The International Family Guide to US University Admissions

Jennifer Ann Aquino

• Publisher: Wiley
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN:
  9781119370987
• eBook ISBN:
  9781119370970
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Didattica
• Subtopic: Consulenza nella didattica

Winner of the 2018 International Book Awards Education/Academic category!

Written by an experienced international educator and counselor, The International Family Guide to US University Admissions is an indispensable resource for the vast and increasing number of students applying for places at US Universities each year. Beginning with an introduction that explains to both students and parents how the book works and why, it offers milestones that must be completed during said application time period, a tried-and-true handbook that corresponds with each chapter, pop-outs that provide expert insight and resources that you should utilize throughout the process.

Every year, hundreds of thousands of international students and their families must go through the painstaking, complicated, confusing and culturally baffling process that is US university admissions. Until now, there has been no single resource for readers to turn to for holistic, accurate and up-to-date advice on the subject. Following the timeline of the US university admissions cycle, the book guides the parents and the student through the entire process in order to ensure that they are pacing themselves appropriately – from preparation to submission and through to applying for student visas. It serves as an advisor throughout the process, providing insightful advice by parents and students that are relevant to specific milestones. With the help of this book, you'll discover how to make sense of the US admissions system – from start to finish.

• Understand the application and evaluation process in depth in order to be an informed and successful applicant
• Make your schooling selection from over 3,000 US universities by understanding what would make a good fit for the student
• Learn what is expected of you in writing essays, why it is important, and how to create beautiful, genuine writing pieces reflective of your outlook in life
• Enjoy case studies and words of advice from the author's former students and their families
• Understand the difference between the SAT and ACT exams

Whether you're an international student living outside of the US or an ex-pat living abroad, you'll find answers to all of your questions – all in one place.

Chapter 1
And You Are. . .?

Months: ___________________________________________________________

(Fill in the months for your timeline for each of the first four chapters.)

The process to apply to US universities will involve working through all 12 of the chapters in this book in order. By completing the Milestones in each chapter, you will gain an understanding of why you need to do everything you need to do and how to do it successfully in order to apply to your targeted universities successfully.

A brief explanation of how this guide works: Every chapter will start with an overview of the time period—what this part of the process means for you and what your focus should be and why. This is followed by your Milestones, explaining the tasks that you will need to focus on along the way. Many Milestones will be accompanied by Worksheets, always found within the guide itself and usually at the end of each chapter. You'll always understand why you have to do something and what implications it will have on the process. I'll never ask you to do something that adds no value. If other Resources would help you with any Milestone, I mention that resource specifically by name and most of you will have it in your Library once you complete Milestone 5 on the next page.

This chapter is focused on you and who you are. Most of you would say you already know who you are. I'm not saying you don't. However, I would guess that few of you have ever sat down and really assessed who you are. Have you?

Half of this entire process is learning about yourself and who you are—a form of self-assessment. The other half is accomplishing goals and tasks for the applications such as getting strong grades, taking tests and writing stand-out essays. As you read from the Preface, the US university Admissions process is based on fit. That means understanding who you are, your strengths and weaknesses, likes and dislikes, goals and character, needs and interests. You'll then need to articulate how you—through this self-assessment—“fit” into the universities that you've identified that make your List and ultimately that you apply to. By following this process, you can confidently put your best self forward for this next stage in your life, and that will be reflected in your applications to universities.

Have you ever really sat down and worked on this? This is the first and most important step, and the essence of this chapter.

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Student Advice

“I would say it's difficult to understand now—it was for me, at least—just how much of an impact getting to know what I really wanted in a university had on me—on my not only finding my fit for universities, but then also being able to show that fit, write really strong applications, and then get in! I didn't realize this was the core of the process. I do want to tell you that you have...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Advance praise for The International Family Guide to US University Admissions
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• About the Author
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: And You Are. . .?
• Chapter 2: You've Got to Understand How It Works to Win
• Chapter 3: Being Your Nerdiest Self… and Taking Time to Do It
• Chapter 4: Your Goldilocks Moment
• Chapter 5: Less Snap-Chatting and More Real-Chatting
• Chapter 6: School's [Not] Out for Summer!
• Chapter 7: You Can't Fake It
• Chapter 8: The Pressure Is On!
• Chapter 9: The Busiest Month of Your Life
• Chapter 10: The Final Month of Writing College Applications. . .Ever?
• Chapter 11: A Rite of Passage in the Making
• Chapter 12: Anticipating, Deciding, and Arriving
• Conclusion: The Beginning of the Rest of Your Life
• The Writing Handbook
• References
• Index
• End User License Agreement