How to Prepare
Due to the large time commitment to apply to U.S. schools, serious students would find it best to spend the full year after senior 6 to focus on the steps below.
Do Well in Advanced Level & REB Exams
- At many schools, acceptance rates for international students are less than 10%, and the process is even more competitive for full scholarship opportunities and may be reserved for students who were in the top of their classes. Students generally need A’s and B’s on their national exams to be competitive in the US. It helps to have a strong arts & sciences subject combination, especially one that includes natural sciences and mathematics.
- U.S. schools are looking for students who are fluent or nearly fluent in English. You should work on improving your English skills in your A-level years, if not before. Listening to audiobooks or interviews on Youtube is a good way to practice
- When you’re ready to start preparing for the TOEFL, you can take practice English exams on a free site like Duolingo
- The minimum TOEFL requirement at U.S. schools is around 100 (120 Duolingo)
- Standardized tests such as TOEFL (iBT) and SAT (with writing section) are very important. SAT score ranges of the middle 50% of accepted students are generally 1300 to 1500 at a typical full-scholarship U.S. school
- Duolingo is a great resource to practice standardized English tests for free, and Khan Academy is a great free source of SAT study materials
- While practice may be free, the tests themselves are not. The cost to take the TOEFL and SAT tests and send those score reports to five schools is $500
- In 2020, many schools have gone SAT-optional due to the coronavirus pandemic
- You might already have some idea where you want to apply. The truth is, scholarship availability often changes from one year to the next. Understanding where full scholarship opportunities exist can be a difficult task. Websites like this one can give you a good idea of where international undergraduates receive the most financial aid in the U.S.
- Costs can really add up for college. This can include tuition, housing, food, insurance, textbooks, travel to/from campus, etc. It's important you only apply to schools that you can afford to attend. Small loans can be provided through the Rwanda Development Bank
- It is best to apply to a mix of very competitive, mildly competitive, and less competitive schools. This should usually include around half local universities in Africa. Sites like PrepScholar show you which schools would be most competitive for you based on your test scores
- It is important to choose recommenders who have seen the most positive things about you, both inside and outside the classroom. You will have to choose two teachers and one counselor to write recommendations on your behalf. A counselor can be a school principal or administrator who knows you well
- On the Common App, you’ll see an option to invite recommenders when you add colleges. When you invite recommenders, you should waive your FERPA right to view those letters of recommendation. Because you will not read your recommendations, it would be wise to remind your recommender of a short list of your accomplishments and positive attributes, before you invite them to submit on the Common App.
- Having strong essays is as important as having strong standardized test scores. Schools will usually require one personal statement essay and sometimes multiple supplemental essays. For all essays, you want to communicate that you are honest and authentic
- Services like Transizion (Youtube) offer excellent free resources to help structure different types of college essays.
- For most U.S. schools, you will have to provide financial documents such as: lease titles of property your family owns, your bank account statements, and bank account statements of your parent(s)/guardian(s)
- Most schools use financial verification services such as the ISFAA or the CSS Profile. The ISFAA is relatively simple, but the CSS can be more complicated. You can learn more about the CSS profile for international students here. The ISFAA is free to submit, and most schools offer fee waivers for the CSS profile too, so you should not need to pay to submit these forms.
- Besides the ISFAA and CSS, many schools have their own processes for submitting financial information. It is critical that you fully understand the process to submit this information, wherever you apply.
- Early deadlines for U.S. schools are usually early- to mid-November. "Early decision" means that you must accept an offer to attend if you are accepted. In "early action", students must still complete applications by an early deadline, but they are not required to attend after being accepted. "Regular decision" deadlines can vary, but they are usually late December to mid-January
- Deadlines for transfer students vary but usually fall between February and April. Transfer students are any students who have attended college without receiving a bachelor's degree
- On average, early decision applicants benefit from much higher acceptance rates
- Once you've decided which application deadline you will follow for a school, aim to have those school's essays completed and all your transcripts and financial forms ready several weeks in advance. You don't want to realize you forgot to write a required essay the night before the application is due...
- For schools that charge an application fee, it can usually be waived by emailing the school's admissions office several weeks in advance
- If you are emailing an office, on your own, make sure you follow proper email etiquette. A site called Grammarly can check your emails for grammatical mistakes
- After you apply, it is a good idea to email a school a few weeks later to let them know that you are waiting eagerly for their response. Definitely let your one top choice school know that you would accept an offer at a moment’s notice
- You can check your student portal on your own to see any missing documents, so don’t reach out to an admissions office just to ask if they’ve received your full application
- Sonrise Mentorship will share accurate and relevant information on scholarships and pair you with a student at the University of Michigan to answer questions about the application process. We also pay all application-related fees and help a student fund technology costs while they are applying to colleges
- You wouldn't wait until the night before national exams to start studying, so don’t wait until the last minute to prepare for college applications! If you have questions, please email us at sonrisementorship@gmail.com
Schools abroad our students have partnered with:
