Study Abroad: 6 Essential Components of College Admission Forms

Studying abroad is a dream of students around the globe. However, it is a lengthy process, which involves various steps such as applying to the universities. In this article, we will discuss in length about the 6 essential components of college admission forms, what all you need to submit, and more.

When we say application form, it actually includes your complete application process. A complete application process includes six categories on which the application form is based on.

1. Academic documents – These are your academic records which universities abroad refer to as your transcripts. Usually, you need your 12^th mark sheet and 10^th mark sheet, graduation mark sheet. If your mark sheets are not in English, then you will have to get them translated.
2. Test scores – All international courses require you attempt standardized exams like SAT, ACT, GMAT, GRE as well as English language tests like TOEFL or IELTS. No university provides score cutoffs, so you have to go by the average scores accepted.
3. Essay or Statement of Purpose – Universities abroad need to have an understanding of you as an applicant, they need to hear your story in your own words. Usually, universities require either one of the two. In these, you need to mention your reasons behind pursuing that particular course, reasons why you shortlisted that university, your future plans, and why you think you are a perfect fit for the college.
4. Letters of recommendation – You will have to get your college professors or reporting managers to write recommendation letters, mentioning their experience of working with you on projects and daily basis, along with them highlighting your achievements and successes.
5. Activities – Universities don’t look at only your academic and test scores; your application form should reflect you as an overall achiever with a well-rounded personality. You will have to mention all the special non-academic projects you worked on outside of your classroom, leadership roles you undertook, any volunteer work you did in the past and the awards you won.
6. The ‘Other’ category – You will see, different universities have different admission requirements. Some colleges will require either a skype or telephonic interview. For art or design based major, you will have to submit your portfolio. For a talent based course, you may need to go through an audition. 

So, what do universities do with these eight pieces of information? They use these to answer two questions when evaluating your profile.

1. The first question – Will this student be academically successful? 
2. The second question – Is this student a good fit for our university?

Based on whether the answers are yes or no, you will be granted admission to the university.

Let's look at the first question. The main goal of you as a student going to a foreign university is to get an education. So the admission officers need to look closely at your academic records to understand how academically inclined you are. From the above-mentioned list of six vital information, they will look at academic documents and test scores to find the answer. After considering these, they will have a simple yes or no answer.

The second stage is for them to figure out if you are the perfect College Fit or not. If they deem your interests and career path matched the interests and culture of the university, you will be granted admission without any further probing. So it is important to research well about all the universities you will be applying to, trying to understand what kind of college fit they expect.

Complete Series: How to Apply to Universities Abroad