In need of some advice about how to apply for your student visa? You’re in luck! Not only are there some great ones available on YouTube, but there’s one to match just about any mood.

There’s a video…

For when you need a bit of excitement in your life

For when you don’t

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Before I left for the U.S., I attended all the orientations about what life would be like there.  I heard tons of useful advice about how to prepare, what to pack, and what to expect.   And like most people, I scoffed at some of that advice.  But boy I wish I hadn’t!

Settling into Indiana was not as easy as I thought it would be, and I quickly began to regret not listening to the suggestions of what to bring with me from home.  Here are the top 3 things I really wish I had brought, and the advice you shouldn’t ignore when it’s time for your orientation.

1. Toiletries

Not packing toiletries such as lotion and soap from home was the first thing I greatly regretted. I am ashamed to say that when the helpful ladies at the EducationUSA orientation gave us this advice, I laughed at it. “I am going to America, where everyone has great skin and looks (and probably smells) good, and everything costs US$1,” I thought. “I will buy it there.”

Unfortunately, when I arrived in Indiana it turned out the supermarket is very far from where I live and only accessible by bus.

When I finally figured out the bus route and managed to get there, I was bombarded by more choices in face wash, lotions, cleansers, and all manner of soaps than I had ever seen in my life!

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When I came to the United States, I was barely fluent in spoken English, although on paper I seemed competent in the language. In fact, it turned out the English I had learned over the course of my middle and high school years was quite different from American English.

When you’re not comfortably fluent in the language of your “new home,” a casual chat can rapidly turn into a rollercoaster of confusing words. I could barely even understand the information that the immigration officer told me when I landed in the U.S.

Now, after two years, I can proudly say that my English is lot better than it used to be, although I’m still trying to improve my speaking skills.  To get there, I had to understand that assimilating to a language is an art. You have to feel it, visualize it, and experience it yourself. It’s an art that you create, not that you learn. Here are the four ways in which I have crafted my own art of fluency.

1.     The Craft of Listening

Treatment with leeches. Woodcut from Historia Medica by W. van den Bossche.

Have you ever heard of leeches? There are slimy and tiny worm-like organisms that can suck human blood without even getting noticed. A leech will absorb as much blood as it pleases, and then instinctively lets go and begins its well-deserved digestion break.

I know, you must be wondering why I would talk about leeches in an article about learning English. But actually, those little creatures can teach us a lot about the approach to take when learning English. If you really want to be comfortable with daily spoken English, you have to start absorbing the language as much as you can.

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Editor’s note: Shree is currently in the process of applying to study in the U.S. for the fall of 2013. He’s agreed to take us with him on that process, recapping each step as he accomplishes it, and filling us in on what he did right and wrong so we can learn from his mistakes.  First up, the TOEFL.

I have always feared standardized tests. In fact, I fear all tests, from college exams to oral exams at the dentist. A fear of something-might-just-go-wrong always makes me nervous. So I was not looking forward to the standardized tests I was told by U.S. Education Foundation advisors would be crucial to my college applications. But, the TOEFL turned out to be different.

Alongside the SAT/ACT, the TOEFL is the standardized test required by most U.S. colleges. Unlike the SAT, however, which sort of measures the intellectual ability of students, the TOEFL is a check of basic skills – Reading, Listening, Speaking, and Writing (the four sections of the test) – the same things students do during their school years.  In other words, you don’t need to be smart to score high on the TOEFL.

[What is the minimum required TOEFL score?]

But you do need to know the test format in advance.

The TOEFL is strictly formatted in each and every section. For example, the writing section always contains an integrated task (writing an essay based on a given report and a lecture) and an independent task (a topic is given in which we are free to write).

Knowing the format and instructions beforehand helped me a lot during the test. Although they give you time to read the instructions for every section, I found that reading the instructions broke my focus, so I learned them ahead of time and skipped them during the test. Sometimes I would take deep breaths during that time to ease the pressure, because once the sections start they don’t pause.

[How nerves impacted Anna's TOEFL performance]

Photo by Nick Hoang

Knowing the format isn’t everything though.  I practiced.  A lot.  Over and over again. I found the Delta’s Key to the TOEFL Test book to be very useful, as it contained drills on individual question types, and I used the Cambridge Preparation for the TOEFL Test book to work on basic skills like note-taking, summarizing and paraphrasing. The fun part about TOEFL, though, was that I didn’t need to actually *practice* to get practice.  There were a lot of ways to fit TOEFL preparations into my normal, everyday life.
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Applying for scholarships can be a lot of work.  Many require lots of paperwork, including essays, transcripts and recommendations.  Getting all that material together on time, and keeping it all organized can be a challenge.  This guest post comes from Scott Johnson, the international student advisor at North Hennepin Community College (NHCC), who has collected some advice for making that process a bit easier.  Here’s what he has to say:

Group photo of the student award recipients who were recognized at the NHCC Foundation Scholarship Luncheon on August 21, 2012 (Photo: North Hennepin Community College on Flickr)

One college event that is always a highlight of my year is the annual scholarship luncheon. This is the event that recognizes recipients of scholarship funds given out by the NHCC Foundation Office, a charitable organization affiliated with the college. I have had international student advisees among the recipients for all the years I have worked at the college.

In the 2012-13 scholarship cycle, five of my 70+ advisees were selected for awards. I was lucky enough to sit at a table with three of them at the luncheon when they were recognized for this achievement.

After talking with this year’s scholarship recipients, I gained a new appreciation for how much work actually goes into applying for this scholarship, or any scholarship. Many of the recipients had developed personalized strategies for successfully managing the scholarship application process.

Here are six of the most important scholarship management strategies students have shared with me, as well as some of my own tips developed through working with students over many years. My hope is that this information, together with other advice that you receive on the topic, will help you maximize your chances of being selected as a scholarship recipient at whichever college or university you attend.

1. Start early

Often a scholarship application will require you to submit an essay highlighting your past achievements. It will be easier to write this essay if you already have a collection of relevant content that can be woven into the essay. For this reason, I suggest that students start gathering relevant content in advance of the actual application submission cycle.

Tip: Maintain a folder and add to it any documents that recognize your excellence and achievement in academic, extra-curricular and community-related activities.

2. Anticipate delays

Scholarship applications, particularly those for larger amounts of funding, will likely require multiple components such as essays, letters of recommendation, and transcripts. For some of these documents, particularly recommendation letters, you will have to rely on others. By starting early and allowing yourself plenty of time, you – in turn – maximize the chance that others will be able to fulfill your request before the deadline. Planning ahead will provide you with a cushion that can be used to offset any unexpected, but often inevitable, delays.

Tip: Work backwards from your deadline to construct a timeline for assembling your application. Consider using an electronic calendar platform – like Google Calendar or Apple’s iCal– to track your progress. Often these calendars can even email you reminders of the deadlines you’ve set for yourself.
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To plan or not to plan? (Creative commons photo by Flickr user Chapendra)

One thing I have learned over the past school year is the importance of being flexible. Before I even landed in the U.S., I knew what I would be majoring in, what classes exactly I would take each of my five semesters at Mount Holyoke, and what extra-curriculars I would pursue. However, now, one year later, I am moving in a totally different direction.

Before coming to Mount Holyoke, I thought I would major in international relations. I was very confident in my choice since that was what I had been dreaming about for the last few years.

When I actually took classes in the IR department though, I realized that this field is too broad and vague for my mind, which was asking for something more concrete, provable, and science-based. So I chose to major in economics with a minor in public policy.

But I didn’t realize that getting into a graduate program in economics is very much dependent upon my preparation in math. When my professors made me aware of this, I switched to a double major in economics and math. I am not only enjoying my classes but I also feel that I am moving in the right direction.
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Before you apply to graduate school, you have to do a lot of research to figure out where to apply.  What schools offer the courses you want?  Where will you have the best rapport with the professors?  What program will set you up for the best career?

I’m going through this process right now, as are some of my friends.  We’ve all been approaching it in different ways, so I thought I would share our experiences with you so you can learn about different strategies and find one that will work for you.

Above all you can see that you should not be shy about contacting people who may be able to give you information about various programs.  Just make sure that you approach them in a professional way that indicates you are serious about pursuing your studies.

Student 1: Contacting program coordinators for official information

One friend is currently pursuing her studies in communication and hopes to attend graduate school in TV production.  She is an outgoing person who is good at networking, and had no problems reaching out for information.  She chose to contact program coordinators, hoping to learn more details about the campuses and programs.

The contact information for program coordinators is almost always available on the program’s website. She emailed several program coordinators for graduate programs she is interested in. In the email, she had a general description of herself and expressed her eagerness to meet with them. Coordinators replied to her very soon and set up appointments with her, offering to have a face-to-face talk and share some information materials.

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Vladimir applied to college in the U.S. from Bosnia this year.  While not his favorite part of the process, he says taking the SATs gave him a certain sense of satisfaction.  This is his story of preparing for and taking that often-dreaded exam.

I remember exactly how I felt filling in the last bubble on my last SAT, the SAT II Chemistry. Oh, how I enjoyed filling in that bubble. The feeling of coming to the end of that long journey was simply overwhelming.

This is how it all began.

I took the SAT Reasoning (SAT I) in June 2011. I had to travel to Sarajevo, 7 hours away, since it is the only city where I could have taken the exam in my country.

I prepared for it; not as nearly as I planned to, but I did practice and learn. As a non-native speaker, the writing and reading sections were the most demanding.

