Gone are the days when Indian students from middle-income group families enrolled themselves in only Indian colleges for their undergraduate study. Nowadays, arrays of premium colleges in countries like the US, Canada, UK, Germany, Australia, Singapore, Ireland, etc., welcome a plethora of applications from international students. However, the entire process is time-consuming and it may take as long as two years to complete the application process. Hence, it is advisable to plan ahead and finalize the universities to which you would be applying to. The College Board’s BigFuture™ website is a site where you can get detailed information about the colleges as well as their scholarship opportunities. The scholarships broadly depend on your transcripts, exam scores, and essays.
In order to get admission into an undergrad course abroad, you are required to prepare for the college-level exams (AP tests). These exams cost $94 per test and are administered during a 2-week period in the month of May. Needless to mention, higher scores augment your chances of getting selected and can also lower your college tuition bill amount. With a good score, you can also evade the first-year university courses.
ACT (American College Testing) is administered to ascertain if a student is ready for the undergraduate course in the USA. It was devised as an alternative to SAT and is currently accepted by major universities around the world.
It evaluates the student’s knowledge of English, Mathematics, Reading, Science, and Writing (Optional). Besides 215 multiple choice questions, you will get an additional 40 minutes to write an essay. Apart from the subject knowledge, it will also test your endurance level and hence stretched across a total duration of about 3 hours. The test carries no negative marking.
| Section | Time | Syllabus | Question Types |
| English | 75 questions in 45 minutes | Grammar and its use, Punctuation, Sentence construction, Organisation and Style | Four-Choice, Multiple-Choice Usage/Mechanics and Rhetorical Skills Questions |
| Math | 60 questions in 60 minutes | Pre-Algebra, Elementary Algebra, Intermediate Algebra, Trigonometry, Coordinate Geometry, Plane Geometry | Five-Choice, Multiple-Choice Questions |
| Reading | 40 questions in 35 minutes | Reading Comprehension | Four-Choice, Multiple-Choice Referring, and Reasoning Questions |
| Science | 40 questions in 35 minutes | Interpretation, Skills, Analytical Acumen, Evaluation, and Reasoning | Four-Choice, Multiple-Choice Data Representation, Research Summaries, and Conflicting Viewpoints Questions |
| Writing (optional) | 1 essay in 40 minutes | Writing Skills | Essay Prompt |
SAT is another standardized test that is being conducted to evaluate students who are seeking admission to undergraduate schools in foreign countries (particularly the US and Canada). It gauges the written, verbal, and mathematical skills of a student, in general. However, if you are interested in a particular subject and are applying to that course, you should appear for the subject test. It costs $96.50 without the essay and $113.50 with the essay.
These are the documents which are read by the admission committee with great interest. In order to convince the committee, you should submit convincing LORs and essays which showcase you as a unique applicant. An honest LOR is highly convincing and is gladly acknowledged by the members of the admission committee.
Essays hold great value as they can even make up for a weak score. Hence, you should write it flawlessly and decide upon a convincing real-life instance aligned to the essay prompt.
Essay prompts are very important and therefore you should take a long time in deciding upon the content. There can be essays like scholarship essays, failure essays, essays related to extracurricular activities, or leadership skills. Always remember that ghost-writing (making someone else write for you) should be strictly avoided in the essays. However, you can always seek an expert academic editor’s help who through brainstorming can bring out the best content from you along with helping you to put it across in the most polished language possible. (Manya boasts of an expert team of editing specialists who have had decades of experience in the overseas education and allied domains).
Most of the students forget about this part and consider it less important. But, contrary to the Indian academics-oriented mindset, members of the admission committees actually scroll down the resume to find out what you have done outside the regular curriculum. You can specify your community work, sports activities, or cultural performances under this section.
In brief, you should plan your activities and prepare yourself rather meticulously for the admission procedure. Once you get professional help and guidance from experts, you can easily get a good score in these competitive exams. Many organizations (including Manya) that provide study-abroad assistance actually offer tuition for these exams and help you with really useful materials. Having enrolled in such institutions, you can efficiently clear these exams with ease.
Hence, if you are really interested to get international exposure through an undergraduate degree from a foreign university, you should plan it in advance and probe into the nitty-gritty of the admission process scrupulously.
For more details about this, please follow this space or get in touch with our admissions team.
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