How do they go to US universities
Articles about studying in the USA interested my wife so much that she still decided to describe her thoughts and experience. She is not a blogger at all, but the article, I hope, turned out to be interesting:
I arrived in the States immediately after graduation, so I only know firsthand the life of a Russian student. Since I already wrote about the training itself , I’ll tell
Applicants
As described in previous articles, there are two ways to enter. The first is passing an exam during the last year of schooling. If a person is fluent in English, it is best to take the SAT , which includes a rather complex level of English and mathematics. “Standardized Aptitude Test” - a test to test the academic abilities of mathematics and English, is required when entering universities in the United States and Canada. Americans at school pass it several times. Attempts begin at grade 10 (Pre-SAT) and end at grade 11 (recall that they have 12 classes at school).
I believe that the exam is the Russian equivalent of SAT. At the beginning of the 12th year of schooling, students send their profiles to universities. A questionnaire is attached to the points, where the student talks about himself and his parents (general data), and also writes an essay on a given topic. Most often, the theme is “Why do you want to go to this university” . With this essay of trouble, you have to compose for every university. Wanting to increase the chances of admission, I want to send to the maximum number of universities.
Be sure to include letters of recommendation written and sent by the teacher. This means that the student himself will never know what the teacher wrote about him. Letters of recommendation most often 2 - 3 pieces. Students usually send out their questionnaires in the fall. Admission of profiles ends at each university in different ways, from December 1 to February 1 (rarely March 1). Considering a questionnaire costs money, an average of $ 50-100 per questionnaire.
The second variant of admission - a person arrived from another country where he had already graduated from school. He needs to translate a school certificate and pass the TOEFL. The translation of certificates is carried out by specialized companies, and different universities accept transfers from different companies. They translate not only the text itself, but also the grades into the ABCDF system, calculate the GPA. True, not everywhere is so strict, sometimes a simple translation with the seal of a translator and certified by a notary is enough. Next, you need to send the questionnaires to universities, well, and how to everyone - wait for an answer. Naturally, the better the university, the higher the requirements for test results (and the higher the competition).
Centralized systems
In my case, it was PharmCAS . Instead of filling out separate questionnaires for each university, an applicant is registered in the system. All data: transcript, test results (PCAT, MCAT, GRE ...), letters of recommendation, questionnaires, essays - are sent there or filled out online. By the way, the professors also filled out recommendations for me online. PharmCAS then sends the data to these universities. Most universities are involved in this system. I had to fill out only two separate questionnaires for universities that do not accept PharmCAS.
Similar systems exist for other specialties.
Choice of profession
Pupils who have chosen a profession already at school are purposefully preparing to enter certain universities. Naturally, there are students who have not made up their minds, they go wherever they take. Often they try to choose away from their parents;)
Such students can be determined in the profession during the first year. You ask how is it? Each university has a credit education system. Any profession requires the student to take basic subjects such as biology, chemistry, mathematics, psychology, English, etc. Accordingly, during the first year, a student, visiting objects, decides what he likes best. These students are called undecided.. As for more serious professions, such as doctors, lawyers, pharmacists, etc. (those who learn for many many years) - it is useful for them to determine as early as possible. The advantage of free choice of subjects is the simplicity of changing a specialty in the middle of the way. One acquaintance studied for three years in an economic specialty, then realized that it was “not his” and changed direction in the direction of medicine. All basic subjects were counted for him, it only remained to recruit profile ones.
GPA ratings
ASSESSMENTS ARE IMPORTANT . Maybe they are not so important for a person who decided to finish one education (undergraduate) and do not go anywhere else, but for all the others they are important. The salary will be consistent with education and to advance on the career ladder the employer may ask to complete the next stage of higher education. By the way, grades when applying for a job do not matter, the name of the institution is decisive . You have finished MIT in triples - employers will welcome you with open arms. You have a University of Noname diploma with honors - “We will call you back.”
Naturally, the higher this average score, the better. In one of the articles they wrote that when entering universities there is no competition. It is not true. It all depends on the institution. Admission to a specialized university at the faculty of a pharmacist is indicated by the following requirements:
GPA - average score - at least 3.5 - that is, basically grades should be 5, 5-, and rare 4s.
About GPA calculation already wrote
Community college students are encouraged to study at more prestigious educational institutions. For example, I took only 3 subjects in community college , during the initial examination of my documents (before enrolling), I was advised not to study at Community College anymore, as this lowers my admission rating.
Competition 1600 questionnaires for 150 places ... 10 people per place. (official data for 2008 - data for 2009 is not yet available).
When entering / transferring to other universities, it is imperative to show ALL your grades from all universities. Failed up the subject - passed again with excellent results, but both ratings will remain in the system. And first of all, bad attention will attract.
Many say, including the universities themselves, that the old assessment is being erased. Yes, but it is only within the university itself. When translating everything ... pops up.
The data are submitted in the form of a transcript ( “transcript” ) - a document about all subjects and received grades. The originals of the transcripts are sent by the university administration, the student can see only a copy. It’s me that there is no way to “clean” the history.
Selection
After the initial selection by questionnaire, approximately 2 people remain in place. Everyone is summoned for an interview, where their fate is already decided. After the interview within a month, the official answer comes: accepted, not accepted or put in the queue. A queue means that you can be accepted if space is available. In case of success (you were accepted!) You must send an official response and an initial payment of $ 500 - $ 2000.
Everyone has probably noticed that the whole process takes place remotely by mail and online.
When applying for a doctor or lawyer, the competition can be much more serious or include additional requirements. For example, for admission to a doctor, they may additionally require 2,000 hours of volunteer work in the medical field, say in a hospital. (for reference, 2000 hours = year of work 8 hours a day, five days)
Also, upon admission to specialized universities, most often you need to take additional tests, such as GRE (for PhD), MCAT (for doctors), PCAT (for pharmacists), etc. These tests are, to put it mildly, complex and require detailed knowledge of subjects.
For example, PCAT lasts 5 hours and includes:
- English in-depth, much heavier TOEFL
- maths
- biology
- chemistry
- text analysis on abstract topics. I came across astronomy
- essay. My theme was “Solve the problem of expensive honey. insurance ”- 30 minutes.
Issue price
I applied to five universities. Total costs: PharmCAS, PCAT, additional questionnaires, etc. - almost $ 1000. You need to pay for almost everything. Even listing a transcript with a university stamp costs $ 15.
Instead of a conclusion
Well, let's say, what happens to a person who immediately entered a university in which there is a necessary specialty. Well, for example, I wanted to see a doctor and entered the Yale University where there is such a department.
I can immediately cut off the idea that this person is already in raspberries. The first two years after school, she will study at the faculty pre-med (in each university it can be called differently). During these two years, the student must gain general education subjects such as biology, chemistry, the same psychology, etc. At the end, pass the same MCAT - and get your point. Submit documents in your own university according to the general scheme and wait for the result. And maybe they will take him. As you know, here grades are important again, even though you study at the same university and you don’t need to translate anywhere.
The article was so large that we decided to divide it into two, leaving only the receipt in the first. If you are interested in more details about training: tests, exams, teacher selections, we will publish it.