First advice, don’t even think of taking it before preparing at least for a month from the SAT prep books. There are so many tricks and tips I would never have thought of, but when I started taking the practice tests and compared them with the diagnostic test (there is always a diagnostic test at the beginning of those books that show you how you would do without any preparation, and which are your trouble-zones), the difference was obvious.
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When we, international students, make a list of schools we will be applying to, we may have a lot of criteria. For some of us, academic reputation is the most important factor, and for many availability of financial aid will play a decisive role. Location also tends to come into our calculations. But a commonly neglected criterion is probably the availability and range of services that a school has to offer specifically to international students.

While we tend to disregard this factor at the stage of school selection, it becomes an integral part of our daily routines once we arrive on campus.

[Read more about factors to consider in picking the right school]

Where to find information

When you’re applying to schools, you’re probably dealing mostly with the admissions office, and if you’re lucky there may be an international admissions office that specializes in overseas students.  But once you’re on campus, there’s a different office that will coordinate most of the services for international students.  It’s usually called something like International Student Services or the Office for International Affairs.
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You might remember we have previously shared advice from visa officers for getting your student visa.  They explained how to set yourself up for a successful visa interview by applying early, coming prepared with the correct paperwork properly filled out, and being able to show that you will return home after your studies.

In a new piece in the State Department’s DipNote blog, Consular Officer Monica Shie, who serves in New Delhi, India, adds her own perspective on what visa officers are looking for from you when you go in for an interview:

Every day in New Delhi, eight or nine officers interview hundreds of people seeking visas to the United States. Because we try to serve as many applicants as we can, the interviews are quite short — only two to three minutes. A lot of the information that we need is already there in your application, but we like to hear from you, personally, about your travel plans. Sometimes, visa applicants bring stacks of documents, and they seem disappointed when we do not look at all that paperwork. But the idea of a personal interview is to speak with you face-to-face — not to examine documents.

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You can do it! (Photo: Steven Depolo)

At this point in the year, international students like myself are starting to think about what to do for the summer.  If you’re an international student and you haven’t started thinking about it yet, you should.

It’s not always easy to find a good internship or summer job that will provide you with valuable work experience, a good line on your resume, the chance to be in a different part of the country, and networking opportunities in your field.

But here’s one thing I learned from my experience finding work last summer: If you’re capable of getting admitted to an American university, you’re also capable of finding some decent work experience for the summer.  You just have to apply the same dedication in how you research job opportunities and prepare your resumes.

And you should also have the same willingness to rely on the resources available to you, including people who have been through it before.  Having gotten used to relying entirely on myself, I didn’t take advantage of other resources that could have helped me.  In the end I did get a job I really liked working at a school in California, but it cost me a lot more pain than it needed to.

I talked to a bunch of my friends to find out what advice they could give me (and you!) for applying to jobs and internships this summer, and here’s some of what they suggested and some of what I learned through my own experiences.
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A mother from Kazakhstan wrote to us to suggest we add the word “scholarship” to our Glossary of Confusing Words. As we talked more, it turned out the meaning of the word “scholarship” had been important for her – her two children went to college in the U.S. Here’s her story about what she learned about finding scholarship money, and why her experience sending her daughter to college led her to change her approach when it came time for her son to apply.

Things that don't exist: financial aid in a bag (Photo: CC by Flickr user p373)

“We have explored two different aid achieving paths, both, though, based on the kids academic success and our relatively low income.

Our daughter studied in a state university (her SAT was not very good to apply to better schools), and we paid her tuition in full initially, while she was earning excellent grades in the university. Then she applied for financial aid in her school and got a 50% discount and a decent scholarship deducted from the discounted tuition, so the remaining part was three times less than her initial tuition.

» Not all schools provide this option. Find out how financial aid policies can differ.

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Acceptance letters (Creative commons photo by Flickr user Adrian Ho)

One thing I learned when I was applying to U.S. universities is that standing out to the admissions committee requires much more than good test scores.  The most competitive candidates will all have well beyond average SAT and TOEFL scores, outstanding recommendation letters, and thoughtful essays.  But even that won’t guarantee them a spot at their first choice school.

So what can make your application special?  I had good SAT scores, a decent TOEFL score and good grades, but I think what put my application ahead of some others is that I showed a passion.

My passion has always been for social issues – bringing people from around the world together to empower young people, and especially young women.  Everyone has a passion, and when the admissions committee can see that about you, it makes you stand out.  The trick is to demonstrate that passion in a way that admissions officers can actually see.

Here are some suggestions of how to do that from my own experience.
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In some recent interviews, admissions officers from U.S. colleges have been explaining how schools provide financial aid to international students. Their biggest message? It varies. A lot.

Here’s one approach, explained by a representative from Mount Holyoke College:

Eric Furda, dean of admissions at the University of Pennsylvania, told U.S. News and World Report that international students applying for financial aid need to consider a few questions as they research universities.

First, he said, students should ask:

Will applying for aid as a non-U.S. citizen or permanent resident impact my admissions decision?

A few schools are need-blind, which means they don’t factor financial aid needs into their admissions decisions, but most are “need-sensitive.”
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