Every year, the number of Ukrainian applicants who dream of entering a university in the United States is increasing. This is not surprising, because the level of education in this country is one of the highest in the world, and American educational institutions are in a row to take the first positions in the world rankings for already several decades. Graduates of American universities are highly valued by employers worldwide. American universities intend to provide quality education and therefore invite the best teachers, who are well-known experts in their fields, to cooperate.
Concerning the specialties that students most often choose to study in the US universities, these are the exact sciences, i.e. STEM subjects - Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. The weighty argument when choosing American universities for the study of exact sciences are university resources, namely, laboratories that are equipped with everything necessary for conducting scientific research and experiments, access to the results of previous researches and research chops.
There are two components included to the principles of US higher education: student’s education and teacher’s development. Each student comes to the university with his own unique vision on what he would like to learn and what contribution he would like to make to the chosen field. A teacher is a mentor of a student that should direct the student’s desire and help to figure out exactly which courses a student needs, so that in the end this student could become a unique specialist.
However, you should not forget that the US higher educational establishments have strict requirements to its applicants. Therefore, it is better to prepare for admission in advance (at least two years beforehand). Definitely, the most important is to make the right choice of the university where you want to master a particular profession. Communicating with students and partners, building on knowledge based on personal experience, we developed our own list of tips for choosing a future university in the United States, taking into account all their features.
1. First of all, you should clearly define your educational goals and choose a program and a university in accordance with them. Today you may most want to study at Harvard, and tomorrow you will understand that this university does not suit you. The fact is that some universities have a more scientific approach to study, and others, on the contrary, provide more practical filling of the curriculum. You should always pay attention to this first.
2. You should chose the University not by its place in the ranking, but by the quality of teaching exactly your future specialty.
3. Education in the United States is expensive even for Americans, so most universities offer scholarships that partially or fully cover tuition fees. When choosing the university, pay attention to the fact if such an opportunity is available for foreign students and what conditions are in a case. INTERESTING that there are some scholarships available specifically for Ukrainians. In this case, we mean cities where a large number of our compatriots live.
4. You should not choose only the most prestigious universities, because a high place in the ranking provides for a rigorous competition that can reduce your chances for getting an admission to zero (for example, Yale University among 20,000 applicants chose only 1300). It is worth remembering: the USA is a very demanding country on the issue of accreditation of educational institutions, therefore the quality of teaching is high at every university, and a diploma from a less well-known university opens up a large number of prospects either. The main thing is to show that you are a true expert in your field.
5. In the US, you can apply to an unlimited number of universities. However, it is important to understand that each university independently determines admission conditions; therefore, it is usually recommended to choose no more than five universities in order to be able to prepare all the necessary documents thoroughly.
We hope these tips will help you choose a future Alma Mater, and we, in our turn, will be happy to provide more detailed information and increase your chances of receiving an admission to a study place in your desired country and university!
