Undergraduate Admissions
“U.S. colleges and universities have an unmatched reputation for academic quality, critical thinking, science and innovation, and English language preparation for careers and job placement.”
– Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Caroline Casagrande
Overview
Four years of undergraduate study in the USA lead to a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) or Bachelor of Sciences (B.S.) degree and qualify students to apply for admission to graduate school or to join the workforce. Although there is significant variation across universities, the cornerstone of the U.S. higher education system is the liberal arts model, offering students a broad education – with courses in the arts, humanities and sciences. This model also allows for a lot of flexibility, enabling students to develop a personalized curriculum.
Associate degree programs – Associate of Arts (AA) and Associate of Science (AS) – are offered by two-year colleges, which in the USA are known as community, technical or junior colleges. Students at a community college may either receive a stand-alone two-year qualification, the Associate’s Degree, or transfer to a four-year Bachelor’s program to get their Bachelor’s degree in a 2 + 2 format. Many U.S. students and an increasing number of international applicants choose the 2+2 pathway as a way to cut down on costs.
5 Steps to U.S. Study
Research your options
With over 4,900 universities in the USA, it is a real challenge to choose the schools that suit you best. There is no easy recipe for success, so when you make your choices you need to clarify your objectives and consider the factors that are important to you both in terms of education and lifestyle. When selecting universities, you may like to take into consideration the following criteria: type of school (public or private, co-ed or single-sex colleges), major, financial support for international students, entrance difficulty, campus size and location.
See Resources section below for specialized search engines.
Finance your studies
When looking into studying in the United States, evaluating your finances should be one of the first things you do. Start your research as early as possible. Each year international students receive significant amounts of financial assistance for their studies. However, competition is high. Applications for financial aid go together with applications for admission.
The financial aid package commonly includes some form of scholarship and campus employment. Here are the most commonly available types of financial aid for international students who want to study in the United States: merit-based aid, need-based aid, athletic scholarships, campus jobs.
Bear in mind that public universities generally have lower tuition and fees, but private universities are more likely to offer generous financial aid for U.S. and international applicants alike.
Complete your application
Although U.S. educational institutions vary in their procedures and requirements for admission of international students, applications usually include the following items:
- Application form, usually online
- Official transcripts or certified copies of educational documents (“foaia matricolă”) as well as certified translations of these documents, whenever necessary
- Standardized test scores (SAT/ACT, TOEFL/IELTS)
- Personal essay (supplemental essays may also be required by each university)
- Letters of recommendation
- Non-refundable application fee (Application fee waivers may be available)
Apply for your student visa
You will need to apply for an F-1 student visa as soon as you receive the official documentation from the university whose offer you have accepted.
You can find up-to-date information about visas on the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs website and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Study in the States.
Prepare for your departure
Make sure you prepare well in advance, budget accordingly and keep in touch with the Office for International Students at your chosen university. You will likely receive from your DSO (designated school official) all the information you need to know before your departure.
Moreover, we warmly encourage you to attend the Pre-Departure Orientation event organized each year by the Fulbright Commission for all outgoing Romanian students, which will be widely publicized on the Commission’s website and on the social media pages of the Commission and its EducationUSA advising center.
Please refer to the following website for official information on visa regulations for students: https://studyinthestates.dhs.gov/students/getting-to-the-united-states
Resources
Here are some key sites and resources that can help you in your school selection.
http://www.collegeboard.org (the “College Search” section)
CollegeBoard’s “BigFuture” section will help you find the colleges that match your preferences in terms of location, size, financial aid, and more.
http://www.princetonreview.com (the “College” section)
http://www.petersons.com (the “College Search” section)
http://www.educationusa.info/financial-aid (the “Undergraduate” section)
There is a lot of information on admissions on the internet, but we suggest you start with these sites. They are highly authoritative, reliable, unbiased, comprehensive, and updated regularly. However, we encourage you to use these sites as tools for preliminary selection and verify all the information concerning financial aid on every individual university’s website.
Connect with us!
The Fulbright-EducationUSA advising team is ready to guide you through the application process one step at a time!