happen at the worst time possible. Mails not delivered, application fee not processed and e-mails left unanswered are just a few very common examples. I started doing my research on universities about 10 months before my transfer and I regretted not starting earlier. Don’t be fooled, you may be transferring in August but most universities’ application deadlines end in February and some even in December. It’s never too early to start planning. I would suggest starting at least a year before your transfer date.
When searching for universities, know what the most important factor in a university is for you. I’ve been on at least 100 websites of universities and there are four things that I always take note of; cost of attendance, financial aid, application requirements and application deadline. Clearly, the cost decides whether I consider the university or not. What do you look for in a university? Does the athletics and location matter to you than the academics? You have to find answers like these. You should also learn basic terms when applying like what is Early Decision, Regular Decision, rolling admission, grant and scholarship? Don’t be lazy…go Google them.
Basically, there are three main types of educational institution in the United States-the universities, the liberal arts colleges and the community colleges. Colleges in the US do not mean that the faculties comprise mostly of teaching assistants. The main difference between colleges and universities is that postgraduate programs are usually offered in universities-therefore, they have bigger campuses and better funding from the government. Certain colleges do offer postgraduate studies but they mostly focus on undergraduate programs. So, when referring to graduate studies, Americans usually use the word university. Community colleges are two-year colleges that offer Associate’s Degrees (Diplomas). It’s pretty common for students after high school to apply to community colleges before transferring to four-year colleges to get their Bachelor’s Degrees. Do not immediately discard the idea of community colleges because they are a great way to save money and they’re also relatively easier to get into than traditional four-year colleges.
Now, what are liberal arts colleges? They are mostly run by private nonprofit organizations and because of this, they do not receive as much funding from the government as public universities. Although, they do receive donations from the public, their cost of attendance are generally more expensive than public colleges. However, they offer more financial aid than most public colleges. For instance, Middlebury College’s tuition costs $43,870 but their average financial aid offered was $37,432 each to 177 students in 2010. That means students that received aid only had to pay $6,438 for tuition. Comparing with a common public university like SUNY Binghamton (ranked #1 Best Value in the nation by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance in 2011) which does not offer any scholarships to international students, Middlebury costs about $8,343 cheaper. This is especially important because international transfer students like us stand little to no chance on receiving any form of financial assistance in American public universities.
Liberal arts colleges offer another form of good education with affordable cost. Middlebury ranks #4 on US News and is simultaneously called Little Ivies whereas Binghamton is at #86 on US News. Do not settle for okay universities because of your financial need when you know you can do much better. Another bonus in liberal arts colleges is the relatively smaller student population. This may not be a plus point for students looking for large campus life but for nerds like me that only care for the academics, it’s good to know that I can get more attention in class. The faculty to student ratio in a typical liberal arts college is around 12 to 1. This means that for 12 students in a class, a faculty member is there to provide academic assistance. In such a small college, everyone basically knows everyone else which provides relationships that can last well over your graduation.
Other than researching on university websites, there are a lot of websites out there that offer unbiased student reviews that I personally think are more informative. One of my favorite websites is www.collegeprowler.com. From top 10 worst things to the hot-or-not scale of the guys and girls, you get to know the dirt on colleges that only students of that college know. You would want to know things like Professor X of Y University is a racist and has never given a proper grade to a student of color.
Once you’re all done with research, it’s time to make a list. List down all your potential colleges and compare them. A lot of people around me are surprised when I tell them that I applied to five colleges. There’s no limit to the number of colleges you can apply to, go crazy with the choices! If you’ve always dreamed of going to Harvard, go ahead and apply because frankly, Harvard students are humans too. However, remember to reserve at least one spot on your list for a college that you know you can get into. Colleges that are affiliated to your current university usually fill the spot because there’s at least a 70% chance of them accepting students.
The real work comes after you’ve decided on your colleges. Make another list, this one for all the documents and tests that you have to take, and the list is long. Get some help from your advisor or a friend to gather the documents. If you have questions, e-mail the admission counselor of the university you’re applying to, but do not e-mail during the holidays because they’re never going to get back to you. If they don’t reply by two weeks, they could be facing some ‘technical difficulties’. If so, you can try looking up the college on Facebook. They would usually have a discussion group there. Keep annoying them with questions until they have no choice but to answer. Don’t feel bad about loading them with questions because that’s their job.
If there are necessary tests that you have to take (and there usually is), take them in advance. I took TOEFL and SAT a month before the deadlines of the colleges I applied to. Fortunately, I did not do badly in both tests but I could’ve done better. If I could meet me that was fresh out of secondary school now, I would force the younger me to take the SAT test right after SPM. First off, I would do better in the Math section because as painful as Add Math was, I learned more math in those two years of Form 4 and 5 than I ever will. Secondly, even if I didn’t do as good as I wanted to, I can reseat for the test again. Who knows? If I did reseat for the test and got a better score, I could be in Stanford University now-taking a class taught by Albert Bandura or talking about the Stanford prison study with Philip Zimbardo over tea.
Written by See Tho Wai Siong
~American Flyer - Spring 2011 Edition~
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