If you are an international student, you will follow the same application
procedures as other graduate school applicants. However, you will have to meet
additional requirements.
Since your success as a graduate student will depend on your ability to
understand, write, read, and speak English, if English is not your native
language, you will be required to take the Test of English as a Foreign
Language (TOEFL), or a similar test. Some schools will waive the language test
requirement, however, if you have a degree from a college or university in a
country where the native language is English or if you have studied two or
more years in an undergraduate or graduate program in a country where the
native language is English. As for all other tests, score requirements vary,
but some schools admit students with lower scores on the condition that they
enroll in an intensive English program before or during their graduate study.
You should ask each school or department about its policies.
In addition to scores on your English test, or proof of competence in
English, your formal application must be accompanied by a certified English
translation of your academic transcripts. You may also be required to submit
records of immunization and certain health certificates as well as documented
evidence of financial support at the time of application. However, since you
may apply for financial assistance from graduate schools as well as other
sources, some institutions require evidence of financial support only as the
last step in your formal admittance and may grant you conditional acceptance
first.
Once you have been formally admitted into a graduate program and have
submitted evidence of your source or sources of financial support, the school
will send you Form I-20 or Form IAP-66, Certificate of Eligibility for
Non-Immigrant Status. You must present this document, along with a passport
from your own government, and evidence of financial support (some schools will
require evidence of support for the entire course of study, while others
require evidence of support only for the first year of study, if there is also
documentation to show reasonable expectation of continued support) to a U.S.
embassy or consulate to obtain an international student visa (F-1 with the
Form I-20 or J-1 with the Form IAP-66).
Once all the paperwork has been completed and approved, you are ready to make
your travel arrangements. If your port of entry into the United States will be
New York's Kennedy Airport, you can arrange to be met and assisted by a
representative of the YMCA Arrivals Program. This person, at no cost to you,
will help you through customs and assist you in making travel connections. He
or she can also help you find temporary overnight accommodations, if needed.
If you are interested in this assistance, you should provide the Arrivals
Program with the following information: your name, age, sex, date and time of
arrival, airline and flight number, college or university you will be
attending, sponsoring agency (if any), and connecting flight information.
Include a photo to help identify you, and note if you need overnight
accommodations in New York. This information should be sent well in advance to
YMCA Arrivals Program, 71 West 23rd Street, Suite 1904, New York, New York
10010. You can also reach the Arrivals Program by fax (212-727-8814) and by
phone (212-727-8800 ext. 130).
When you arrive on your American college campus, you will want to contact
the international student adviser. This person's job is to help international
students in their academic and social adjustment. The adviser often
coordinates special orientation programs for new students, which may consist
of lectures on American culture, intensive language instruction, campus tours,
academic placement examinations, and visits to places of cultural interest in
the community. This adviser will also help you with travel and employment
questions as well as financial concerns and will keep copies of your visa
documents on file, which is required by U.S. immigration law.
A number of nonprofit educational organizations are available throughout
the world to assist international students in planning graduate study in the
United States. To learn how to contact these organizations for detailed
information, write to the U.S. embassy in your country.
Presented with permission from Peterson's by Virtual Ink Press™
